Is It Disease or Delusion? U.S. Takes on a Dilemma - New York Times

Is It Disease or Delusion? U.S. Takes on a Dilemma - New York Times: "Researchers have found that delusions like this can be passed from primary patients to secondary ones, usually susceptible family members or close associates. Psychiatrists call this phenomenon folie a deux.

In one remarkable case, a woman convinced her husband that neighbors were shooting at her with lasers. In another, an elderly woman convinced her live-in sister that they were both being attacked by bugs.

“Parasitosis is a classic form of shared delusion,” said Dr. Mary Seeman, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. “Skin disease is perfect for it. A person gets a rash or something, then the ‘disease’ spreads through any shared space in which there is close contact.”

But the Internet may have greatly altered the dynamics of folie a deux. In the connected, always-on world, separation is no longer so easy, and delusions may be shared and supported far beyond the confines of the home or workplace."

Seduced by Snacks? No, Not You - New York Times

Seduced by Snacks? No, Not You - New York Times: "“To a person, people will swear they aren’t influenced by the size of a package or how much variety there is on a buffet or the fancy name on a can of beans, but they are,” Dr. Wansink said. “Every time.”

He has the data to prove it. Dr. Wansink, who holds a doctorate in marketing from Stanford University and directs the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, probably knows more about why we put things in our mouths than anybody else. His experiments examine the cues that make us eat the way we do. The size of an ice cream scoop, the way something is packaged and whom we sit next to all influence how much we eat. His research doesn’t pave a clear path out of the obesity epidemic, but it does show the significant effect one’s eating environment has on slow and steady weight gain."

How Carly Lost Her Gender Groove - New York Times

How Carly Lost Her Gender Groove - New York Times: "With several of the few high-profile women at the top tanking, it’s interesting to note that Columbia Business School has introduced a new program that teaches the importance of a more empathetic and sensitive leadership style in globalized business, as opposed to the command-and-control style that has dominated the White House and Pentagon for, lo, these many messed up years.

Students learn how to read facial expressions, body language and posture, and get coaching on their brain’s “mirror neurons” — how what they’re thinking and feeling can affect others.

“This less autocratic leadership style draws on capabilities in which women are as good as men,” says Michael Morris, a professor of psychology and management who is running the business school’s new program.

Daniel Goleman, whose new book “Social Intelligence” is being taught in the program, points out that “while women are, in general, better at reading emotions, men tend to be better at managing them during a crisis. Women tend to be more sophisticated in reading social interactions but also tend to ruminate more when things go wrong.”"