Monday, October 23, 2006

Psychology News Roundup

We all have ideosyncratic facial expressions. My guess is that more than once you've realized that you exhibit some of the same facial mannerisms your parents do. I noticed a while ago that I purse my lips the same way my mom does. Not so long ago my husband commented during a conversation that I had just made a facial expression that is typical of my youngest sister. I really didn't believe him. How could I have picked that up from her, or her from me? We have never lived together and haven't spent a ton of time together. Do families share similar facial expressions? If so, why?

A recently released study in the PNAS suggests there is a genetic basis for shared family facial expressions.
Read more.

*****
In other news, Giant Pandas appear to have some capacity to see in color! Read more here.

*****
Charles Dickens had a keen eye for the observation of neurological disorders, so perfectly describing the symptoms of Tourette's, Parkinson's and "restless legs syndrome" that medical reference texts at the time used his character desciptions. Although he had no formal knowledge of psychological conditions, he had tremendous skills of observation. Read more here.

No comments: