Best products from r/Neuropsychology

I'll have a go, but do also try /r/cogsci.

I'm just finishing up my undergrad in industrial psychology and I've been looking around for cognitive science programs for a while.

For a career as a cognitive science researcher you will probably need post-graduate training in cognitive science.

As far as I can tell, cognitive science departments typically accept students for graduate programs with all kinds of backgrounds. Students with bachelor degrees in philosophy, psychology, biology, computer science, linguistics or even mathematics all stand a decent chance.

Cognitive science is interdisciplinary and few universities do interdisciplinary research well. So, cognitive science professors are used to taking in students with biased background lacking in some respect.

So, you don't necessarily need to change majors to pursue cognitive science at post graduate level. If you can take a couple of courses in neuroscience, cognitive or experimental psychology and philosophy of mind, that would improve your chances.

If you don't want to pursue graduate studies, then out of all the undergraduate majors that feed into cognitive science programs, computer science and mathematics are likely going to give you the strongest employment prospects. So you don't necessarily want to change majors.

I think of cognitive science as really just psychological science done properly. Ideally, you could just switch to psychology subjects and hit the ground running, but mainstream psychology is a cesspool of pseudoscientific rubbish. Your very valuable background in mathematics, computer science and engineering will count for almost nothing in most psychology departments.

So I reckon you should finish with a major in computer engineering (perhaps taking a couple of extra courses to fill in some of the gaps) and then pursue graduate training at a strong cognitive science department, if you can.

Also if you haven't yet, have a look at these books:

Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Science of the Mind

Cognitive Science: A Philosophical Introduction

Mind: An Introduction to Cognitive Science

A History of Modern Experimental Psychology: From James and Wundt to Cognitive Science

The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Science

The Oxford Handbook of Computational and Mathematical Psychology

(All available for free at gen.lib.rus.ec)

Also Cambrigde university press will be publishing a new handbook of mathematical and computational psychology soon, so keep your eye out for that.

Trends in Cognitive Sciences is a good general cognitive science journal you should check out too.

If you find some of the work inspiring, look at the people who did the research up and see where they are working.

NLP doesn't get much play in neuropsych or academic psych circles, for the reason Burnage cited below. The problem is that NLP mixes things that are demonstrably true and probably of lots of value, with things that are demonstrably false and therefore of limited value, and a bunch of things that no one has really studied because they don't make much sense according to how we know the brain works. For example, the eye movement chart... sure, in general, if you are right handed and your brain is lateralized like most right-handers, your eyes move to your right if you are trying to recall something and to your left if you are trying to create/visualize something. But, not always. And not in any way that's particularly helpful - for example, most of the time you are trying to remember stuff WHILE thinking up other stuff.

Also, although it intuitively makes sense, people don't really have "learning preferences" like being a visual, kinesthetic, or auditory learner or being "right brained" or "left brained" - the brain just isn't designed like that, which we can discuss more at another time if it's of interest.

But as for your question about Milton Erickson... probably not so much in NP circles, but he has been incredibly influential in some areas of psychology. Erickson was one of those therapists who seemed to work really well with some patients just by being who he is, and then people came along and tried to create a school of therapy that is Erickson's personality codified (see also: Ellis, Albert and Linehan, Marsha, who created their own therapies based largely on their personalities). Psychologists have had varying degrees of success with recreating Erickson, but if you are interested in how people are applying Erickson these days, I would highly recommend the works of Bill O'Hanlan, who is a solution-oriented therapist, an Erickson devotee, and a lovely writer.

I am still on my phone, I'm actually on vacation in Mexico right now so I won't get to it for a while, but here is the comment I just posted with a great resource to check out.

Here is a great book for a layperson by Pritchard & Ashwood called Managing Motivation http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Motivation-Managers-Diagnosing-Improving/dp/1841697133

Pritchard is a world leader in motivation research. His bases is more Industrial and Organizational Psychology so the book takes a motivation at work perspective. However the basic concepts at play are the same for all aspects of motivation.

He wanted to write an easy to digest book for the masses since he realized that most the literature is not written in a way that is easy for the layperson to grasp and apply in their own lives.

If you do read it, let me know what you think.

Xanax is highly addictive. Overdose and withdrawal are quite nasty. Tolerance builds up quickly. In general, it's best used for rare, circumscribed anxiety, like someone who has a fear of flying takes it a few times a year when they have to take a plane. Xanax can multiply the effect of alcohol, so I would recommend drinking very little or nothing while on it.

Adderall can also be addictive, but not quite so much as Xanax. There is much more research showing that you can take a steady dose of Adderall under a doctor's supervision for a long period of time without harm. However, you may feel some withdrawal if/when you stop.

Children who take adderall long-term end up a little bit shorter than their non-medicated peers, probably because they eat less. (Adderall suppresses appetite.) If you've already grown to adult height, this is not a concern.

Suggestions:

(1) You might have less anxiety if you take an extended release form (if you don't already). They produce a "smoother" onset of the drug so you don't feel that jittery rush after taking it. Adderall XR is the regular extended release. There's also Vyvanse which has an even slower effect because it has to get converted to its useful form while in your body.

(2) You might ask your doctor to let you try methylphenidate instead of Adderall or one of its cousins. Methylphenidate (ritalin/concert) works about equally as well and some people just do better on one over the other.

(3) Strattera is a non-stimulant ADHD drug. It doesn't work for everyone, but it might help you get the focus you need without anxiety.

(not a suggestion) There are other drugs used to treat ADHD including atypical neuroleptics (like Risperdal) and beta blockers (like guanfacine). Those mainly treat hyperactive symptoms, especially aggression. They don't really do much for inattention, so they won't help you.

(4) There are effective non-drug treatments for inattention in children - they require parents and teachers to provide frequent feedback and reinforcement to keep the kid on task. These aren't always feasible in adulthood, and don't always make sense in certain situations (such as driving). Nonetheless, they do have some use. If you want a non-drug solution, techniques like going to a boring location away from distractions, using ColdTurkey or similar software to block distracting sites, making procrastinating more difficult, etc. are helpful. (Personal favorite trick is whenever I'm trying to work, I completely unplug every cable that hooks up my TV and video games - if I want to play, I have to spend a few minutes on cables which is annoying, so I'm discouraged from playing.) There are a lot of books on self-management of adult ADHD. They have lots of these suggestions and they are moderately effective. YOu could also work on these issues with a therapist who would coach you on applying these techniques.

(5) You could keep taking Adderall but learn to cope with the anxiety. All the techniques psychologists have for coping with anxiety (deep breathing, mindfulness, muscle relaxation, distracting thoughts, etc.) work just as well on "fake" anxiety as on the real thing. If you want to try this, you can look up a lot of good stuff online, or treat yourself to The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook which is the czar of evidence-based anxiety self-help books.

Yes, I am most definitely down with that.

I'm also not sure how books would be discussed either. I usually have a hard time critiquing neuropsychology-type books since I am not really qualified to determine whether the results are based on sound methodology.

Perhaps if it was like a seminar, where we all pick a book to read, and start an open thread where people can post opinions and questions and we can all try to answer them or post relevant hard science (or other) related articles.

I'm not sure about the logistics, but maybe post an announcement for the book, then give people 2 weeks or whatever to read it, then start another thread for discussion? (Or, even better...write the current book-club selection in the side-bar)...and put a common title on all discussion threads so they are easily searchable.

Here are my suggestions for books (suggested mostly because I own them already):

How We Decide - Jonah Lehrer

The Talent Code - Daniel Coyle

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell (not really neuropsych, but has some neuropsychy ideas)

Why Don't Students Like School - Daniel Willingham (you convinced me to buy this book a couple weeks ago, and I'd love to discuss it more. I might write a review over at the subreddit I moderate [/shameless plug]).

EDIT: Maybe you could cross-post it as a "course" at the University of Reddit for more exposure? "Introduction to Popular Psychology" or something...

Thanks, it sounds good! :D I'm ordering it then :)
Do you know anything about this book?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0470516607/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2MX00LX4Q9G8K&coliid=I3KISUOY5XHSG

Is it a good next step, after Spark?
Thanks :)

A great book on this subject (perhaps getting a bit dated) is Susan Greenfields book ID; The quest for meaning in the 21st century. It's a laymans book, with a short introduction to neuroscience, but it also lays down some important and insightful concepts and questions on how new technology is and will affect our brain. For example, neuroplasticity and the rapidly increasing freedom and access of information a new generation is brought up in.

I read it as I was going into a BSc Hons in Psych a few years ago, and I still reread chapters now and then, for inspiration.

Lumosity and MyBrainSolutions would have us think so!

In all seriousness as someone with ADHD-C I've found Lumosity to be super helpful with short-term memory and impulsivity. And I hear good things about MyBrainSolutions and plan to sign up as soon as I have the monies.

I've also heard praise about the Brain Gym from a few dyslexic friends.

This is the book that got me interested in the field.. It's more like stories of peoples brains and explains plasticity, but an easy read and awesome book. http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp/067003830X

"The Maus Effect" is a phrase I coined after a shocking revelation. I was reading a graphic novel called Maus which begins with a conversation between a son, about my age at the time, and his dad, a European WWII survivor about my dad's age.

The conversation was almost identical to one I'd had recently with my dad. My heartfelt opinions were exactly those the son was using and his dad's opinions were my dad's. There was no significant difference. I was stunned by this.

I had a "wait a minute here" moment. This couldn't just be a coincidence. This is when I started realizing that "my" thoughts and opinions and beliefs and values were not my own in the sense that I had not just come up with them. This was instantly obvious after reading Maus.

The best way to investigate your questions is through direct observation of your own mind. Examine your thoughts and how they arise like a scientist. Many of our thoughts are exactly like those of those raised in the same culture, place and time. This is due to conditioning or social indoctrination. There is no way to avoid this. It's also known as learning and memory.

Are you responsible for your thoughts? Do you plan them out before they emerge?

I think the thinking process is very mechanistic and that there is little overt "control" most of the time. At other times, we direct the thinking process to consider one thing or another and there is some control but it isn't total control, is it?

Because thought appears mechanistic, there is a very high likely hood that it can and will be duplicated in AIs.

One scientists who investigated the thought process deeply is David Bohm. His book is based on a seminar on thought which can be heard online for free here and on Youtube probably.

The short answer is yes, but in a pragmatic sense, consciousness remains elusive to quantitative definitions. Of course, consciousness is referred to in many different ways, but I like to think of it as "the self." A lot of work has been done with schizophrenia in this area. Here's some recommended reading with fantastic academic references and a broad approach. Each section covers different areas from philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.

Methodology-wise, Steve Luck has a really nice, clear introductory text to ERP techniques.

There are a few coloring books that do this pretty well if you’re into that. This is a pretty popular one.

Blumenfeld's Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases is the classic text, and deservedly so.

The Human Brain Coloring Book is a fun, but surprisingly educational and detailed, resource.

I think the modern classic on ERPs is considered to be Steve Luck's book. I can vouch that it's an excellent book.

I can't help you with non-event-related EEG, though.