Well, well, well, welcome to Mind, Soul and Body’s 100th post.  I guess that makes my collection of gems found surfing the internet just over a quarter of my posts.  Most blogs have about a three month lifespan and I am happy to have surpassed that.  I wonder if that means I am in this for the long haul, at least for the rest of residency, which is coming up on the end of one long, long road.  This week was a very strong one on the medicine, brain, and soul internet and I had to leave out an unusual number of posts.  Without futher delay I present only the best of the blogosphere (IMHO)- 

Regarding the Mind-

The BPS research digest examines a study that shows why an emergency or disaster can cause people to be completely unable to aid in their own rescue.

Wired Magazine has an article on a phenomenon that has long been driving the producers of migraine medicine crazy, it turns out that the Placebo effect is much more pronounced in kids, perhaps an argument for more childlike faith and less world weary cynicism.

At Cognitive Daily, Dave Munger describes a fascinating study finding that playing with guns increases your testosterone, and causes you to act out more aggressively, or at least spike drinks more vindictively.

John M. Grohol at World of Psychology delves into a study that looked at the complex reasons that innocent people confess to crimes they did not commit.

Regarding the Soul-

 At Keepapitchinin, Ardis Parshall shares the untold story of the Pacific Islander Mormon pioneers who left their island home to establish Zion in the desert.

At NPR, Barbara Bradley Hagerty shares the story of Grant Golliher, a true life horse whisperer, with his thought provoking comments about how his approach to horses mirrors God’s approach to us.

Sunrise Tantalize shares how training in Nursing involves care for the soul as well as body and mind, as she learns that readiness for enhanced spiritual well being is an authentic nursing diagnosis.

Regarding the Body-

In a fascinating Sci-fi type breakthrough, Mo at Neurophilosophy describes how scientists cultured human brain cells and how those cells then controlled and became the brain of a robot.

In the New Yorker, Atul Gawande delves into the mysterious sensation of the itch, which remains a medical mystery despite being the most common of experiences. (HT- Julia)

At Frontal Cortex, Jonah Lehrer shares his theory as to why salt enhances the tast of any food.  It seems sodium makes all  cells work better, nerves and taste buds especially, translating into electric current, firing and action potentials,

or All the Above-

The Salt Lake Tribunehas a reports recent research from Boston University on faith, college, and sexual behavior.  It turns out faith only affects behavior at BYU and that the dating culture is much, much more robust as a result.

At World of Psychology, Margarita Tartakovsky reports a disturbing new phenomenon in Pregnant womenwho look at too many pregnant starlets in magazines, Pregorexia.

Christine A Scheller posts a fascinating report on a Psychiatry and Spirituality forum meeting at UC Irvine, in which Harvard professor, George E. Valiant describes how spirituality is simply a description of positive emotions, something Psychiatry has historically ignored.  His theory on spiritual evolution really rings true to me in a Mormon kind of way.

and Just Because I Liked it-

In the New York Times, Kevin Sacks reports on a new trend driving marriage in these United States, good health insurance.

At Rural Doctoring, Therese Chan, MD lets us eavesdrop on a hysterical twitter conversation about wound debridement with larval flies in which the most awesome term ever coined for the specialist, Maggot Herder.

At Health Skills Weblog, Adiemusfree shares a razor sharp witted set of sarcastic affirmations for the unstable that would be right at home on the set of Stuart Smalley, revealing truths about the mind in wake of their irony.

That is all for this week, come back regularly and we’ll see if I can’t come up with something worthy of sitting with the exemplary list above.  Sometimes I feel tapped out, but occasionally I’m surprised and the wellspring of ideas replenishes itself.  Until then, Happy surfing.