Just to call your attention to the latest Scientific American - it's all about the human brain.

The latest excuse for failing to get anything done! You may have executive function disability. In fairness, I have no problem with this, it's just that you can see that this, like other fashionable phenomena (ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's Syndrome) will inevitably become over-diagnosed (not necessarily through formal diagnosis, but colloquially. as we excuse our own behavior or the behavior of our loved ones -- you're no longer anti-social, you're borderline Asperger's; you're not a poor reader, you're "a bit" dyslexic; etc).

However, I do think this research is interesting and helpful. Like much recent research, it emphasises the role of the "executive" -- that part of your brain that coordinates and organizes and, most particularly, allows you to plan. I think the most interesting part of all this is not that some people may have a dysfunction in this area (although that is very interesting), but that researchers reckon that this function isn't fully developed until we're in our thirties. This explains a lot!

You can read about this in the New York Times. I think registration is required, but it's free.

How far different is human memory from the memory of other animals? In the same way that other "human" characteristics have been found, chip by chip, to be found in other animals, so human memory is increasingly looking less unique. A National Geographic article discusses the latest research. The main point is that, it now appears that other animals also have episodic memory -- memory for specific events that happened to them (as opposed to a general idea that certain things may happen when you do other things, or in particular situations -- a memory for the last time you went to a movie, vs the memory of what you experience at a movie, or a knowledge of what movies you have seen).

One human characteristic that hasn't been explored much in other animals is humor! The Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, which has done a lot of research in the phenomena of aging, has recently reported on research into how normal aging affects our response to humor. You'll be pleased to know that aging does not affect our emotional response to humor -- we'll still enjoy a good laugh when we get the joke -- but it does seem that we become less likely to get the joke. Not too surprising, when you consider that the frontal lobes, where all our most complex and "higher-order" thinking goes on, appear to be the first affected by aging.

I came across a completely new field of endeavour today - new to me, anyway. Neuroscience for architecture! I heard about a radio broadcast, and intrigued by this concept, had a look round. There is now an Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, based in San Diego. Check out the research ideas - it'll be interesting to see what comes out of this. You can also read an article about the new Academy.