Neuro News Nanos

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

Here are this morning’s:

* Do your friends make you liberal? — sort of — conditional on having a particular gene associated with novelty seeking, having more friends makes you more liberal

* Making democracy work in San Francisco — party labels are a lousy guide in local elections — maybe the mayoral candidates’ endorsements could be the guide instead

* Exposure to the letters A and F can affect test performance — half of the tests were labeled “Test Bank ID: A,” and the other half “Test Bank ID: F.”; before starting the test the participants were asked to write their Test Bank ID letter in the top right hand corner of each sheet — can you guess who did better and who did worse?

* Darkness and cheating — why the dark makes you more likely to do bad things — even when anonymity isn’t a factor

* The plasma TV test — when is it looting and when is it securing necessary items in the absence of a functioning market? — if people are taking plasma TVs, it’s probably looting

Follow Neuroworld on Twitter: @ryansager