Playing with Brains

Today one of us at TGBR played a game that required memorizing strings of numbers. The game started off with just two digits, but went all the way up to 10 digits. Sometimes the number has to be memorized “backwards” which made it more challenging.

What was interesting was how even the slightest bit of familiarity aided the process. ‘206’ popped up as part of a longer string, and was easily memorized as a single entity because it’s the area code here in Seattle. Any time 7x7 occurred (737, 747, 727, etc) that, too, was held in the mind as a single digit. And strings of numbers that started with ‘19’ were easily coded as dates, So, when 2061984737 popped up, instead of it feeling like a 10 digit number, it felt like a three digit number.

Our brains, it seems, are desperate to attach meaning to things. We prefer character and reason to stark, abstract existence. This is how we, here at TGBR, choose to interpret new findings that show people with so-called “perfect” recall can be tricked into having false memories.

An article at Discover describes how scientists were able to achieve this, and for the sake of time, we won’t rehash the explanation here. Suffice it to say that no one’s memory is invulnerable to manipulation.

We’re insisting it all goes back to a terrible need to consider the question ”why?” why did that happen? What does it mean? How does that fit into the rest of the universe?

And if the universe is in our own heads, than our memories are their own worst enemies.

This is Your Brain in Love

Remember those commercials from the 90s, the ones where they’d show you an egg, and say “this is your brain,” and then they’d crack it open and start it sizzling in a frying pan, and say “this is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” And the question would of course be “can I get a side of home fries with that that?”

The idea was that drugs fry your brain, and so the metaphor was over extended. So, in that vein, let’s look at more ways that your brain can get fried. And since Valentine’s day is a good three months away, let’s talk about love.

First up, this study, as reported by United Academics, which points out that “Romantic love and partnership is influenced by various substances, such as oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine, serotonin, cortisol and testosterone.” If you’ve been reading The Great Brain Robbery, you may recognize some of those hormones. Like cortisol, the one that, amongst other things, makes you fat and rips your brain to shreds. Ain’t love great?

And there’s this article at BrainFacts.org, discussing the same and similar research, which says “In male prairie voles, the hormone arginine vasopressin, which is involved in aggression and territorial behavior, also appears to play an important role in pair-bonding.” Did you get that, guys? Love can make you aggressive. Or being aggressive can make you fall in love.

And finally, Discover Magazine’s Seriously Science column reports on a study that shows that, for straight men, just thinking about talking to women can make their brains take a dive.

Add it all up: love makes you fat, aggressive, and stupid.

Well, of course it does.

Of course it doesn’t. Love is too complex to be reduced to a few hormones, and the brain is too complex to be similarly reduced. We encourage you to actually read the above articles and abstracts, as the question of what love does to the brain (or, not to put to fine a point on it, for the brain) is still as mysterious as it is fascinating.

But nevermind that. Nevermind being rational and cautious about approaching the science of the brain. Nevermind reading these scientific articles in the spirit that they’re offered: with a healthy dose of discernment not to take the findings and draw unsubstantiated conclusions We’ve just read the Neuroskeptics guide on how to wave away doubt. And we’re approaching jazz-hands level here.

After all, if love makes s stupid, than being stupid means we deserve to be loved, right?