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PDF Scientific American PDF
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MIND
BEHAVIOR
BEHAVIOR
BR AIN SCIENCE INSIGHTS
BR AIN SCIENCE INSIGHTS
January/February 2014 Mind.ScientificAmerican.com
Beat Stress
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Really Be
Reruns of Gleel
Just Friends?
tonight?l
I wonder ifl
he/shel
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Stopping
Autism Early
2013 Scientific American
BRIGHT
HORIZONS 21
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and fees are $100 per person. The Program, cruise genetic engineering with a view toward how
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A Lopsided Universe
Nature produces structured asymmetric pat-
HIGHLIGHTS ST. PeTeRSbuRg
MAY 26 & 27
Plan to visit the
terns prolifically: Even human life is lopsided, Pushkin Museum,
with spherical embryos somehow giving the Hermitage Museum,
rise, ultimately, to creatures whose inner and Peterhof Palace.
organs are asymmetric. This is the story of a
quest for the origins of structure in nature,
which has culminated in the discovery of the
Higgs Boson particle.
MIND
Controversial Friends
Christina Hippeli
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER:
Carl Cherebin
PREPRESS AND QUALIT Y MANAGER:
Silvia De Santis
CUSTOM PUBLISHING MANAGER:
Madelyn Keyes-Milch Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love, Jane Aus-
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ten writes in her 1817 novel Northanger Abbey. W hat if ones friend is the source of
those pangs? Can he or she still be a friend? Journalist Carlin Flora explores this
BOARD OF ADVISERS:
HAL ARKOWITZ: A
ssociate Professor question in our cover story, Just Friends, starting on page 30.
of Psychology, University of Arizona Despite massive gains in gender equality, platonic friendship between heterosexu-
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STEPHEN J. CECI: P
rofessor of Developmental
Psychology, Cornell University al men and women still draws some suspicion. This intuition rests on two related
R. DOUGLAS FIELDS: Chief, Nervous System assumptions. First, that physical attraction is inevitable in such a union. Second, that
Development and Plasticity Section, National selfishness or subterfuge weakens the bond as a friend angles for more intimacy. As
Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development Flora reveals, neither of these conjectures holds up. And should unrequited feelings
S. ALEXANDER HASLAM: P rofessor arise, she offers tips from science to help friends navigate mismatched expectations.
of Social and Organizational Psychology,
University of Queensland We rely on friends for good conversation but we also maintain a silent inner
CHRISTOF KOCH: C hief Scientific Officer, dialogue with ourselves. Studies suggest that such self-talk helps us craft the con-
Allen Institute for Brain Science scious narrative of our lives. Turn to page 45 to read Speak for Yourself, by Ferris
SCOT T O. LILIENFELD: P
rofessor of Psychology,
Emory University Jabr, an associate editor at Scientific American.
STEPHEN L. MACKNIK: Director, Talking through a task this time aloud appears to help children with autism
Laboratory of Behavioral Neuropsychology, overcome language difficulties, Jabr notes. A new trend in autism therapy targets such
Barrow Neurological Institute
SUSANA MARTINEZ- CONDE: Director,
deficits at age one or two, when the brain is still highly malleable. See Taking Early
Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience, Aim at Autism, by journalist Luciana Gravotta, beginning on page 52.
Barrow Neurological Institute
Early intervention is also the goal in another public health concern, the brain
JOHN H. MORRISON: Chairman, Department
of Neuroscience, and Director, Neurobiology deterioration that multiple hits to the head can trigger. In Fatal Strikes, starting
of Aging Laboratories, Mount Sinai School
of Medicine
on page 36, neuroscientists Jacqueline C. Tanaka and Gregg B. Wells investigate the
rapidly evolving science of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disorder involving
C O V E R I M AG E B Y A A R O N G O O D M A N ;
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1. The Dream, the Brain, and the Machine
2. The Mind-Body Problem
3. Brains and Minds, Parts and Wholes
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DE C 5. Living in the Material World
R BY M AR 6. A Functional Approach to the Mind
7. What Is It about Robots?
8. Body Image
9. Self-Identity and Other Minds
10. PerceptionWhat Do You Really See?
11. PerceptionIntentionality
and Evolution
12. A Mind in the World
13. A History of Smart Machines
14. Intelligence and IQ
15. Artificial Intelligence
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18. Do We Have Free Will?
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20. Mysteries of Color
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22. The Conscious Brain2
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58
lead a more productive life.
BY TIM BILKEY, CRAIG SURMAN
AND K AREN WEINTRAUB
4 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
D E P A R T M E N T S
9 21
24
26 76
2 >> From the Editor 26 >> Consciousness Redux
6 >> Letters
Panpsychism and the modern view
of consciousness.
BY CHRISTOF KOCH
21 >> Illusions
Also: Ways to nurture our inner resources.
S cien t i f i c A m er i c a n M in d (IS S N 15 5 5 -228 4), Volu m e 25, N u m b er 1, J anu ar y/F e b r u ar y 2014, p u blish e d bim o n t hl y by S cien t i f i c A m er i c an, a t r a din g n a m e of
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M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 5
2013 Scientific American
(letters) september/october 2013 issue
Given the more popular goal of meet-
MIND
ing every childs unique learning style,
teacher education (and therefore student
learning) has been sidetracked with trendy
approaches to learning, such as multiple
BEHAVIOR BRAIN SCIENCE INSIGHTS
intelligences, multicultural education, in-
PRESIDENT: Steven Inchcoombe vestigative learning, and so on. Although
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: Michael Florek I am no champion of the onslaught of state
VICE PRESIDENT AND ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER,
MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT:
and national testing, the benefit of rigor-
Michael Voss ous standards and measurable results of
DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED MEDIA SALES: learning has brought renewed interest in
Stan Schmidt
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, doing what works. Thank you for a
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: nudge in the right direction.
Diane McGarvey
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Barbara Dautrich
Jeremy A. Abbate American International College
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I read Eleanor Longdens article, Lis-
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FIRST-WORLD PROBLEMS lived with hallucinations and delusions
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ting Go of Self-Esteem. I am always in- path that she suggested. I never told
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MARKETING RESEARCH DIRECTOR: Rick Simone As a youth worker for many years, I be- About six years after the hallucinations
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lieve it is a major area to explore. Some- started, I learned through a colleague
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SALES DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST: Nate Murray the alternatives to their mind-set. I reflect and commitment therapy that I may have
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CUSTOM PUBLISHING EDITOR: Lisa Pallatroni that other people survive without: closure, all along. By following a mindful and ac-
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6 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
conservation of our precious lands. But
to include climate change skepticism un-
der the umbrella of a conspiracy theory
is misguided if not malevolent.
Jeff S. Wyles
Oroville, Calif.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 7
2013 Scientific American
A SPECIAL COLLECTORS EDITION FROM SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND
Copyright 2013 by Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
Benevolent Sexism? 10 Talking about Money 11 A PTSD Prophylactic 12 Deadly Painkillers 15
Climate-Related Social Upheavals 16 Afraid of Joy 18 Be a Brain Scientist 19
M ON
NEWS THEOUR
FROM WEB Individuals
WEB who drank
SITE Implanting
Navigating Relationships
cocoa appears
electrodes improved
to on measures
reboot of executive
the depressed function, immediate
brain, producing memory, and
reliefprocessing speed
in some patients.
>
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 9
2013 Scientific American
Head Lines
>> Relationships Tips from recent research ILLUSTRATIONS BY HANK OSUNA
DANGEROUS
EXPECTATIONS
Optimism: A Double-Edged Sword
High
Much research claims that relationship satisfaction within marriages
inevitably declines over time. This indeed looks like the truth if you average Moderate
all couples responses together, but it turns out partners who start out
slightly happier may avoid that fate, according to a study in 2012 by Low
T H I N K S T O C K (c o u c h)
Newly 4 years
wedded Time later
M According to some scientists, several species of animals are capable of mental time travel, the ability to picture oneself in the past
10 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
AFTER AN ARGUMENTI
Its Not about the Apology Forgive Yourself Stay in Your Own Shoes
After a fight, most people When you land in the dog- Well-meaning arguers often
want their partner to either house, you might think attempt to see things from
disengage or to engage staying there could help their partners point of view,
more meaningfully, accord- you get back in your part- but doing so can backfire,
ing to a study of 953 mar- ners good graces. Not so, according to a paper in the
ried or cohabitating couples according to research pub- January 2013 issue of the
in the June 2013 issue of lished in August 2013 in Journal of Personality and
the Journal of Social and the Journal of Family Psy- Social Psychology. In prob-
Clinical Psychology. Which chology: self-forgiveness lem-solving discussions
strategy to use depends on improves the relationship among 111 couples, re
your partners underlying satisfaction of both the searchers found that the
concern in the argument: offending partner and the person who attempted to TALKING ABOUT MONEY
is he or she perceiving a one who was hurt. The take his or her partners
threat or neglect? A per- study, which examined perspective had an in
ceived threat encompasses real-life offenses among crease in self-focus and Who Should Pay?
anything that puts a part- 168 couples, found that overestimated how obvious Dating is supposed to be fun, but the
ners status in doubt, such satisfaction was higher for his or her feelings were. arrival of the check may quickly lead
as blame, criticism or both partners when the After the discussion, to an awkward situation. According to
demands, explains lead offender had less negative the perspective-taking an online study of more than 17,000
author Keith Sanford, a psy- thoughts and feelings partner reported feeling single, heterosexual men and women
chologist at Baylor Universi- toward himself or herself. less satisfied with the rela- by Janet Lever of California State Uni-
ty. In these scenarios, the The researchers distin- tionship in general, and the
versity, Los Angeles, and her col-
offended party is more like- guished the construct of other partner reported no
ly to want their partner to self-forgiveness (which change in relationship sat- leagues, it may be nearly impossible
passively disengage by halt- requires accepting respon- isfaction. When subjects to guess whether your date wants
ing adversarial behavior and sibility for ones wrongdo- were instead instructed to you to pick up the bill. Results show
relinquishing power. Giving ing) from self-excusing, so take an objective approach that men cover dating expenses
up power comes in many the findings do not mean it and pay close attention to most of the time, as reported by 84
forms, among them, admit- is okay to let yourself off the other persons behav- percent of men and 58 percent of
ting faults, showing respect the hook prematurely. ior, satisfaction increased women. Yet 64 percent of men
and being willing to compro- Rather than dwelling on for both partnersproba- expect their partner to chip in, which
mise, Sanford says. self-punishment, acknowl- bly because this approach
is unfortunate for the 44 percent of
When perceiving edge wrongdoing and fostered a sense of shared
neglect, individuals want- focus on rebuilding good- reality. I think what is criti- women who are bothered when a
ed their partner to actively will. T.R. cal is paying attention to man expects them to pay their share.
engage by showing invest- what the other person says The solution as in many relation-
ment, communicating and does, rather than try- ship issuesis probably just to talk
more and giving affection. ing to work it all out inside about paying openly. Be direct, and
No matter what the ten-
7 out of 10 couples ones own head, says Jac- when the check comes you should
or of the fight, the partici- say that money is quie Vorauer, one of the offer something on the first date,
pants ranked an apology
as the least important fac-
a source of tension studys authors and a psy-
chology professor at the
suggests Wellesley College soci
tor in resolving the issue. in their relationship University of Manitoba.
ologist Rosanna Hertz, an author of
Esther Hsieh T.R. the paper. Ariel Van Brummelen
Long-Term Finances
We all know communication is key
TOP 4 TYPES OF to a healthy relationshipbut a more
PORN Just Be Honest COUPLE TROUBLE important factor may be sharing a
Of things better left unsaid, information about your INSECURITY: Unsafe neigh vision for how money should be man-
pornography use may not be among them, suggest findings borhoods or a lack of sup- aged. Research published in July
of a recent study in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. port from family, friends or 2013 in Marriage and Family Review
Among 340 heterosexual women who answered online culture can take a toll. found that mutual financial goals and
questionnaires, those who reported that their partners values predicted relationship satis-
MENTAL DISORDERS: De-
were honest about their pornography use scored higher on
pression, substance abuse faction more strongly than did the
measures of relationship satisfaction and had lower levels
and anxiety cause strife. communication tactics the couples
of distress related to their partners viewing of pornography,
as compared with women whose partners were deceitful STRESS: Sources include used during conflict. The roles of
about the topic. Women who reported mutual viewing of major illnesses, child-rear- each partner in handling finances
pornography with their partners also showed less distress ing and unemployment. also mattered less than their satis-
than those who did not report mutual use. The study did not faction with those roles. Instead of
T H I N K S T O C K (c a s h)
POOR INTERACTION:
assess frequency or amount of pornography consumption, arbitrarily assigning duties, then, it
Bad communication,
however, and the authors suggest that future research may be best to divide them based on
aggression and insuffi-
should include these and additional variables. T.R. each partners enjoyment of the
cient time together can
become core problems. tasks. T.R.
or the future. l The discovery of subtle electrical activity in comatose patients raises questions about what it means to be brain-dead.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 11
2013 Scientific American
Head Lines
ON THE HORIZON
>> How Sleep Protects
A Spritz That Prevents PTSD the Brain over Time
First responders arrive at a disaster scene a bombing, say and, after Gene activity during slumber kicks
stabilizing victims, treat them with a puff of a nasal spray to prevent post- off production of support cells
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The spray sends neuropeptide Y (NPY), a
tiny but powerful signaling protein, deep into the nose and up into the brain.
There it prevents the brains stress system from kicking into overdrive and
causing PTSD, which disrupts sleep, mood and thought in some people fol-
lowing trauma. The idea for this futuristic prophylactic treatment comes
from recent studies in rats by neuroscientist Esther Louise Sabban of
New York Medical College.
Sabban and her colleagues dosed rats with a nasal spray containing
either NPY or saline and then exposed them to a one-time series of traumatic
stresses, such as being immobilized and later forced to swim in a Plexiglas
tube. Seven days later the researchers tested whether the rats exhibited anx-
ious and depressionlike behaviors. Saline-treated rats did, but the rats that
received NPY looked very similar to the unstressed controls, Sabban says.
Likewise, the researchers found that stress hormones and receptors rose in There is nothing like a good nights sleep to
the saline-treated but not the NPY-treated rats. Rats blasted with NPY imme- help you feel your best the next day. Now
diately after the stressful experience were also protected, according to the
scientists are finding that good sleep habits
study published in 2013 in Neuroscience.
A squirt of NPY into the nose can travel widely throughout the brain but may do more than restore cognitive func-
not the body, where harmful side effects could damage the heart. Recently tion on a nightly basis they may also forti-
Sabban determined that the treatment seems to work by reducing the number fy the brain over the long term, according to
of receptors for the stress hormone cortisol, particularly in the ventral hippo a new study in the Journal of Neuroscience.
campus, a brain area where emotional memories are formed. Future work will
Researchers at the University of Wiscon-
test whether NPY also alleviates established PTSD-like symptoms in rats.
Stephani Sutherland sinMadison found that during sleep, activ-
ity ramps up in genes that are involved in
producing oligodendrocytes brain cells
responsible for coating neurons with
myelin. Myelin is the brains insulating
material. The fatty substance surrounds
the signal-transmitting tail that extends
from every neuron, enabling electrical
communications to travel quickly and
efficiently to other neurons. Myelin defi-
ciency is at the root of the neurodegenera-
tive disease multiple sclerosis and can con-
tribute to symptoms such as fatigue, vision
and hearing impairment, and a loss of
coordination.
J A S O N L E E (i l l u s t r a t i o n) ; G E T T Y I M AG E S (s l e e p i n g m a n)
In this study, sleeping mice had height-
ened activity in the genes responsible for cre-
ating oligodendrocytes, but awake or sleep-
deprived rodents showed greater activity in
genes involved in cellular stress and death.
Chiara Cirelli, a neuroscientist and author
on the paper, suggests that sleep helps cells
regenerate and repair themselves, by en
abling the body to produce new myelin after
it has deteriorated. Cellular repair probably
takes weeks or even months, however, so
pulling an occasional all-nighter is unlikely
to disrupt the process. Roni Jacobson
M Literary fictionbut not genre novels or nonfictionimproves our ability to infer others thoughts and feelings, new research finds.
12 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
Think Clearly.
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A UNIFIED THEORY London. Some patients spend months, or even years, trying one
drug after another, with no way of knowing in advance which
OF DEPRESSION might work.
Antidepressants may work by providing But in 2009 Harmer and her colleagues showed that a single
a rosier lens through which to see the world dose of a common antidepressant altered emotional processing
in depressed patients within a matter of hours. Initially, de
For decades two very different treatments of depression have pressed people showed less sensitivity to happy faces, took
existed side by side. Medications act on molecules, cells and longer to respond to positive descriptors of themselves and
synapses in the brain. Psychological therapies focus on cogni- remembered fewer positive words than healthy volunteers. A
tion and behavior, trying to alter negatively biased thinking. dose of reboxetine but not a placebo returned all these
Now a new theory suggests measures to normal levels
that these interventions may within three hours. Another
work in more similar ways study Harmer published in
than anyone realized, provid- 2012 showed that the amyg-
ing an opportunity to better dala of depressed patients
integrate the two approaches. became less hyperactive in
More important, it may help response to fearful faces
provide patients faster, more after a seven-day course of
reliable relief from this crip- escitalopram (Lexapro). In
pling condition. both studies, the emotion-
A ntidepressa nt d r ugs processing changes hap-
increase the levels of certain pened well in advance of
chemical messengers in the any improvement in mood.
brain, such as serotonin and norepinephrine. Yet exactly how If antidepressants provide a rosier lens through which to
these neurotransmitters affect mood is unknown. There was experience the world, the puzzle of their delayed action might
a missing link between the cellular, molecular and synaptic finally be solved. A patient presumably needs time to become
bases of these drugs, on the one hand, and what they affect in acquainted with the world that their new, more positive per-
humans, which is their experiences, perceptions, memories and spective unveils. This experiential learning might also explain
feelings, says Catherine Harmer, a neuroscientist at the Uni- why outcomes vary so widely with drugs. You need to have
versity of Oxford. enough opportunities to pick up on this more positive mode of
The psychological explanation, meanwhile, describes de processing, Harmer says. She hopes to study whether patients
pression in terms of distorted information processing. who get out more are indeed the ones who do better. If so, doc-
Depressed people are thought to process perceptions, experi- tors could identify people who need extra help coming out of
ences and memories with a negative bias. Many studies con- their shell and reengaging with the world. Its a new perspec-
firm that depressed individuals show increased sensitivity to tive on how you might best combine pharmacological and psy-
sad faces, greater memory for negative material and reduced chological treatment, she says.
S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D ; I S T O C K P H O T O ( g l a s s e s a n d p i l l s)
responsiveness to rewards as compared with healthy people. Yet perhaps the most exciting aspect of this research is the
Successful therapies teach patients how to correct for this possibility of predicting early how effective a treatment will
clouded vision. beboth for individuals and in the development of new drugs.
Harmer now believes that antidepressants may also work Initial indications are encouraging. A 2009 study found that
by altering this negative emotional processing. About a decade patients who had been taking antidepressants for two weeks
ago she and her colleagues tested the effects of commonly pre- showed increased accuracy in recognizing certain facial emo-
scribed antidepressants on healthy volunteers and found that tions, including happiness. Those whose accuracy changed the
many of the drugs skewed emotional processing to the positive. most also showed the most clinical improvement after six
Previous research had shown that antidepressants also change weeks, suggesting that these early processing changes might
these measures in depressed people, but studies included only predict later outcomes.
patients who had been on medication for six to eight weeks Ultimately Harmers research may even enable us to stop
because the drugs were assumed to take that long to kick in. seeing biology and psychology as competing explanations.
Why antidepressants take so long to work has been a puzzle Her work provides us with the ability to bridge between those
in psychiatry for a really long time, says Jonathan Roiser of different levels of explanation, Roiser says. Thats very pow-
the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College erful. Simon Makin
M A new form of sleep therapy promises to help us overcome fears and traumatic memories while we slumber. l Heres a spooky risk
14 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
( PHARMA WAT C H )
BITTER MEDICINE
Prescription painkiller abuse is the newest drug epidemic to sweep the U.S.
Over the past 10 years the number of over- 20 Americans older than age 12 reported sure prescription opioids are readily available
dose deaths from prescription painkillers taking painkillers recreationally; some steal to those who depend on them for medical
also known as opioid analgesics has tri- from pharmacies or buy them from a dealer, relief but not so available that they become
pled, from 4,000 people in 1999 to more but most have a doctors prescription or gain easily abused? Here we break down the steps
than 15,000 people every year in the U.S. access to pills through friends and relatives. taken at various levels and the experts rec-
today. Prescription pain medication now Yet millions of people legitimately rely on ommendations for future interventionsto
causes more overdose deaths than heroin these medications to cope with the crippling curb prescription opioid addiction and over-
and cocaine combined. In 2010 one in pain they face every day. How do we make dose in the U.S. Roni Jacobson
a result, victims of an overdoseor their daughter almost died of an overdose to stimulation, re-
Protecting companions during the eventare often after her friends fled the scene. Policy
Good reluctant to seek aid. Good Samaritan experts are encouraging other states quiring higher
Samaritans laws, enacted by 14 states to protect to follow suit, as many overdose deaths and higher doses
people who report overdoses from are preventable if a victim receives
prosecution, can help. medical attention in time. to alleviate pain.
to brain surgery, to add to all the other risks: you could get infected with prions, the misfolded proteins that account for mad cow disease.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 15
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Head Lines
>> Summer Fight, Winter Flight How climate affects social dynamics
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALEX NABAUM
HEAT-FUELED RAGE
Hotter weather sparks
aggression and revolution
As the climate heats up, tempers may follow suit, according
to a study published in August 2013 in Nature. Analyzing
60 quantitative studies across fields as disparate as ar
chaeology, criminology, economics, geography, history,
political science and psychology, University of California
researchers found that throughout history and across the
world, higher temperatures, less rainfall and more drought
were consistently linked to increased violence. The cor
relation held true for aggression between individuals,
such as domestic abuse and assault, but was even more
pronounced for conflict between groups [see timeline on
opposite page].
We didnt expect for there to be nearly so many con
vergent findings among so many different researchers, says
economist Solomon Hsiang, now at U.C. Berkeley, who led
the study. We were actually really stunned by the level of
consistency in the findings that were out there and by the
size of the effects we were observing. The researchers used
statistical modeling to show that aggression scales with a
combination of temperature, place and time for example,
if one U.S. county is three degrees Celsius warmer for three
months or one African country is 0.6 degree C warmer for
a year, statistics reveal an uptick in crime, violence and
revolutionary fervor.
The reasons behind the climate-violence link are com impulsive. And that can lead to altercations that escalate to
plex and not fully understood, although anyone who has more extreme levels of aggression.
lived through a heat wave can attest to one simple fact: Discomfort aside, the physical temperature of the brain
When people are hot, it makes them cranky, says Brian may also play a role, according to Glenn Geher, director of
Lickel, a social psychologist who is on the faculty of the evolutionary studies at the State University of New York at
Psychology of Peace and Violence program at the University New Paltz, who also was not involved in the study. There
of Massachusetts Amherst and who was not involved in really is something to the idea of being hot-headed, he
the study. It makes people more prone to anger, it makes says. Brain temperature, which is affected by ambient
people more frustrated, and it makes decision making more temperature, does seem to be associated with aggressive
mood states and aggressive behavior. The bellicosity
relates to a lack of oxygen in the regions of the brain that
Too Hot to Be Angry? Multiple studies have proposed
a link between hot weather and violent crime rates. Yet debate control our impulses, as the body directs more blood to the
rages over whether aggression wanes at very high temperatures. skins surface in an effort to cool off, Geher explains. So
Some interpretations of data for U.S. cities suggest temperature you get more emotional reactions and less prefrontal, step-
and violent crimes such as aggravated assault share a linear back, cognitive-processing kinds of actions.
relation, with violence increasing at ever hotter temperatures.
As for the protests, wars and revolutions supposedly
Other researchers argue that crime curves level off or even dip
in supersweltering situations in ways that can vary with the time fueled by sweat, the key factor may be survival, especially in
of day, the nature of the crime and even the season studied. drought-ridden areas. When there are resource constraints
Andrea Anderson when there is lack of food, when there is lack of access to
M Is it more stressful to be a boss or an underling? Top dogs may have the tougher job, but feeling in control can protect people from stress.
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water, when there is economic destructionthen that is a potent predictor of CONFLICTS DRIVEN
conflict between groups, Lickel adds. When youre in a society under stress and BY CLIMATE
Many societal upheavals throughout
there is a danger of violence, peoples group identities become incredibly important, history may have been brought on or
and violence begins to get organized around these group terms. exacerbated by local changes in climate,
Some critics have accused the study authors of scaremongering, playing up such as unusual temperatures or
rainfall patterns, according to a study
their dramatic results to take advantage of public concern about climate change. by U.C. Berkeley public policy researcher
Yet decades of research support the link between hotter temperatures and in Solomon Hsiang and his colleagues. Below
creased violence, and this study one of the largest analyses ever attempted are a few of the events the scientists
statistically linked to climate shifts:
aligns well with an existing body of work. I think the current study is im
SYRIA
pressive in how encompassing it is and how integrative it is, Geher says. If the Low rainfall JUST BEFORE 2000 B.C.
2000 B.C.
data are right, there are some scary implications that I think people need to take Colder AKKADIAN
than normal EMPIRE
into account. Ajai Raj COLLAPSE 1800 B.C.
temperatures
CHINA
Drought 1800 B.C.
XIA DYNASTY 1600 B.C.
COLLAPSE
COLD CONFUSION 1400 B.C.
The effects of low temperatures are harder to parse
CHINA 1200 B.C.
sion around 350 b.c. to point to colds potential for 1046 B.C.
SHANG
modern migrations from curbing crime and reflect DYNASTY
Europe to the Americas in some of the difficulties COLLAPSE 1000 B.C.
the 1800s. associated with trying to
Likewise, a series of labo- study crime triggers in a EUROPE 800 B.C.
400 B.C.
ratory experiments dating to controlled setting. Unlike CELTIC
the mid-1970s suggest the lab, for instance, where EXPANSION
AND 600 B.C.
uncomfortable cold, as with scientists get final say over CONFLICT
uncomfortable heat, can the temperature, people at CHINA
200 B.C.
push peoples aggression large in the world are typical- QIN 400 B.C.
buttons. There is a debate ly at liberty to add a layer or DYNASTY
COLLAPSE
Heat gets a bad rap for fuel- about whether this effect two. Experts also note that 200 B.C.
ing human hostility. But tapers off at temperature it is generally easier to get Both cultures EUROPE 5 B.C.
affected by ROMAN
whats the deal when the extremes [see box on oppo- back to a comfortable body
mercury drops? The cold site page]. But from lab temperature when it gets
changing rain- CONQUEST 0
fall patterns
effect has been somewhat findings alone, it seems fea nippy than when it is exces- across the
less studied, although there sible that cold could stir up sively hot. Pacific 200
are hints that being uncom- as much trouble as heat. Hot and cold weather
CHINA 907 MEXICO 910
fortably chilly can contribute Nevertheless, most real- prompt very different human
TANG DYNASTY MAYAN
EMPIRE 400
to conflict in some situa- world studies suggest as behaviors. Whereas many COLLAPSE
tions and quell it in others. saultsand many other head outside when the heat
DECLINE
A Swiss-led group using crimeswane in winter is on, extreme cold dis- PERU 1100 600
tree-ring data to look at months and during cold suades all but a hardy few PERIOD OF
SOCIAL
Central European summer snaps when temperatures from venturing out more INSTABILITY 800
climate patterns during dip below what is consid- than necessary, decreasing
CHINA 1279
roughly 2,500 years saw ered comfortable in a given the chances that a would-be
that periods of prolonged climate. There are excep- victim will run into a poten-
SONG
DYNASTY EUROPE 1000
1300
warming and of colder than tions, including crime spikes tial perpetrator. So although COLLAPSE
GREAT FAMINE
usual spells coincided with in December and January, there are hints that cold AND BLACK
DEATH 1200
social upheavals. As they although researchers tend snaps hasten upheavals CHINA 1368
reported online in January to attribute those to con- and spark some forms of YUAN DYNASTY
COLLAPSE CAMBODIA 1400
2011 in Science, the re founding circumstances social stress, it seems that 1425
searchers uncovered cold such as the holiday season chilly temperatures could be ANGKOR
EMPIRE
periods that overlapped with rather than the cold and off the hook when it comes COLLAPSE 1600
Both cultures EUROPE 1600
raucous historical events more hours of darkness. to causing crime at least 30 YEARS
affected by low rain-
ranging from a Celtic expan- Such real-life patterns for now. A.A. WAR
1800
fall across Asia
l Learning to play a musical instrument can help the brain process sounds better, making it easier to stay focused in many of lifes pursuits.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 17
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Head Lines
>> Dare to Feel Overcoming fear of emotions
AFRAID OF comfortable if they are not always worry-
ing, Gilbert says. It is not uncommon
HAPPINESS for people to fear that if they are happy
Learning to embrace good about something, it will be taken away.
feelings can lay the ground Past research supports the idea that
work for future therapy an aversion to positive emotions often
coexists with mental disorders. Patients
Unhappiness is often viewed as something with major depressive disorder, for
to be prevented, avoided or eliminated. example, have been found to fear and
M G O Z (i l l u s t r a t i o n) ; G H I S L A I N A N D M A R I E DAV I D D E L O S S Y G e t t y I m a g e s ( p r o f i l e) ; S O U R C E : F E A R S O F C O M PA S S I O N A N D H A P P I N E S S I N R E L AT I O N T O A L E X I T H Y M I A ,
Yet recent studies reveal that for some peo- suppress both negative and positive emo-
ple, feeling good is what scares them. Rec- tions more than healthy people do. These
ognizing this fear and targeting it with findings highlight a critical but often
therapy may be a critical first step before overlooked aspect of treatment, accord-
M I N D F U L N E S S , A N D S E L F - C R I T I C I S M , B Y P. G I L B E R T E T A L . , I N P S Y C H O LO GY A N D P S Y C H O T H E R A P Y, V O L . 8 5 , N O . 4 ; D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2 (q u e s t i o n n a i r e)
other mental illnesses can be treated. ing to Gilbert. It is very important that
People fear positive emotions for Joshanloo published online in October the fear of happiness become a focus for
many reasons, such as feeling unworthy 2013 in the Journal of Cross-Cultural therapy in its own right, and that means
or believing good fortune inevitably leads Psychology. The study found the scale to treating it as you would any other fear,
to a fall, according to two new studies. be reliable in 14 different cultures. he says, such as with exposure therapy or
Mohsen Joshanloo, a psychology gradu- Using a similar scale, psychiatrist Paul mindfulness techniques whereby practi-
ate student at Victoria University of Wel- Gilbert of Kingsway Hospital in England tioners allow themselves to feel happy
lington in New Zealand, developed a and his colleagues found in 2012 that a without judgment. Traditional therapeu-
Fear of Happiness Scale, on which par- fear of happiness correlates highly with tic approaches often encourage depressed
ticipants indicate their level of agreement depressionbut that the dread manifests patients to participate in enjoyable situa-
with statements such as Having lots of in numerous ways. Some people experi- tions, yet the new findings suggest that
joy and fun causes bad things to happen. ence happiness as being relaxed or even some people may first need to practice
Such beliefs can plague people in many lazy, as if happiness is frivolous and one allowing themselves to feel any pleasant
countries, according to a study by must always be striving; others feel un emotions at all. T.R.
M Does brain training work? The evidence is mixed. Now a study finds that our mind-set, among other variables, can determine its effectiveness.
18 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
>> PSYCHOPATHS BROKEN EMPATHY CIRCUIT
Social apathy may arise from deficient connections among emotional brain centers
When most of us imagine someone to imagine the scenario happening
in pain, we feel uncomfortable and to others, their brains did not show
want to help. Psychopaths do not: a typical connectivity between the
callousness toward others suffering amygdala, an area important for
is the central feature of a psycho- fear and emotional processing,
pathic personality. Now an imaging and the ventromedial prefrontal
study finds that psychopathic in cortex, a region vital for emotion
mates have deficits in a key empa- regulation, empathy and morality.
thy circuit in the brain, pointing to a Normal Psychopath Some results even indicated that
potential therapeutic target. A psychopaths ventromedial prefrontal cortex (circled) pleasure regions might have be
Jean Decety, a psychologist at ismuch less coordinated with other empathy areas. come active instead.
the University of Chicago, and his The brain areas that are under-
colleagues used functional MRI to scan the brains of 121 male prison communicating in psychopathy are key for experiencing empathet-
inmates while they looked at photos of a painful moment, such as a ic concern and caring for one another, which is what empathy is all
foot stepping on a nail or a finger being smashed in a drawer. The about and what individuals who score high on psychopathy do not
inmates were instructed to imagine the scenario happening to them- have, Decety says. Cognitive therapy may help some psychopaths;
selves or to another person, a perspective-switching technique that he suggests clinicians could measure changes in these faulty con-
easily elicits empathy in most people. nections to home in on the best strategies to stimulate empathy.
Inmates who scored the highest on a standard psychopathy test [For more on psychopathy, see Inside the Mind of a Psychopath,
showed a normal response in pain perception and brain centers for by Kent A. Kiehl and Joshua W. Buckholtz; Scientific American Mind,
emotion when imagining the pain for themselves. Yet when asked September/October 2010.] Meredith Knight
The Small World of Words. This brainchild of Gert Storms and Simon De Deyne of the University of Leuven in Bel-
gium seeks to understand the relations among words. Citizen scientists see a series of words and are asked to
name what other words come to mind.
Gathering this information helps researchers determine, for instance, how peoples intuitive associations between
words change over time. Two decades ago most peoples first response to climate would be to think weather. Now
around 40 percent say change. Associations also depend on culture: whereas Americans most commonly say
baseball in response to pitch, the British say football. The lead scientists have built impressive visualization
tools for exploring their preliminary results. http://smallworldofwords.com
The Baby Laughter Project. Caspar Addyman of Birkbeck, University of London, hopes to discover when babies
laugh and why. Parents can fill out a survey about their babys laughter, and anyone can file a field report on any
particular episode in which they saw a baby laugh. As Addyman explained in a recent interview, what babies find
funny gives us insight into what they understand about the world around them. http://babylaughter.net
VerbCorner. This is my own project, with the Computational Cognitive Science Group at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. It aims to determine what words mean. You might think the problem is already solved: just look them
up in a dictionary! Dictionaries simply define words in terms of other words, however, which themselves are defined
in terms of other words, and so on without end.
At the Web site, both volunteers and researchers in my laboratory answer questions designed to elucidate
specific aspects of word meaning. As with many citizen science projects, the tasks are gamelike, with badges and
points to be earned and fanciful backstories for each series of tasks. http://gameswithwords.org/VerbCorner
@ gameswithwords Joshua K. Hartshorne
l A new study finds that the relatives of people with autism or a personality disorder are much more likely than others to hold creative jobs.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 19
2013 Scientific American
Head Lines ERING
AST Y
M
O
O
UR
A GUIDE T
WORLD
How to
Be a Better
artist
My mother is a self-taught painter
one of her watercolors hangs framed
in our living room. I, on the other
hand, can barely draw a dog. My lack
of skill in the visual arts never really
bothered me until I had a child. Now,
suddenly, the ability to sketch a chick-
en, horsey or princess on demand
has become very important to my tod-
dler (and therefore to me). In reality,
the urge to be creative, for most of
us, goes far beyond drawing for our
childrens entertainment. How can I
and other aspiring artists become
better writers, dancers and crafts
people without signing up for continu-
ing ed? Here is what psychology
research and working artists have to
say about releasing your inner creator.
Rich, a playwright who teaches creativity peoples ability to creatively solve problems part about acting stupid, now thats some-
at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in multiple ways. As artists, we have to thing I can do. The next time I paint a purple
has observed that strangeness can come show people the world in a way they cant birdie at my daughters request, Ill quit
in handy: I find that my students who exhib- see themselves, says Stephan Eirik Clark, focusing on how goofy the eyes look and just
it odd behavior make compelling, creative author of the upcoming novel Sweetness #9 try to have fun. Sunny Sea Gold
M The more we interact with Facebook, the worse we tend to feel. For full stories: ScientificAmerican.com/Mind/jan2014/stories
20 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
(illusions)
transparent machinery before photore entire visual field. You are legally blind blind spot, as well as several other algo
ceptors can transduce it into neural sig to objects more than a finger width or rithms used by your brain to achieve fill
nals. How dumb! Shouldnt the photo two from the center of your vision. But ing in. M
S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D (o r a n g e o v e r l ay ) ; G E T T Y I M AG E S ( g
receptors lie just behind the lens to meet it doesnt feel t hat way. Instead you
the incident light without obfuscation? p erceive your entire visual field as a STEPHEN L. MACKNIK and SUSANA
Well, yes. The retinal layout of some high-resolution and perfectly formed MARTINEZ-CONDE a re laboratory directors at
animals such as squids and octopuses is image that is always in focus: a load of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.
indeed organized in this way. Yet be pure baloney provided compliments of They serve on Scientific American Minds
cause your brain conjures up most of your brain. In fact, very near the part board of advisers and are authors of Sleights
what you see anyway, trivialities such as of your retina where your photorecep of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic
pristine optical transmission are not tor density is highest lies a region devoid Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions, with
that important. of sensory cells, in which you are com Sandra Blakeslee, now in paperback (http://
Case in point: you only have high- pletely blind. It is fascinating and coun sleightsofmind.com). Their forthcoming book,
resolution vision in the very center of terintuitive, so lets discuss the illusion Champions of Illusion, w ill be published by
your eye about 0.1 percent of your that makes you think you see in this Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
DYNAMIC FILLING IN
In this demonstration, the observer fixates his or her
gaze on a small, red spot within a field of noise (for in
stance, the snow on a television when there is no cable
link) while paying attention to a solid gray areawith
the same average brightness of the black and white
dots. After a few seconds of steady visual fixation, the
gray area fills in with the surrounding noise and be
comes indistinguishable from the background. This phe
nomenon is remarkable in that it shows that the brain
not only fills in static patterns but can also simulate dy
namic changes. Interestingly, there is no real reason
why the brain should fill in the gray area in the first
place. There is actually a physical gray spot in the visual
J A S O N L E E (t o p) ; C O U R T E S Y O F H C T O R R I E I R O (b o t t o m)
field (rather than a hole in the retina). The fact that fill
ing in happens in such conditions suggests that the vi
sual system must regularly analyze the visual field for
anomalies and fills them in just in case they are errors.
To experience this illusion, go to http://smc.
neuralcorrelate.com/illusions-and-demos/
dynamic-filling-in
Alternatively, tune your TV to a field of flickering
noise and stick to the screen a fixation target (a little
corner of a Post-It will do) and a small square (about the
size of your thumbnail) of newspaper (use some tape on
the back of the square that you can easily remove after
ward). The fixation target and the gray square should
be four to five inches apart, and your eyes should be at
about arms length from the TV screen, where you can
see both the fixation target and gray square easily. Now
hold your gaze still on the fixation target and watch the
square fill in with the surrounding noise.
22 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D
2013 Scientific American J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
NEON COLOR SPREADING
The brain can fill in color information even
A N E W V I S U A L I L L U S I O N : N E O N L I K E C O L O R S P R E A D I N G A N D C O M P L E M E N TA R Y C O L O R I N D U C T I O N B E T W E E N S U B J E C T I V E C O N T O U R S , B Y H . F. J . M . VA N T U I J L , I N A C TA P S Y C H O LO G I C A , V O L . 3 9, N O. 6 ;
FILLING IN BY MORPHING
Neuroscientist Peter U. Tse of Dartmouth
College discovered that two similar,
but different, two-dimensional or three-
dimensional objects presented in
sequence can appear to transform
(morph) into each other and that the
brain fills in the missing frames with
illusory motion between the two phys
ical shapes. Instead of two objects, LILAC CHASER
your brain provides you with the per This illusion consists of a rotating gap in a circular array of lilac dots over a gray field. When
ception of a single object changing you fix your gaze on the center of the display, the dots fade because of visual adaptation,
shape and position in space. and what emerges is a single rotating green dot (lilacs opposing color) that does not actually
See the demonstrations at exist. The brain fills in the places occupied by the lilac dots with the gray field around them,
www.dartmouth.edu/~petertse/ but it is still subject to the opposing-color afterimage that each faded lilac dot generates.
tamdemo2a.htm and www.dartmouth. See an interactive demonstration of this effect at
edu/~petertse/tamdemo3d.htm www.michaelbach.de/ot/col_lilacChaser
FURTHER READING
A
New Visual Illusion: Neonlike Color Spreading and
Complementary Color Induction between Subjective Contours.
H.F.J.M. van Tuijl in A
cta Psychologica, Vol. 39, No. 6,
pages 441445; December 1975.
Perceptual Filling in of Artificially Induced Scotomas in Human
Vision. V. S. Ramachandran and R. L. Gregory in Nature,
Vol. 350, pages 699702; April 25, 1991.
Dynamic Noise Backgrounds Facilitate Target Fading.
L. Spillmann and A. Kurtenbach in Vision Research, Vol. 32,
No. 10, pages 19411946; October 1992.
Neural
Correlates of Transformational Apparent Motion.
Peter U. Tse in Neuroimage, Vol. 31, No. 2, pages 766773;
June 2006.
Microsaccades Counteract Perceptual Filling-in.
Apparently your mind was in the gutter because in reality the women X. G. Troncoso, Stephen L. Macknik and Susana Martinez-
are wearing bathing suits and only appeared to be naked because that Conde in Journal of Vision, Vol. 8, No. 14, pages 19;
is what your crude mind expected you to see. November 4, 2008.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m
2013 Scientific American SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND 23
(perspectives)
carried out by neurologist Helen May- so. It is more precise: electrodes are guid- The researchers realized that in other ex-
berg of Emory University and her col- ed to within a millimeter of their target to periments, stimulation to the same brain
leagues, the latest trials have been con- stimulate a specific brain area. DBS is region, the nucleus accumbens, had also
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 25
2013 Scientific American
(consciousness redux)
Ubiquitous Minds
Panpsychism, the ancient doctrine that consciousness is universal,
offers some lessons in how to think about subjective experience today
BY CHRISTOF KOCH
26 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D
2013 Scientific American
J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
by the color at the entrance). Bees can have bigger brains. Only an expert neu- of consciousness in the sense that it feels
fly several kilometers and return to their roanatomist, armed with a microscope, like something to be that system. If the
hive, a remarkable navigational perfor- can tell a grain-size piece of cortex of a system falls apart, consciousness ceases
mance. And a scent blown into the hive mouse from that of a monkey or a hu- to be; it doesnt feel like anything to be a
can trigger a return to the site where the man. Biologists emphasize this structur- broken system. And the more complex
bees previously encountered this odor. al and behavioral continuity by distin- the system, the larger the repertoire of
This type of associative memory was fa- guishing between nonhuman and h uman conscious states it can experience.
mously described by Marcel Proust in A animals. We are all natures children. My subjective experience (and yours,
la Recherche du Temps Perdu. Other an- Given the lack of a clear and compel- too, presumably), the Cartesian I think,
imals can recognize themselves, know ling Rubicon separating simple from therefore I am, is an undeniable certain-
when their conspecifics observe them, complex animals and simple from com- ty, one strong enough to hold the weight
and can lie and cheat. plex behaviors, the belief that only hu- of philosophy. But from whence does
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m
2013 Scientific American
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND 27
(consciousness redux)
the divide between unconscious and Internet or the United States of America? derlying this unity of consciousness is a
conscious states to be bridged by bigger Furthermore, panpsychism does not ex- multitude of causal interactions among
brains or more complex neurons. plain why a healthy brain is conscious, the relevant parts of your brain. If parts
A more principled solution is to as- whereas the same brain, placed inside a of the brain become fragmented and bal-
sume that consciousness is a basic fea- blender and reduced to goo, would not kanized, as occurs in deep sleep or in an-
ture of certain types of so-called com- be. That is, it does not explain how aggre- esthesia, consciousness fades.
plex systems (defined in some universal, gates combine to produce specific con- To be conscious, then, you need to be
mathematical manner). And that com- scious experience. a single, integrated entity with a large
plex systems have sensation, whereas repertoire of highly differentiated states.
simple systems have none. This reason- Integrated Panpsychism Even if the hard disk on my laptop ex-
ing is analogous to the arguments made These century-old arguments bring ceeds in capacity my lifetime memories,
by savants studying electrical charge in me to the conceptual framework of the none of its information is integrated.
the 18th century. Charge is not an emer- integrated information theory (IIT) of The family photos on my Mac are not
28 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D
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J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
be low. If the organism has many ral scales): my consciousness, your con- est and most complex artifact, the Inter-
neurons and is richly endowed with sciousness, but nothing in between. net. It consists of billions of computers
synaptic connections, will be high. That is, every person living in the U.S. is, linked together using optical fibers and
Basically, captures the quantity of self by self, conscious, but there is no su- copper cables that rapidly instantiate
cons ciousness. The quality of specific connections using ul-
any one experience the way in trafast communication proto-
which red feels different from cols. Each of these processors
blue and a color is perceived dif- in turn is made out of a few bil-
ferently from a tone is con- lion transistors. Taken as a
veyed by the informational ge- whole, the Internet has perhaps
ometry associated with . The 10 19 transistors, about the
theory assigns to any one brain number of synapses in the
state a shape, a crystal, in a fan- brains of 10,000 people. Thus,
tastically high-dimensional its sheer number of components
qualia space. This crystal is the exceeds that of any one human
system viewed from within. It is brain. Whether or not the In-
the voice in the head, the light ternet today feels like some-
inside the skull. It is everything thing to itself is completely
you will ever know of the world. speculative. Still, it is certainly
It is your only reality. It is the conceivable.
quiddity of experience. The When I talk and write about
dream of the lotus eater, the panpsychism, I often encounter
mindfulness of the meditating blank stares of incomprehen-
monk and the agony of the can- sion. Such a belief violates peo-
cer patient all feel the way they In this map of the Internet, different colors indicate different ples strongly held intuition
countries and domains. Although the Internet contains 10,000
do because of the shape of the that sentience is something
times as many transistors as one human brain, it is unknown
distinct crystals in a space of a whether its connections are integrated enough to allow a sense only humans and a few closely
trillion dimensions truly a be- of feeling or consciousness to emerge. related species possess. Yet our
atific vision. The water ofinte- intuition also fails when we are
grated information is turned into the perordinate consciousness of the U.S. first told as kids that a whale is not a fish
wine of experience. population as a whole. but a mammal or that people on the oth-
Integrated information makes very Unlike classical panpsychism, not all er side of the planet do not fall off be-
specific predictions about which brain physical objects have a that is differ- cause they are upside down. Panpsy-
C O U R T E S Y O F B A R R E T T LYO N T h e O p t e P r o j e c t ( t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l I n t e r n e t m a p)
circuits are involved in consciousness ent from zero. Only integrated systems chism is an elegant explanation for the
and which ones are peripheral players do. A bunch of disconnected neurons in most basic of all brute facts I encounter
(even though they might contain many a dish, a heap of sand, a galaxy of stars every morning on awakening: there is
more neurons, their anatomical wiring or a black hole none of them are inte- subjective experience. Tononis theory
differs). The theory has most recently grated. They have no consciousness. offers a scientific, constructive, predic-
been used to build a consciousness meter They do not have mental properties. tive and mathematically precise form of
to assess, in a quantitative manner, the Last, IIT does not discriminate be- panpsychism for the 21st century. It is a
extent to which anesthetized subjects or tween squishy brains inside skulls and gigantic step in the final resolution of
severely brain-injured patients, such as silicon circuits encased in titanium. Pro- the ancient mind-body problem. M
Terri Schiavo, who died in Florida in vided that the causal relations among
2005, are truly not conscious or do have the circuit elements, transistors and oth- CHRISTOF KOCH is chief scientific officer
some conscious experiences but are er logic gates give rise to integrated in- at the Allen institute for Brain Science in
unable to signal their pain and discom- formation, the system will feel like Seattle. He serves on S cientific American
fort to their loved ones [see A Con- something. Consider humankinds larg- Minds board of advisers.
sciousness Meter, Consciousness
Redux; S cientific American Mind,
March/April 2013]. FURTHER READING
IIT addresses the problem of aggre- Panpsychism in the West. David Skrbina. MIT Press, 2005.
gates by postulating that only local Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist. Christof Koch. MIT Press, 2012.
maxima of integrated information ex- Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness: An Updated Account. Giulio Tononi in
ist (over elements and spatial and tempo- Archives Italiennes de Biologie, Vol. 150, No. 4, pages 293329; December 2012.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND 29
COVER STORY
JUST
JUST FRIENDS
CAN MEN AND WOMEN BE FRIENDS?
ATTRACTION PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT
ROLE IN OPPOSITE-SEX FRIENDSHIP,
BUT THAT DOESNT MAKE THE BOND
ANY LESS BENEFICIAL
BY CARLIN FLORA
30 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
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M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 31
2013 Scientific American
It is that feeling that some- sexual men and women be just
one truly understands us that friends, or is there always an in-
lends friendship its power to kling of desire?
ward off existential loneliness. The data suggest that a ro-
Kate and Dan share it, yet mantic spark is not uncommon
their brand of friendship is of- among friends. Yet the truth is
ten seen as suspect as less that all forms of companionship
than pure and true. Friend- are complicated. We often shift
ships between people who our behaviors to try to nudge a
could conceivably date come relationship one way or another.
with built-in suspense for on- Our actions only sometimes re-
lookers: Will they get togeth- flect the disinterested care and
er, or wont they? concern we assume must charac-
For philosophers and sci- Almost half of cross-sex friends experience terize an ideal friendship. Even
romantic attraction at some point, so the potential
entists alike, friendship has for unrequited feelings is high.
so, romantic or sexual attraction
proved as difficult to pin down between two friends can be a
as love. And dont we, after all, bonus a sign of ones social
love our close friends? Ancient worthrather than a flaw.
Greek philosopher Aristotle
and French essayist Michel de Montaigne in the 16th century The Rise of Opposite-Sex Friendship
felt that true friendship could exist only between virtuous The question of whether men and women can be friends is
menholding up a high yet subjective bar that also happened relatively new, as is research into the dynamics of cross-sex
to avoid women altogether. Plato, who lent his name to the term friendships. (Scientific insights into homosexual same-sex friend-
platonic relationship (or platonic love), described love as a ship are even more scant, so this article will deal primarily with
window on true beauty, best kept free of venereal pursuits. attraction between heterosexual friends of the opposite sex.)
Contemporary usage equates platonic relationships with amity Male-female friendship received its first big break from the
rather than love, yet the origin of the term underscores friend- feminist movement of the 1960s, which placed men and women
ships multifaceted nature. All friendships begin with a spark on more equal ground in social and work situations. In addition
of mutual attraction, and sometimes that attraction extends to to creating more opportunities for the sexes to interact, the
the physical. changing social order made men and women more compatible as
In the scientific literature, many scholars have settled on a friends. We overwhelmingly choose friends who resemble us in
definition for friendship that was coined by psychologist Robert attitudes and behaviors. It follows that when women and men
Hays of the University of California, San Francisco. He described occupied different and unequal spheres of life, they had less in
the bond as a voluntary interdependence between two persons common and thus were less likely to be close pals.
over time that is intended to facilitate socioemotional goals of the In the half a century since those social changes set in, oppo-
participants and may involve varying types and degrees of com- site-sex friendships have become increasingly common. In 2002,
panionship, intimacy, affection and mutual assistance. Depend- for example, American Demographics magazine found that at
ing on those types and degrees, friendship can look an awful the time of their survey, 18- to 24-year-olds were nearly four times
lot like courtship or love. This raises the question: Can hetero- as likely as people older than 55 to have a best friend of the oppo-
site sex. More recent research also documents the historical nov-
elty of male-female friendships. In a 2012 study psychologist April
FAST FACTS
Bleske-Rechek of the University of WisconsinEau Claire asked
FRIENDLY ATTRACTION
college students how many of them had friends of the opposite
A n inkling of romantic or sexual attraction is common between sexnearly all did. Compare that with what sociologist Rebecca
heterosexual opposite-sex friends.
G. Adams of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Y et the friendship is not necessarily weaker or less legitimate as a result.
found in 1985, when she asked 70 female senior citizens the same
O pposite-sex friendships offer unique benefits, including insight into
how the other gender thinks, and contribute to our mental and physical question: fewer than 4 percent of their friends were male.
well-being. Certain types of men and women are more likely to have
32 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
more cross-sex friends. In a 2003 with feeling less satisfied with their
study Heidi Reeder, a communica- romantic partner. Widespread press
tions professor at Boise State Uni- coverage trumpeted the implication
versity, found that feminine men that men and women cannot be pla-
and masculine women (as mea- tonic, even if they are not having
sured by the Bem Sex Role Invento- sex. Yet it is important to note that
ry) had a significantly higher pro- friendships persisted in spite of ro-
portion of cross-sex friendships mantic or sexual attraction quite
than did masculine men and the opposite conclusion.
feminine women. The inventory Attraction is the basis of all
is based on traditional sex roles, friendship, and the carnal variety is
wherein subjects describing them- common but not ubiquitous. Reeder
selves as very warm or sensi- analyzed hundreds of interview
tive, for example, would score as An awkward encounter need not doom transcripts of people reflecting on
more feminine than those de- a friendship. Pals should reaffirm their closest friend of the other gen-
the importance of their bond and tone
scribing themselves as aggressive der and identified four types of at-
down flirtatious behavior.
and analytical. The interpreta- traction among the individuals. Al-
tion is simple: whatever our sex, we most all respondents reported feel-
prefer friends who are just like us. ing friendship attraction, that
emotional resonance that Dan and
Justified Doubt of Just Friends Kate experienced once they shared their family histories. Only
With the data clearly indicating that male-female friendship 14 percent reported current romantic attraction, defined as
is thriving, perhaps it is time to abandon the old trope that men the desire to become a couple, although almost half said they
and women cant be just friends. Yet the idea has persisted for had felt it earlier in the friendship. One third felt subjective
the simple reason that attraction can cause boundaries to blur. physical/sexual attraction, which is a physical urge without a
Consider, for example, one rare high-profile opposite-sex friend- yearning for a serious partnership, and just more than 50 per-
ship from the late 1940s, when the young, religious and South- cent reported objective physical/sexual attraction, meaning
ern Flannery OConnor met the older, Waspy Robert Lowell at they could see why others found their friend attractive even if
a retreat in upstate New York. Lowell brought OConnor they were not thus charmed. In short, the odds are pretty good
around to literary parties in Manhattan, with his fiance also in that an opposite-sex friend did, or does, feel some pull toward
tow. As OConnor reportedly once wrote to a friend about Low- the prurient.
ell, I feel almost too much about him to be able to get to the
heart of it.... He is one of the people I love. The Myth of Pure Friendship
Psychological research has also documented the ambiguity of With attraction abundant, the question becomes: So what?
many cross-sex friendships. In 2000 psychologist Walid Afifi, Skeptics of male-female friendship argue that if one person in the
then at Pennsylvania State University, surveyed 315 college stu- pair wants romance, the friendship is not truly platonic. With
dents and found that approximately half had engaged in sexual emotional skullduggery afoot, a pals trustworthiness and de-
activity with an otherwise platonic friend. In a 2012 study Bleske- pendability are thrown into question. Yet this argument oversim-
Rechek and her colleagues asked 88 pairs of opposite-sex college- plifies the nature of friendship.
age friends about their friendship. They also sent questionnaires First, friends regularly factor into mating goals. Peers can in-
probing the pros and cons of opposite-sex friendships to 107 peo- troduce us to a potential partner, help evaluate who is a good
ple between the ages of 18 and 23 and to 322 adults aged 27 to 55. match and instruct us in the social nuances that support roman-
In general, the men reported feeling slightly more attracted to tic overtures. Evolved mating strategies are operating in the
their female friends than vice versa. Across age groups, partici-
pants described the friendships as beneficial overall, although
they and women in particular tended to consider attraction a THE AUTHOR
cost. For young women and for both sexes in the sample of older CARLIN FLORA is a freelance journalist and author of Friendfluence:
subjects, more attraction to their closest friend was associated The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are (Doubleday, 2013).
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 33
2013 Scientific American
background of any relation- confess a desire for a romantic
ship, Bleske-Rechek says. relationship with a friend,
But that doesnt mean we cant Greif recommends asking
have constructive friendships yourself if you will be unhappy
with people we can count on. a few years down the road
Some might argue that cur- should the person settle down
rying favor with an opposite- with someone else.
sex pal in the hope of kindling To study the repercussions
a physical relationship is not in of such a baring of the soul,
keeping with the tenets of Reeder looked at the aftermath
friendship. Yet this kind of be- of friends bold (but unsuccess-
havior is common among com- ful) disclosures of their secret
panions. Without even noticing passion. In friendships that sur-
it, people routinely adjust their Boundaries inevitably shift when a best friend vived the awkward conversa-
falls in love. To avoid feeling left out, invest
behavior to manipulate how more in developing other friendships. tion, both people tended to re-
their nearest and dearest feel affirm the importance of their
about them. You might become bond, acknowledge that the
more diligent about doing the disclosure was acceptable, tone
dishes to maintain a peaceful down any flirtatious behavior
environment at home. Or you might spend extra time compos- or innuendo, and resume their earlier contact patterns. The
ing a witty e-mail to a same-sex friend because you want to pre- friend who demurred also acknowledged that the confessors as-
serve that persons respect and admiration. The idea that there sumptions about the relationships potential were justified, after
is pure friendship on one hand and friendship with an ulterior which the confessor dropped the topic. Down the line, both pals
motive on the other is false and silly, Bleske-Rechek says. openly discussed new prospective romantic partners.
Indeed, the bulk of our friendships are imperfect in one way In doomed friendships, the confessor complained and acted
or another. About half of a persons social network is typically bothered when the friend did not agree to shift into romance and
made up of ambivalent ties, according to work published in 2009 avoided contact with the object of their affection. The rejecter
by psychologists Julianne Holt-Lunstad of Brigham Young Uni- dangled false hope (Its just that Im with someone else right
versity and Bert Uchino of the University of Utah. These are peo- now) and told other friends about the episode.
ple we are reluctant to give up but who can be unpredictable or After Dan moved to New York, we were hanging out as
irritating. Such friendships extract a physical toll, as the re- friends, and Dan was being flirtatious. Hes so charming and fun-
searchers learned after having 107 study participants wear ny, Kate recalls. One night Dan went to Kates apartment for
blood pressure monitors. When the subjects interacted with am- dinner, a romantic setting that brought the question of dating
bivalent friends, their blood pressure spiked higher than when into stark relief. One little kiss happened, Dan recalls, and it
they were with people whom they flat out did not like. Friend- felt like kissing my sister.
ships come in many forms, and only a few of them live up to the Part of the awkwardness, Kate says, was [me thinking] I
ideal of selfless, supportive confidantes. like this guy so much. We are never going to work out romanti-
cally I cant even explain why but we are destined to be really
Dealing with Challenges good friends. I felt so certain about that.
The stress and uncertainty that romantic attraction brings Later, when Dan got married, the two friends learned to ad-
to burgeoning friendships are not altogether different from the just to new boundaries. They pulled back on the number of
stress and uncertainty of any developing relationship, points hours they spent on the phone together, and Kate realized she
out Geoffrey Greif, a professor of social work at the University could not lean on him as much for emotional support. I started
of Maryland. When youre beginning a same-sex friendship, to develop some of my other friendships more, she says. Dans
you have to evaluate: How am I going to pursue him? If I in- wife took on the role of his primary confidante, and he became
vite him to watch the Super Bowl and he says no, do I invite more mindful that his outings with friends not eclipse their time
him to a movie some other time? Youre always trying to gauge together at home. As for Kates potential threat as an attractive
the other persons interest. As to whether or not one should female: My wife never expressed discomfort, he notes, be-
34 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
cause I think she realized, just tionships. Strong social connec-
from being around us, that it was tions, in fact, are the biggest pre-
platonic and that it was a nourish- dictor of happiness in general.
ing friendship. But I had to adjust Given the importance of so-
to the change, too. cial support to a healthy mind
and body, it is unwise to kick
Friends with Many Benefits half of the population out of
The good news is that most your pool of potential friends.
cross-sex friendships survive the Kate has made me less selfish,
pangs of romantic tension. Po- Dan says. Between us theres a
tential awkwardness aside, hav- sense of acceptance of the other
ing a friend who is attracted to persons neuroses, flaws and
you can be beneficial. Anytime even enjoyment of them. I take
someone expresses interest in No matter the gender, friendships promote health great comfort in a relationship
and improve the quality of romantic relationships.
you, Reeder says, they are af- that has stability even though it
firming your worth in the social ebbs and flows in intensity.
world. She speculates that part- Dan has influenced me his
ners in a stagnant romantic rela- work ethic has been inspiring,
tionship might feel empowered by the admiration of an oppo- how seriously he takes his work. And I thrive on his sense of hu-
site-sex friend. mor, Kate says. Hes a friend I can completely trust. What a
Indeed, these friendships offer a few unique benefits beyond rare feeling that is, to be able to say anything to someone, with-
the standard assets of having a buddy. Men and women both re- out feeling censored. Their decade-plus friendship, she says,
port turning to opposite-sex pals to glean insights into how the feels like one ongoing conversation.
other gender thinks. Dan, for example, describes how he often Kate and Dan have reached the highest levels of friend-
hears Kates voice in his head as he contemplates relationship is- ship, where lifes great rewards love, pleasure, and the abil-
sues and dealings with women in general: Its a necessary coun- ity to grow and learn abound. They exemplify Aristotles
terbalance to my male brain. view on the best kind of friends. As described by philosopher
Advice regarding a love interest might be the key dividend in Massimo Pigliucci of the City University of New York in his
one kind of cross-sex friendship: those between gay men and book Answers for Aristotle, such friends hold a mirror up
straight women. A 2013 study found that straight women are to each other; through that mirror they can see each other in
more likely to heed mating counsel from a gay man than from ways that would not otherwise be accessible to them.
other sources, and gay men are likewise more inclined to trust Whether the person holding the mirror is male or female
advice from straight women than from straight men or lesbians. hardly matters. M
Unlike other alliances, friends who cross both sex and sexual ori-
entation neither compete for mates nor weather the turbulence
of unrequited desire. As a result, this bond has the potential to FURTHER READING
foster more trust than other ties, especially when it comes to un- Friendship: Development, Ecology, and Evolution of a Relationship.
biased dating insights. Daniel J. Hruschka. University of California Press, 2010.
More generally, strong friendships of any stripe are a tremen- Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-Analytic Review.
dous boon to physical and mental physical health. To wit: Holt- Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Timothy B. Smith and J. Bradley Layton in
PLOS Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 7, Article No. e1000316; July 2010.
Lunstad conducted a meta-analysis (a quantitative review of nu-
Benefit or Burden? Attraction in Cross-Sex Friendship. April Bleske-
merous studies) and concluded that having few friends is the
Rechek et al. in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 29,
mortality risk equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. People No. 5, pages 569596; August 2012.
with a close friend at work are more productive and more inno- From Our Archives
vative and have more fun than those without one. Couples, too,
Fickle Friends: How to Deal with Frenemies. Kirsten Weir; May/
benefit when both partners have opposite-sex friends. Those June 2011.
who have a larger percentage of shared friends, as opposed to Lust for Life: Sexual Desire Forges Lasting Relationships. Stephanie
individual friends, tend to have happier and longer-lasting rela- Cacioppo and John T. Cacioppo; November/December 2013.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 35
2013 Scientific American
SPECIA L R EPORT BRAIN INJURIES
A
BLOWS TO THE HE AD MAY TRIGGER
THE BR AINS UNR AVELING
T
BY JACQUELINE C. TANAK A AND GREGG B. WELLS
FA
36 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D
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RI K
T ES
2013 Scientific American
SPECIA L R EPORT BR AIN INJURIES
sons death, approximately 4,500 players logical difficulties off of it and to die in
Mike Webster played sued the NFL for concealing information abrupt, often violent ways have put this
for 17 seasons in the National Football about the dangers of traumatic brain in- sport at the center of the CTE controver-
League (NFL). He was instrumental to juries. Last August the league agreed to an sy. Cullen Finnerty, a former professional
the Pittsburgh Steelers four Super Bowl out-of-court settlement for $765 million. player, disappeared into the woods last
victories during his career. In 2002 he Since then, former players have launched May at age 30 before turning up dead two
died of heart failure in the coronary care new suits against the NFL, the National days later. Andre Waters, renowned as
unit of Allegheny General Hospital at age Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) one of the NFLs hardest hitters, commit-
50. His medical history included serious and a helmet manufacturer, Riddell. ted suicide at age 44. Twenty-six-year-old
neuropsychiatric problems beginning The legal furor has been matched by Chris Henry, a wide receiver for the Cin-
around the time he left the NFL. a frenzy of activity on the scientific side. cinnati Bengals, fell off the back of a mov-
After Webster retired at age 38, his More than 100 NFL players and athletes ing truck and died in 2009. When their
family watched him disintegrate into a from other sports have pledged their brain tissue was later examined, all three
tormented, wandering soul living out of brains to the study of CTE. So far few of athletes showed signs of CTE.
his Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck. After his the mysteries of this disorder have been Even more disturbing are the cases of
death, an astute neuropathologist at the solved, but scientists have nonetheless young, nonprofessional players who de-
University of Pittsburgh, Bennet Omalu, gleaned compelling insights. Participating veloped CTE. Among them is a former
performed an autopsy on Webster and in contact sports and sustaining brain captain of the University of Pennsylvania
preserved regions of his brain for later mi- trauma raise a persons risk of several football team, 21-year-old Owen Thom-
croscopic analysis. forms of cognitive impairment and de-
When Omalu examined the speci- mentia, not only CTE. Yet the neuropa-
mens, he observed atrophy similar to that thology of CTE is distinct, and its link to
seen in Alzheimers disease patients but sports raises important questions regard-
in different areas of the brain. Omalu rec- ing athletes safety. Science is progressing
ognized the abnormalities as chronic rapidly, and its message is clear: to pre-
traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a form serve the game and its players, the culture
of brain deterioration previously report- of football must change.
ed in boxers and associated with the re-
peated traumatic brain injuries experi- Brains under Fire
enced in that sport. The 2005 report that Although CTE is most commonly associ-
Omalu published on Websters brain was ated with football, brain trauma is any- Normal Stage IV CTE
the first known case of CTE in a profes- thing but rare. Annually in the U.S., trau-
sional NFL player. matic brain injuries account for more Slices of brain tissue were stained to reveal
T H I S PAG E : A N N C . M C K E E B o s t o n Ve t e r a n s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n M e d i c a l C e n t e r (b r a i n s l i c e s)
the presence of the protein tau, which
In the eight years since, the number of than a million emergency room visits; an
appears dark brown. The tissue at the right
reports of the behavioral and cognitive unknown number of brain injuries are shows an advanced stage of CTE.
changes experienced by NFL players has treated outside the hospital or go unre-
exploded. And the athletes themselves marked. Head injuries from car accidents
have taken notice. When Chicago Bears or, for military veterans, from explosive as. In 2010 Thomas hanged himself in
player Dave Duerson committed suicide in blasts take a toll, as do hits incurred in his off-campus apartment. According to
2011, he shot himself in the chest and left several sports, including hockey, soccer his mother, he had never been diagnosed
a note requesting that his brain be donated and martial arts. Yet the gut-wrenching with a concussion. An examination of P R E C E D I N G PAG E S : T H O M A S B A R W I C K G e t t y I m a g e s ;
to science. Analyses revealed that he, too, stories of American football players who his brain nonetheless showed marks of
had developed CTE. The year of Duer- excelled on the field only to face psycho- the trauma-induced disease. Younger
still was the 18-year-old multisport high
school student who died from complica-
FAST FACTS tions related to a brain injury on the
CONCUSSION CONUNDRUM field. The frontal cortex of his brain fea-
epeated traumatic brain injuries increase a persons chances of
R tured telltale protein buildups that also
developing a neurodegenerative disorder called chronic traumatic indicated a very early stage of CTE. Such
encephalopathy (CTE).
cases have led parents to worry whether
P layers of many sports, but most notably football, appear to be they should sign their kids up for youth
especially vulnerable.
football leagues and if so, at what age.
ew techniques for observing the disorders warning signs promise to
N
help coaches and clinicians identify vulnerable players before they fall The controversies surrounding head
victim to CTE. injuries may be new to football, but the
38 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
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brospinal fluid appear enlarged. Under
HELMET the microscope, the brain is peppered
INSIGHTS with tangles of a protein called tau that
In one study, helmet clump irregularly around blood vessels
RB
sensors collected data
and inside brain cells. Sometimes other
10 20 30 40 50 40 30 20 10
10 20 30 40 50 40 30 20 10
from 286,636 head
Offense proteins also accumulate namely, beta
impacts in three college
teams over three years. QB amyloid (implicated in Alzheimers) and
A subset of players are TDP-43 (a major factor in amyotrophic
shown here. The colors OL WR
lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Geh-
indicate the rotational
rigs disease).
acceleration of a hit,
C The brain degeneration can only be
with yellow indicating
lowest and red, high- observed postmortem, yet certain behav-
est. Defensive linemen Defense DL DB ioral changes might signal its presence in
(DL), offensive linemen a living person. Symptoms include mem-
(OL, and the center, C)
ory impairment, erratic behavior, depres-
and linebackers (LB)
sustain the largest
LB sion and problems with impulse control;
number of hits. Quarter- suicidal behavior also appears to be en-
backs (QB), wide receiv- demic. Also telling is a 2007 study of
ers (WR) and running DB more than 2,500 retired NFL players.
backs (RB) endure the
The scientists found that cognitive im-
most intense blows.
pairment, memory problems and depres-
sion rose in step with the number of con-
S O U R C E S : B R A N D O N M C M A N U S (c h a r t ) ; H E A D I M PAC T E X P O S U R E I N C O L L E G I AT E F O O T B A L L P L AY E R S , B Y J O S E P H J . C R I S C O E T A L . ,
deleterious effects of multiple blows to postmortem analyses of boxers charac- cussions a player had endured.
the brain have been known anecdotally terized the changes in more detail and in- Yet questions remain as to whether
for almost a century. The first published troduced the term chronic traumatic the same disorder that left younger play-
report dates back to 1928, when pathol- encephalopathy. ers psychologically crippled also explains
ogist Harrison S. Martland wrote of Nowadays CTE refers to a constella- the cognitive decline that seems to mani-
I N J O U R N A L O F B I O M E C H A N I C S , V O L . 4 4 , N O. 1 5 ; O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 1 (c h a r t d a t a) ; A P P H O T O (f o o t b a l l p l ay e r s)
punch drunk boxers bizarre speech tion of brain changes, some of which can fest only decades after some players have
patterns, unsteady gait and progressive be seen with the naked eye during an au- retired. Researchers recently concluded
loss of cognitive function. He even drew topsy. A CTE-afflicted brain weighs less that CTE afflicts people in one of two
a connection between traumatic enceph- than a healthy one, with atrophy visible ways. In one cohort, aged 20 to 40, the
alitis an inflammation of the brain across numerous areas. Two of the brains disease progresses rapidly and instigates
and multiple head injuries. Subsequent four ventricles cavities filled with cere- major changes to behavior and mood,
NAME AND Mike Webster Justin Strzelczyk Andre Waters Chris Henry Dave Duerson Junior Seau
POSITION Center Offensive lineman Defensive back Wide receiver Defensive back Linebacker
AGE 50 36 44 26 50 43
Steelers, Chiefs Steelers Eagles, Cardinals Bengals Bears, Giants, Chargers, Dol-
TEAM
Cardinals phins, Patriots
which can lead to suicide. For an older co- on the observation that rotational forces,
hort, roughly between the ages of 50 and in which the brain twists to one side, seem
70, cognitive impairment is more notable, to deal the most damage.
with dementia as a common end point.
The afflictions of this older cohort ap-
The brain floats in its skull mostly un-
attached, buoyed by cerebrospinal fluid, a
A SAFE WAY
pear more acute than the mild cognitive colorless liquid that cushions the brain TO TACKLE?
decline often seen in the aging brain, as and spine. After a hit, the brain deforms.
neurologist Christopher Randolph of If shaken hard enough, and especially if HEADS UP A MUCH HYPED
Loyola University Medical Center and his the brain twists, parts of neurons can NEW APPROACH TO
colleagues observed in a study published stretch and even shear. The twisting mo- TACKLING SEEKS TO AVOID
in 2013. They administered a question- tion tears open axons, the long, slim fibers THE MOST FEROCIOUS
naire to the spouses of 513 retired NFL that connect one neuron to another neu- HELMET-TO-HELMET
players with a mean age of 64 years. When ron (or to a muscle or organ). COLLISIONS OF FOOTBALL
asked whether the athletes exhibited sig- With the axons outer protective
Its a moment football fans relish: A
nificant cognitive impairment, 35 percent sheath ripped open, the thin filaments in-
running back breaks through the line
of the spouses said yes. In the general pop- side start to unravel. These filaments, and heads up the field for a big play. A
ulation of men under age 75, the figure is called microtubules, allow cargo to trav- defender streaks toward the ball carri-
less than 5 percent. el from the nucleus to target cells. When er, intent on stopping his forward
the microtubules are damaged, mole- progress as quickly as possible. The
spectacularly violent collision that
A Shaken Brain cules of glutamate leak from the cell. The
follows brings the cheering crowd to its
The core question is how a history of head cell also releases several proteins: tau (a feet. That hit and the dozens more
hits can trigger the brains disintegration. structural element that helps to hold to- like it in any given game have helped
The most widely accepted theory builds gether microtubules), amyloid precursor make American football enormously
popular worldwide.
Such electrifying plays have also
placed the sport in a great quandary
because the concussive forces at
Axons under Stress work , particularly when helmets col-
lide, put players at risk for traumatic
A head impact can cause a neurons axon to twist, tearing open its protective brain injury. Head injuries are nothing
sheath, called myelin. Inside the axon, exposed microtubules can snap, releasing new to football the sport has been
several proteins tau, amyloid precursor protein and TDP-43 and glutamate, a grappling with its brutal nature since
neurotransmitter. The molecules signal nearby microglia and astrocytes to initiate its inception nearly 150 years ago.
Now research is connecting several
repairs. Microglia ball up and release cytokines, and astrocytes release S100B.
high-profile former players repeated
S100B is now being studied as a possible marker for CTE in a living person. gridiron head impacts with the emer-
gence of chronic traumatic encepha-
lopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative
Healthy neuron Damaged neuron disorder characterized by atrophied,
abnormal brain tissue.
The proposed link between football
Astrocyte Astrocyte head injuries and CTE in former players
has put the National Football League
(NFL) on the defensive. The NFL has
identified poor tackling technique as
the main culprit in players brain inju-
ries, reasoning that this aspect of the
S100B game explains why concussions have
persisted despite improvements to
Tau helmets and rules banning helmet-to-
helmet collisions.
Glutamate Acknowledging that pro and college
Microtubules
TDP-43 Cytokines players are too far along in their ca-
Myelin reers to make major adjustments to
Amyloid
precursor their style of play, the league teamed
protein up with Indianapolis-based national
youth organization USA Football to
TA M I T O L PA
40 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
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called Heads Up Football, which was the top of the helmet have an average Silver Spring, Md. Marion studies the
introduced in 2012. acceleration equivalent to about 35 g, impact of concussions on both athletes
Heads Ups centerpiece is a cam- whereas those to the facemask average and military personnel. Even as research-
paign to teach young players to tackle less than 25 g. Concussions typically ers investigate the causes of CTE, its
without using their heads as battering occur beginning in the 90-g range; none- becoming increasingly clear that multiple
rams. In principle, the defender makes theless, research suggests that subcon- concussions can be a problem, especially
contact with his opponent using the front cussive blows also can cause damage. If if theyre not reported or if the [player]
of his shoulders and his chest, just above youre not hitting with the top of the is not appropriately diagnosed and treat-
the numbers on his jersey. Instead of helmet, youre reducing concussion ed, he says.
lowering his helmet into the ball carrier, risks, he says. Whether [Heads Up Contact sports such as football will
the defenders head should travel up and tackling] can be carried out on the field in never be truly safe, nor is scrubbing them
away from his opponents helmet. real time, no ones shown those data, but of all risk anyones intention. Still, the
The techniques effectiveness for I cant disagree with the theory behind it. collateral damage is evident at press
both taking down opponents and prevent- Heads Up might diminish the number time 71 NFL players had sustained con-
ing concussions is debatable, particularly of head injuries to some degree. Yet it is cussions this season, with 160 suffering
when players are moving at full speed. no guarantee against brain trauma, which similar injuries the previous season. With
What is not debatable is work that shows can happen anytime a person is involved the Heads Up campaign, both profession-
that hits to the top of the helmet create in a collision, says Robert Cantu, co-di- al and youth football leagues are finally
the greatest risks for head and spinal rector of the Boston University Center for acknowledging players vulnerability to
injuries. Steven Broglio, director of the the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. A head injuries. The question is whether
University of Michigans NeuroSport better idea would be limiting contact in new approaches to tackling and height-
Research Laboratory, has for years stud- practice or even prohibiting tackle foot- ened awareness of concussions are
ied the forces exerted on high school ball for kids younger than 14, he adds. enough to prevent future generations of
players helmets using Head Impact Even if Heads Ups tackling initiative players from suffering the same neurode-
Telemetry System (HITS) technology. HITS is just a start, the broader program prom- generative conditions that plague many
consists of several battery-powered ises to educate coaches, young players of their retired gridiron h
eroes.
sensors in the helmets padding that and their families about concussion risks Larry Greenemeier
record every impacts location, magni- and consequences, says Donald Marion,
tude, duration and direction. a senior clinical consultant at the De- Larry Greenemeier is an associate editor at
Broglios data indicate that blows to fense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in Scientific American.
HEADS UP
TACKLING: 5 KEY MOVES
Breakdown Buzzing Hit Position The Shoot The Rip
Position the Feet Just prior to the The player comes The defenders knuckles and his elbows are
A defender The player main- tackle, the player out of his crouch- down as he makes a double upper-cutting motion
first crouches, tains rapid foot drops his lower ing position with below the ball carriers armpits and lifts that
feet spread, movement to body while keeping a quick, explosive player up and backward. Most important, from
knees bent. ensure he is not his torso upright. opening of the this position, the tackling players head should
caught flatfooted hips. This move- travel up and away from the opponent during
or off balance ment thrusts him the follow-through.
when preparing forward and gener-
to tackle. ates power for
the tackle.
JASON LEE
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 41
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SPECIA L R EPORT BR AIN INJURIES
42 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
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and cognition, and one of scientists by monitoring the presence of tau in a memory center of the brain. By intro-
most pressing goals is to determine who living person. A new radioactive tracer ducing neural stem cells into the hippo-
is most at risk. The fact that not all play- can bind to tau, exposing it in brain campus, the thinking goes, we can stim-
ers succumb to CTE suggests that given scans produced by positron-emission to- ulate new neurons to grow, replacing the
time, the brain can repair damaged ar- mography. In a 2013 pilot study led by lost brain cells and potentially restoring
eas. Repeated blows within some critical psychiatrist Gary Small of the University memory or at least halting the deteriora-
window seem to prime the brain for of California, Los Angeles, five retired tion. In studies using human neural stem
CTE: they either amplify existing inju- NFL players with CTE symptoms under- cells grown in culture, the companys
ries or prolong the recovery, or both. A went brain scans after being injected drug, called NSI-189, was shown to
subsequent hit could rev up the inflam- with the new tracer. The resulting images stimulate the development of new neu-
matory processes already at work, po- showed significantly higher levels of tau rons in the hippocampus. Yet these are
tentially setting off toxic cascades. As- than the control subjects had. Though early days the drug is undergoing safe-
suming future research pans out, a time- preliminary, this approach opens up the ty testing in two dozen patients and is,
ly blood test for S100B might let team possibility of early detection, a signifi- at best, years away from showing up on
physicians monitor the extent of damage cant first step before clinicians can begin pharmacy shelves.
caused by a head hit and thus determine delivering therapy.
whether it is safe for a player to return to As for treatment, the NFL Alumni Protection for Players
the field. The test might even serve as a Association is working with a company The biggest gains, at least in the short
simple, if crude, way of tracking players called Neuralstem to develop drugs that term, will come not from drugs but from
risk of developing CTE game by game. might combat the symptoms of CTE. changes in how players protect them-
Another promising advance could Neuralstems proposed intervention tar- selves and how the game is played. Sev-
turn brain imaging into a diagnostic tool gets atrophy in the hippocampus, a eral measures can encourage teams at all
compared with a burly pro cause seniors can dwarf fresh- traumatic encephalopathy Brandon McManus
whose neck is the size of a men in size. Building up neck (CTE) in the fall of 2012, when
milk jugpermit the head to and shoulder muscles and re- several former NFL players Brandon McManus was signed
whip around precariously. Yet hearsing safe technique (such committed suicide, and players by the Indianapolis Colts in
weaker muscles also mean as keeping the head up, rather and their families sued the 2013. He plans to apply to
softer tackles, as children are than letting it drop into an inju- league. Although awareness medical school after the NFL.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 43
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SPECIA L R EPORT BR AIN INJURIES
Amygdala
S O U R C E : P E T S C A N N I N G O F B R A I N TA U I N R E T I R E D N AT I O N A L F O O T B A L L L E AG U E P L AY E R S : P R E L I M I N A R Y F I N D I N G S ,
helmets are important, they are unlikely head against the rotational forces of a personnel to monitor players and pull
B Y G A R Y W. S M A L L E T A L . , I N A M E R I C A N J O U R N A L O F G E R I AT R I C P S Y C H I AT R Y, V O L . 2 1 , N O . 2 ; F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 3
to protect the brain from rotational forc- hit. Several studies, including some that them off the field should their impact
es. Thus, it falls to coaches to teach play- used dummies to simulate the collision data cross some threshold considered
ers proper tackling and hitting, as well mechanics in concussions, have found unsafe. Although we do not yet know
as self-protection. The NFL has begun that the stiffness of the neck influences how long the brain needs to recover af-
promoting a playing technique called the degree of head rotation and displace- ter a hit, we can say that a player with
Heads Up tackling, which it has deemed ment in a concussion and that building blurry vision, balance problems or con-
safer than the existing style of taking up the muscles of the neck can protect fusion is at greater risk of getting clob-
down opponents [see A Safe Way to some players. bered a second time. The collision data
Tackle? on page 40]. At the college lev- One suggestion from several re- collected by the sensors can help coaches
el, coaches need to recognize the risks of search groups is to have players wear and trainers decide whether an athlete
full-contact practice and keep head im- helmets equipped with sensors that can should continue playing after an impact,
even in the absence of any outward signs
of instability.
Modifying practices to cut back on
FURTHER READING
concussions not just in football but also
Helmets
and Mouth Guards: The Role of Personal Equipment in Pre-
in hockey, soccer and boxing, to name a
venting Sport-Related Concussions. Daniel H. Daneshvar et al. in Clini-
cal Sports Medicine, Vol. 30, No. 1, pages 145163; January 2011. few need not deprive competitive ath-
Chronic
Traumatic Encephalopathy: A Review. Michael Saulle and letics of their entertainment value. All
Brian D. Greenwald in Rehabilitation Research and Practice, Article sports involve some element of risk, yet
No. 816069, 9 pages; 2012. engaging in team physical activity also
The
Neuropathology and Neurobiology of Traumatic Brain Injury. Kaj promotes a healthy lifestyle. Just as seat
Blennow, John Hardy and Henrik Zetterberg in Neuron, Vol. 76, No. 5,
pages 886899; December 6, 2012. belts reduced the number of road deaths
without having to ban cars, so, too, can
From Our Archives
safer habits and standards spare athletes
Impact
on the Brain. Richard J. Roberts; December 2008/
January 2009. without overhauling their sports. As the
The
Collision Syndrome. Jeffrey Bartholet in Scientific American; many fallen athletes remind us, the risks
February 2012. are far too great to ignore. M
44 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
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Speak
for
Yourself
We talk to ourselves to stay motivated, tame unruly emotions,
plan for the future and even maintain a sense of self
By Ferris Jabr Illustrations by Jim Frazier
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 45
2013 Scientific American
A few months back, while riding the subway,
some words fell out of my mouth: No, no, dont wor-
ry about it. Addressing no one but myself, I blurted
this phrase while mentally replaying an earlier, embar-
rassing conversation. Although I have occasionally
muttered out loud when alone, this was the first in-
stance in such a public space. No one seemed to care
or even notice. Still, I could not help wondering wheth-
er my mind was drifting too far from the familiar
realm of the functionally neurotic. Was I spending too
much time in my own head, obsessed with soliloquy?
but it always involves words, and it is always a con-
scious experience. When you wake up in the morn-
ing and think, Thank God, its Friday, thats in-
ner speech. And when a friend sits you down and
asks for advice, and you silently test several differ-
ent responses in your mind before answering, that,
too, is inner speech.
Researchers have studied childrens private
speech for decades, but only recently have they se-
riously focused on self-talk in adults. We know
now that inner speech is used for all sorts of things,
says psychologist Charles Fernyhough of Durham
University in England. We depend on it to solve
problems, read and write, motivate ourselves, plan
To my relief, it turns out that just about every- for the future and learn from past mistakes.
one talks to themselves, both out loud and silent-
ly, much of the time. The habit begins in child-
hood with what psychologists call private speech:
speaking to oneself aloud while playing with a fa- Inner speech is a ready
vorite action figure, for example, or making bun-
ny ears out of shoelaces. As we age, most of us
source of motivation,
converse with ourselves out loud much less often, confidence and
but at least a couple of studies suggest that most
adults and adolescents sometimes speak to them-
guidance in all kinds
selves audibly. In a 2006 study by psychologist of scenarios giving
Adam Winsler of George Mason University and
his colleagues, 46 of 48 women admitted that they a presentation, hitting
murmured to themselves now and then. And we
all talk to ourselves silently throughout life. Psy-
the gym or asking
chologists call this type of thought inner speech someone on a date.
or self-talk, and it occupies about one quarter of
conscious experience.
Precisely defining inner speech is difficult, but it Some people, however, have difficulty recog-
is essentially thinking in language as opposed to, nizing the voices in their mind as their own, result-
say, a vivid and involuntary flashback to a scene ing in auditory hallucinations. Others such as
from childhood or picturing what the sofa would those with autism may have trouble forming in-
look like against this or that wall before moving it. ner speech, which might impede their ability to re-
Self-talk can manifest as a voice or as sign language, member complex instructions and solve certain
problems. Sometimes our internal speech needs ed-
iting, as when self-talk becomes unnecessarily crit-
FAST FACTS ical, stoking the black flames of depression. Re-
THINKING IN TONGUES searchers are learning, however, that when silent
Inner speech is essentially thinking in language. It occu- inner speech is difficult to produce, the audible
pies about one quarter of conscious experience. type can often substitute. And therapists can help
W
e depend on inner speech to solve problems, read and people with depression and anxiety silence and re-
write, motivate ourselves, plan for the future and learn
from past mistakes.
write their self-talk to minimize psychological
damage. Even if our inner voices sometimes mouth
T herapists can help people with depression and anxiety
silence and rewrite their inner speech to minimize psy- off, we need them. Inner speech, some researchers
chological damage and encourage healthy habits. now suggest, stitches together the many threads of
46 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
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sensory experience into the tapestry of
self-awareness. To know yourself, you
have to talk to yourself.
First Words
Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky
was the first to seriously investigate inner
speech. In the 1920s he proposed that
children internalize dialogues they have
with their parents and use these linguistic
templates to talk themselves through new
experiences, summon concentration and
calm down. A toddler playing with Legos,
for instance, might dictate his plan to
build a spaceship block by block even if
no one else is listening. In the decades
since, researchers have confirmed that pri-
vate speech is essential for learning lan-
guage, and it helps children regulate their
emotions. It also improves problem solv-
ing. Studies have shown that the more
children speak to themselves the more ef-
ficiently they solve both jigsaw puzzles
and the Tower of London task, in which
they must position colored beads in a par-
ticular sequence on three pegs using as
few moves as possible.
Vygotsky further established that,
compared with a childs typical speech,
private speech is telegraphic and highly
idiomatic similar to short notes scrawled
in the margins of a book. Researchers now
know that the same is true for silent inner
speech in adults. Because you already
know what you mean, you do not have
to bother explaining everything in com-
plete sentences.
Over the years researchers have found crafty of New York City. The results are Joycean tran-
ways to capture the fleeting thoughts inside a per- scriptions of mental chatter.
sons mind. Since the 1970s, for example, psychol- Such studies and related experiments have un-
ogist Russell Hurlburt of the University of Ne- covered many examples of people using self-talk for
vada, Las Vegas, has provided volunteers with self-regulation: steering attention, taming unruly
beepers that sound at random times. Whenever emotions and reminding ourselves of proper eti-
they hear a bleep, the participants have to stop quette. Inner speech is a readily available source of
what they are doing and write down their thoughts. motivation, confidence and guidance in all kinds of
More recently, anthropologist Andrew Irving of scenarios giving a presentation to co-workers,
the University of Manchester in England asked getting out of bed early to hit the gym or working
100 volunteers to wear a small microphone and up the courage to ask someone on a first date. Par-
narrate their thoughts as they walked the streets ticularly well studied is its use in sports.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 47
2013 Scientific American
such as I can do this or I will make this
shot and instructional, that is, talking
through specific motions. The former can
boost confidence and mood and increase
the energy and effort devoted to a task,
whereas the latter enhances focus and
hones execution. In a 2008 study by sports
coaching scientist Christian Edwards of
the University of Worcester in England
and his colleagues, 24 college rugby play-
ers repeatedly jumped straight up as high
as they could in a lab: 16 used either moti-
vational self-talk (I can jump higher) or
instructional self-talk (bend and drive)
for 20 seconds before each jump; the other
eight did not use self-talk. Rugby players
in both self-talk groups jumped with
greater force and athletes in the motiva-
tional group jumped higher than the
eight athletes who did not talk to them-
selves silently.
Sometimes self-disapproval can be
motivational, too. Although coaches often
advise athletes to banish all disparaging
thoughts on the field or court, studies have
suggested that mild self-rebuke gives many
athletes the impetus to get back out there
and play better.
Other work illustrates the benefits of
speaking detailed instructions to oneself
out loud. In a 2012 study sports psycholo-
gist Eleni Zetou of the Democritus Univer-
sity of Thrace in Greece and her colleagues
asked 28 novice teenage volleyball players
to practice their serves one hour a week for
four weeks using private speech to guide
their movements: When I throw the ball,
Pep talks have been a tradition in sport and the arm goes back, over the head, look at the target
combat for centuries, from the lanista preparing his and hit the ball. Meanwhile another 29 athletes
gladiators for battle in ancient Rome to the modern practiced without such verbiage. Volleyball coaches
football coach psyching up his team in the locker watched videotapes of the players to evaluate their
room. For at least as long, athletes have whispered skill. Both groups improved, but at the end of the
certain phrases to themselves to keep their head in training the coaches rated athletes who used self-
the game. Only in the past 10 years, however, have talk an average of 44 out of 50 points for skill; the
sports psychologists gathered enough evidence to players who did not talk to themselves averaged 35.
empirically support the notion that inner speech im- Explicit reminders of how to approach the goal or
proves athletic performance. shoot the free throw seem to be especially helpful
Such self-talk comes in two tones: motivation- for beginners, whose movements are less practiced
al consisting of simple encouraging statements, and not yet automatic.
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Beyond helping people regulate their behavior surveys asking how often anxious self-statements
in the present moment, inner speech is essential for (I am very nervous) and positive ones (I am a
learning from the past and planning for the future. winner) entered their minds in the past week. Ken-
By rehearsing and sometimes rewriting previous dall found that the more often a child engaged in
conversations, we can identify our faux pas and anxious relative to positive self-talk, the worse the
make sure not to repeat them. And by telling our- childs anxiety, and the more this ratio diminished
selves stories about our possible futures, we clarify in therapy, the greater the childs progress.
what we do and do not want to achieve in life. In- People are recognizing that rumination is im-
ner speech may be so fundamental to mental time portant in depression and anxiety, and words that
repeat in inner speech can be a target for therapy,
Fernyhough says. Even just telling people about in-
ner speech and where it comes from seems to be
Rumination is beneficial. Giving an official label such as inner
important in speech to verbal thoughts and recognizing that
they can be tweaked is immensely empowering.
depression and Psychiatrists have devised several strategies that can
anxiety, and words help people catch themselves in the act of ruminat-
ing and quiet pessimistic or critical thoughts before
that repeat in inner they multiply. When combined, cognitive-behavior
therapy and mindfulness meditation, for example,
speech can be a target can increase awareness of the minds habits, which
for therapy, one opens up the possibility of changing them. When
depression tries to turn someones inner speech
psychologist says. against them with irrational thoughts of hopeless-
ness Theres no point in getting out of bed today.
No one cares about you, and your so-called career
travel that if it disappears, so does our understand- is pathetic one can fight back with self-talk that
ing of before and after. In 1972 clinical psy- contradicts those negative thoughts and provides
chologist Claude Scott Moss described a stroke perspective: You are lucky to have family and
that rendered him unable to speak or engage in self- friends who love you a lot and a great job with sup-
talk. In other words, I did not have the ability to portive colleagues.
think about the future to worry, to anticipate or Whereas many people with depression and anx-
perceive it at least not with words. Thus, for the iety must learn to mute their unhelpfully loquacious
first four or five weeks after hospitalization I sim- minds, other individuals have the opposite problem:
ply existed. they may not talk to themselves enough. Because
children pattern inner speech after dialogue with
Inner Chorus others, individuals with autism spectrum disorder
Although talking to oneself is often advanta- who have difficultly recognizing social cues and
geous, too much of the wrong kind of inner speech participating in lengthy, intimate conversations
can backfire. Rumination obsessively mulling may have trouble internalizing dialogue to generate
over painful experiencesis both a symptom of and inner speech.
a risk factor for depression. Likewise, thoughts of In particular, autistic children find it difficult to
impending doom often intrude on the minds of peo- follow arbitrary rules in tasks psychologists devise,
ple with anxiety disorders. Some psychiatrists have such as If a card has a red circle, put it in this box.
tracked the severity of anxiety and depression by If it has a blue triangle, put it over here, especially
monitoring inner speech. In a 2007 study conduct-
ed by psychologist Philip Kendall of Temple Univer-
sity and his colleagues, 145 children with general- THE AUTHOR
ized anxiety disorder and social anxiety filled out FERRIS JABR is an associate editor at Scientific American.
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2013 Scientific American
tures of the sun and day to images of the
moon. Both groups did equally well.
A 2007 study by Winsler and his team
complements this earlier research. He vid-
eotaped 33 people with autism, between
seven and 18 years old, and another 28
typically developing children and adoles-
cents as they completed a card-sorting
task and a computer game in which they
had to construct a virtual stick by adding
or subtracting segments. Although the
children with autism had a harder time
successfully finishing the tasks, when they
were able to talk to themselves, their
chances of getting a correct answer rose
much more than those of a typical child
using the same strategy.
For other people, the difficulty is not
producing or editing inner speech but
identifying it. Auditory verbal hallucina-
tions (AVHs) are voices people hear in
their head but do not recognize as their
own. Long associated with schizophrenia,
AVHs can also accompany bipolar disor-
der, personality disorders and temporary
periods of psychosis, and about 15 percent
of healthy people occasionally hear sounds
or voices that do not exist outside their
mind, according to a 2012 study by Ferny-
hough and his colleagues.
When we speak to ourselves in our
mind, a region of the brain in the frontal
lobes known as Brocas area which is es-
sential for producing speech sends com-
mands backward to Wernickes area on
the border of the temporal and parietal
lobes, which is necessary for understand-
when they have to silently repeat detailed instruc- ing speech. The relayed message tells Wernickes
tions in their mind. Yet a 1999 study by psychologist area not to respond to this internal voice the way it
James Russell of the University of Cambridge and his would to someone elses voice. (A similar feedback
colleagues suggests that children with autism can loop explains why we cannot tickle ourselves; the
overcome this mental hurdle when allowed to speak brain reminds itself that we are the ones doing the
out loud to themselves. Russell challenged 19 chil- tickling.) In a 2001 study psychiatrist Judith Ford
dren with autism and another 19 typically develop- of the University of California, San Francisco, and
ing kids between the ages of five and eight to associ- her colleagues discovered that the electrical signals
ate cards depicting the moon with daytime and cards traveling between Brocas and Wernickes areas are
depicting the sun with night. Instead of writing down weaker than average during inner speech in people
their answers or silently sorting the cards into two who experience AVHs. Similar research has found
piles, the children were asked to say night to pic- that in those who hallucinate voices, a range of
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Children with autism deficits, he says. One of the most poignant and re-
cent examples of such deficits is the story of neuro-
can more easily follow anatomist Jill Bolte Taylor.
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TAKING
E ARLY AIM
AT AUTISM
By spotting signs of this developmental disorder in young
toddlers, parents and therapists may be able to target
a childs deficits before they become debilitating
By Luciana Gravotta
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 53
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very young children. Autism, a complex disorder of brain de- certain brain regions than did the children who developed
velopment, is now estimated to affect one in 88 kids. It is char- normally. At 24 months, however, researchers found that the
acterized by communication deficits, impaired social interac- typically developing toddlers now had greater fiber density in
tion, repetitive motor behaviors, and, sometimes, intellectual these same regions and that these toddlers also showed a
disability or physical health problems. Because autism is defined steady strengthening, or thickening, of some initially weak,
by complex behaviors, obvious signs do not emerge until nonspecific connections. This neural differentiation was far
children start stringing words together and engaging in play less pronounced in the kids who ended up on the spectrum.
with their parents, at about two years old. Children with Many experts believe that intelligently guiding the forma-
autism may, for example, continue to play alone far longer than tion, and elimination, of neural connections early in life could
is normal. sculpt a more functional brain. This belief forms the theoreti-
The concept that autism is treatable is controversial and cal basis for early detection. In an initial foray into this area,
new. Newer still is the idea that if children receive therapy very psychologist Diana Robins of Georgia State University and
early in life, they are more likely to overcome their deficits. her colleagues developed the Modified Checklist for Autism
Now, however, many experts believe that delivering therapy to
children as young as age one or two instead of four, as is more
typical can garner greater improvements in IQ, language and
social skills. Officials at the American Academy of Pediatrics We saw that for neuroplasticity
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among
others, now recommend early detection. To identify autism (or
every month counts, one father
autism risk) in younger children, researchers have had to de- says. And we had given up
velop novel screening tools. In addition, one new intervention
designed for children as young as a year old has been shown to months just waiting.
significantly improve social communication skills.
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The Modified Checklist for Autism in
Toddlers screens for early signs of the
disorder. Does your child look you in the
eye for more than a second or two? it
asks. Eye contact does not tend to come
naturally to children who develop autism.
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Most toddlers point out objects of interest to
others by the time they are 18 months old.
But children with autism may need to be
taught how to use this gesture to show people
what they like or want.
and parents often extend the therapy at home. Studies have taught as part of everyday activities, such as during bath time
shown that ABA improves childrens communication and self- or lunch. If Leslie wants Noah to choose between two types of
care skills, as well as their school performance. Many children drinks at a meal, she holds both beside her face so that he nat-
with autism also receive speech therapy to help them use lan- urally looks up at her before asking for one of them.
guage in social settings, occupational therapy to help them get
dressed, eat and use the bathroom on their own, and physical Playing Catch (Up)
therapy to help them sit, walk and run to compensate for poor ESDM has shown significant promise in moderating the
coordination and balance. symptoms of autism. In a study of children diagnosed with au-
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leagues followed 100 children diagnosed with autism before
If Noahs mom wants her son to age three until they were 20 years old. They found that of the
choose between two types of mildly affected children who began therapy before age three,
about 40 percent ended up succeeding in college, making
drinks at a meal, she holds both friends and showing no obvious symptoms. In contrast, all of
a group of similarly affected kids who did not receive early
beside her face so that Noah treatment continued to show clear signs of autism. For more
looks up at her before asking for severely impaired children, Lord has shown that early treat-
ment improves verbal and social skills but does not eliminate
one of them. the need for special services in adulthood.
In Noahs case, early therapy seems to have produced re-
markable results. Within one month of first seeing Dawson, at
28 months old, Noah started pointing spontaneously. About
tism published in 2012, Dawson and her colleagues enrolled three months later he looked at his parents to request some-
48 toddlers in either ESDM-based therapy or a more typical thing. One month after that, in April 2013, Noah gestured as a
regimen consisting of speech therapy, teaching self-care habits way of sharing information with others: he pointed something
such as brushing teeth and hair, and classroom-behavior train- out to his younger sister, Elina.
ing. The researchers also recorded the childrens brain activity Now three years old, Noah engages in creative play of his
while they looked at images of objects and faces. own design, telling stories with action figurines and dressing up
After two years of treatment, the kids who received the in costumes. His ability to speak and understand language
ESDM intervention showed fewer symptoms than those who about facts is equal to that of his peers. His social skills remain
had been given the standard therapy. In addition, the brain ac- at the level of a two-year-old. But that level is enough for him to
tivity of those in the ESDM group mirrored that of typical chil- make friends with younger kids. He now also plays with Elina,
dren and diverged from those given standard care. Like normal- throwing a ball for her to catch or chasing her around the house.
ly developing toddlers, children treated with the Denver ap- His world has opened up now, Paul says. He doesnt have
proach had brain patterns reflecting greater attention to the that focused tunnel vision anymore.
faces than the objects, suggesting the therapy had helped these Moving kids out of their mental tunnels may hinge on no-
children establish a normal preference for social information. ticing that they are in them while their budding brains are most
Those who received traditional treatment, on the other hand, amenable to change. M
displayed brain activity indicating that they paid more attention
to the objects than the faces.
Other data show that the Denver approach, despite its hefty FURTHER READING
price tag, saves money in the long run, primarily because it ap-
An
Early Start for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activi-
pears to work. In a study presented last year at the Autism ties to Help Kids Connect, Communicate, and Learn. Sally J. Rog-
Speaks Toddler Treatment Network conference, psychiatry re- ers, Geraldine Dawson and Laurie A Vismara. Guilford Press, 2012.
searcher David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania and Differencesin White Matter Fiber Tract Development Present
his colleagues found that at four years posttreatment, the av- from 6 to 24 Months in Infants with Autism. Jason J. Wolff et al.
in American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 169, No. 6, pages 589600;
erage cost of autism-related services for 18 toddlers with autism June 2012.
who had received ESDM for two years was about $1,000 less EarlyBehavioral Intervention Is Associated with Normalized
a month than for 21 similar toddlers who had received speech Brain Activity in Young Children with Autism. Geraldine Dawson
and occupational therapy for the same period. The ESDM re- et al. in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, Vol. 51, No. 11, pages 11501159; November 2012.
cipients needed 100 fewer hours of services every month, and
Autism
Speaks, an organization that funds research, highlights
they were more likely to be placed in a regular classroom than
news and offers resources for families: www.autismspeaks.org
an autism-specific one.
From Our Archives
Although early treatment is recommended for all affected
Is
It Possible to Recover from Autism? Jennifer Richler; July/
children, its practical benefits depend on the severity of a childs August 2013.
diagnosis. In a study published in 2013 clinical psychologist Help
for the Child with Autism. Nicholas Lange and Christopher J.
Catherine Lord of Weill Cornell Medical College and her col- McDougle in Scientific American; October 2013.
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FREEING
UP
INTELLIGENCE
A preoccupation with scarcity diminishes IQ and self-control.
Simple measures can help us counteract this cognitive tax
By Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir
ILLUSTRATION BY STUART BRIERS
I
magine sitting in an office located near the railroad tracks.
Trains rattle by several times an hour. As you try to concentrate,
the rumble of every train pulls you away from what you are do-
ing. You need time to refocus, to collect your thoughts. Worse,
just when you have settled back in, another train hurtles by.
This description mirrors the conditions of a school in New Ha-
ven located next to a noisy railroad line. In the early 1970s two re-
searchers decided to measure the impact of this noise on students.
They noted that only one side of the school faced the tracks, so the
students in classrooms on that side were particularly exposed to
the noise but were otherwise similar to their fellow students.
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They found a striking difference between the with intelligence and SAT performance, impulse
two sides of the school. Sixth graders on the train control and success on diets. Scarcity creates a pow-
side were a full year behind their counterparts on the erful goal dealing with pressing needs that in-
quieter side. Prompted by this study, the city in- hibits other considerations. We argue that by con-
stalled noise padding. This intervention erased the stantly drawing us back to that urgent unmet goal,
difference, the researchers found: students on both scarcity taxes our bandwidth and our most funda-
sides of the building now performed at the same mental capacities.
level. These results mirror many laboratory studies
that have documented the powerful effects of even Bandwidth Blues
slight distraction. We use the term bandwidth to refer to two
broad, related components of mental function. The
first might be referred to as cognitive capacity, the
NOISY TRAINS OF THOUGHT ARE psychological mechanisms that underlie our ability
HARD TO IGNORE. ALTHOUGH to solve problems, retain information, engage in log-
ical reasoning, and so on. Perhaps the most promi-
THE ROOM SEEMS QUIET, IT IS nent in this category is fluid intelligence, the ability
FULL OF DISRUPTIONS ONES to think and reason abstractly and solve problems.
THAT COME FROM WITHIN. The second is executive control, which underlies our
ability to manage our cognitive activities, including
planning, attention, and initiating and inhibiting ac-
Now picture yourself working in a pleasant, tions. Cognitive capacity and executive control are
quiet office: no disruptions, no trains. Instead you multifaceted. And scarcity affects both.
are struggling with your mortgage and the fact that A prominent and universally accepted measure
freelance work is hard to come by. Your spouse and of fluid intelligence is the Ravens Progressive Ma-
you are living a two-earner life with only one-and- trices test, named after British psychologist John
a-quarter earners. You sit down to focus on your Raven, who developed it in the 1930s. With our
work. Soon your mind is wandering. Should we sell graduate student Jiaying Zhao, we used this test to
the second car? Should we take out another loan? observe the effect of scarcity on the fluid intelli-
These noisy trains of thought are every bit as hard gence of people in a New Jersey mall. First, half the
to ignore. Although the room seems quiet, it is full subjects were presented with simple hypothetical
of disruptions ones that come from within. scenarios, such as this one:
Such internal disruptions stem from scarcity.
Imagine that your car has some trouble,
An unrealized need can capture our attention and
which requires a $300 service. Your auto in-
impede our ability to focus on other things. Scarci-
surance will cover half the cost. You need to
ty in one walk of life means we have less attention,
decide whether to go ahead and get the car
less mind, in the rest of life. The concept of less
fixed or to take a chance and hope that it
mind is well studied by psychologists. Although
lasts for a while longer. How would you go
careful research in psychology employs several fine
about making such a decision? Financially,
distinctions to capture this idea, we use the single
would it be an easy or a difficult decision for
umbrella term bandwidth to cover them all.
you to make?
Bandwidth refers to our cognitive capacity and our
ability to pay attention, make good decisions, stick We then gave them a series of Ravens matrices
with our plans and resist temptations. It correlates problems. Using self-reported household income,
we divided subjects into rich and poor.
For the remaining subjects, we ran the same
FAST FACTS study with a slight twistwe made the service cost
A SCARCITY MIND-SET $3,000 rather than $300. Remarkably, this change
An involuntary preoccupation with an unmet need, such affected the two groups differently. Coming up with
as a shortage of money or time, can capture our atten- half of $300 or $3,000 was easy for those who were
tion and impede our ability to focus on other things.
well-off. They could just pay out of savings or put it
A fixation on scarcity taxes our cognitive capacity and
on a credit card. For the less well-off, finding $150
executive control, thus diminishing intelligence and
impulse control, among other things. for an important need was not too hard either.
We can free up cognitive bandwidth by converting Not so for the $3,000 car expense: finding
recurring demands into one-time actions. $1,500 would be harder for those with low in-
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comes. A 2011 study found that close to half of all
Americans reported that they would be unable to
come up with $2,000 in 30 days even if they really
needed it. Of course, the question we gave the mall
respondents was hypothetical. But it was realistic,
and it very likely got them thinking about their own
financial concerns. They may not have a broken car,
but experiencing money scarcity would mean they
had monetary issues close to the top of mind. Once
we tickled that part of the brain, the all too real
nonhypothetical thinking about scarcity would
come spilling out.
And this mental racket affected performance.
The better-off subjects, with no distractions, did
just as well here as if they had seen the easy scenar-
io. The poorer subjects, on the other hand, did sig-
nificantly worse. Preoccupied by scarcity, they had
lower fluid intelligence scores. those numbers in their head. The subjects with the Recurring distractions
In our numerous replications of this study, the two-digit number chose the fruit most of the time. can substantially
diminish intelligence,
effects have been consistent and big. To understand Those whose mind was busy rehearsing the seven- thereby affecting
the size of these effects, consider the impact of sleep digit number chose the cake 50 percent more often. performance at
deprivation on performance on Ravens matrices. In The cake is the impulsive choice. When our mental school and on the job.
one study, a group of subjects went to bed at a nor- bandwidth is used on something else, such as re-
mal time. Another group was forced to stay awake hearsing digits, we have less capacity to prevent
all night. The next morning all the subjects were giv- ourselves from eating cake.
en a Ravens test. Not surprisingly, those deprived of In another study, white Australian students
sleep did much worse. By comparison, our effect at were served food, but in this case it was something
the mall was even bigger. they found disgusting: a chicken foot cooked in a
Another way to understand the size of our find- Chinese style that preserved the entire foot intact,
ings is in terms of IQ. Because the Ravens test is claws included. The dish was served by a Chinese
used to measure fluid intelligence, it has a direct an- experimenter, creating some pressure to act civi-
alogue with IQ. Our effects correspond to between lized. As in the cake study, some subjects minds
13 and 14 IQ points. A gain of that many points can were loaded: they were asked to remember an eight-
lift you from the category of average to superi- digit number. Those whose mind was not taxed
or intelligence. Or, if you move in the other direc- managed to maintain composure, keeping their
tion, losing 13 points can take you from average thoughts to themselves. The cognitively loaded sub-
to a category labeled borderline-deficient. In our jects did not. They were more likely to blurt out
studies, the same person has fewer IQ points when rude comments, such as This is bloody revolting,
he or she is preoccupied by scarcity than when not. despite their best intentions. Whether it is eating
This cognitive penalty is the key to our story. cake we would rather resist or saying things we do
The second component of bandwidth is executive not mean to say, a tax on bandwidth makes it hard-
control, a kind of central processor for the brain. er for us to control our impulses.
One of the many important functions to which it To explore whether scarcity reduces executive
contributes is self-control. Because executive control control, we returned to the mall in New Jersey. We
helps to direct attention and modulate impulses, re-
duced executive function will hamper self-control.
A number of experiments have vividly illustrat- THE AUTHORS
ed this connection. One such study gave subjects a
SENDHIL MULLAINATHAN, a professor of economics at
memory task. Some people were asked to remember Harvard University, is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation
a two-digit number; others were given a seven-digit genius grant and conducts research in behavioral eco
figure. The subjects were then led to a lobby to wait nomics and development economics. ELDAR SHAFIR is
THINKSTOCK
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repeated our earlier designwith the hypothetical WHETHER IT IS EATING CAKE
financial scenariosbut then tested our participants
on their impulse control rather than fluid intelli- WE WOULD RATHER RESIST
gence. The results were the same. After the finan- OR SAYING THINGS WE
cially easy questions, the poor and the well-off DO NOT MEAN TO SAY,
looked similar. Yet the financially hard questions
made our poorer subjects significantly more impul- A TAX ON BANDWIDTH MAKES
sive, whereas the well-off subjects were unaffected. IT HARDER FOR US TO
CONTROL OUR IMPULSES.
Scarcity in the Field
These experiments tested our hypothesis. Our
interest, though, is in peoples everyday lives outside cash-rich. So instead of seeing the effects of scar
the confines of an experiment. Around this time, we city, we might just see the effects of celebrations.
were doing fieldwork on farming in India with To get around this, we used sugarcane farming,
economist Anandi Mani of the University of War- which has a peculiar feature. Sugarcane requires an
wick in England, and we noticed something inter- enormous factory to crush the cane and extract the
esting. Farmers get their income in a big lump, all juice (which, once evaporated, forms sugar). The
at once at harvest time. This system means the factories can process only so much, and the crop
farmer has a very different financial life from most cannot sit for long after harvesting. So sugarcane is
workers, who get paid regularly. harvested during a four- to five-month window.
Now picture a farmer who gets paid in June. Neighboring plots are often on very different har-
The next few months are quite good. Yet even if he vest cycles. One farmer may be in the process of har-
is prudent and tries hard to smooth his spending vesting, whereas a neighbor might have sold his crop
during this period, by the time the following April several months earlier. This rather obscure fact gave
or May rolls around, he will be tight on cash. So the us the break we needed. We could now study the
same farmer is rich in the months after harvest and same farmers when they are poor and rich and know
poor in the months before harvest. that there is nothing specific about the preharvest
This was quite close to what we needed: we and postharvest months.
could examine the same farmers bandwidth in the As we expected, the data showed that the farm-
months before harvest and after harvest. Instead of ers were more financially strapped preharvest. In
comparing rich and poor people, we would see how the month before harvest, 78 percent of them had
A parent preoccu-
pied with work may the same persons behavior might vary when tight pawned something (and 99 percent took some kind
appear to be an on money and when flush with cash. But there was of loan), but in the month after harvest only 4 per-
unskilled caregiver, one wrinkle. Might not harvest months impose dif- cent pawned something (and only 13 percent took
yet that persons
ferent obligations than ordinary months did? For any kind of loan). Before harvest, they were also 11
cognitive bandwidth
may simply be example, festivals and weddings are common dur- percent more likely to report having trouble coping
heavily taxed. ing harvest months exactly because people are with ordinary bills.
We again measured fluid intelligence and exec-
utive control. We gave the farmers a Ravens matri-
ces task, and for executive control we chose the
Stroop task. In this task, subjects see strings of
items, such as A F F F, and must quickly say how
many items are in the string. When you see 2 2 2 2,
quickly saying four is quite hard. We found that
farmers performed much worse on both these tests
before harvest than after harvest. Much like our
subjects in the mall, the same person looked less in-
telligent and more impulsive when he was poor. Yet
in this case, it was not us who triggered scarcity-
related thoughts or even tried to bring them to the
surface those thoughts were there naturally.
G E T T Y I M AG E S
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age corresponds with about nine or 10 IQ points. It
TIPS FOR MANAGING SCARCITY
is not as big a gap as in the mall, but that is to be ex- Convert tasks that demand constant vigilance
pected. After all, here we had not induced them to into one-time actions.
think about money. We simply measured their men-
tal state at an arbitrary point. On the executive- Finances: Enroll in an employers
401(k) plan so that saving for the
control task, they were 11 percent slower in re-
future becomes automatic. Sign up
sponding and made 15 percent more errors while for automatic bill payment.
poor, quite comparable to the mall study.
Returning to where we started, we see that the Exercise: Set up appointments with
a personal trainer or friend to work out
results suggest a major twist in the debate over the
together or make a bet with a friend.
cognitive capacity of the poor. We would argue These measures raise the stakes
that the poor do have lower effective capacity than of sticking with your exercise plan.
those who are well-off. Not because they are less
Work: Schedule breaks for walks and
capable but rather because part of their mind is
stick to a regular bedtime. Sacrificing
captured by scarcity. health to put in longer hours takes a toll
on us mentally, physically and emotion-
ally, which diminishes performance.
Give Yourself a Break
Tight finances are just one kind of scarcity;
Family time: Sign up for a weekly
dieting is another. Across a variety of cognitive activity together, to ensure that even
tests, psychologists find that people simply perform at your busiest you have quality time
once a week.
worse when they are dieting. And when they inter-
view the respondents, they find a common pattern:
Food: Knowing that stress compels us to
concerns related to dieting are top of the mind for make unhealthy choices, plan ahead for
these dieters and interfere with their performance. tough times by stocking your pantry with
nutritious items. Being health-conscious
Other research has identified a similar effect from
while shopping rather than at every
loneliness a social form of scarcity. meal frees up cognitive bandwidth.
What, then, is so special about scarcity? Scarci-
ty is a clustering of several important concerns. Un-
like a marital spat that can happen anywhere and
to anyone, preoccupations with money and time
cluster around the poor and the busy, and they per- with no margin, no room in their lives for rest, re-
sist. Whereas only some people who experience laxation and reflection.
abundance will be preoccupied, everyone experi- There is nothing magical about working 40 or
encing scarcity will fixate on their state. 50 or 60 hours a week. But there is something im-
The size of these effects suggests the bandwidth portant about letting your mind out for a jog to
tax has a substantial influence on a full array of be- maximize bandwidth rather than hours worked. M
haviors, even those such as patience, tolerance, at-
tention and dedication, that usually fall under the
umbrella of personality or talent. When she snaps at FURTHER READING
her daughter, the harried sales manager looks like a Distracted and Confused?: Selective Attention under
Load. Nilli Lavie in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 9,
bad parent. The financially strapped student who
No. 2, pages 7582; February 1, 2005.
misses some easy questions on a test looks incapable That Is Bloody Revolting!: Inhibitory Control of
or lazy. Yet these people are not unskilled or uncar- Thoughts Better Left Unsaid. W. von Hippel and
ing, just heavily taxed. The problem is not the per- K. Gonsalkorale in Psychological Science, Vol. 16,
No. 7, pages 497500; July 2005.
son but the context of scarcity.
Some Consequences of Having Too Little. A. K. Shah,
The deeper lesson is the need to focus on man- S. Mullainathan and E. Shafir in Science, Vol. 338,
aging and cultivating bandwidth, despite pressures pages 682685; November 2, 2012.
to the contrary brought on by scarcity. Increasing Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function. A. Mani,
work hours, working people harder, forgoing vaca- S. Mullainathan, E. Shafir and J. Zhao in Science,
Vol. 341, pages 976980; August 30, 2013.
tions, and so on are all tunneling responses, as is
From Our Archives
borrowing at high interest. They ignore the long-
Building Better Brains. John Jonides et al.; September/
THINKSTOCK
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ADHD
GROWS
[UP] Newly recognized, adult
ADHD threatens the
success and well-being
of 4 percent of adults.
A combination of
treatments can help
the afflicted lead a
more productive life
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Zo Kessler went through the first ways to more efficiently and effectively
run our own lives.
four decades of her life thinking Recognizing Adult ADHD
something must be wrong with her. With time, about half the children
treated for ADHD recover completely.
When she was a child, Kessler could not low-up interviews in 154 of them. They For those who do not respond fully to
understand why she kept misbehaving. concluded that only one in 10 adults in treatment, aspects of the disorder none-
I spent a ton of time in the hall for talk- the U.S. with the condition receives a di- theless change as a person matures. At all
ing and being the class clown, she says. agnosis of ADHD. ages, people with ADHD face challenges
My mom couldnt control me, and I That statistic most likely will im- stemming from a combination of three
couldnt control me. In adulthood, her prove as more researchers and clinicians core symptoms: trouble paying attention,
behavior improved, but she was so un- acknowledge the adult form of ADHD. restlessness and impulsivity. By adult-
focused she had trouble figuring out During the past two decades multiple hood, hyperactive and impulsive traits
what she should be doing minute to min- studies have confirmed that the disorder tend to wane, whereas difficulties with
ute, and she struggled to complete the can persist across a persons life span. In- controlling attention more often persist.
projects she had once been so excited deed, the latest edition of the American In some instances, ADHD may seem
about starting. Psychiatric Associations diagnostic to show up suddenly in adulthood. In
Then, at age 47, Kessler was diag- manual, the DSM-5, is the first to explic- cases such as Kesslers, the symptoms are
nosed with attention-deficit hyperactiv- itly recognize adult ADHD, which is missed in childhood. Yet often the signs
ity disorder (ADHD). She realized that a thought to afflict 4.4 percent of the adult very likely are masked. After all, parents,
lot of the traits that had long made her population, in its description of the dis- educators and other adults usher children
feel out of place were actually symptoms order [see box on page 69]. through each day, collecting their be-
of a condition that could be treated. Ive The need for treatment in adulthood longings, bringing them to school and ac-
had to rethink my entire life, she says. has become increasingly apparent. Re- tivities on time, cajoling them to do
Why didnt anyone tell me? cent studies have demonstrated that the homework and chores. Such supervision
During Kesslers childhood, most disorder can limit professional success can compensate for a childs deficits in at-
people thought only little boys could and income, strain relationships and di- tending to tasks and working toward
have ADHD. Clinicians are realizing minish well-being. Fortunately, research goals. As children grow up, much of that
that ADHD is common in girls, too. Fur- published during the past decade has support disappears just as responsibili-
ther, they are recognizing that restless- shown that stimulant medication, the ties accumulate, enabling previously hid-
ness is not the only smoking gun. Al- standard treatment for children, is also den deficiencies to become all too obvi-
though Kessler was as hyperactive and effective in adults. Yet evidence also sug- ous. Without parents to remind them of
talkative as stereotypical boys with the gests that adults with ADHD must learn assignments, a college student may find
condition, now clinicians realize that new habits to overcome the numerous or- his or her grades dropping dramatically.
many children with ADHD seem more ganizational challenges they face daily. Later the demands of a job or parenthood
spacey than fidgety. In fact, Kessler was Researchers have devised new strat- may create complexities that a person
relatively lucky to be diagnosed at all. In egies to help these individuals plan, pri- cannot manage. As important matters
a study of mental health conditions in oritize and organize their lives so that fall through the cracks and sufferers be-
the U.S. published in 2006, health care they can accomplish their goals, stay come demoralized or overwhelmed, they
policy professor Ronald C. Kessler of healthy and keep their relationships in- may finally seek help, leading to a diag-
Harvard University (who is no relation tact. Many of these techniques would nosis of ADHD.
to Zo) and his colleagues screened also benefit the vast majority of people, Although the pattern of difficulty
3,199 adults for ADHD, conducting fol- given that virtually all of us could use varies from one person to the next, one
central problem that afflicts adults is an
inability to focus. They tend to have
FAST FACTS trouble getting around to, sticking with
REMEDY FOR THE DISTRACTED
or finishing certain types of tasks. Al-
Only one in 10 adults in the U.S. who is afflicted with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder though they can generally focus quite
(ADHD) receives that diagnosis.
well on stimulating activities such as
The latest edition of the American Psychiatric Associations diagnostic manual is the first to
playing video games or working in a fast-
explicitly recognize adult ADHD.
paced environment such as an emergen-
ADHD can limit professional success, strain relationships and diminish well-being. Yet medica-
tion, along with therapy that teaches patients better habits and attitudes, can help individuals cy room, they may be easily diverted
meet their goals, stay healthy and maintain friendships. from tasks that are repetitive sorting
66 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
Adults with ADHD may have said they went to bed more than half
difficulty sticking with a an hour later, on average, than did 117
challenging task or attending adults without the condition. Individuals
to an extended dialogue at
with the disorder also had a wider range
a meeting with colleagues.
of bedtimes and greater daytime sleepi-
ness, which can, of course, compound
percent of those without attention problems.
ADHD. Such difficulty was
associated with poorer Pills and Skills
quality of life, worse social Reducing the frustrations and dis-
adjustment in many realms, abilities that accompany ADHD in
a higher likelihood of di- adults usually requires a multifaceted
vorce (and of having never approach that includes drug and behav-
been married), and a higher ioral therapy. Medication can amelio-
risk of traffic accidents. rate distractibility and impulsiveness in
M a ny adu lt s w it h the 6 percent of children diagnosed with
laundry or filling out forms or mental- ADHD also display significant problems ADHD. Several studies have now shown
ly challenging, such as writing a speech with organization and planning. Indi- that stimulants such as Ritalin and Con-
or term paper. Of course, a person can viduals may fail to maintain a schedule, certa (both methylphenidate) or Adder-
choose to work in a deadline-driven at- prioritize tasks and keep track of time. all, which is a combination of amphet-
mosphere that keeps them invigorated, At work, they often struggle to finish im- amine and dextroamphetamine, can im-
but laundry still has to be sorted, bills portant assignments becoming side- prove focus and decrease restlessness in
paid and complex problems solved. tracked by minutiae run late and spend adults as well. Individuals taking medi-
Impulsiveness, though often less se- too much time getting their work done. cation for ADHD often report that they
vere in adulthood, can produce other Sometimes their scattered lives prevent are better able to get around to, stick
predicaments. With short-term interests them from making it to the office at all. with and finish tasks.
and ideas repeatedly trumping long-term Results from the World Health Organi- But medication alone does not hone
goals, a person with ADHD lives a reac- zations World Mental Health Survey the more complex organizational and
tive rather than proactive existence. He published in 2008 demonstrated that planning skills that help people hew to a
or she may be unable to curb the urge to untreated adults with ADHD missed the regular routine. For example, in a clinical
check e-mail or Twitter so as to focus on equivalent of 22 more days of work than trial published in 2011 Joseph Biederman
a challenging project. Spontaneous those without the condition. This under- and his colleagues at Mass General found
spending can lead to unnecessary finan- performance may explain why adults that 40 percent of adults who took meth-
cial burdens and bankruptcy. Sexual im- with ADHD are often passed up for pro- ylphenidate for six weeks still reported
pulsivity can cause unwanted pregnan- motions and unable to reach their pro- significant challenges planning events
cies, and reckless driving may result in fessional potential. and staying organized.
accidents. Cutting people off in conver- Challenges with planning and orga- Thus, many adults with ADHD also
sation or blurting out inappropriate re- nization also lead to irregular or un- need therapy to learn and practice orga-
marks signs of verbal impulsivity can healthy patterns of self-care. Quality of nizational and self-regulatory skills. In-
harm relationships. sleep, which can affect health, happiness dividuals need different types of sup-
Such reactivity, and its consequenc- and success, is often poor in adults with port, but therapists may teach them to
es, may stem in part from a lack of emo- ADHD. In a study published in 2009 rank items on to-do lists in order of im-
tional control. In a study published in Surman and his colleagues found that portance, recognize what distracts them
2013 one of us (Surman) and his col- more than half of 182 adults with ADHD from tasks, and establish new habits,
leagues at Massachusetts General Hos- reported either restless sleep or difficulty such as setting aside time for planning
pital used a questionnaire to assess emo- getting to sleep. Those with ADHD also and prioritizing.
tional self-regulation a construct that
includes frustration tolerance, temper
and emotional impulsivity among 206 THE AUTHORS
I R O M AYA G e t t y I m a g e s
adults with ADHD and 123 without the TIM BILKEY is an adult psychiatrist specializing in adult ADHD in Canada. He has produced two films
disorder. They found that 61 percent of on adult ADHD and started one of the worlds first clinics for women with ADHD. CRAIG SURMAN is
assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.
those with ADHD had trouble control-
He studies and treats adult ADHD. KAREN WEINTRAUB is a freelance health and science journalist
ling their emotional expression, overre- based in Cambridge, Mass. Surman and Bilkey are co-authors of FAST MINDS: How to Thrive If You
acting with anger more often than 95 Have ADHD (or Think You Might) (Penguin/Berkley, 2013), written with Weintraub.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 67
2013 Scientific American
Adults with ADHD also often need surfs the Web or compulsively checks e- 2010 psychologist Mary V. Solanto of the
help setting up an organizational struc- mail at work, they might download an Mount Sinai School of Medicine and her
ture typically, a consistent location app that turns off Internet and e-mail ac- colleagues found that teaching organiza-
for important objects and pieces of in- cess for hours. tional habits in a group setting is also ef-
formation. House and car keys should Technology such as computer re- fective at relieving symptoms of ADHD.
have a home rather than being tossed in minders, distraction blockers or planning
various places. Appointments and phone tools can serve as peripheral brains to Why Do I Keep Doing This?
numbers should similarly be entered into support the human brain in completing One critical component of therapy is
a calendar or contact list that is readily challenging cognitive tasks. People can aimed at an emotional barrier to change:
accessible rather than scribbled on the play a similar role. An assistant might a self-critical internal voice that saps the
back of an envelope that could get motivation to learn new skills and
lost or tossed in the trash. People adopt better habits. Adults with
may program an alarm to remind ADHD often suffer psychologically
them of an appointment or to pick from a sense of unfulfilled poten-
up the kids or use an electronic tial, the sting of criticism from oth-
calendar that synchs with e-mail ers or regrets about the mistakes
and their cell phone so they can they have made.
easily enter a meeting or event as The default was that I was a
soon as they learn about it. bad, out-of-control kid who will-
In a study published in 2005 fully misbehaved, Kessler says.
psychologist Steven A. Safren of My self-esteem and self-confi-
Mass General and his colleagues dence were pummeled as a child.
showed that 12 training sessions, Before her diagnosis and the hard
focused on adopting organization- work that followed, Kessler would
al strategies, combined with medi- often see herself as screwing up.
cation, was more effective for Why do I keep doing this? she
ADHD symptoms than medication would angrily ask herself.
alone in 31 adults with ADHD. In Cognitive-behavior therapy is
a follow-up study published in based on the idea that thoughts,
2010 Safren found that 12 weeks of feelings and actions are interrelated
Identifying impulsive decisions, such as hitting the
training in organizational tech- snooze on the alarm clock, that derail your day can and that changing any one of those
niques relieved the burden of lead you toward better choices in the future. elements influences the others. In
ADHD in 79 adult patients more one cognitive technique, called a
than relaxation therapy of the thought record, a person describes
same duration did. keep a calendar for you; a spouse might a situation in which he or she experi-
Therapy can also curtail impulsive protect family time; a colleague might re- enced distress and a therapist helps that
decision making. In our own clinical mind you of a regular meeting. Profes- person identify how much of the distress
practices, we ask clients to pick critical sionals, such as mental health therapists, is rational versus emotional that is,
moments in which they tend to stray rehabilitation specialists and ADHD rooted in his or her own perspective.
from their intended course. Such a mo- coaches, can also keep people on track This process can help people see the
ment might be deciding to play one more and accountable. Coaches may suggest mental traps that they tend to fall into
video game instead of going to bed on adaptive strategies, teaching clients to when coping with difficult situations.
time or hitting snooze on the alarm prioritize and set realistic goals, among These snares may include catastrophiz-
clock, until a person is so rushed that other skills. ing (thinking that something is far worse
gym clothes are forgotten and the Many adults with ADHD use sup- than it is); mind reading (believing you
planned exercise never happens. Once port groups, such as those organized by know what others think of you); or tak-
patients become aware of the moments Children and Adults with ADHD or the ing an all-or-nothing approach toward
they go astray, we help them craft a plan Attention Deficit Disorder Association, self-worth (you are either a winner or a
for making a better choice. For example, to meet and confer with others struggling loser with no middle ground). Thera-
a patient may decide to read rather than with similar challenges. In these gather- pists help patients adopt a more rational
play games before bedtime or set aside a ings, group members can discuss their point of view so that they can focus on
G E T T Y I M AG E S
time for gaming as a reward for hard new habits and own up to their failings, problem solving. Individuals with
work that does not disrupt their ability a conversation that may help them stick ADHD then have the energy to come up
to wind down from the day. If someone to the strategies they have learned. In with strategies for getting tasks done or
68 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
Could You Have ADHD? Test Yourself
A
ttention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) begins in
Check the box that best describes how
childhood, but recent work shows that it often contin- you have felt and conducted yourself over
ues into adulthood. The latest edition of the American the past six months. Please give the com
Sometimes
Very Often
pleted questionnaire to your health care
Psychiatric Associations diagnostic manual, the DSM-5, has professional during your next appointment
Rarely
Never
Often
revised its criteria for ADHD to explicitly acknowledge the adult to discuss the results.
form of the disorder. In one change, symptoms must be pres- 1. H ow often do you have trouble
wrapping up the final details of a
ent before age 12 instead of age seven, the cutoff in earlier project once the challenging parts have
editions, meaning adults only need to recall having troubles been done?
by middle school age. In another, the description of symptoms 2. H ow often do you have difficulty getting
things in order when you have to do
now includes examples more relevant to adults. For instance, a task that requires organization?
one that relates to attention reads, Often fails to give close 3. How often do you have problems
attention to details or makes careless mistakes in school- remembering appointments
or obligations?
work, at work, or with other activities. Another in that catego- 4. W hen you have a task that requires
ry states, Often does not follow through on instructions and a lot of thought, how often do you avoid
fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace or delay getting started?
5. H ow often do you fidget or squirm with
(e.g., loses focus, side-tracked). Children require six or more your hands or feet when you have to sit
symptoms from each setattention and hyperactivity/impul- down for a long time?
sivityto qualify for a diagnosis, whereas people 17 years and 6. H ow often do you feel overly active
and compelled to do things, as if you
older need five or more. were driven by a motor?
The World Health Organization has developed a test called Add the number of checkmarks that appear in the darkly shaded areas.
the Adult Self-Report Scale Screener that incorporates the Four or more checkmarks indicate that your symptoms may be
consistent with adult ADHD. It may be beneficial for you to talk with
most common difficulties in adults with ADHD. Answer its your health care provider about an evaluation.
questions (at right) to find out whether you could be at risk for SOURCE: ADULT ADHD SELF - REPORT SCALE -V1 .1 (ASRS -V1 .1) SCREENER, FROM WHO
COMPOSITE INTERNATIONAL DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIE W, WORLD HE ALTH ORGANIZ ATION
the disorder.
even caring for themselves important Her organization and stamina have it is not necessarily a catastrophe. If
tasks such as eating, exercising and improved dramatically through these she needs to apologize to someone,
sleeping on a regular schedule. The be- efforts. Kesslers second book, part she does, without beating herself up
havioral interventions, such as instruc- memoir, part self-help, entitled ADHD about it. That way she can focus on other
tion in organizational techniques and According to Zo, was published in aspects of her life. And Kesslers im-
decision making at critical moments, September, and her freelance writing and proved mental and organizational disci-
represent another key part of this type speaking careers are thriving. Emotion- pline has reinforced her sense of self-
of therapy. ally, she also now understands that when worth. I actually get a kick out of my
For Kessler, medication, along with she does say something inappropriate self, she says. M
cognitive approaches, has transformed
the way she lives. Before, I was just too
overwhelmed and couldnt really bring FURTHER READING
anything to term, Kessler recalls. Today Mastering
Your Adult ADHD: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program Client Workbook
she uses a pen-and-paper system to keep (Treatments That Work). Steven A. Safren, Susan Sprich, Carol A. Perlman and Michael W.
track of appointments and the great ideas Otto. Oxford University Press, 2005.
that bubble up at random times. She also Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adult ADHD: An Integrative Psychosocial and Medical
Approach. J. Russell Ramsay and Anthony L. Rostain. Routledge, 2007.
does meditation to lessen her mood
Cognitive-BehavioralTherapy for Adult ADHD: Targeting Executive Dysfunction.
swings and improve her focus and time
Mary V. Solanto. Guilford Press, 2011.
management. Being in nature similarly
Understanding Deficient Emotional Self-Regulation in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
quiets her mind, stabilizes her mood and Disorder: A Controlled Study. C. B. Surman et al. in ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity
helps her manage her hyperactivity. She Disorders, Vol. 5, No. 3. Published online February 13, 2013.
channels her drive to talk into standup How to pick an ADHD coach: www.adhdcoaches.org/how-to-pick-an-adhd-coach
comedy, public speaking and writing. From Our Archives
Cultivating friends who are supportive Are
Doctors Diagnosing Too Many Kids with ADHD? Scott O. Lilienfeld and Hal Arkowitz;
helps her feel better about herself. May/June 2013.
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 69
2013 Scientific American
(facts & fictions in mental health)
C O U R T E S Y O F S C O T T O. L I L I E N F E L D (L i l i e n f e l d ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F H A L A R KO W I T Z ( A r k o w i t z) ;
some alcohol in the past month, as had plain why the most popular prevention ing to the program Web site, it has been
11 percent of eighth graders and 28 per- program has been found to be ineffec- put in place in 75 percent of U.S. school
cent of high school sophomores. In addi- tive and may even heighten the use of districts and 43 countries. D.A.R.E.
tion, 1 percent of 12th graders had tried some substances among teens. bumper stickers, D.A.R.E. T-shirts, and
methamphetamine, and almost 3 per- police cars emblazoned with the word
cent had used cocaine in the past year. Rehearsing Refusal D.A.R.E. are familiar fixtures in many
In an attempt to reduce these figures, The most widely publicized teen sub- U.S. communities.
substance abuse prevention programs stance abuse prevention program is Despite this fanfare, data indicate
often educate pupils regarding the perils Drug Abuse Resistance Education, bet- that the program does little or nothing to
of drug use, teach students social skills ter known by the acronym D.A.R.E. combat substance use in youth. A meta-
to resist peer pressure to experiment, Created in 1983 by the Los Angeles Po- analysis (mathematical review) in 2009
and help young people feel that saying lice Department, D.A.R.E. asks uni- of 20 controlled studies by statisticians
no is socially acceptable. All the ap- formed police officers to go into schools Wei Pan, then at the University of Cin-
proaches seem sensible on the surface, so to warn students about the dangers of cinnati, and Haiyan Bai of the Univer-
A U R O R A P H O T O S (t e e n a g e r s)
policy makers, teachers and parents typ- drug use and underscore the pluses of a sity of Central Florida revealed that
ically assume they work. Yet it turns out drug-free way of life. In most cases, the teens enrolled in the program were just
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 71
2013 Scientific American
(reviews and recommendations)
> CANINE CONNECTION future investigations into the mysteries might in turn modulate attention and
How Dogs Love Us: of the canine brain, such as whether dogs movement (hence use of the patch). And
have empathy. The book is as much a cardiovascular exercise increases the
A Neuroscientist and His Adopted scientific exploration of how the canine flow of oxygen to the brain, which could
Dog Decode the Canine Brain brain might function as it is a deeply per- aid cognition.
by Gregory Berns. New sonal story about Bernss relationship Hurley measures his intelligence be-
Harvest, 2013 ($25) with dogs as pets and colleagues. Ulti- fore and after this experiment through a
mately that connection is what makes the number of IQ tests. Although the results
In H
ow Dogs Love Us, Em- book compelling. Daniela Hernandez show little or no improvement on many
ory University neurosci- measures, his score on the Ravens matri-
entist Berns recounts > NO PAIN, NO BRAIN ces, a test of general intelligence, climbs
the death of Newton, his Smarter: The New Science about 16 percent. Notably, Hurley reports
pet pug of 15 years. With of Building Brain Power feeling more focused, alert and invigorat-
age, New tons spinal ed throughout his trainingyet
cord deteriorated, and by Dan Hurley. Penguin for all we know he may be expe-
the dog lost control of his Group/Hudson Street riencing a placebo effect.
hind legs, bowel and Press, 2013 ($25.95) Despite the limited scientif-
bladder. Berns recalls Psychologists have long be- ic value of one mans self-exper-
Newtons look of shame after his first ac- lieved that fluid intelligence, imentation, Hurleys research
cident inside the house and how he inter- or the ability to learn and suggests that his combined ap-
preted this look as Newtons plea to die. solve problems, is essentially proach may be best for achiev-
Berns laid him down and watched him immutable. That is why in ing real change. At this early
snort one last time as he passed. It was 2008, when Swiss psycholo- stage, though, the field of cog-
then Berns realized he had never known gists Susanne M. Jaeggi and nitive enhancement of fers
what Newton was thinking or whether his Martin Buschkuehl suggested more questions than answers.
pet loved him back. that they could improve this For example, it is unclear wheth-
That realization marked the beginning form of intelligence with a sim- er training in one memory task
of the Dog Project, a research program to ple working memory task, their findings truly alters general intelligence as op-
decode doggie thoughts and emotions sent ripples of disbelief among cognitive posed to merely improving skills related to
with functional MRI. Scientists already scientists. the specific activity. Yet some scientists
employ fMRI, which uses changes in As journalist Hurley explains in Smart- are optimistic, likening the results to
blood flow as a proxy for brain activity, to er, t he work of Jaeggi, Buschkuehl and oth- strength training that may target one set
scan the brains of restrained monkeys, ers has sparked a revolution in how we of muscles but still improves overall bal-
but Berns wanted to train dogs to willing- think about intelligence. In recent years ance and stability.
ly enter the machine and learn simple evidence has mounted that certain inter- Smarter presents a clear-eyed but en-
things, such as associating a hand signal ventions could benefit people of average couraging view of cognitive enhancement,
with a reward of a hot dog, all the while or high ability or prevent cognitive decline making the science come to life through
staying still enough to collect interpreta- associated with aging and disease. [For engaging anecdotes. Although efforts to
ble brain scans. more on this work, see Building Better boost our brainpower are still in their infan-
The first half of the book details how Brains, by John Jonides, Susanne M. cy, Hurley convincingly argues that we
Berns, his lab mates and two pooches Jaeggi, Martin Buschkuehl and Priti Shah; have the ability to keep our mind razor-
worked together to accomplish this feat. It S cientific A merican M ind, September/ sharp by continuously challenging the
is an entertaining and inspiring inside look October 2012.] brain and body. Daisy Yuhas
at the do-it-yourself aspect of science and Hurley investigates the validity of
a testament to Bernss passion. The latter these claims, exploring empirical evi- > VISUAL PLEASURES
half is a highly speculative analysis of dence and implementing some of the bet- The Aesthetic Brain:
brain scans collected from Bernss be- ter-supported approaches in a weekly rou- How We Evolved to Desire
loved terrier mix, Callie, and a border col- tine. For three months he takes countless
Beauty and Enjoy Art
lie named McKenzie. He exposes Callie tests, plays numerous games,
and McKenzie to the smells of familiar as learns a new musical instru- by Anjan Chatterjee.
well as unknown dogs and humans. ment, engages in intense phys- Oxford University Press,
In Callies scans, Berns observes acti- ical exercise, receives transcra- 2013 ($34.95)
vation in the caudate, a brain region in- nial direct-current stimulation Why do we covet beauty? Why
volved in processing rewards, after expos- and wears a nicotine patch all does art, which seems to
ing her to the smell of his daughter. He in- in pursuit of a nimbler noggin. serve little practical purpose,
terprets this singular finding as evidence Although the precise mech- feel fundamental to our lives?
that dogs love their owners. In his excite- anisms underlying many of Such questions have long
ment to describe Callies brain activity as these techniques remain un- fascinated philosophers and
love, he sometimes forgets that fMRI is known, Hurley suggests that artists. Now neuroscientists
not a tool for mind reading and leaps to electrical brain stimulation may are weighing in as well.
conclusions about dogs abilities to men- increase intelligence by promot- T he Aesthetic Brain e x-
talize human intentions. ing new neural connections. plores the field of neuroaes-
What Berns lacks in hard data, he Other interventions appear to have fewer thetics, the science of how our brain ex
more than makes up for with scientific cu- direct effects. Nicotine, for example, en- periences and responds to art, music and
riosity. He hopes his initial foray will spur courages the flow of dopamine, which objects of beauty. Chatterjee, a neurosci-
72 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
read, watch, listen STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP,
MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
1. Publication title: Scientific American Mind. 2. Publication num-
ber: 2-3113. 3. Filing date: October 1, 2013. 4. Issue frequency:
entist, argues that an instinct for beauty has not in a straightforward way. It can be vulgar, bimonthly. 5. Number of issues published annually: 6. 6. Annual
helped our species endure. Art is a product bizarre or abstract; it can tell a story, incite subscription price: U.S., 1 year, $19.95; Canada, 1 year, $30; all
of our quest for beauty and knowledge. emotions or depict a given moment. Take other countries, 1 year, $30. 7. Complete mailing address of known
office of publication: 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY
The author first walks through the com- the sculpture Piss Christ, which depicts a cru- 10013-1917, USA. 7a. Contact person: Karen Dawson; telephone:
plex neural mechanics of aesthetic experi- cifix soaked in urine. Chatterjee explains 212-726-9369. 8. Complete mailing address of the headquarters
ence. When we look at something, whether that people viewing this artwork out of con- or general business office of the publisher: Scientific American, a
it is the Mona Lisa or a city skyline, informa- text often react with disgust, but those who division of Nature America, Inc., 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New
York, NY 10013-1917, USA. 9. Full names and complete mailing
tion from nerve cells in the eyes retina trav- know that the artist intended to show the address of publisher, editor and managing editor: Publisher,
els to the brains occipital lobes to process horrors of the crucifixion tend to find a deep- Michael Florek, Scientific American, 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor,
what we have seen. If we find these sights er meaning in it. Our response to art can be New York, NY 10013-1917, USA. Editor, Mariette DiChristina,
Scientific American, 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY
beautiful, the brain is flooded with pleasure- richer and more nuanced than to a pleasing
10013-1917, USA. Managing Editor, Sandra Upson, Scientific
inducing neurotransmitters. Beauty is inex- vista or tableau. American, 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10013-1917,
orably linked with pleasure. Overall, The Aesthetic Brain offers an in- USA. 10. Owner: Scientific American, a division of Nature America,
Chatterjee turns to evolutionary psy- triguing overview of the neural and histori- Inc., 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10013-1917, USA 11.
Known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders owning
chology to explain why we are drawn to cal underpinnings of beauty and art. Chat- or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages
things of beauty, positing that this urge may terjee, however, may tackle too much in his or other securities: none. 12. Tax status: has not changed during
have improved our ancestors chances of 244-page book. He attempts to capture the preceding 12 months. 13. Publication title: Scientific American
survival. Facial symmetry often signaled a immense topics of aesthetics, pleasure Mind. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: September/
October 2013. 15. Extent and nature of circulation: paid consumer
better mating partner, and landscapes re- and art while weaving in anecdotes about magazine. a. Total number of copies (net press run): average num-
plete with rolling hills, waterways and bloom- science, history and even math, which can ber of copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 260,028;
ing plants may have appealed to primitive at times cause him to lose track of his main number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date,
humans because they provided safe refuge thesis. Nevertheless, he makes a compel- 260,702. b. Paid circulation (by mail and outside the mail): (1)
Mailed outside-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541
and sustenance. ling case that although art and beauty may (include paid above nominal and advertisers proof and exchange
Of course, our relation with art is more seem nonessential, they epitomize our copies): average number of copies each issue during preceding 12
complex than such simplistic theories may search for pleasure and meaning in life. months, 53,078; number of copies of single issue published near-
est to filing date, 51,716. (2) Mailed in-county paid subscriptions
suggest. Art is not always beautiful, at least Daisy Yuhas
stated on PS Form 3541 (include paid above nominal and advertis-
ers proof and exchange copies): average number of copies each
issue during preceding 12 months, 0; number of copies of single
issue published nearest to filing date, 0. (3) Paid outside mail
through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales and
ROUNDUP
>> UNEARTHING INNER RESOURCES
other paid distribution outside USPS: average number of copies
each issue during preceding 12 months, 80,168; number of copies
of single issue published nearest to filing date, 77,868. (4) Paid
Three books help us nurture our strengths and achieve our dreams distribution by other classes mailed through the USPS: average
number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 0; num-
ber of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 0. c.
Sitting through an entire lecture or even Total paid circulation (sum of 15b (1), (2), (3) and (4)): average
a movie without furtively glancing at number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months,
a cell phone can be surprisingly difficult 133,246; number of copies of single issue published nearest to fil-
ing date, 129,584. d. Free distribution by mail: (1) Free or nominal
for some of us. In F
ocus: The Hidden rate outside-county included on PS Form 3541: average number of
Driver of Excellence (HarperCollins, copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 957; number of
2013), psychologist and journalist Dan- copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 954. (2) Free
or nominal rate in-county copies included on PS Form 3541: aver-
iel Goleman explores the significance
age number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 0;
of attention, revealing the deleterious number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 0.
effects of distractions on work and rela- (3) Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other classes mailed
tionships. Investing more fully in the through the USPS: average number of copies each issue during pre-
ceding 12 months, 0; number of copies of single issue published
moment can spur creativity when wres-
nearest to filing date, 0. (4). Free or nominal rate distribution out-
tling with a problem or even spark a new side the mail: average number of copies each issue during preced-
romantic connection. Attention, Goleman suggests, is like a muscle, and learning to ing 12 months, 90; number of copies of single issue published
strengthen it through simple exercises, such as 10 minutes of deep breathing every nearest to filing date, 93. e. Total free or nominal rate distribution
(sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)): average number of copies each
morning, can help the brain gain focus. issue during preceding 12 months, 1,047; number of copies of sin-
Enhancing attention is not the only thing that can improve our prospects. In gle issue published nearest to filing date, 1,047. f. Total distribution
Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential ( Penguin Group/ (sum of 15c and 15e): average number of copies each issue during
Hudson Street Press, 2013), communications consultants John Neffinger and Mat- preceding 12 months, 134,293; number of copies of single issue
published nearest to filing date, 130,631. g. Copies not distributed:
thew Kohut illuminate what makes certain people particularly likable and magnetic. average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months,
Neffinger and Kohut home in on two especially important characteristics: strength 125,753; number of copies of single issue published nearest to fil-
and warmth. They argue that strength reflects a persons competence and that ing date, 130,071. h. Total (sum of 15f and 15g): average number
warmth indicates someones capacity for empathy. The authors also offer tips on of copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 260,029; num-
ber of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date,
how to increase these qualities. 260,702. i. Percent paid (15c/15f 100): average number of each
Despite a desire to aim high, insecurity often holds us back. In T he 5 Essentials: issue during preceding 12 months, 99.2%; number of single issue
Using Your Inborn Resources to Create a Fulfilling Life (Penguin Group/Hudson published nearest to filing date, 99.2%. 16. Publication of state-
ment of ownership will be printed in the January/February 2014
Street Press, 2013), cognitive neuroscientist Bob Deutsch, with writer Lou Aronica,
issue of this publication. 17. I certify that all information furnished
contends that we can overcome this impediment by developing certain innate abili- on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who
ties, such as curiosity and openness. Deutsch provides inspiration by describing the
THINKSTOCK
What brain activity can explain suspension called disinterestedness. Yet because we are not going to act,
of disbelief? Michael Mueller, Ohio the brain economizes. We turn off the neural processes that tell
us we might need to do something about what we are seeing.
Norman N. Holland, author of Literature and the The prefrontal cortex does not try to assess the reality of what
Brain, replies: we are seeing, nor does it trigger motor impulses. That is why
although we k now a fair amount about the brain activity when we are sitting in a theater, we do not jump out of our seats
linked with reading, no one has isolated the mechanisms tied to save the blond starlet even though we know she is about to
specifically to suspension of disbelief. Yet we can extrapolate get chopped up by a chainsaw-wielding fiend.
how the brain behaves on a more general level. Losing ourselves refers to another element of poetic faith,
Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined the term suspension of when the audience is, in the psychologists term, transported.
disbelief in 1817, but almost two centuries would lapse before We cease to be aware of our body, our posture or our environ-
we could infer how the brain might support this puzzling phe- ment. No longer are we in our living room or able to see the cin-
nomenon. Coleridge asked readers of his fantastical poems, in- emas glowing exit sign. Perhaps most important, our limbic
cluding The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, to give him that will- system causes us to feel emotions anger, disgust, jealousy, de-
ing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes po- sire, fear about the stories we are watching or reading.
etic faith. That phrase, poetic faith, encapsulates what our Being transported emotionally into an alternative reality
JAMIE CARROLL iStockphoto
brain is doing. It isnt that we stop disbelieving its that we be- helps us to invest more completely in a piece of fiction, no
lieve two inconsistent things. We accept that we are sitting and matter how unbelievable. Thus, we are able to believe in the
reading or watching a movie. We also believe or, more accurate- supernatural occurrences in Coleridges Ancient Mariner, the
ly, feel that what we are reading or viewing is happening. inhuman strength and speed of Superman, or the harrowing
Action is the key. When we are reading a story or watching journey of a Hobbit in his quest to destroy an evil ring. M
a movie, we know that we cannot or will not act to change
what is occurring, a phenomenon philosopher Immanuel Kant Have a question? Send it to editors@SciAmMind.com
N
1 COMMON GOAL N
3 PROVERBIAL MYSTERY N
5 MAGIC SQUARE
The scrambled words in each pie- All the vowels have been removed Use only the numbers 0, 4, 8 and 12
shaped section share a common from the following proverb, and the to complete this square so that all the
missing letter. Provide the missing remaining letters are arranged into vertical, horizontal and long diagonal
letter and unscramble the words. groups of three letters each. Replace rows add up to 24.
the vowels and restore the correct
G word breaks to discover the proverb. 0 12 0
N
N L
O U 12
L
U J 4 MULTIGRAMS
N
? Each of the following groups of letters
6 HIDDEN PATTERN
E A can be anagrammed into two to four
E D words. Unscramble the letters into all What term should most logically come
O A E possible words. next in this sequence?
X W
R
EFIRSSU EEMPRSU EENPRST S30 O31 N30 ?
E
W
N
7 FILL IN THE BLANKS
Each of the following words contains the letters JAN in order. (They may also
N
contain other Js, As or Ns.) Using the definitions, find the words.
2 SPELL IT OUT
A variety of semiprecious stone that can be either blue or orange:
One letter can replace the first letter JA_ _N_ _
of each word pair below so that two
A type of soldier: J A N _ _ _ _ _ _
new English words are formed. Place
the letter on the line between the Pertaining now to the Democratic party of the U.S., but originally with
words. (Example: RAIN ___ DARK = a slightly different meaning. Adjectival form of politicians name:
MAIN M MARK.) When you find the J _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _AN
N
2 0 1 3 A M E R I C A N M E N S A , LT D. L E A R N M O R E AT W W W. M E N S A . O R G /J O I N
___ PINK
MAIL What letter belongs in the center of the last box?
___ SAID
CART
___ RIMLESS
GRID T H U Z I S E O U A
P E D Q ?
___ BOUND
LINK
S I L Z A M S F E R
___ RIPPLE
ROWED
Answers
MADE OF SQUARES.) 12 0 0 12
and PENSTER.
into the center to spell out THIS PUZZLE IS PRESUME; PRESENT, REPENTS, SERPENT
8. S. (Spiral clockwise around each square 4 8 8 4
4. F ISSURE and FUSSIER; SUPREME and
7. J ACINTH, JANISSARY, JEFFERSONIAN. 3. BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER.
8 4 4 8 2. SMART.
of days in that month.)
first initial of a month and the number YAWED, WEARY, OXEYE and YOUNG.)
6. D31. (The sequence is made up of the 0 12 12 0 5. 1. The missing letter is Y. (GUSHY, JOLLY,
M in d . S c i e nti f i c A m e r i c an .c o m S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D 75
2013 Scientific American
(mind in pictures)
DJorge
wayne Godwin is a neuroscientist at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Cham draws the comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper at www.phdcomics.com.
76 S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N M I N D J a nu a r y/Fe b r u a r y 2 014
2013 Scientific American
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