Encephalon #26: Natalie Portman, Cognitive Dissonance

The first anniversary edition of Encephalon is now out. One year from its birth the neuroscience and psychology blog carnival returns to its home at Neurophilosophy. Which coincidentally has a new home, having moved to the science-blogging behemoth that is ScienceBlogs.

Couple of favourites for me are the piece on MindHacks about Natalie Portman (yes, that Natalie Portman) having co-authored a cognitive neuroscience study. The other one, also on MindHacks, describes a classic piece of psychological research into cognitive dissonance by Leon Festinger. I'm sure many of you will already know this study, but for those who don't, give it a read, then adjust your beliefs accordingly.