Jeffrey Goldberg undergoes a pretty extensive neuromarketing brain scanning process with the people at FKF Research which he explains in a most hilarious fashion in his new article My Amygdala, My Self in this month's The Atlantic.
The King of Trust, Paul Zak, touts oxytocin as a potential drug for shyness: "Tests have shown that oxytocin reduces anxiety levels in users. It is a hormone that facilitates social contact between people. What's more, it is a very safe product that does not have any side effects and is not addictive." The article contends that millions of people in the UK suffer from shyness, and one-in-10 people say it seriously affects their daily life.
Check out Brain Stimulant a new blog covering neurodevices, cognitive enhancement, artificial intelligence and even happiness.
The Center for Drugs Evaluation and Research is about halfway through its planned hire of 663 employees this year, and a significant portion of the new employees are division-level medical reviewers in the Office of New Drugs. So far the Division of Neurology Products has hired 8 new team members for a total of 51 while the Division of Psychiatric Products has added 7 for a total of 40. This is important progress as CDER currently fighting a wave of attrition, as long-time FDA employees leave the agency, either for retirement or for more lucrative jobs in industry and academia.View a division-by-division breakdown of the new hire, also for all of CDER.
In the "The Stem Cell Dilemma: Beacons of Hope or Harbingers of Doom?", co-authors Leo Furcht and William Hoffman tell the story of stem cell science and explains the latest developments and how research will give new meaning to human sexuality and reproduction. I recommend reading the book and if time taking a look at the authors discussing their book on C-SPAN Book TV. Here they discuss transplants, Leonardo da Vinci's role in biomedical engineering and about how neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's will "break the bank" given the aging boomer population.
