American Buddhist Net

WASHINGTON -- A scan of brain activity can effectively read a person's mind, researchers said Thursday.

British scientists from University College London found they could differentiate brain activity linked to different memories and thereby identify thought patterns by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

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These are the latest creations of extraordinary artist Tommy McHugh - a former builder and youth offender who can't stop painting since he emerged from a coma.

Mr McHugh, 60, nearly died after two blood vessels burst in the back of his head.

But after a week in a coma, he awoke with an uncontrollable urge to create and began writing poetry, painting the interior of his home, sculpting and carving.

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A 50-year mystery over the 'cursed bread' of Pont-Saint-Esprit, which left residents suffering hallucinations, has been solved after a writer discovered the US had spiked the bread with LSD as part of an experiment.

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Scientific examination of the subject has found that as the use of porn increases, the rate of sex crimes goes down.

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"The Art and Science of Mindfulness: Integrating Mindfulness into Psychology and the Helping Professions" by Susan Shapiro and Linda Carlson. American Psychological Association, 2009.

The integration and incorporation of mindfulness training into the mainstream of mental health may well turn out to be one of the most significant developments of the last ten or fifteen years. The literature has expanded exponentially and has moved in quite substantial ways from the use of Buddhist insights and techniques to a regular adjunct of CBT and especially DBT.

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Japanese designers Nendo have completed the interior of a mental health clinic in Akasaka, Tokyo, where none of the doors open and patients and staff instead move around the building by opening sections of the walls.

...By providing alternate perspectives for viewing the world, and avoiding being trapped by pre-existing perceptions, the interior allows visitors–and staff members–to experience opening new doors in their hearts, one after the other.

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A manual's draft reflects how diagnoses have grown foggier, drugs more ineffective

To flip through the latest draft of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, in the works for seven years now, is to see the discipline's floundering writ large. Psychiatry seems to have lost its way in a forest of poorly verified diagnoses and ineffectual medications. Patients who seek psychiatric help today for mood disorders stand a good chance of being diagnosed with a disease that doesn't exist and treated with a medication little more effective than a placebo.

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Have you ever felt like there must be a hidden conspiracy against you? Somehow people know just how to make you feel hurt, angry, insulted, let down, disappointed, abandoned, betrayed. They break up with you, fire you, leave you, or humiliate you. The bottom line: you’ve been wronged!

Or have you?

Granted, people do not always behave in exemplary ways. But if you feel you’ve been wronged, the situation deserves a closer look.

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Picture a cupped hand. A capsule and a pill lie in the palm. The hand is extended toward a small child. The caption reads, “Take your vitamins.”

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I really doubt it, but post this view because it is interesting and somewhat provocative. ABN

Invoke fear in the other person. Then, when they seek a solution, provide one that leads them in the direction you choose.

Fear is invoked by threatening needs. Relief may be gained by doing what you request. Relief may also given 'freely' to create trust and invoke the rules of social exchange.

Be careful not to be seen as an aggressor, for example by using external sources to invoke the fear.

Also be careful not to invoke so much fear that they flee from you or become aggressive.

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The routine procedure of setting bond in James Arthur Ray's criminal case has turned into a dispute over how much money the self-improvement guru really has.

Ray has been jailed in Camp Verde since his arrest Feb. 3 in connection with last year's deaths of three people at a sweat-lodge event near Sedona. Ray was charged with three counts of manslaughter, and his bond was set at $5 million.

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(PhysOrg.com) -- Hollywood movies have found a mathematical formula that lets them match the effects of their shots to the attention spans of their audiences.

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Meditation exercises could boost mental toughness in soldiers readying for war, keeping them from becoming overly emotional, according to new research.

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...The authors comment: "For many years, placebos have been defined by their inert content and their use as controls in clinical trials and treatments in clinical practice. Recent research shows that placebo effects are genuine psychobiological events attributable to the overall therapeutic context, and that these effects can be robust in both laboratory and clinical settings. There is also evidence that placebo effects can exist in clinical practice, even if no placebo is given."

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Tiger Woods says his path to redemption involves going back to Buddhism, which he's "drifted away from" in recent years.

The faith teaches a code to live by, including not harming others or engaging in sexual misconduct.

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Sex addiction is big business for US clinics

She has insomnia... so he's awake. Restless and irritable, she growls at her husband. How can this shrew be tamed?

Some may suggest that you prescribe a tranquilizer or antidepressant during daytime and evening.
But Doriden is taken at bedtime only. That means less risk of daytime drowsiness -- she gets the most out of her waking hours.

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CHILDREN with ADHD who use prescription drugs to manage their condition were 10 times more likely to perform poorly at school than ADHD kids who avoided medication, a new report revealed.

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Childhood temper tantrums, teenage irritability and binge eating may soon rate as psychiatric disorders in the US, according to proposed changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the bible of the psychiatric profession.

The proposals are the product of a 10-year effort to update the handbook, which influences the vast network of American healthcare providers, insurance companies, courts, prisons and universities. At stake are billions of dollars in insurance payments, pharmaceutical sales and medical fees. The proposed revisions, published online today , will be subject to public comment until late April.

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"[A] moody teenager who displays 'excessive suspicion, delusions and disorganised speech or behaviour' may be labelled as having psychosis risk syndrome." ??????!!!!!! Robyn

...Nowadays, we consider knowledge objective if it has been created with the best equipment, supported by statistics, and without too much human contribution, De Rijcke has established. Current brain scans thus appear to be the apex of objective registration of both neuroanatomy and brain function. This is despite the fact that contemporary scans are not static photos but actually interactive tools researchers use computer software to examine the information in scans in more and more new ways.

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...A graduate of a Buddhist seminary, she convincingly argues that meditation, not counseling, is the best way to regain control of one’s mind and soul when this emotional disaster strikes. The spurned lover must turn around and face the pain, not run from it. And one can do that effectively only by the discipline of quiet, daily breathing and mind-control exercises.

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Juvenile pranks... or signs of MBD [Minimal Brain Dysfunction]?

In past generations, youngsters' pranks were generally regarded with a tolerant attitude -- at worst, they were considered a minor nuisance.

However, with today's medical knowledge, it is recognized that a certain number of disruptive children may actually be suffering from the MBD syndrome.

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It is scary for people to admit that those who are supposed to be their "leaders" protecting them may in fact be human beings with complicated motives who may not always have their best interests in mind.

Indeed, long-term psychological studies show that approximately one-quarter of the American population has an "authoritarian personality", where they look for a "strong leader" to protect them (that's why even after his lies were exposed, Bush still stayed at approximately a 25% approval rating).

Authoritarians not only don't want to hear that the most powerful people might be acting against their interest, they will aggressively defend against any such information.

But it's not just the quarter of the population that can be said to clinically suffer from authoritarian personality disorder.

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CHICAGO (AP) -- Some people with Asperger's syndrome are upset about proposed changes in how their form of autism is diagnosed.

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By examining the brain before and after surgery, scientists have identified anatomical changes in the brain that may be linked to shifts in spiritual and religious attitudes.

A team of Italian researchers has uncovered another clue that directly links brain activity and spirituality.

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..."One long-term research goal is to test whether other intrinsically connected networks are also under genetic control, which we expect they will be," Dr. Fox said. "We also want to identify the genes that are controlling the default-mode network and other networks, and identify disorders associated with their abnormalities. A final goal is to develop treatment strategies."

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Should public servants be allowed to take office without having had an fMRI brain scan? ABN

Botox stunts your ability to process negative emotions, according to a new study. The experiment was a small one — only 40 people, so no need to get too excited about it — but it dovetails with a previous (even tinier) study that showed Allergan (AGN)’s wrinkle-killer can alleviate depression.

...The theory is that by paralyzing your ability to frown, signals generating negative emotions within you are similarly muted.

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Imagine that your stockbroker - or the friend who’s always giving you stock tips - called and told you he had come up with a new investment strategy. Price-to-earnings ratios, debt levels, management, competition, what the company makes, and how well it makes it, all those considerations go out the window. The new strategy is this: Invest in companies with names that are very easy to pronounce.

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Everyone checks themselves in the mirror now and then, but that experience can be horrifying for individuals suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, a psychiatric condition that causes them to believe, wrongly, that they appear disfigured and ugly. These people tend to fixate on minute details - every tiny blemish looms huge - rather than viewing their face as a whole.

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