Baffled Tree Squid @baffledtreesquid - Tumblr Blog

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irishkae

baffledtreesquid

This is the dream wardrobe btw

aropride

ren-the-dreamer

I'M GOING TO PASS MY STATS CLASS!

This is solely thanks to my father for carrying me through this entire class.

Thank you, Father Ren. I owe you cookies or something.

baffledtreesquid

rebeccathenaturalist

The results help explain how the hippocampus can recall information about a place without an animal physically revisiting it.

This new study out on chickadees is a great example of how the hippocampus is important to both memory and observation. In this case, black-capped chickadees were shown to have activity in that part of the brain both before gazing out on a wide area, and during their visual scan of the land.

This means that they are anticipating finding something interesting--perhaps a cache of food--before they even start actively looking. It also shows how they can orient themselves with a mental map fueled by their memory. And it demonstrates how the same cells in the hippocampus can have multiple roles, adding to our understanding of the complexity of the vertebrate brain.

None of this should surprise avid birders and other observers; we've seen birds and other animals return to caches of food. But it's another piece of the puzzle of how the brain processes the retention and retrieval of memory, and when these skills may have first evolved in animals millions of years ago.

#neuroscience #birds #research papers

peachdoxie

There's a bunch of adhd advice out there that's like "people with adhd tend to work better under deadlines due to the anxiety so here are ways to artificially induce a stress response in order to get you to get work done" and it's like well what if I don't want to be stressed out all the time in order to function

electrictopaper

this gold shouldn't stay in the comments

catrocketship

okay but

I am in grad school, getting my masters in education, which is a whole lot of learning about the psychology and physiology of learning

and

if you have ADHD (like me) there are things you can do to help your brain perform better.

this paper made me feel vindicated:

Cognitive and perceptual load have opposing effects on brain network efficiency and behavioral variability in ADHD by Fisher, Hopp, and Weber

The researchers had participants with and without ADHD play a video game they built while varying two things: how mentally demanding the task was (cognitive load) and how much sensory information was present (perceptual load). They measured accuracy and consistency of play across these conditions to see how performance changed. This let them compare how each group handled low vs high stimulation environments. Spoiler: the ADHD brains performed worse until a higher perceptual load was added. Then they performed better than the non-ADHD-havers.

the research showed that ADHD brains don’t actually do well in low-stimulation environments. like the “quiet room, no distractions, just focus :)” setup can make things worse.

because what’s happening isn’t just “can’t pay attention” — it’s that the brain is under-stimulated and starts drifting.

BUT. when you add more sensory input — noise, movement, visual stuff — performance can actually improve.

so.

the thing where you:

need a video playing to do your homework

focus better in a coffee shop than in a silent room

are listening to music, fidgeting, and half-watching something while working

that’s not you failing at focus. that’s you building the amount of input your brain needs to function.

like the goal is not “remove all distractions.” the goal is “hit the correct level of chaos.”

which is… extremely annoying advice if you were raised on “just try harder in a quiet room” or "you can't watch Housewives and write a paper" but incredibly useful once you realize it.

anyway. if your brain only turns on when there are at least three things happening, congratulations, that might actually be the way through, not the problem.

#neuroscience #research papers

monster2003

I’m putting in my too weak notice.

having friends is important because otherwise you’ll stay convinced your parents are normal

7pmest

Work chapstick. Car chapstick. Nightstand chapstick. Bathroom chapstick. Jacket pocket chapstick.Bag chapstick. You have to be prepared.

baffledtreesquid

#you get me

saturnisfallingdown

didn't ask plus your mad scientist labcoat doesnt twirl in the air when you spin nearly as well as mine does

ren-the-dreamer

Somebody tell me why I have had at least 3-4 dreams about writing a Willy Wonka fanfic.

ren-the-dreamer

For the record, I'm not talking about this Willy Wonka...

I'm talking about /this/ Willy Wonka

baffledtreesquid

There’s a certain amount of unsourceable discomfort that sets off my fight or flight that can only be achieved by the 2005 version

shelbygraces

are your characters meant to be so tragic or is that just a side effect of trying to be whimsical in a world full of horrors

it’s an unfortunate side effect :/

heartinhyacinth

God I love Addie Larue so much

//Spoilers//

I've seen some say they don't understand the point of Addie defying the villain at the end by continuing to live on. To that, I'd like to point out that the villain—the entire story really—fell heavily in line with depression. If her story seemed a bit bleak and pointless, I must emphasize how intentional I believe that was. The fact that she did not die at the end, nor break her curse, yet still decided to live was the most meaningful way to get the full impact of what the story was trying to say:

Sometimes it doesn't just go away. Sometimes you have to learn to work with it, not against it.

But that does not mean you should just die. That does not mean you should hand your soul over to the "gods that answers after dark". That does not mean life isn't still worth it.

No one could remember Addie. But she lived on anyway. She refused to give her soul to the monster that wanted it, because there is beauty in this world, she said, and it is worth living for. Even if she can't rid herself of this curse.

She wasn't meant to find a grand purpose or happily ever after or have everything fix itself. By the end of the book, it leaves you questioning whether she was still living because actually wanted to or because she wanted to spite Luc. It was both, I believe.

The themes were soaked in resistance and autonomy as much as depression—Addie will continue to live her life, regardless of how miserable Luc tries to make it, because it is hers. Even if she, herself, does not see the point in it anymore, she refuses to give in to Luc because she knows he does not have her best interests at heart. He screwed her life over he cursed her to live in pain, forever alone (with the exception of him, of course), and now he wants to take her soul as well?

"I want to be free. Free to live, and to find my own way, to love, or to be alone, but at least it is my choice, and I am so tired of not having choices, so scared of the years rushing past beneath my feet. I do not want to die as I’ve lived, which is no life at all.”

Addie may be living out of spite half the time, but the story wants you to know that is okay. Because it gets her to the next day, to the next moment of her life that she knows could be beautiful. Nothing and no one is going to take that chance from her—not marriage, not Luc, and not herself.

The story's main message was that life is worth it for even the littlest things and to find beauty wherever and whenever you can, no matter how small or short lived they may be. It's a story about evil gods and curses—but no. It's a story about depression and loneliness—but no.

It is a story about living. It is a story about hope.