Is it better to treat someone with kid gloves or to treat them carefully? Researchers in Italy have investigated how the brain recognises that the first phrase means the same as the second. Publishing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience, the researchers suggest that we use both hemispheres to understand idioms. The findings also shed light on whether the brain tries to understand a familiar idiom literally before it understands it as a metaphor. The left inferior frontal gyrus, the part of the brain thought to be used to suppress literal meaning, was not specifically activated by idiom comprehension; however, the limbic regions, which are involved in emotional responses, were. More information: The role of left and right hemispheres in the comprehension of idiomatic language: an electrical neuroimaging study; Alice M Proverbio, Nicola Crotti, Alberto Zani and Roberta Adorni; BMC Neuroscience (in press); http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcneurosci/

Swedish researchers believe they have uncovered a possible explanation for the link between mental health and creativity. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet studied brain neurotransmitters and receptors and discovered the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar in some respects to that seen in people with schizophrenia. High creative skills have been shown to be somewhat more common in people who have mental illness in the family. Creativity is also linked to a slightly higher risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Certain psychological traits, such as the ability to make unusual or bizarre associations are also shared by schizophrenics and healthy, highly creative people. And now the correlation between creativity and mental health has scientific backing. http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/05/19/mental-health-creativity-linked/13936.html

The Independent Group looked at, discussed, analysed, wrote about, designed, built and assembled a galaxy of highly significant work exploring contemporary culture ‘as found’. Using a range of sources including the pages of science-fiction magazines, Jackson Pollock’s paintings, Hollywood film, helicopter design, the streets of London’s East End and modernist architecture the Independent Group created a radical approach to looking and working with visual culture. The approach was inclusive and respectful, drawing from inspiration as diverse as communication theory, anthropology and non-Aristotelean philosophy. The approach also spanned the entire cultural landscape of post-war Britain and inhabited the spaces between a multitude of concepts, practices and disciplines.

Leonardo is pleased to present an exhibit of works from the first Leonardo Student Art/Science Contest, including the five winning entries and two honorable mentions. The contest was organized by Piero Scaruffi in conjunction with the Leonardo Day symposium at the University of California at Berkeley New Media Conference (“Berkeley Big Bang 08″) at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive in June 2008. Find out more at http://www.leonardo.info/gallery