Okay, I think I have the obsessive dopamine circuit running in my head, because try as I might, I just couldn’t stop myself from putting together my collection of the posts, videos, and other good stuff on the internet. So rejoice in my neuroses and share in its abundance.

Regarding the Mind-

My blog of the week is a super cool optical illusion sight by Dr. Arthur Shapiro, providing all time wasting fun you could reasonably ask for.

PsyBlog has some fascinating insight into how children develop and learn new concepts as they examine How Children Learn the Earth isn’t Flat.

At the Mouse Trap, Sandy G reports on research into synesthesia, an odd condition where perception of letters are linked and visualized as a particualr color. Apparently there is a rhyme and reason for the color seen.

Regarding the Soul-

Get Religion takes a moves past a cynical reflex to blame reporting on politics and takes a deeper look into a moving story about a Nun, her mugger, and really living the question, “What would Jesus do?”

At Mormon Matters, Bruce Nielsen is becoming one of my favorites. He provides the Parable of the Unjust Judge, illustrating quite well the Principles of Repentance and Mercy, and why neither is all it’s cracked up to be without the other.

At New Cool Thang, Jacob J ponders the problem of evil, wondering if once we get to the next life, the suffering experienced here might fade much like a bad dream.

Regarding the Body-

The purpose of cutting out fat, red meat, and watching cholesterol is to gain a healthy heart, Right? Not so fast, It seems a sick heart is an indicator of a sick brain as both rely heavily on a healthy blood supply.

At Stuff the Brain Likes, Ken Currier reports the many cognitive benefits of learning more than one language, its enough to make me wish I had gone foreign on my mission.

At Dr. Gwenn is In, the good doctor gives a very level headed and well reasoned posting on the rise of measles cases in the U.S. and why we should be concerned. Check it out.

or All the Above-

At the Bioethics Discussion Blog, Dr. Maurice Bernstein shares a wonderful poem about Medicine, Doctoring, and Uncertainty. This rings very true to my experience.

At Times and Seasons, Patricia Kareminisines caps off a three part masterpiece about lessons learned over 16 years of raising a daughter with developmental disabilities here, here, and here.

I will now proceed to break a cardinal science blogger rule. I am linking directly to the British Medical Journal without the aid of my translation (which frankly, probably obfuscates(translation- makes more confusing due to big words) more than clarifies most things anyway). They have a marvelous editorial about the power of caring, doctor to patient, human interaction to heal, even citing experimental evidence it is a large part of the placebo effect.

and just because I Liked it-

Dr. Val and the Voice of Reason scores a Major Coup and scores a one on one interview with the Surgeon General regarding the state of healthcare in Americal.

The online Jounalism blog shares the new scourges and neuroses plaguing the online blogging world, listing the Seven Pschological Complaints of bloggers and online media addicts.

I do try to avoid politics here, but adding a clever Star Wars theme made this a YouTube video not to miss, regardless of your feelings about Barack Obama. Democrat or Republcan, this just might cause you to crack a smile.

That’s all for this week. Tune in next week to see if I can ever tear myself away from all the great information in this new media world we live in.

Addendum- the new edition of Brainblogging is out and I am honored to be among the contributors for my piece about being a parent of a child with chronic genetic conditions.  Check it out for the holistic side of the brain.