Category Archives: Human Behavior

Human Behavior

Secret Societies: On the Road to Revival? – The Great Courses Daily News

By Richerd Spence, Ph.D., University of IdahoRebirth of E Clampus Vitus

Clampers werent just drunken hell-raisers, but also came to the aid of sick and injured miners, as well as widows and orphans. As the mining towns played out in the late 1800s, so did the Clampers. By the 1920s, the society had basically ceased to exist but in 1931, a San Francisco lawyer and amateur historian named Carl Wheat decided to revive the order. He kept the drinking while adding a new purpose: historical preservation. Thus, E Clampus Vitus was reborn, and still exists. While the revived Clampers were somewhat more respectable than their predecessors, they preserved a taste for pranks.

In 1936, some of the brothers concocted a brass plate, buried, and then pretended to discover. The plate purported to prove the arrival of English privateer, Sir Francis Drake in California in 1579, and that Drake claimed the place for Queen Elizabeth I. For 40 years, the plate was taken as authentic.

The tendency of Clampers to play jokes and make-up tall tales meant that the origin of the society was impossible to determine. He believed to have started in West Virginia by a man named Ephraim Bee who acted on the instructions of the emperor of China. Others linked the Clampers to a New Orleans lampoon society called the Sons of Malta. But the Sons of Malta didnt come into being until after the Clampers appeared. Mysterious and uncertain origins were commonplace among secret societies.

Learn more about the history of the smaller secret societies.

Southern California, in the present day, and the icon of American popular culture, Disneyland, around 2015, something new appeared at the park. Among the visitors, some noticed roaming groups in matching jackets with matching emblems. The denim sleeveless cuts were dead-ringers for those worn by Hells Angels and other biker gangs and the jackets bore patches proclaiming the groups name, and the wearers status. But those werent bikers but social clubs formed by devoted Disney fans and given names like the Big Bad Wolves and the White Rabbits.

It started as harmless fun and the social clubs grew, some attracting 50 or more members. They visited the park together, but the general public began to feel uneasy, even intimidated. Stories of social clubbers behaving aggressively towards other guests began to spread. Unease increased when some clubs started packing lines to take over rides for their exclusive use. Club rivalries emerged and what started out as good-natured competition grew tense as some started taking things seriously. Members of one club were accused of trying to shake down a charity promoter. There were incidents of verbal, even physical confrontations between rival clubs.

This is a transcript from the video series Secret Societies. Watch it now, on The Great Courses Plus.

Secret societies, ranging from the semi-mythical to the deadly serious to almost comical had plenty in common. Whatever their purpose, each was selective, internally secretive, and offered their members some sort of special status. Like most secret societies, they were also a kind of artificial family as the practice of members calling one another brother or sister was common. Secret societies were not an aberration in human behavior but were a normal, universal part of it.

Being in a fraternity or sorority in college, meant a person was in a secret society. They had almost infinite variety. Among the Ona people, membership was based on gender and the purpose was to gain power and control for which Ona men were willing to kill their own mothers. The Dolcinians believed that they had a direct pipeline to the divine. The followers of Fra Dolcino were an example of something else, as well, a secret society seen only through the eyes of its enemies.

Learn more about the Freemasons who inspired and influenced many societies.

The Clampers showed how a society could form in opposition to and in imitation of another group. They also demonstrated the common confusion about where, and when, a society originated. In addition, the Clampers showed the tendency of societies to disappear and reappear. The Disney clubs showed the continued appeal of selectivity, special status, and a unifying devotion to something. They also showed how societies could spontaneously evolve, and arouse suspicion and hostility among outsiders.

Learn more about all-female gang in the London underworld.

Secret societies in all their variety had a real history because theres a common belief that history is a known quantity recorded in a book, which is not completely true. The vast majority of human experience, everything that people have said and done, has been lost. History is an effort to reconstruct the past, from the few facts that survive, giving room for interpretation and speculation. Real history is incomplete, contradictory, and argumentative and when secrecy is mixed, things get messy.

Social clubs started with harmless fun, attracting 50 or more members. Gradually, club rivalries emerged and what started out as good-natured competition grew as a strong rivalry.

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Secret Societies: On the Road to Revival? - The Great Courses Daily News

Human Behavior

We are Ramily: Cornell’s alumni coaches discuss the meaning of team – Cornell College News

Women's Basketball Coach Brent Brase '90

By Lisa Gray Giurato | June 15, 2020

In 1979 the Pittsburgh Pirates won the National League East division title, the National League pennant, and the World Series. And through it all, they listened to one song over and over again, Sister Sledges disco hit We Are Family.

When Cornell Report writer Lisa Gray Giurato sat down with Cornells three alumni coachesWomens Basketball Coach Brent Brase 90, Softball Coach Jackie Serneck 14, and Wrestling Coach Brenton Hamm 15she wondered if their idea of a team was a lot like the Pirates or if they had a different perspective.

Gray Giurato: What does team mean to you?

Hamm: The first thing that comes to mind is team family. You care about each other. Its not about yourself, but what can I do to help my teammates perform at their best. I have team dinners at my house; my wifes there and my dogs there and we talk non-wrestling. You develop relationships. Maybe you coach a student for a year and you have them over to your house, and now your relationship is twice as strong. I think team and I think family and that we are all focused on the same goal.

Gray Giurato: That transcends beyond playing a game.

Brase: Thats hard to do. To tap into individuals and ask them to put themselves aside when you want high achieving individuals but you do it for the common team goal. For me to be happy for you when youre achieving what I want to achieve, and Ive got to fully support you. To have that environment where all these roles, which are obviously so important, to focus on the team, that familythey have to celebrate it.

Sernek: I read something the other day and I think it hits home and touches on this point. From the perspective of a coach, we create a team atmosphere and what we do is 25% teaching a skill to the students and three-quarters of our time is spent building relationships and teaching them respect, responsibility, and accountability. They can have that after college and that is more rewarding than anything. We have a unique community here that I didnt have at other schools. Coaches here are more involved in each others programs.

Brase: Absolutely. And thats one of the really neat things that Cornell athletics has, is that were really close as staff. In fact, Ive had assistants go to other colleges and thats the first thing that they tell me.

Hamm: Why do you think that is?

Sernek: At other schools, I felt like everybody was so involved in their sports. I was in Division I for a couple of years and they were just worried about winning. You didnt really mingle with other sports. There was never any extra connection there.

Brase: The same thing that can impact a team, coaches arent immune to it either, and thats human emotionjealousy. That impacts coaches and why coaches do or dont speak with each other or why youre helpful or why youre not helpful. Its hard for coaches if your program is struggling to be supportive of other programs. Thats just human behavior.

Gray Giurato: Oh, thats a good point. In a way, its like siblings. If you feel like your big brother is getting all the attention and youre like, look at me!

Hamm (laughing): You dont want them to be successful!

Gray Giurato: What do you think leads all of you to be the counterpoint to that norm? Sports teams equal competitiveness and rivalry, but youre not like that amongst each other.

Sernek: There is a sense of community here, not only as an athletic department. Im from Chicago and I remember my first day walking down Main Street in Mount Vernon when somebody said hello to me. Where Im from, you dont talk to anyone you dont know and later when Id go home and visit my parents, I would say hello to passing strangers, and my mom would say, I can tell youve been in Iowa.

Everyone in the room laughs.

Gray Giurato: What do you hope for your student-athletes?

Brase: A lot of personal growth, lifelong friendships and memories, and that theyre going to be successful in life. If theyre successful, our program is successful.

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We are Ramily: Cornell's alumni coaches discuss the meaning of team - Cornell College News

Human Behavior

What Does the Love Hormone Do? It’s Complicated – Weizmann Institute of Science

During the pandemic lockdown, as couples have been forced to spend days and weeks in one anothers company, some have found their love renewed while others are on their way to divorce court. Oxytocin, a peptide produced in the brain, is complicated in that way: a neuromodulator, it may bring hearts together or it can help induce aggression. That conclusion arises from unique research led by Weizmann Institute of Science researchers in which mice living in semi-natural conditions had their oxytocin producing brain cells manipulated in a highly precise manner. The findings, which were published todayin Neuron, could shed new light on efforts to use oxytocin to treat a variety of psychiatric conditions, from social anxiety and autism to schizophrenia.

Much of what we know about the actions of neuromodulators like oxytocin comes from behavioral studies of lab animals in standard lab conditions. These conditions are strictly controlled and artificial, in part so that researchers can limit the number of variables affecting behavior. But a number of recent studies suggest that the actions of a mouse in a semi-natural environment can teach us much more about natural behavior, especially when we mean to apply those findings to humans.

Prof. Alon Chens lab group in the Institutes Neurobiology Department have created an experimental setup that enables them to observe mice in something approaching their natural living conditions an environment enriched with stimuli they can explore and their activity is monitored day and night with cameras and analyzed computationally. The present study, which has been ongoing for the past eight years, was led by research students Sergey Anpilov and Noa Eren, and Staff Scientist Dr. Yair Shemesh in Prof. Chens lab group. The innovation in this experiment, however, was to incorporate optogenetics a method that enables researchers to turn specific neurons in the brain on or off using light. To create an optogenetic setup that would enable the team to study mice that were behaving naturally, the group developed a compact, lightweight, wireless device with which the scientists could activate nerve cells by remote control. With the help of optogenetics expert Prof. Ofer Yizhar of the same department, the group introduced a protein previously developed by Yizhar into the oxytocin-producing brain cells in the mice. When light from the wireless device touched those neurons, they became more sensitized to input from the other brain cells in their network.

Our first goal, says Anpilov, was to reach that sweet spot of experimental setups in which we track behavior in a natural environment, without relinquishing the ability to ask pointed scientific questions about brain functions.

Shemesh adds that, the classical experimental setup is not only lacking in stimuli, the measurements tend to span mere minutes, while we had the capacity to track social dynamics in a group over the course of days.

Delving into the role of oxytocin was sort of a test drive for the experimental system. It had been believed that this hormone mediates pro-social behavior. But findings have been conflicting, and some have proposed another hypothesis, termed social salience stating that oxytocin might be involved in amplifying the perception of diverse social cues, which could then result in pro-social or antagonistic behaviors, depending on such factors as individual character and their environment.

If we want to understand the complexities of behavior, we need to study behavior in a complex environment

To test the social salience hypothesis, the team used mice in which they could gently activate the oxytocin-producing cells in the hypothalamus, placing them first in the enriched, semi-natural lab environments. To compare, they repeated the experiment with mice placed in the standard, sterile lab setups.

In the semi-natural environment, the mice at first displayed heightened interest in one another, but this was soon accompanied by a rise in aggressive behavior. In contrast, increasing oxytocin production in the mice in classical lab conditions resulted in reduced aggression. In an all-male, natural social setting, we would expect to see belligerent behavior as they compete for territory or food, says Anpilov. That is, the social conditions are conducive to competition and aggression. In the standard lab setup, a different social situation leads to a different effect for the oxytocin.

If the love hormone is more likely a social hormone, what does that mean for its pharmaceutical applications? Oxytocin is involved, as previous experiments have shown, in such social behaviors as making eye contact or feelings of closeness, says Eren, but our work shows it does not improve sociability across the board. Its effects depend on both context and personality. This implies that if oxytocin is to be used therapeutically, a much more nuanced view is needed in research: If we want to understand the complexities of behavior, we need to study behavior in a complex environment. Only then can we begin to translate our findings to human behavior, she says.

Participating in this research were scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich, including research students Asaf Benjamin and Stoyo Karamihalev, staff scientist Dr. Julien Dine and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Oren Forkosh of the Chen lab; Prof. Shlomo Wagner and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Hala Harony-Nicolas of Haifa University; Prof. Inga Neumann and research student Vinicius Oliveira of Regensburg University, Germany; and electrical engineer Avi Dagan.

Prof. Alon Chens research is supported by the Ruhman Family Laboratory for Research in the Neurobiology of Stress; the Perlman Family Foundation, Founded by Louis L. and Anita M. Perlman; the Fondation Adelis; Bruno Licht; and Sonia T. Marschak. Prof. Chen is the incumbent of the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology.

Prof. Ofer Yizhars research is supported by the Ilse Katz Institute for Material Sciences and Magnetic Resonance Research; the Adelis Brain Research Award; and Paul and Lucie Schwartz, Georges and Vera Gersen Laboratory.

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What Does the Love Hormone Do? It's Complicated - Weizmann Institute of Science

Human Behavior

AI: The complex solution to simplify health care – Brookings Institution

Health care languishes in data dissonance. A fundamental imbalance between collection and use persists across systems and geopolitical boundaries. Data collection has been an all-consuming effort with good intent but insufficient results in turning data into action. After a strong decade, the sentiment is that the data is inconsistent, messy, and untrustworthy. The most advanced health systems in the world remain confused by what theyve amassed: reams of data without a clear path toward impact. Artificial intelligence (AI) can see through the murk, clear away the noise, and find meaning in existing data beyond the capacity of any human(s) or other technology.

AI is a term for technologies or machines that have the capability to adapt and learn. This is the fundamental meaning of being data-driven, to be able to take measure of available data and perform an action or change ones mind. Machine Learning is at the heart of AIteaching machines to learn from data, rather than requiring hard-coded rules (as did machines of the past).

No domain is more deserving of meaningful AI than health care. Health care is arguably the most complex industry on earthoperating at the nexus of evolving science, business, politics, and mercurial human behavior. These influences push and pull in perpetual contradiction.

Health carespecifically psychologyis the mother of machine learning. In 1949, Dr. Donald Hebb created a model of brain cell interactions, or synaptic plasticity, that forms the ancestral architecture of the artificial neural networks that pervade AI today. Math to explain human behavior became mathematics to mimic and transcend human intellect. AI is now at the precipice of a return to the health care domain.

To achieve impact at scale, machine learning must be deployed in the most and least advanced health systems in the world. Any decent technology should remain resilient outside the walls of academia and the pristine data environments of tech giants. AI can learn from many dimensions of dataphotographs, natural language, tabular data, satellite imageryand can adapt, learning from the data thats available. The ability to adapt is what defines AI. AI at its best is designed to solve complex problemsnot wardrobe preferences. Now is the time to bring AI to health care.

COVID-19 is the greatest global crisis of our time: an immediate health challenge and a challenge of yet unknown duration on the economic and psychological well-being of our society. The lack of data-driven decisionmaking and the absence of adaptive and predictive technology have prolonged and exacerbated the toll of COVID-19. It will be the adoption of these technologies that helps us to rebuild health and society. AI has already forged new solutions for the COVID-19 response and the accelerated evolution of health care. Machine learning models from MIT for transmission rates have generated impressive precisionin some cases reducing error rates by 70 percent. Researchers at Mount Sanai in New York City have demonstrated the ability to reduce testing from two days to near instant by combining AI models with chest computed tomography (CT), clinical symptoms, exposure history, and laboratory testingreducing error of false negatives. AI modelsunlike test kitscan travel instantly to new users, are not limited in production, and do not require additional training and complementary equipment.

Adoption of AI must be done in concert with existing systems and solutions. Epidemiological models in concert with AI technology adapt and learn in real timeintegrating new data to help explain ancillary elements of health outcomes. However, collaboration between epidemiology and machine learning has been limited. The prominent epidemiological models are not integrating dynamic machine learning. Without machine learning, epidemiological models are updated weekly, losing precious time and rendering wildly inaccurate predictions that have been widely criticized. Human bias is writ large in these modelsvariable importance is determined by experts rather than learned and derived from the data.

AI models can derive implicit and explicit features from available data to increase the precision and adaptability of transmission predictions. Organizations like Metabiota have mapped thousands of pandemics to generate a model for risk. Existing electronic information systems (EIS) hold valuable historical health data when they are availableboth pandemic models and EIS are excellent sources for AI engines targeted at optimization of pandemic response at scale.

Optimizationin terms of tuning a health system to produce a maximum value (life expectancy, for example) or minimum value (cost of care) is the end goal of AI for health. By looking forward into the future and predicting demand, constraints, and behavior, AI can buy time. Time to prepare and ensure that resources are deployed to maximize the impact of every unit: financial, human, or commodity. Most models look backwardslike driving a car by only looking at the rearview mirroryet they are asked to make decisions for the future. Its Sisyphean to ask legacy analytics to prepare for tomorrow based on what is often a distant (months, weeks, or days at best) past of linear data inputs. Optimization through machine learning and AI technologies brings the prescience to data-driven decisions and actions required for impact. Machine-learning-optimized laboratory testing at MIT has accelerated discovery of new antibiotics previously considered unachievable due to the significant time and financial investment.

At the health system level, action is being accelerated through direct engagement with those at the front lines. Human-in- the-loop (HIL) machine learning (ML) is the process of receiving data-rich insights from people, analyzing them in real time, and sharing recommendations back. HIL ML is the science of teaching machines to learn directly from human input. In Mozambique and slated to expand to Sierra Leone, macro-eyes technology is learning directly from front-line health workersthe foremost experts on the conditions for care in the communities they serve. This becomes a virtuous cycle of high-value data, timely insights, and accelerated engagement at the point of care. Facility-level precision from HIL ML in Sierra Leone will complement AI optimization engines being deployed to probabilistically estimate the availability of essential resources at facilities across the country, account for new resources constraints, and recommend distribution of resources.

COVID-19 has highlighted the need for rapid connection between data analytics and the front lines of care. That connection still does not exist at scale. The result: Authorities must decipher a myriad of models estimating COVID-19-related transmissions and deaths in the near past and estimations for the future that dont build knowledge or data from the ground up. This fundamental disconnect has hindered health care for decadesthose who deliver the care have the least voice in how care is delivered. It can be resolved with minimal disruption using HIL ML to engage an educated and impassioned community of health workers.

AI in health has been successful but far too limited. The inability to trust what we dont fully understand, misrepresentation of AI expertise by early participants, and the financial fortitude of the global funding mechanisms remain barriers to adoption. AI canand willexponentially improve the delivery of care around the world. The data and the data infrastructure are ready and the time for bold investment is now. Investment must move away from pilots with insufficient horizon and commitment. AI at scaleas bold innovations of the pastwill only be possible with a committed corpus of financiers, policymakers, and implementing partners dedicating resources to AI experts solving problems at the foundations of health.

But we must proceed with caution. The world is replete with AI solutions and experts purporting to save the planet. Be criticalthere is very little real AI talent, and even fewer teams have the chops to deploy AI in the real world. The AI scientists of the future will not look like those of the recent past. The software engineers turned AI experts who brought AI to the digital world in Silicon Valley, and academics building models in protected vaults, will be usurped by adaptive, scrappy, problemsolving engineers using AI to make change in the communities they care about: deploying in the physical world meaningful solutions to complex problems. What is more meaningful than health?

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AI: The complex solution to simplify health care - Brookings Institution

Human Behavior

Human behavior ‘is driving this’: Disturbing increase in number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Houston area – KHOU.com

The Texas Medical Center says hospitalizations give an objective view of how COVID-19 impacts the healthcare system.

HOUSTON Doctors are concerned about Houston and Harris County's rising rate of hospitalizations of people suffering from COVID-19 in the last three weeks.

Houston Health Authority Doctor David Persse said simply speaking can spread the virus, so wearing a mask is critical.

People who dont yet have symptoms, thats actually when they spread the virus the most. Right in the couple of days before they have symptoms is when theyre most dangerous to the people near them," Dr. Persse said.

He, and doctors at UT Health, say the re-opening of the economy is likely one cause of the increased spread.

They say the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 is higher now than it was a few months ago.

Doctors say if you go out in public, the combination of wearing a mask and keep physical distance is the best way to stay safe. While doctors agree that being outside mitigates the spread, it is not a substitute for physical distancing.

Its really human behavior thats driving this," said Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease expert for UT Health.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo released a new coronavirus "public threat level system," to help residents better understand the status of coronavirus in the area and what actions they need to take to help maintain the spread of the virus.

Dr. Troisi said limiting social circles to a select group of fewer than 10 friends people who you know have all been taking the same precautions is one of the safest ways to get together with friends, adding you are only as safe as the weakest link in your chain of friends.

Make that your household, your pod that you feel safe socializing with those people," Dr. Troisi said.

Dr. Persse said activities such as going out for brunch with people who live outside of your household can be risky.

Those are the exact types of behaviors the virus is going to take advantage of," Dr. Persse said. If youre out in public, you should be wearing a mask. Period.

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Human behavior 'is driving this': Disturbing increase in number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Houston area - KHOU.com

Human Behavior

Leadership Advisory Firm ghSMART is Named on Forbes List of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms for 2020, Celebrates 25-year Anniversary -…

CHICAGO, June 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --ghSMART & Company has been named to the Forbes list of America's Best Management Consulting Firms for the fourth consecutive year. In 2020, Only 222 firms made this list out of 774,100 firms. That is fewer than 3 out of 10,000 firms, or .03%.

Dr. Geoff Smart, chairman and founder of ghSMART said, "I founded ghSMART 25 years ago on this day, for two main reasons. First, I wanted there to be a firm for wildly talented and good-hearted people to do meaningful work in the area of leadership and management, and to have a life outside of work. Second, I wanted influential leaders who run or own large organizations to use our expertise in human behavior to build valuable and successful organizations."

Randy Street, ghSMART's managing partner, said, "We are pleased and grateful that the ratings from clients and industry peers placed us on the Forbes list once again. It is a testament to the strength of our team and their ability to help leaders hire and develop talented teams with confidence."

In addition to consulting, ghSMART is known for publishing some of the top-selling and most-acclaimed books in the field of leadership. The firm published the New York Times bestseller Who: The A Method for Hiring (Smart & Street), The Wall Street Journal bestseller Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success (Smart, Street, and Foster), and the New York Times bestseller The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders (Botelho & Powell).

Elena Botelho, one of ghSMART's longest-serving partners, commented, "We believe that leadership is the ultimate lever for good in the world. It is exciting to see how far ghSMART has come in the past 25 years, and we are driven to continue to expand our impact globally with leaders of companies large and small, not-for-profits, governments, and non-governmental organizations."

About ghSMART: ghSMART is a leadership advisory firm, founded in 1995. The firm's Credo begins, "We exist to help leaders to amplify their positive impact on the world." Harvard Business School published two case studies on the firm as a pioneer in its industry. In 2020, Vault named ghSMART the #1 best company to work for in its industry, in overall satisfaction. The firm currently has a 4.9/5.0 rating on Glassdoor. For more information about ghSMART, please visit: http://www.ghsmart.com.

About the ForbesList of America's Best Management Consulting Firms:According to its website, Forbes'list of America's Best Management Consulting Firms is compiled by surveying 7,500 partners and executives of management consultancies, as well as 1,000 senior executives who worked with such firms over the last four years.

ContactMs. Mandy BartelsOffice of the ChairmanghSMART & Company, Inc. Tel. 224.444.8906[emailprotected]www.ghsmart.com

SOURCE ghSMART

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Leadership Advisory Firm ghSMART is Named on Forbes List of America's Best Management Consulting Firms for 2020, Celebrates 25-year Anniversary -...

Human Behavior

How to get through coronavirus and climate change grief – The Mercury News

Even before the brutal murder of George Floyd unleashed global unrest and a demand for social justice, many Americans were feeling overwhelmed, anxious and full of grief.

The coronavirus pandemic shut down everything we knew as normal and quickly transformed a health crisis into an economic one. Weve lost loved ones, jobs, the rituals of life, a sense of security.

For Rene Lertzman, how weve been reacting to it was both expected and unexpected.

Its been fascinating to watch people waking up to the way that our lives, what we take to be normal day-to-day life, in reality is actually made up of all kinds of relationships and phenomena, says Lertzman, of San Anselmo. I remember that moment when the schools started to be closed and all of a sudden people realized that were many children who relied on school lunches and then another thing and another, and all of a sudden the web, the incredibly complex systems that were embedded in living, suddenly became very visible and suddenly became very real.

As a globally recognized psychologist and strategist who researches the intersection of human experience, climate and the environment, Lertzman spends a lot of time thinking about those webs and system-level collapse and change.

Getting through the pandemic at the same time that we are experiencing climate change is presenting us with two unprecedented challenges a need to explore how we got here and what kind of humans were going to be as we move forward.

It is, she admits, a cognitive leap.

Were going through a profoundly traumatic collective experience. When theres a trauma response, it is very hard to think systemically, it is hard to think in a more expansive way. Were contracted, were just trying to cope, to survive. A lot of cognitive energy is simply going into processing day-to-day life and that in itself is taking a tremendous toll, she says.

But one thing we need to recognize is that the pandemic isnt something that just happened to us its directly related to human choices, which have also contributed to climate change. We have helped to create this moment.

These things are being experienced as separate, but theyre not. Nothing is truly separate in the world. Were embedded in highly complex systems that are interrelated and mutually influencing all the time, says Lertzman, who helps companies and organizations shape their climate and sustainability initiatives. Its directly related to human encroachment on wildlife and its exactly the kind of thing that has happened and will continue to happen as human development grows and our interface with wildlife mingles. But its hard for people to go there. Its kind of a cognitive leap for people because were feeling so traumatized.

Thankfully, we dont have to experience it alone. In fact, she says, we shouldnt. That only compounds our sense of being alone in our fears for the future. But we all have them, especially now.

Instead, she says, we should be talking about it with others openly, without judgment, shame, blame or guilt. Admitting were scared, overwhelmed, angry and feeling powerlessness. Acknowledging all our losses.

Talking is what got Lertzman through her own existential crisis in 1986 after her college environmental science professor laid out a horrific gloom-and-doom view of what was ahead famines, flooding, mass extinctions, all because of human consumption.

She got really depressed. But when she went on a backpacking trip that summer as part of a environmental philosophy and religion course with 11 other people, and they started sharing their fears and anxiety about the future, she felt better. What she experienced is whats known as the talking cure, a psychological term rooted in the ideas of Freud that says talking about things that are making people anxious and depressed can help them put it in perspective.

That has driven her work ever since. And it can lead people to action, she says.

Psychoanalytic work is one of our greatest untapped resources when it comes to meeting our environmental crisis more effectively, she writes in her 2015 academic book, Environmental Melancholia: Psychoanalytic Dimensions of Engagement. This is because we must understand on the deepest levels possible the workings of human behavior, including unconscious processes such as denial, projection, splitting, disavowal and apathy.

Just as there is denial about climate change, there is also denial around the coronavirus, which is why some people are refusing to wear masks or practice social distancing. Perhaps not surprisingly, those who dont believe in climate change are also not playing along with the pandemic rules.

Its a style of refuting whats real and a profound distrust of authority and science, which comes directly out of people feeling fearful, people feeling vulnerable, feeling aggrieved, lonely, left out, says Lertzman, who helped create the Climate Psychology Alliance, a group for professionals and others interested in the intersection of psychology and climate change.

But shaming, dismissing or ostracizing people who feel that way is not the way to alleviate their fears and get them to do what science says is the right thing, she says.

Its natural to feel sad and angry but I think its really important for us to always remember that underneath the sort of irrational, destructive behavior is a lot of pain, she says. Try to tune into that, to be curious if at all possible, which is really hard when the stakes are high. Its hard to meet that with curiosity and compassion, but I dont see any other way around it. It doesnt mean condoning it, it doesnt mean fighting it, but it does mean coming from that spirit of, wow, whats going on in their lives that would lead them to behave in this way and is there anything I can do to address that?

Curiosity and compassion come in handy no matter whom youre discussing the pandemic and climate change with. Just please do discuss it, Lertzman says.

Starting with asking questions. How are you? How are you doing? What is life like for you right now? What are you scared about? What are you feeling excited about? Coming from a place of, Im curious about you. I want to know what your experience is, she says.

At a time like this, when everything has been shaken up, people who have been working on climate change for a number of years feel like, this is our moment, this is our time to finally make profound changes in our lives and the world because theres such a level of disruption. Its a trauma and an opportunity.

Just like we dont have to experience the pain were feeling from the pandemic by ourselves, we can look to people in Marin who have experience with trauma and learn from them, she says.

This is the time to dig into those resources and leverage them, so that we can recognize what it is to navigate trauma with resilience and capacity and compassion, she says. There are resources in our community, leading people in the world who have spiritual practice, who have trauma practice, who have spent a lot of time understanding human consciousness and the mind. All those things we think are so Marin, well, now we need that happening, grounded in real life and connecting the dots with inequity, privilege and elitism.

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How to get through coronavirus and climate change grief - The Mercury News

Human Behavior

Despite Recommendations, Genetic Testing Rare Among Those With Autism – Disability Scoop

Researchers say that very few people with autism are undergoing the genetic testing they should. (Dreamstime/TNS)

It is widely recommended that individuals with autism receive a battery of genetic tests, but new research finds strikingly few people on the spectrum partaking.

Just 3 percent of those with autism have received both chromosomal microarray and fragile X testing, according to findings from a study published recently in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Medical Genetics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry all recommend both assessments in order to determine more precisely what might underlie an individuals symptoms and point to treatment options, the researchers said.

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The study looked at medical records and self-reported information from 1,280 people with autism ranging in age from 1 to 68 between 2013 and 2019. More than 16 percent of the participants said they had received some variety of genetic testing, with 13 percent having undergone fragile X testing and 4.5 percent receiving chromosomal microarray testing. But, the researchers found that only a small number of people were taking both of the recommended tests.

I had the impression that the frequency of recommended genetic testing was not going to be very high based on the patients I encounter clinically, but 3 percent is actually lower than I thought it would be, said Daniel Moreno De Luca, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University who worked on the paper.

The study found that genetic testing is more common for those diagnosed in recent years. Among individuals diagnosed with autism between 2010 and 2014, nearly 10 percent said they had received chromosomal microarray testing, which is a more modern offering. But, adults with autism were unlikely to have had any genetic testing.

Researchers behind the study said their findings highlight a disconnect between research and professional recommendations and whats happening in clinical practice.

This paper is really about how you implement clinical genetic tests in the clinical diagnostic setting, said Eric Morrow, an associate professor of biology at Brown and an author of the study. There is rapid progress from research, and then theres the doctor and health systems that need to translate that to clinical practice.

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Despite Recommendations, Genetic Testing Rare Among Those With Autism - Disability Scoop

Human Behavior

KEEPING THE FAITH: What can be said about the virus’ origin? – Wicked Local Stoughton

For more than three months now we have been inundated with information on the corona virus. Its universal presence and its punishing effects, even unto death, is enough to lead one to ask the sobering question, Oh, God, Why?

Let me suggest that God does not take pleasure in pouring out his eternal wrath on his creation, especially humankind. There are numerous texts within our scriptures which confirm this. That the Jews were the first to hear the word of God and their continued state of being chosen reflects Gods desire for his people from the earliest days. Likewise, there are numerous texts within the New Testament which further confirm this continued reality of Gods elect. To choose one among many instances from the New Testament, I think, for example of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Lets not overlook the providence of God as likewise expressed in the Quran.

It is important to accept the reality that God did not will the present global virus upon us as some sort of His punishing wrath. Such a conclusion is simply contrary to Gods will and his universal love for each and every one of us. It might be helpful to know that while the eternal will of God is the salvation of all, His permissive will does allow for the negative consequence of human behavior, expressed in the use of ones free will. God is never the cause of sin; we, however, are. Thus, while Gods permissive will allow sin to occur, it opposes His eternal will. The origin of the coronavirus is natural, not supernatural. As Jesus wept for Lazarus, so we might say that today he weeps with and for us.

In attempting to make some sense of the cause of this pandemic, Pope Francis suggests that the current coronavirus is a revenge of nature. With regards the current ecological crisis, he believes we have failed in our responsibility to be faithful guardians and proper stewards of the earth. Moving the whole notion of the coronavirus away from the divine wrath of God, Francis suggests that the global pandemic might be one of natures responses to the man-made climate crisis. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis calls for a global ecological conversion.

Whether the Pope is right or wrong, the consequences of this pandemic cries out for universal prayer and that response begins with each one of us. The healing power of prayer simply cannot be left out of the universal hope we must retain as we go forward filled with confidence.

Rev. Damian MacPherson, SA, is the spiritual leader of the Chapel of Our Savior in Brockton. He can be reached at damiana3134@gmail.com.

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KEEPING THE FAITH: What can be said about the virus' origin? - Wicked Local Stoughton

Human Behavior

Oxytocin study may help treat a variety of psychiatric conditions – News-Medical.Net

During the pandemic lockdown, as couples have been forced to spend days and weeks in one another's company, some have found their love renewed while others are on their way to divorce court.

Oxytocin, a peptide produced in the brain, is complicated in that way: a neuromodulator, it may bring hearts together or it can help induce aggression.

That conclusion arises from unique research led by Weizmann Institute of Science researchers in which mice living in semi-natural conditions had their oxytocin-producing brain cells manipulated in a highly precise manner.

The findings, which were published in Neuron, could shed new light on efforts to use oxytocin to treat a variety of psychiatric conditions, from social anxiety and autism to schizophrenia.

Much of what we know about the actions of neuromodulators like oxytocin comes from behavioral studies of lab animals in standard lab conditions.

These conditions are strictly controlled and artificial, in part so that researchers can limit the number of variables affecting behavior.

But a number of recent studies suggest that the actions of a mouse in a semi-natural environment can teach us much more about natural behavior, especially when we intend to apply those findings to humans.

Prof. Alon Chen's group in the Institute's Department of Neurobiology have created an experimental setup that enables them to observe mice in something approaching their natural living conditions an environment enriched with stimuli they can explore and their activity is monitored day and night with cameras and analyzed computationally.

The present study, which has been ongoing for eight years, was led by research students Sergey Anpilov and Noa Eren and staff scientist Dr. Yair Shemesh in Prof. Chen's lab.

The innovation in this experiment was to incorporate optogenetics a method that enables researchers to turn specific brain neurons on or off using light.

To create an optogenetic setup that would enable the team to study naturally behaving mice, the group developed a compact, lightweight, wireless device with which the scientists could activate nerve cells by remote control.

With the help of optogenetics expert Prof. Ofer Yizhar of the same department, the group introduced a protein he'd previously developed into the oxytocin-producing brain cells in the mice.

When light from the wireless device touched those neurons, they became more sensitized to input from the other brain cells in their network.

"Our first goal," says Anpilov, "was to reach that 'sweet spot' of experimental setups in which we track behavior in a natural environment, without relinquishing the ability to ask pointed scientific questions about brain functions."

Dr. Shemesh adds that "the classical experimental setup is not only lacking in stimuli, the measurements tend to span mere minutes, while we had the capacity to track social dynamics in a group over the course of days."

Delving into the role of oxytocin was sort of a test drive for the experimental system. It had been believed that this hormone mediates pro-social behavior, but findings have been conflicting.

Some scientists have proposed another hypothesis, termed "social salience," stating that oxytocin might be involved in amplifying the perception of diverse social cues, which could then result in pro-social or antagonistic behaviors, depending on such factors as individual character and the environment.

To test the social salience hypothesis, the team used mice in which they could gently activate the oxytocin-producing cells in the hypothalamus, after first placing them in the enriched, semi-natural lab environments. For comparison, they repeated the experiment with mice placed in the standard, sterile lab setups.

In the semi-natural environment, the oxytocin-boosted mice at first displayed heightened interest in one another, but this was soon accompanied by a rise in aggressive behavior. In contrast, increasing oxytocin production in the mice in classical lab conditions resulted in reduced aggression.

In an all-male, natural social setting, we would expect to see belligerent behavior as they compete for territory or food. That is, the social conditions are conducive to competition and aggression. In the standard lab setup, a different social situation leads to a different effect for the oxytocin."

Sergey Anpilov, Research Student, Weizmann Institute of Science

If the "love hormone" is more likely a "social hormone," what does that mean for its pharmaceutical applications? "Oxytocin is involved, as previous experiments have shown, in such social behaviors as making eye contact or feelings of closeness," says Eren,

"but our work shows it does not improve sociability across the board. Its effects depend on both context and personality." This implies that if oxytocin is to be used therapeutically, a much more nuanced view is needed in research:

"If we want to understand the complexities of behavior, we need to study behavior in a complex environment. Only then can we begin to translate our findings to human behavior," she says.

Source:

Journal reference:

Anpilov, S., et al. (2020) Wireless Optogenetic Stimulation of Oxytocin Neurons in a Semi-natural Setup Dynamically Elevates Both Pro-social and Agonistic Behaviors. Neuron. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.05.028.

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Oxytocin study may help treat a variety of psychiatric conditions - News-Medical.Net