BBC News reports on two studies on our automatic response to even subliminal cues that suggest danger. The first study was reported in Science; researchers found seeing the whites of the eyes triggered a danger message in the brain. The second study, reported in Neuron, showed that, even if an image of a scared face is shown too briefly to be consciously recognised, the brain registers it.

The Boston Globe has a good article on a test of implicit prejudice that's becoming increasingly popular. Apparently some 8000 a week are taking this test on the web. But should this test be given the credibility it's being given? Like most psychological tests, it all depends on the uses to which it's being put.

Here's an intriguing case: A man who became completely blind after two strokes has demonstrated a mysterious ability to recognize emotion in peoples' faces. The case suggests for the first time that human emotions expressed facially can be processed outside the visual centers of the brain. [It’s important to note that this blindness was caused solely by damage to the visual centers; the eyes themselves were undamaged.]