Encephalon 47: Now Showing at a Computer Near You

Channel N is your host for a marvelous "videotastic" edition of everyone's favorite neuroscience and psychology blog carnival. Encephalon 47 features video posts about the Drosophila Flight Simulator, Bloggingheads Will Wilkinson and Jonathan Haidt on Free Will: Happiness and the Foundations of Morality, and Fernando Orellana and Brendan Burns' robot performing Sleep Waking.

"Using recorded brainwave activity and eye movements during REM sleep to determine robot behaviors and head positioning, 'Sleep Waking' acts as a way to 'play-back' dreams. Through this piece we hope to investigate one of the possible human-robot relationships."

In a personal highlight, The Neurocritic was crowned the "neuroblog-sovereign of sarcasm," a honor to place alongside a wonderful review in the February 2008 issue of Scientific American Mind: "always sardonic (and occasionally scathing)."

A subtheme-of-sorts on eating and eating disorders emerged, featuring a link to the torrent for Todd Haynes' banned film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. As Sandra explains:

The very-banned 1987 film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story by Todd Haynes depicts her life and illness. He was sued by her brother and by their record company and the film will not be legally distributed again... Superstar is unique in using Barbie-like dolls as actors. You might not imagine that method would create such sympathy and poignancy, but it's a brilliant and powerful film.

However, Mind Hacks informs us that the torrent has been, well, banned again.

Therefore, I also suggest you watch the music video for Tunic (Song for Karen) by Sonic Youth. It's a weirdly arty but touching depiction of Karen Carpenter's struggle with anorexia and bulimia, with Kim Gordon as Karen. It even includes a Barbie-like doll.

dreaming, dreaming of a girl like me
hey what are you waiting for - feeding, feeding me
I feel like I'm disappearing - getting smaller every day
but I look in the mirror - I'm bigger in every way

Tunic (Song for Karen)
------Sonic Youth

she said:
you aren't never going anywhere
you aren't never going anywhere
I ain't never going anywhere
I ain't never going anywhere

I'm in heaven now - I can see you Richard
goodbye Hollywood, goodbye Downey - hello Janis
hello Dennis, Elvis - and all my brand new friends
I'm so glad you're all here with me, until the very end

------ibid