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    Neuroskeptic

    neuroskeptic.blogspot.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2009

    Neuroskeptic is an anonymous neuroscience blogger who critiques research on the brain, placebo effects, statistics, and the reliability of science.

    Visit blogHN submissions
    SciencePsychology
    What HN says

    HN commenters link it as a skeptical, well-informed response to news stories on brain science, placebos, caffeine, and claims that humans are getting dumber.

    Stats for nerds
    18HN people shared it
    40linked in comments
    204story points
    Nov 2020last shared
    2009people per year2020

    Top posts on HN

    1. 1
      The Real Story On That "Antidepressant Surge"
      1 person · 53 points · first shared 2012 · 23 comments on HN
    2. 2
      How statistically significant correlations are not always significant
      1 person · 21 points · first shared 2010 · 3 comments on HN
    3. 3
      Placebos Have Side Effects Too
      1 person · 19 points · first shared 2009 · 9 comments on HN
    4. 4
      Why Do We Sleep?
      1 person · 18 points · first shared 2009 · 6 comments on HN
    5. 5
      You Are Not "Your Brain"
      1 person · 16 points · first shared 2012 · 15 comments on HN
    6. 6
      Fixing Science - Systems and Politics
      1 person · 15 points · first shared 2012 · 7 comments on HN
    7. 7
      If you're not weird, you're really weird
      1 person · 5 points · first shared 2010 · Discussion on HN
    8. 8
      DSM-V may end up being a failure
      1 person · 4 points · first shared 2012 · Discussion on HN
    9. 9
      Autism: What A Big Prefrontal Cortex You Have
      1 person · 4 points · first shared 2011 · Discussion on HN
    10. 10
      My Breakfast With "Scientism"
      1 person · 4 points · first shared 2012 · 1 comments on HN

    What HN people wrote when they linked it

    • staticman2Nov 2020

      Unfortunately the Discover archives don't seem to be working but you should educate yourself on the limits of brain science and show more intellectual humility.

      This post might be a good place to start:

      http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2009/02/ethics-of-junk-science.html

      The author, a neuroscientst writes "More generally, the controversy over human sex differences is a vast one, with a huge amount of evidence to consider, and it isn't going to be settled by one neuroimaging study, or even a hundred."

      You seem like the type of person who makes up their mind after one study, as long as it fits your biases regarding gender. You would be well service by talking less and realizing much of the world is beyond your understanding as a human with limited information and (likely) a limited understanding of brain science.

    • KronopathApr 2014

      The link in the article about the neural network developing schizophrenia is broken, leading to the UTexas homepage instead. I've tracked the linked article down to here: https://www.utexas.edu/news/2011/05/05/schizophrenia_discern/

      More info: http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.ca/2011/04/schizophrenic-computer.html

      Publication abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21397213

      And the full scholarly article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3105006/

    • pchiversMay 2009

      I think this blog post (linked from the original article) is more interesting than the article itself:

      Antidepressants, Placebos and the Failure of Psychiatry

      http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2009/03/antidepressants-placebos-and-failure-of.html

    • betelnutNov 2012

      Neuroskeptic has a good response to these articles at http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2012/11/were-probably-not-getting-dumber.html, essentially arguing against Crabtree's thesis for being too speculative.

    • pellaSep 2011

      Real vs Placebo Coffee

      "Caffeine expectancies influence the subjective and behavioral effects of caffeine."
      http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2009/11/real-vs-placebo-coffee.html

    • KuttaFeb 2011

      Commentary:

      http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2011/02/boy-without-cerebellumhas-no-cerebellum.html

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