Ascending and descending

Another comeback from the past…

during these days in Bologna I am working on an expanded and revised draft of 6 Degrees Of Separation, the graphic novel which I [optimistically] declared completed 10 months ago.

Recruitment for volunteer proofreaders is now open.

Patterns and Loops

I’m staying in Bologna for a few days, in the house where I grew up.

I do my best to avoid nostalgia, but my parents have unintentionally chosen for my bed the same flowery IKEA pattern that adorned a bed I used to know so well, at this same time of the year, just one year ago. This year I long to go back to another bed, just like last year I was longing to go back to hers. People change but the same situations return, and apparently I keep making the same mistakes, year after year…

Life seems to proceed in loops sometime and for a moment, before falling asleep, I find it difficult to distinguish between the present and the past.

Big Lying Machine

After further investigation scientists (i.e. myself) concluded this is what the brain really is.

Other animals have been reported to “lie” but it is not clear whether this behavior is intentional or a simple reflex (like the Opossum feigning death). On the other side, the ability of the human mind to consciously and systematically conceal the truth is simply astonishing: 21 different classifications of lies are reported by Wikipedia.

May this be the secret of our evolution?

DC+NYC (part 8)

DC+NYC (part 7)

DC+NYC (part 6)

DC+NYC (part 5)

DC+NYC (part 4)

DC+NYC (part 3)

The pain of being dumped

interesting research from SfN conference

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) from subjects going trough a painful break-up (social pain) show a surprising similarity to those from subjects experiencing physical pain. These results suggest that the two painful experiences are mediated by the same nervous circuits.

Some ambitious scientists decided to investigate the interaction between the two. They selected subjects in long term relationships and they observed that the response to physical pain was significantly reduced while they were holding hands with their beloved partner. However, the same effect does not occur when single subjects were holding hands with a stranger. Conversely, they reported that pain killers can attenuate feelings of rejection and isolation in healthy patients. Conclusion: love (or rather the lack of it) hurts.

(NOTE: paracetamol is not intended as a replacement for romantic relationships)