Alainmendez

This is heartbreaking. Early tracking suggests that Guillermo del Toro's long-awaited "robots vs. monsters" movie Pacific Rim is gaining less audience interest than Grown-Ups 2, which opens the same weekend. Legendary Pictures "risks losing a lot of money" on Pacific Rim, Variety warns.

According to a sobering Variety article:

Early tracking for the film is so far disappointing with audiences showing more interest in Sony Pictures’ sequel “Grown Ups 2,” which also opens that weekend. Some are comparing “Pacific Rim” to to Saban’s “Power Rangers” kids franchise or Japanese anime.

Part of the problem seems to be a marketing campaign that focused on revving up the hardcore fans, rather than reaching a broader audience for the $200 million-plus picture, as Variety explains in a separate piece:

Warner’s marketing strategy has been to rev up core fans first, then expand from there. Del Toro’s appearances at last year’s Comic-Con and this year’s Wondercon, and the action-oriented trailers, have stoked the fanboys.... the film’s marketing must overcome the perception that “Pacific Rim” is “Transformers vs. Godzilla.”

Indiewire says it's too soon to freak out about early tracking numbers — after all, the movie's marketing campaign is still just ramping up, and there have been plenty of films with bad early tracking that turned it around. But Indiewire's Kevin Jagernauth also makes the salient point that "this is why we can't have nice things," if an original concept suffers while a sequel to a shitty Adam Sandler movie prospers. "The more ticket buyers choose the safe route, the less likely studios are to roll the dice on original concepts."

liveinsidelikeits1999:

Awww yissss…~ #utsubora #sunny #gundamorigin #vertical #viz #qualitymanga

It is officially announced that VAP will release HD-remastered Blu-ray disc sets of Sunrise's real robot anime series in the mid-1980s Blue Comet SPT Layzner in Japan on September 18. The 4th robot anime series directed by Ryosuke Takahashi (Fang of the Sun Dougram, Armored Trooper Votoms, Panzer World Galient) was aired in Japan for 38 episodes from October 3, 1985 to June 26, 1986. The story was followed by a third part of the OVA series which was released in October 1986.

 

The new official site for the Blu-ray boxes was opened on June 25. The Blu-rays will be released in three editions. "Blue Comet SPT Layzner: Recollection 1996-2000 Blu-ray BOX" will contain all of 38 episodes of the TV series and 3 episodes of the OVA series. The first-press only limited edition will come with a 32-page booklet, audio commentary, and a box with new art by the original mechanical designer Kunio Okawara. The price for the limited edition box is 47,250 yen (about US$483.12). The price for the TV episodes-only box is 36,750 yen (about US$375.76) and that of the three episodes OVA-only box is 7,140 yen (about US$73).

 

 

 

1st OP "Melos no Youni Lonely Way" EP

 

2nd ED "La Rose Rouge" EP

 

 

Source: AV Watch

 

© Sunrise

One of the best parts of our fandom is the insanely creative stuff people build when inspired by their favorite shows. Case in point? That person who built the semi-functional 3D manouver gear from Attack on Titan. Another little spot of awesome? This version of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet’s mech Chamber made of Legos.

 

 

This beauty was created by Moko, the same guy who did that glorious Eva-01 unit.

 

 

 

 

 

He’s even got a little Ledo.

 

 

 

 

You can tell by the size difference between the little lego Ledo and Chamber that this lego creation is pretty large. 

 

So what do you think? Impressed? Feel like building one yourself? What would you like to see him build next?

 

-------

Amanda Rush is the Associate Editor for Ani.Me and contributor for OtakuCollectionDX. She swears in the middle of the night on Twitter as @TheAnimaven.

This is a bonus segment of the Speakeasy Podcast we like to call Crime Scene Investigations. These are random bonus podcasts that we record live from various events. There is no regular schedule for these. We will put them up as quickly as we can when the opportunity for one occurs. We suspect they will mostly be from conventions but we might work in some interviews and conversation from NY events as fate allows.

The great Robeast that was AnimeNEXT 2013 could not be slain by a single podcasting mecha. It required the effort of an elite team of podcasters in combining lions to handle an event like this in the forsaken land of New Jersey. Evan and Ink from the Ani-Gamers podcast formed the legs. Vincenzo and Vince who were not only staff but also are part of the All Geeks Considered podcast formed the arms. And Xan from the Spiraken Manga Review formed the head. That makes me, Hisui, the Blazing Sword that let the team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

If you want my written impression of AnimeNEXT you can find the main article here. The other reports from our illustrious pilots as well as the full story of Carrie’s harassment as a cosplayer are linked in this post.

RSS Feed     -     iTunes Feed

Crime Scene Investigations #005: AnimeNEXT 2013

Filed under: AnimeNEXT, Conventions, Crime Scene Investigations, Events, Podcasts Tagged: AnimeNEXT

Clearly riding high off of their rendition of Fate/Stay Night's Saber, Medicom Toy has gone ahead and unveiled two new Real Action Heroes of the iconic Type-Moon heroine. This time round we'll be seeing 1/6 poseable renditions of her dark side Saber Alter and her swanky suit clad look from prequel series Fate/Zero.

Of these two it's Saber Alter who more immediately pops out, due to her elaborate armour and terrifying face, but there's a lot to be said for Saber Zero's sharp tailored looks too, which really show off some great work on the clothing from Medicom. As someone who was never a fan of the multitude of Saber Dollfies (or of their prices) this looks to be a great opportunity for dedicated Type-Moon fans to build a Saber collection that's a bit more faithful to the original look and won't break the bank (well, quite as much).

[via Hobbylog]

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Things are about to get rowdier—Namco Bandai have just announced four new playable characters for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle.

Read Four New Characters Enter The Mix In JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle [Update] on Siliconera!

A friend who used to read a lot of SF but who hasn’t read any for a while asked me for recommendations for recent science fiction books that I was excited about. These aren’t meant as anybody’s “best,” least of all mine, they’re just science fiction books written in the last ten years that have made me excited about the possibilities of SF all over again. The “sense of wonder” is easy to get when you’re twelve, because everything is new, but books that can give it to me now are valuable.

I thought I’d share my thoughts.

[Ten books, no spoilers]

The first thing to come to mind was Karl Schroeder’s Lady of Mazes (2005). It’s post-everything science fiction, it deals with virtuality, loss of privacy, identity issues, and what it means to be human when it’s possible to edit that. It’s a book that raises huge philosophical issues, and it’s also a cracking good story with great characters. I like all of Schroeder, but this is my favourite book of his so far, and definitely one of the things I want to point to when I say that this is what the genre is capable of.

Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin (2006) takes an original science fiction idea and uses it to tell a double-braided human story. Aliens, or something—they call them the Hypotheticals—have put Earth in a protective cocoon that means that while time passes normally for us, outside the universe is flashing by and the sun is getting dangerously hot. Nobody knows why this has happened, and people respond in all the ways people do—with science, religion, panic and hope. Wilson carries everything through and makes it all work—with great characters and a terrific voice.

Susan Palwick’s Shelter (2007) is a thoroughly imagined near future US where everything has changed but grown out of where we are. It’s about artificial intelligence and the medicalization of character flaws—and even things that might not be flaws. One of the main characters is under intervention for altruism for most of the book. It takes visible trends and extrapolates them out in the way only science fiction can, and it’s doing that with the trends of today—well, 2007. Again, it’s also wonderfully written. Maybe when I was twelve I could get excited by a badly written book with shiny ideas, but not any more.

Neal Stephenson’s Anathem (2008) is a big novel about the history of philosophy and science—set in an alternate world where that history has been different but parallel—and yet Stephenson manages to make it a ton of fun. There are things wrong with it, and I’ve been reliably informed that the physics makes no sense, but that doesn’t matter because what Stephenson’s doing is writing something new about the way people think and the way the scientific worldview affects everything. It also has geeky scientific monasteries that feel real and are fascinating.

Geoff Ryman’s Air (2005) is one of those books that draws you in immediately. It’s about a future mind-internet coming to a little third world village that has been on the edges of technological civilization for a long time, and how it affects the people, especially the women. Karzistan is an imaginary country somewhere on the Silk Road. It has always been marginal, been a margin, and it still is. Gibson said the future was unevenly distributed, and this is a brilliant book about the unequal edge of distribution. This is the kind of book that wouldn’t have been written in previous decades because it took a lot of work and ground clearing to get to a place where it was possible to make these characters visible. Which is part of what it’s about.

Elizabeth Moon’s The Speed of Dark (2003) is about an autistic man in the near future. Again it has a very clear distinct voice—and this is indeed something I like in a book, but it’s not something new in the last decade! Speed of Dark is a character portrait of a very unusual character, seen from inside. The way Lou thinks is different and fascinating, and Moon shows us that close up and almost makes us feel what it would be like. This is a book that does rely on a lot of past SF—in particular “Flowers for Algernon”—but which is going on and doing something really interesting with it.

Kasuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005) is a science fiction novel written by a mainstream writer—and the trend for this last decade has been the tendency for these not to suck. (In addition to Ishiguro, Michael Chabon has pulled it off brilliantly.) Never Let Me Go is a dystopia that uses the mode usually used for writing about privilege and nostalgia to talk about appalling things. It’s shocking and powerful and wonderful and original.

M.J. Locke’s Up Against It (2012) is book I’ve only read once, and which I’m planning to read again and write about really soon. It’s set in a near future solar system, and it’s full of engineering and problems with water and technology and people. It’s a whole lot like the kind of traditional science fiction I love, but it has real rounded characters and the modern solar system—the one science has recently revealed to us, not the one SF has taken as a default setting for so long. Up Against It is exciting to me because it’s doing what old SF did, taking current science and engineering and writing fun stories with it, only with current science and engineering. And current practice of characterisation and plot. It’s a terrific read.

I’m well aware that I haven’t read everything from the last decade. Emmet suggested that Peter Watts Blindsight absolutely belongs on this list, and so does China Mieville’s The City and the City. But I haven’t got to them yet, and so they’re not on my list. I’m sure there are lots of things I’ve missed, and probably lots of things I’ll think of myself as soon as I hit send. (That always happens.) I’d be very interested to have people add to this list in comments, with recent science fiction novels that have made them excited about what science fiction can do. Please don’t list fantasy. I may do a companion post about fantasy later.

---

Jo Walton is a science fiction and fantasy writer. She’s published two poetry collections and nine novels, most recently the Hugo and Nebula winning Among Others. She reads a lot, and blogs about it here regularly. She comes from Wales but lives in Montreal where the food and books are more varied.

Followed by PreCure, Pokemon, Doraemon, Kamen Rider

Japanese toy company Bandai reported this year's result of its annual survey "Who is your children's favorite character?" on its official site today. No surprise, Takashi Yanase's Anpanman took the first place in the overall ranking for 12 consecutive years. Check the ranking after the jump.

Today's XKCD centers on the human tendency to reflect on the past through an idyllic lens (or look toward the future through a foreboding, misanthropic one). It's fantastic.

Every day brings with it a new batch of innovation that helps us read faster, communicate quicker, assimilate information more efficiently, and travel more speedily than ever. All of these have their advantages, and all of them come under criticism of some form or another. How many of these criticisms are founded? To what extent are the sacrifices and tradeoffs of an ever-accelerating lifestyle really sacrifices at all? And to what extent are they merely symptomatic of our inclination to compare modern life to what came before and find it lacking in some vital quality? [XKCD via Ben Lillie]

gokuffy:

evilton:

… And when I got to “The World” page, I saw this:

Ah fuck, really?

Holy shit, they’re right.

Can they keep this if they do animate Part 3? Pleeeeaaaase??

Oh wow! See? Jojo’s IS the best manga!!

newtypelady:

laurenzuke:

rockstar revolution………

print availble here! 

ZETTAI

UNMEI

MOKUSHIROCKOUT!!

There's one thing a D&D campaign can never get enough of: magic. More spells. Weirder spells. New ways to interact with the magical forces in our favorite fantasy worlds. With Deep Magic, Kobold Press has harnessed some big RPG names (including Ed Greenwood) to give us all the magic we could possibly want.

Deep Magic is a tome of magic spells and options for the Pathfinder RPG, an off-shoot of 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons. The Kickstarter campaign has more than doubled its goal just days after launching. It's being edited and developed by Amanda Hamon (numerous Pathfinder design and editing credits) and designed by Wolfgang Baur (Kobold Press publisher, creator of the Midgard campaign setting) and Ben McFarland (Ars Magica, Pathfinder). And according to Baur, "the list of contributing authors is like a [Pathfinder publisher] Paizo freelancer/staffer who's who." This includes Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms.

The design and development team answered a range of questions on what it's like to invent new magic spells for such a venerable RPG system, and they even shared a soliloquy courtesy of Ed Greenwood on shieldmaidens and why they need magic to survive. With so much information, I didn't even have room for the preview spell they sent, so you can check that out at Robot Viking. It's a 1st level spell for druids, rangers and witches called Fire under the Tongue.

First, could you tell me what you've got planned for Deep Magic? What is this book of magic going to add to someone's Pathfinder campaign?

Wolfgang Baur: Deep Magic hugely expands the range of spells and options for every Pathfinder RPG spellcasting class, from the inquisitor (with 17 new spells and counting) to the classic sorcerer and wizard (literally hundreds of new spells.) It also offers great advice and new ways to run certain types of magic from the best Pathfinder freelancers on related topics like golems, familiars, incantations, and archetypes. And it presents entirely new schools and subschools of magic, like Ed Greenwood’s shieldmaiden magic.

Amanda Hamon: I'll also add that this book throws a ton of brand-new magic options into the game. For those who are looking for magic with a twist, there are incantations, glyphs, runes, and ink magic ciphers—without introducing a whole bunch of complicated new rules. The systems are surprisingly easy to learn and make your game feel refreshingly new.

What makes for a good spell?

Amanda: First of all, spells have to be useful. A spell might have the coolest visual effect ever, but that doesn’t matter if it requires a situation so specific that it's almost never used. Once your spell has a good raison d'etre, make sure that its mechanics are balanced with other, similar spells that already exist. Once those elements are nailed down, it's important for a spell to have a certain x-factor. Maybe it's a breathtaking visual effect, or an effect that's invaluable in combat, or something else that makes the party members say, "Wow, I'm glad you used that spell — I thought we were goners!"

Wolfgang: A good spell gets the player excited to use it, to be the hero of the moment. It could involve talking to stones about local threats, or it could involve animating a landslide or sinking an island. Mostly, though, good spells combine utility with a sense of wonder and empowerment. Flying is both very useful and an extremely cool trick. Calling down lightning? Oh, yeah!

You need to provide the player with a sense of world-changing possibilities. If a spell doesn’t make me feel like Tesla about to trigger a massive electrical coil, it’s just not quite there yet.

Can you tell me the story of designing a particular spell, from initial inspiration through development where the mechanics and balance were hammered out?

Amanda: I'll typically give a spell two readings: One to understand what the spell is supposed to do and to do a light copy edit, and again to pick through all the mechanics, to make sure all the parameters make sense, and to see what might need to be changed from a development perspective. Honoring the author's intent is the biggest thing I always keep in mind.

For example, there's a spell going into Deep Magic that's called bright errantry. Its intent is to allow a player to make three rolls with a +4 luck modifier for all actions taken during two consecutive rounds. But the way the initial draft read, it wasn't clear when those rounds should begin, what type of bonus the spell bestowed, and whether you could choose the most favorable result as opposed to simply the highest result. So, for that spell, it was just a matter of reworking the wording and the duration to make sure the spell worked as the author clearly intended. Closing loopholes and nailing down specifics — that's the bulk of it.

Ben McFarland: There really is an art to spell design, almost like a legal argument or debating. Precedent helps you make your case, but you need to know what's out there to draw from it. For my entry in the Lost Magic contest, necromancer's retort, I started with a concept of the chain of exploding corpses, a scene out of an old video game I loved, called Myth: The Fallen Lords. My spell destroys a chain of corporeal undead, causing them to explode in a spray of acidic, venomous pus.

With that concept in mind, I looked for spells that worked the same way for targeting. The first and closest one was death to undeath, which is pretty high level, but what I had in mind is a serious effect. Then I considered the kind of damage, the actual effect I wanted to implement, and what spells are similar to the final result, which brought me to chain lightning. With both of those as a baseline, I decided that 7th level was a good place to start, because I was combining two similar mechanics. Then I looked at the additional splash damage, the secondary effects, and I realized that was worth an additional level. This led me to the final decision to make it 8th level.It was a long walk to get there, but sometimes, with a complex spell effect, that's how it goes.

What are some areas of D&D/Pathfinder spell "design space" that you think are relatively unexplored?

Ben: There's a lot of room to look at ways of altering spells without using metamagic feats: things like alchemical components or consumable ritual fetishes. Feats can be considered a tax. Resources could be used to pay that tax. I also think the idea of magical instruction is really left untouched. Whether you address that in an archetype, or a feat, or another method is up to you, but far too often the D&D/Pathfinder wizard can't tell you about who taught them their magic.

What's your favorite story of someone using a spell in a creative or unexpected way in an adventure?

Ben: I always love the clever uses of illusion to outwit enemies, but sometimes it's the small, unexpected uses of otherwise utility spells that take the cake. Once, the party was facing off against a big bad vampire sorcerer surrounded by mobs of zombies. They were down to those ugly last rounds of combat, where the battle could tip toward victory or a Total Party Kill based on whether or not characters start folding. The vampire hit the rogue with a flaming sphere, setting him on fire and putting his hit points into the negative range.

The party cleric needed to heal him, but he also needed to redirect his spiritual weapon to end the undead sorcerer and make up for the lost attacks from the rogue. So the cleric used his move action to redirect the spiritual weapon, and he cast create water on the rogue, extinguishing the flames and giving another party member time to reach him with a cure serious wounds potion, putting him back in the fight.

Who knew create water had a range, or that it ever would see use outside of a logistical setting? I loved it.

Wolfgang: In a nautical adventure last year, the adventurers were in a ship being chased under full sail by demonic pirates, racing through shrieking winds. It was high adventure with fire arrows and magic missiles flying—right until the moment the wizard cast wall of force across the path of the bad guys’ ship.

In the contest of wooden ship versus immovable object—well, it was a complete disaster for the bad guys. The ship hull splintered, masts and sails snapped from the sudden jolt, demons and pirates drowned. The heroes picked through the wreckage, and the DM ground his teeth a little but played fair. I think he had to respect the perfect use of a defensive spell to demolish the opposition.

The right spell at the right time. That’s what we’re providing in Deep Magic with its hundreds of new spells and options. Hope your readers get as much of a kick out of spellbooks as we do!

Shieldmaiden Magic: A Spell Collection from Deep Magic

By Ed Greenwood

So call to mind the Briennes and Big Berthas of lore—the burly farm-lasses or fiery-tempered spitfires who aren’t content, or are unable thanks to the cruelties of fate, to cleave to hearth and home, and turn instead to battle.

Call them “shieldmaidens,” to give them a name that reminds us that some take up warfare to defend family, home, or other things they held dear.

Some make war because they love it, some because they must, but in either case to taste defeat is often to die—so shieldmaidens, fiercely or grimly, want to win.

And in lands where wizards walk and on many a day magic can rule a battlefield, a warrior desiring victory—or just to survive—may need spells of her own. So it follows that shieldmaidens have developed their own magic, and some of them may train other women warriors, and pass these spells down. Magics that transform shields or give a brief edge in combat, spells that make their casters real threats; as more than one veteran fighter has observed angrily, “Spells that are just gods-cursed unreasonable!”

Sometimes, it’s about being strong and swift and smart, guy or gal, so you triumph and live to smite the foe another day.

Like any great adventurer.

All images © 2013 Kobold Press.

A new system update is headed to the Nintendo 3DS, which may enable more frequent StreetPass encounters, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata shared with analysts this week.

Read Nintendo 3DS System Update To Enable Easier StreetPass Encounters on Siliconera!

[Update: Vertex have issued a correction saying that she won't be up for pre-orders until Friday 14th. Patience!]

We got a paintless preview of Vertex's take on Mitsuru Kirijo last month, but now the final painted prototype is back to show off, and boy does it look gorgeous. There's some great shots of the detail on her catsuit and a look at her stunning mane of red hair. The preview also confirms her coat will be fully removable and she'll be bundled with the awesome red sunglasses she's seen wearing in the game.

Vertex also confirmed that pre-orders will open tomorrow, the 13th of June, and while no price was specified, I think it's fair to assume it'll be in the range of 'a lot'. Still, that's unlikely to dissuade many people, as what we've got on show here deserves to be in many a collection. Check back tomorrow, we'll have a pre-order post ready to go!

[via Vertex's blog]

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nagamine7:

Filemblr

Nintendo shows off action from Platinum's Wii U exclusive sequel

Bayonetta 2 became one of the most hotly anticipated Wii U games the moment it was announced as an exclusive, but we haven't seen much since. Well, we got a nice gander at it during this morning's E3 Nintendo Direct special, which shows Platinum's star getting into some over-the-top action while sporting a new style. Check it out after the jump!

The new Zelda game for 3DS has a new name—and a new trailer.

Read The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Has A New Name And Trailer on Siliconera!

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will have an online versus mode. The news comes from a flyer promoting CyberConnect2's fighting game, which also says JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle has over 30 characters.

Read JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle Has Online Fights, Over 30 Characters on Siliconera!

Announced in the latest issue of the Comptiq magazine. “Fate/Prototype SS”—it’s the name of the upcoming Novel of the Fate franchise. The story will be written by Sakurai Hikaru from Liar Soft, and the illustrations will be drawn by Nakahara. Its serialization is marked with the August issue of the Comptiq magazine which will be […]

Holy hell, they're making a movie based on Bill Willingham's acclaimed Fables comic. Please be good. Please be good. Please be good. Please be good. Please be good. Please be good. Please be good. Please be good.

With the rampant success of all things fairytale these days (Once Upon A Time, Grimm, Snow White and the Huntsman) and the promise of many more fairy tale movies to come (Cinderella, Maleficent) it's about DAMN time someone made a Fables movie. The fairest of all the Fairy Tale translations. And that time might be now.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel (who also penned The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo screenplay) has been tapped to adapt Willingham's Vertigo comic. Which means... it might actually be good. Jeremy Slater, of the Fantastic Four reboot, is penning the project and oh-my-god-all-the-blood-just-rushed-to-my-head-and-I'm-going-to-pass-out.

This HAS to be good, it MUST be good. We are so wedded to the amazing batch of modernized, kick ass fairy tale characters in this comic, we may jump off a bridge if it's bad. Or something like that. For now, we remain cautiously optimistic and will go home and watch A Royal Affair on Netflix, again.

Yub and nub, my friends. Lego will release a massive, almost-2,000-piece Ewok Village set this September. It'll run you $250, is over a foot tall, and will include a speederbike, 15 minifigures (some of which have reversible faces with different expressions — angry Leia is amazing), and an Imperial helmet drum kit.

Best of all, add a few Wookiee figures and you've essentially got a Lego playset of Chewbacca's Home from the Holiday Special, too.

H/t Lego.Kinja.com.

INTENSE SPOILERS FOR LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF GAME OF THRONES. SERIOUSLY, QUIT READING RIGHT THIS INSTANT IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT.

Last night, the Game of Thrones TV show got to the most memorable — and horrible — point in the books, affectionately termed the "Red Wedding." It's a twist that has traumatized readers since 2000, when A Storm of Swords was first published, and the TV version has clearly had the same effect: immediately after the episode aired, Twitter exploded with anguish, rage, sorrow, horror, and comedy. Here are the best, funniest, angriest, and most insane tweets that last night's Game of Thrones inspired. (For more hilarity make sure to check out @RedWeddingTears and the comments in HBO's Game of Thrones' Facebook page.)

@karma_thief I'm "royally" pissed off! Bye bye Starks :-(

— A. Keough (@unemployed_mass) June 3, 2013

RT if you're in an emotionally abusive relationship with Game of Thrones

— John DeVore (@JohnDeVore) June 3, 2013

I need a hug. I have never been so traumatized by a television show. #gameofthrones

— Bon Alimagno (@karma_thief) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones just made me cry. I'm pretty sure a little part of me just died..I can't comprehend what I just saw. I feel sick.

— Austin Chesshire (@AustinCFilms) June 3, 2013

Folks watching #gameofthrones who didn't read the books: remember when your really nerdy friend was super sad 13 years ago? This is why! :(

— Zachary D Smith (@drzachary) June 3, 2013

If George Martin was in Auburn right now I'd stab him in the heart.

— Alex Mastin (@mastinalex) June 3, 2013

Always hire union minstrels. #GameOfThrones

— Ken Plume (@KenPlume) June 3, 2013

If anyone needs me i'll be humming "rains of castamere" rocking back & forth in the fetal position for the foreseeable future #gameofthrones

— Katie Lucas (@KtLuWho) June 3, 2013

Somewhere, a corn syrup distributor just made a down payment on a boat. #gameofthrones

— Doug (@CaptainAnnoying) June 3, 2013

I'm fuckin heated right now james rr martin or whatever the fuck your name is your a sick man what's next joffrey wins the war god damn

— kurt (@VivaLa_Hendrix) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones just collected every mic on the planet and dropped them.Good god.

— Mikey Neumann (@mikeyface) June 3, 2013

pastagod: public service announcement don’t watch game of thrones don’t do it man don’t tmblr.co/Zh7xIxmSs8l-

— ∞Kerry-Anne (@kehri_behri) June 3, 2013

I have given birth twice to 8 & 9 pound babies.Watching Robb Stark die hurt more than both times combined. #gameofthrones #redwedding

— Mrs. @eab2940 (@selfishlady) June 3, 2013

Did I just watch scenes from the sequel to Wedding Crashers? #gameofthrones

— Steven Amiri (@StevenAmiri) June 3, 2013

OH MY GOD GAME OF THRONES I DONT KNOW HOW I WILL EVER GET OVER THIS WHY GOD WHY WHY WHY WHY #GOT #GameOfThrones

— Krýtíques Lakífa (@femaleunicorn) June 3, 2013

CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW IM SOBBING ABOUT GAME OF THRONES WHAT IS MY LIFE

— A$AP rakhee (@roxxiepoxxie) June 3, 2013

There are literally not enough cuss words in the English language. Jesus Christ, George RR Martin. #gameofthrones

— Bon Alimagno (@karma_thief) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones can go fuck itself 20 times in the face with a fork. Done with this piece of shit.

— Melad (@DominoTheory_) June 3, 2013

My mom just busted in the bathroom WHILE I am taking a bubble bath to scream about game of thrones ........woman. you're nuts.

— E (@_AirRica) June 3, 2013

Does anybody have a paper towel? I watched new Game of Thrones and "in unrelated news" pissed myself

— The Frenemy Online (@The_Frenemy) June 3, 2013

I want to find George R. R. Martin and beat that fat fuck's ass after tonight's episode of Game of Thrones.

— Fomes Peccati (@Fomes_Peccati) June 3, 2013

Ladies: if your man watches Game Of Thrones, tonight will be the only time he'll cuddle with you and mean it sincerely

— CHANCE FISCHER (@Chance_Fischer) June 3, 2013

SOMEONE TAKE ME OUT OF THE OVEN BECAUSE I AM SO FUCKING DONE WITH GAME OF THRONES

— Morgan ✌ (@morgaaaanb) June 3, 2013

I hope you all sang along to Smash Mouth's "All Star" played at the end of this episode of Game of Thrones

— Emma Bowers (@EmmaBowers) June 3, 2013

If something AWFUL...I mean WRETCHED..doesn't happen to a Lannister next week (NOT Tyrion)...I'm done with #gameofthrones.

— RICHELLE CAREY (@RichelleCarey) June 3, 2013

If you're watching game of thrones tonight and you haven't yet read the series... You know nothing of pain, sweet summer child.

— Kim (@KimD_Trinh) June 3, 2013

And that folks is why you always go DJ over wedding band #gameofthrones

— Chris Erickson (@EricksonCL) June 3, 2013

Tonight's "Game of Thrones" has ruined me. Spare yourself the agony. Watch a different show. I need a therapist.

— Rex Santus (@rexsantus) June 3, 2013

@gameofthrones Cancelling my @hbo subscription due to tonight's episode. #FuckYouVeryMuch

— Joe Saenz (@joey_monte16) June 3, 2013

#SpoilerAlert Think my stomach is still up in my throat. To non-book readers: welcome to the #gameofthrones despair and hopelessness club.

— Justin Scuiletti (@JSkl) June 3, 2013

I don't watch Game of Thrones but this "Red Wedding" that people are tweeting about tonight sounds very romantic!

— Adam Feldman (@FeldmanAdam) June 3, 2013

Out of all the Game of Thrones tweets, I think my favorites are the ones from friends I know don't have health insurance.

— Shawn Adler(@Lethrup) June 3, 2013

Dear Game of Thrones...Slit my wrists or pills? Which is faster?

— Swishergirl (@Swishergirl24) June 3, 2013

Somewhere, there's a couple all of a sudden reconsidering their Game of Thrones-themed wedding.

— Caitlin Kelly (@atotalmonet) June 3, 2013

The best way to read/watch Game of Thrones is to hate every character. That way the constant mass murder doesn't get you down.

— David M. Johnson (@davidmichael10) June 3, 2013

OK now that Game of Thrones is over, I haven't seen my cat in 6 hours. I'm worried. :-(

— Ticktock6 (@ticktock6) June 3, 2013

Protip: despite what #gameofthrones might lead one to believe, fetal stabbings are a LOUSY wedding gift. Stick to the registry.

— jaypeecee (@jaypeecee) June 3, 2013

FUCK YOU GAME OF THRONES IM CRYING SO HARD IM NOT MOVING EVER AGAIN I'LL AVENGE THE STARK FAMILY MYSELF GODDAMMIT #GameofThrones

— Brie Medina (@BrieMedina) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones has killed off more well-developed characters than exist in most other TV shows.

— Jason Kramer (@jasonakramer) June 3, 2013

Remember that comet that just flew past the Earth? Game Of Thrones justdid an episode that amounts to it smashing right into our planet.

— The Robotard 8000 (@TheRobotard8000) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones characters are like school work. You spend all your time learning & remembering them, and after a few weeks, it won't matter

— Charlie Koutsogiane (@Kootseeahknee) June 3, 2013

I LOVE THIS SHOW AND I LOVE THE BOOKS BUT I HATE THEM AT THIS MOMENT AND I WANT TO BURN THEM AND PUKE ON THEIR ASHES. #GameOfThrones

— JON ROBB TYRION (@EvaKlarenbeek) June 3, 2013

On tonight's Game of Thrones, Tyrion plays with a basket of puppies. So cute you won't be able to stand it.

— Ydnar Naemerc (@exeromai) June 3, 2013

Thank you #gameofthrones for ruining my night. I am beyond mad and depressed. Like I want to go outside and burn something

— Doug Jenkins (@collegeking) June 3, 2013

Game of thrones fucking sucks fucking sucks fucking sucks fucking sucks fucking sucks fucking sucks fucking sucks fucking sucks

— Nick Negri (@BigBaby_Negri) June 3, 2013

That game of thrones episode was like that 1 guy you met at the bar, hit it off & had a 1 night stand with, but he never called you back.

— Jessie Robertson (@jessrrobertson) June 3, 2013

After this Game of Thrones episode. I'm not sure life is worth living. Or at least not worth going to work at all this week.

— Yung DuRag Dynasty (@Mikethe1st) June 3, 2013

Every time I begin to think I'm starting to understanding what's going on in Game of Thrones I realize I'm totally wrong

— Mario Gazzola (@mario_gazzola) June 3, 2013

Wow. I'm just really sad about being alive after that Game of Thrones. Just really, really sad.

— Eric Brown (@ericbrownzzz) June 3, 2013

There is no greater power in Westeros than House Whataburger. #GameofThrones

— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) June 3, 2013

If only Admiral Ackbar had been in tonight's Game of Thrones... youtube.com/watch?v=PLVjt4…

— Ben C.W. Johnson (@johnsonbcw) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones should be renamed "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck"

— davidviola (@davidviola) June 3, 2013

I just watched Game of Thrones and I wish I had made a vine of me SCREAMING AND SOBBING LIKE A FUCKING MANIAC FUCK THIS SHIT FUCK EVERYTHING

— ǝop ǝʌıssǝsqo-ɹǝʌo (@pelicanpoems) June 3, 2013

Watching people react to the new Game of Thrones episode is like seeing other people see goatse.cx for the first time.

— Josh Millard (@joshmillard) June 3, 2013

Hello everyone who is just arriving at the Game of Thrones despair meeting. We've all been waiting for you.

— Dan Stefanidis (@elbasunu) June 3, 2013

tonight's episode of #gameofthrones was a barrel of laughs and by that i mean i wish i was dead

— Spencer Stevens (@suddenlyspencer) June 3, 2013

A big huge eff you to the Game of Thrones author. Thanks. Thanks, jerk. I hate you. YOU ARE THE WORST!!! The worst!!!

— Ena (@e__music) June 3, 2013

"Fake throats are on sale, D.B., any way we can use a bunch of them in one Game of Thrones episode?" David Benioff to D.B. Weiss a month ago

— Erik Tanouye (@toyns) June 3, 2013

BREAKING NEWS: GAME OF THRONES EPISODE FORCES PLANE TO MAKE EMERGENCY LANDING. amymarie97.tumblr.com/post/520272654… @gameofowns

— Amy Marie (@Amy_Marie97) June 3, 2013

My mom is watching game of thrones has been yelling no at the tv for 5 minutes

— dylans dad (@Randrew_Rowman) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones. How.Why. I have never screamed and cried so loudly at fiction. I hate you forever and always.

— Trelawny Davis (@TrelawnySara) June 3, 2013

YOU CAN'T JUST WRITE A BOOK AND NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS. YOU.JUST.CAN'T.DO.THAT.ITS.NOT.FAIR.TO.THE.AUDIENCE.HAVE.A.HEART.

— Trelawny Davis (@TrelawnySara) June 3, 2013

FUCK. GAME OF THRONES. FUCK THE BITCHASS NIGGA THAT WROTE THE BOOK. FUCK THE STUPID ASS ACTORS THAT ACT THAT SHIT

— Penguin Princess (@PinguinoBesos) June 3, 2013

I literally want to die. Game of Thrones just ripped my heart out and pissed on it.

— Anthony M. DiCosimo™ (@AnthonyDiCosimo) June 3, 2013

You know why the end credits had no music? The sound of your sobbing and sniffling is the music. #gameofthrones

— Nur(@nurberxo) June 3, 2013

Officially done with @gameofthrones used to love it, now it's just trash IMO.No offense to those that like it. Now I TLDR the rest.

— Tobias Sherman (@eMG_Tumba) June 3, 2013

I think George R.R. Martin, the writer of Game Of Thrones, must have been a really devoted, terrible and unlucky "Dungeons & Dragons" player

— Ben Rispin (@BenjaminRispin) June 3, 2013

*jumps off the highest point in King's landing* FUCK THE LANNISTERS. FUCK ROOSE BOLTON. FUCK EVERYONE ON THIS GOT DAMN SHOW

— Terence Johnson (@LeNoirAuteur) June 3, 2013

Just finished my temper tantrum after watching @gameofthrones. I now understand the urge to #riot in the middle ofthe street.

— Benjamin Adams (@adamsbene) June 3, 2013

An hour later, still pretty sure I've been in car accidents less dramatic than #GameOfThrones.

— Flick (@FlickFM) June 3, 2013

If you want to make the 7 Gods of the Game of Thrones laugh, tell them your hopes and dreams for your favorite characters.

— ArtForStrangers (@ArtForStrangers) June 3, 2013

I don't know if I should rewatch #gameofthrones or just go to bed & try to live again tomorrow

— alovedlife (@alovedlife) June 3, 2013

Outraged by tonight's Game of Thrones? Welcome to EVERY Thanksgiving for turkeys. Gobble gobble! #gameofturkeys

— FU Turkeys (@futurkeys) June 3, 2013

GAME OF THRONES SPOILER ALERT!- I can't believe the Hound was eating a pigs foot. Am I right? #gross

— Mark Brooks (@MarkBrooksArt) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones. Wow. I am NEVER going to a wedding ever again.

— Jay Busbee (@jaybusbee) June 3, 2013

Right now there's a woman in New Orleans angrily setting fire to her iron throne replica & Daenerys Targaeryen costume. #gameofthrones

— Auguste™ (@augustePDX) June 3, 2013

I hate Walder Frey and that Bolton fuck more than I've hated any nonfictional thing in my entire life.

— Calib Kweli (@CalebRELee) June 3, 2013

"I hate #GameofThrones, those Fries need to die," FRIES MOM?! FRIES?! She took the RW really hard guys. She took a few shots of rum.

— Sarah Marie (@motelsonthemoon) June 3, 2013

That scene where Waldor Frey was naming all of his daughters and granddaughters was like a particularly odd Monty Pyton bit #gameofthrones

— Sean Lynch (@goldstar4robot) June 3, 2013

I AM FUCKING RIP SHIT. Game of thrones just fucked me so hard. Ill kill every single one of the frays and fuck lord Bolton. Rip rob

— Peter Scarpato (@scarpete21) June 3, 2013

Another feel-good episode of Game of Thrones. That show is like a warm, comforting blanket. It just makes me happy, you know? #GoT

— Sam Barsanti (@SamBarsanti) June 3, 2013

Was thinking of rewatching all of Game of Thrones after it ends next week But I'm not because I don't wanna see that damn episode ever again

— Emmett Dunn (@Gardenof_edunn) June 3, 2013

I just keep thinking, "Goddammit, Filch!! You're just pissed because you're a squib!!" #gameofthrones

— Angela Taylor (@g33kg0dd3ss) June 3, 2013

So...Game of Thrones is the most unpredictable show I've ever seen.

— Dresus (@Y2Dre) June 3, 2013

I AM NEVER ATTACHING MYSELF TO ANYONE FROM GAME OF THRONES CAUSD THEY JUST KILL THEM ANYWAYS

— ellanor cyrille . (@cyrilleantonio) June 3, 2013

i hope satan comes to walder frey and lord bolton while they're asleep and drag them to hell

— robb stark ಥ_ಥ (@imaginedragwens) June 3, 2013

I'm now emotionally eating thanks to #gameofthrones . Thanks for the lovehandles, George R.R. Martin. Now I know why you're overweight.

— Deena Safari (@deenasafari) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones. I just can't.Like really can not. I. I mean. Words? None. I don't. I mean. What? How? What? #GameOfThrones

— Jim Redding (@jimredding) June 3, 2013

Jesus Christ #gameofthrones . I am literally sick to my stomach after that ughhhhh

— Guzman (@Mixhail) June 3, 2013

There is no such thing as having job security and also being a cast member on Game Of Thrones.

— Jenn Kaytin Robinson (@JennsDrunk) June 3, 2013

Thanks @gameofthrones for blowing my mind in the most merciless way possible. I won't sleep right for days.

— Sergeant Merrell (@SergeantMerrell) June 3, 2013

The writer of #GameOfThrones must have issues. That's how he killed Ned Stark & Robert Baratheon in Season 1

— αfricαn Bieber (@skilful_laykon) June 3, 2013

Jorah/Daario/Grey Worm is probably the best Mass Effect party ever #gameofthrones

— Scott Inman (@iamScottInman) June 3, 2013

look another social network where i'm complaining about game of thrones because i'm a WRECK

— mother egg (@coolyrboots) June 3, 2013

These last 10 minutes of Game of Thrones are going to absolutely decimate my existence.

— Sunny Jacob (@jacobjunior7) June 3, 2013

Wait, who is actually still alive on Game of Thrones. Jesus.

— Becky Soto (Morrow) (@bmorrow) June 3, 2013

NOBODY WATCH GAME OF THRONES ITS HORRIBLE AND IT WILL MAKE YOUR SOUL CRUSH INTO PIECES AND YOU'LL BE FOREVER CRYING

— Landscape (@jemapellekarin) June 3, 2013

Did the last @gameofthrones episode make anyone happy? Because you should be slapped.

— Lauren Bleszinski (@L337Lauren) June 3, 2013

GAME OF THRONES PLEASE SWIFTLY GO JUMP OFF THE NEAREST BRIDGE

— Cory (@TheMickeyMann) June 3, 2013

I see they finally revealed that Darth Vader is Luke's father on Game of Thrones.

— Dave Fetterman (@fetterdave) June 3, 2013

Idk who the fuck on HBO approved the actions of tonight's Game of Thrones but they better have a reason for it.

— Daniel Abro (@DanielAbro929) June 3, 2013

People seem real upset about Game of Thrones. But I can relate to sadness. Halloween '02 I opened my starbursts package, and bam. 2 yellows.

— lilcarpskiier3 (@JacksonCarp) June 3, 2013

Joffrey is somehow my 2nd most hated person in game of thrones. Anyone that watches knows its astronomically hard to be hated more than him

— Jeff Stachelek (@ActionCuse) June 3, 2013

By Dothraki standards, I would consider this wedding a very entertaining affair #gameofthrones

— Micheál Keane (@aexia) June 3, 2013

#gameofthrones if the lannisters don't die next week I'm done with this show... @oblessa @cuffestuff

— candicesuccess (@candicesuccess) June 3, 2013

Just able to form a coherent thought since #gameofthrones went off. I'm really a changed person.

— Nigeria Jones (@ThaMgmt) June 3, 2013

Sat in complete silence and darkness after tonight's Game of Thrones on my couch with @nattyicewalsh yelling "they're dead". Still not ok.

— Molly Hallinan (@mollyhal) June 3, 2013

Twitter today has just basically been people announcing they’re about to watch game of thrones followed by an hour’s silence then a meltdown

— Amanda Rainey (@vodkandlime) June 3, 2013

sometimes I hate TV writers and their fucking god complexes! you can't just fuck with my emotions like that! Fuck YOU HBO and D.B Weiss

— Tania Cheema (@T_isforTalent) June 3, 2013

If you get invited to a Game of Thrones-themed wedding this summer, don't go.

— Mark Campbell (@MrWordsWorth) June 3, 2013

Nothing is okay and nothing will ever be okay and the world is cruel and I'm never investing feelings in anything again #GameofThrones

— Liam Dryden (@LiamDrydenEtc) June 3, 2013

Why doesn't George R.R. Martin use twitter? Because he killed all 140 characters. #gameofthrones

— Carlos Adrianzen (@ingloriousClos) June 3, 2013

What I just witnessed on #gameofthrones hurts more than when my parents got divorced. My therapist and I have a whole new set of issues.

— Joshua Schottland (@bonelesswings) June 3, 2013

i am 5000% done with game of thrones oh my god watching this series was the worst decision of my life

— エリンギ (@Ayanamii) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones will really surprise people next year when in the ninth episodes they kill off actual viewers. #got

— Matt Fowler (@TheMattFowler) June 3, 2013

Game of Thrones: a show for those who can't deal with the sunny optimism of The Walking Dead.

— John Hayward (@Doc_0) June 3, 2013

"I used to be King in the North, then I took an arrow to the everything" #gameofthrones

— The Red Plebeian (@RedPleb) June 3, 2013

Game of thrones being a popular tv show is weird because its like the whole country is reading the books very slowly while on drugs.

— Sarah Belknap (@mary_menville) June 3, 2013

Next week on Game of Thrones, Joffrey takes a hammer to a sack of kittens, eats a lovely, yummy cake.

— Jennifer Keating (@jm_keating) June 3, 2013

Filch was pretty mad at those students for sneaking out of Gryffindor tower last night, eh? #GoT #gameofthrones @redweddingtears

— pfallerj (@pfallerj) June 3, 2013

If aliens are listening in on Earth, a speed-of-light delay dictates that many of pop culture's jokes and catch phrases are only just now being heard.

By XKCD's estimation, that means Alpha Centauri system just learned about Rickrolling.

(Our sincerest apologies.)

It's not everyday that you come across a childhood game in a psychology experiment — particularly one that you thought that you had made up. But the "finger tapping" game gives us some insights into our past, and explains why people can't understand you when you think you're being clear as day.

A few days ago I wrote about cryptomnesia, the phenomenon of people believing that they had invented a thought that they had in fact only remembered. (If you've ever been reminded by stone-faced companions that the joke you thought you made up was actually from The Simpsons, you've had a run-in with cryptomnesia.) What do I come across a few days later but a childhood game — one I thought I had invented with my friends — actually featuring in a psychology experiment.

In 1990, Elizabeth Newton came up with a test in which one person "taps out" a song with their finger, and sprung it on about fifty students. They each tapped out a popular and familiar song of their choice with their finger. They were assigned a partner who attempted to guess what the song was. Tappers thought that the other student would be able to guess their songs about fifty percent of the time. The other student was able to guess their song only about three percent of the time.

I never kept tabs on the games I played with my friends — we were a wild bunch, and would have no truck with formal statistics when it came to our crazy finger tapping games — but I remember the sense of frustration when my friends were unable to guess the music that I was tapping out as plain as day. I could hear how the taps perfectly coincided with the notes of the song. Why couldn't they?

They couldn't because all they heard was tap . . . tap tap tap . . . tap tap, tap-tap, tap tap (that, by the way, was Rule, Britannia) and it didn't correspond to any song they'd ever heard. Babies tend to believe that whatever information is obvious to them must be obvious to the world at large. Although we, intellectually, know that other people can't possibly know what's on our mind, there remains that lingering sense that we're communicating everything to the outside world. Games like Taboo and Pictionary capitalize on both sides of that frustration — especially when the player gets stuck in a loop because they can't possibly imagine that anyone could be dense enough not to understand what they've been communicating, while their team is going out of their minds with frustration because two circles and a square don't help us understand what you're trying to say, no matter how many times you underline them, Gary! (Sorry, I may be remembering something traumatic.)

But we don't need official games, or psychological experiments, to trip us up in this regard. In life it often seems clear to us that we've communicated something — enough information to get to a destination, our own discomfort at a situation, or the fact that we're only joking when we make a sarcastic remark — only to be surprised when people don't understand us. We're not as transparent, either with our mouths or our body language and expression, as we think we are. We don't understand that other people aren't trapped in our head with us.

Top Image: Jin

Via You Are Not So Smart, American Psychological Association.

We've all experienced a sleepless night or two, and for some people that's actually the norm. But why do we experience insomnia at all? What is going on in our minds and bodies, to cause this awful condition? Here's what scientists know so far.

The prevalence of insomnia in adults varies widely, depending on how the condition is defined. Most broadly, someone has insomnia if he or she simply suffers from difficulty falling asleep, waking up over and over during the night, or nonrestorative sleep — and according to that definition, up to 50 percent of adults experience insomnia. But only around 20 percent of the population deals with insomnia, if we're going by the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, where insomnia is considered a sleeping disorder (pdf) that lasts at least a month and causes daytime distress.

In any case, our understanding of insomnia is constantly evolving. For many years, insomnia was considered just a symptom of other issues, including depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. The prevailing thought was that if you treated the dominant condition, insomnia would subside as well. Insomnia is now known to be a syndrome in its own right, one that occurs alongside (is comorbid with) other disorders. So if you suffer from depression and insomnia, both issues should be treated at the same time — rather than just treating your depression alone.

To doctors, this type of insomnia, which is not caused by other medical issues or medicines, is called primary insomnia (as opposed to its sibling, secondary insomnia). They further describe the condition by how long it lasts — acute insomnia occurs for days or weeks, while chronic insomnia goes on for a month or more.

The basic models

In the past few decades, scientists have proposed a number of models to describe how chronic primary insomnia arises. One of the foundational paradigms was the "3-P model," referring to the supposed Predisposing, Precipitating and Perpetuating factors of the condition.

The model says that certain attributes, including being highly anxious or a perfectionist, may first make you more susceptible to insomnia. Then, some precipitating event, such as a death in the family or a new job, throws your sleep out of balance, causing acute insomnia. Finally, poor attitudes and perceptions perpetuate insomnia — these can include heightened uneasiness and tension regarding sleep, or poor sleep hygiene.

Over the years, other models have come along, some of which adapted concepts of the 3-P model. For example, the cognitive model, proposed a little over a decade ago, explains that insomniacs are overly worried about sleep and about what happens if they don't get enough of it. These negative thoughts trigger arousal and emotional distress, which essentially plunges people into an anxious state, causing them to actively monitor themselves and the environment for sleep-related threats (noises, body sensations and the like). Of course, this only exacerbates sleeplessness.

But insomnia (and the models to explain it) isn't limited to the psychological realm. The neurocognitive model explains that people with insomnia show more high-frequency electrical activity in the brain (EEG) when they're going to sleep compared with normal sleepers. This cortical arousal suggests that insomniacs have enhanced sensory or information processing and long-term memory formation during a time when normal sleepers do not, which could ultimately affect sleep. For example, the enhanced sensory processing may make insomniacs more sensitive to and aware of what's going on in the environment.

Hyperarousal?

A common theme in these models and others is this idea of arousal. In fact, many researchers now consider insomnia to be a state of 24-hour hyperarousal, brought on by the interplay between psychological and physiological factors.

Current models suggest insomnia is caused by an interaction between behavioral and neurobiological factors. Courtesy of Elsevier.

On the psychological side of things, we have some of what we've already discussed. One useful cognitive model called the AIE (attention–intention-effort) pathway says that people with insomnia focus their attention on sleep, which leads to an active intention and effort to fall asleep.

The idea here is that normal sleep is automatic and involuntary — it's the result of a de-arousal process that allows homeostatic and circadian factors to engage sleep. But by actively trying to engage sleep themselves, insomniacs are impeding these natural processes and actually maintaining a state of arousal.

Interestingly, scientists have seen evidence of AIE even in the daytime naps of insomniacs. Numerous studies have looked at the Multiple Sleep Latency Test, which involves four or five 20-minute nap opportunities set two hours apart. If someone has gotten poor sleep because of insomnia, it stands to reason that they would be able to fall asleep quicker than someone who slept well the night before — but test after test has shown just the opposite. Some researchers are now speculating that the increased nap latency of insomniacs is due to the demands of the test, which directly asks participants to attempt to sleep at that very moment (insomniacs have basically conditioned themselves to enter a state of arousal when they make a conscious effort to sleep).

This induced arousal, at night and during naptime, has several lines of supporting physiological evidence. For example, studies have shown that insomniacs have higher whole-body metabolic rates — measured by looking at oxygen consumption at periodic intervals throughout the day — than normal sleepers.

Using PET scans, researchers have also investigated brain metabolism differences between insomniacs and normal sleepers. They saw similar results: insomnia patients had elevated global brain metabolism, both asleep and awake. Moreover, the study showed that insomniacs had smaller metabolism declines in wake-promoting regions of the brain when going from waking to non-REM sleep. In addition to this, a recent study found that insomnia patients have increased waking EEG.

Scientists have also examined the body temperatures, galvanic skin responses and heart rates of insomniac patients (all of which are physiological indicators of arousal). The results are not entirely conclusive, but suggest insomniacs have elevated electrodermal activity during the day, and may have elevated heart rates and altered heart rate variability during sleep; also, elderly insomnia patients have elevated core body temperatures at night (given the inconsistencies in the research, we can't say much else about other insomniacs).

Studies on hormone levels have also yielded interesting results, supporting the hyperarousal theory. Patients with primary insomnia apparently secrete less nighttime melatonin, which is known to regulate sleep and wake cycles. On the other hand, norepinephrine, which helps mediate wakefulness, is increased in insomnia patients, even at night. Stress hormones, including cortisol and ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) may also be elevated in insomniacs when compared with controls.

Flip-flopping

Scientists' understanding of insomnia points to the condition being a state of hyperarousal, which is mediated by cognitive and physiological factors. But the exact mechanisms behind the arousal are not clear.

Some research suggests that the neurobiology of sleep-wake regulation may provide some answers. To put it simply, the tendency to sleep is regulated by a balance between sleep-promoting neurotransmitter systems and wake-promoting neurotransmitter systems. To facilitate sleep, a group of neurons in the hypothalamus called the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO) release the inhibitory neurotransmitters galanin and GABA to shut off the arousal (wake) system. So a faulty VLPO flip-flop switch may prevent the brain from de-arousing.

At the same time, however, other evidence suggests that sleep arises from bottom-up processes. In this sense, sleep may be a local process, an intrinsic property of individual neurons or group of neurons. This concept of local sleep would suggest that hyperarousal is not something that happens globally in the brain — it may instead be a "use-dependent dysfunction" in specific neural circuits.

Future research will no doubt tease out these finer details. And other work may elucidate the role that genetics play in chronic primary insomnia. But the ultimate goal of insomnia research, of course, is to find an effective way to stop the condition in its tracks. Given that insomnia apparently costs us billions of dollars each year, curing the syndrome could have a huge positive impact in a lot of areas.

Top image by 9nong/Shutterstock.

Last week, Tamashii Nations teased Saint Seiya fans with an announcement that they had a big news. Setting up a special page with just a banner and a video, all that was said was that the Saint Cloth Myth 10th Anniversary Project had an announcement. Their news would be revealed on May 15 on Ustream at 1:30 Japan Standard Time. So what was their big news? Click the cut to find out!

Read more...

We know that people make up false memories if prompted. But since our brain never stops being a jerk, we can also convert real memories into things we believe we imagined. Cryptomnesia can strike via our own memories, or our memories of things that others tell us. One of the most famous cases of cryptomnesia destroyed the fantasy-writing career of Helen Keller.

Have you ever told people a joke that you're sure that you made up - only to have someone point to a magazine or website where it was already published? It happens to a lot of people. Their mind registers a phrase or an event and keeps it around, but the provenance of the event is lost. After a sufficient amount of time, the event pops up in their brain, and they assume they made it up.

One of the most sensational cases of this, which made its way through the media and the courts, involving no less a beloved figure than Helen Keller. Keller, blind and deaf since early childhood, relied on her memory to get her through school, and through life. When she was eleven, after she'd been working with Anne Sullivan for only a few years, she carefully wrote a story called The Frost King. Intended as a present for Michael Anagnos, the head of a school for the blind, it was published in his almuni magazine, and then picked up by local papers. Helen Keller's story was already well-known, so this remarkably precocious fantasy tale got a wider and wider circulation, until someone noticed something odd. It was an almost exact retelling of another story, The Frost Fairies, by Margaret Canby. Accusations of plagiarism started flying, and reporters combed through Helen's history for evidence that she had read that book. It was finally discovered at the home of a friend of the Keller family, who acknowledged that she had read the book to Helen while Anne Sullivan was on vacation. While Helen had her defenders, the specter of plagiarism was never entirely dispelled. Helen Keller wrote, much later in life, that the event scared her so much that she never again dared write any fiction.

Helen's most famous defender was the famously cynical Mark Twain, who claimed that similar things had happened to him throughout his writing career. He was probably right. Cryptomnesia - the misattribution of memories - is a fairly easy trap to fall into. According to the The British Journal of Psychiatry, we experience partial cryptomnesia all the time. We remember things, but don't remember where we learned them. So we may recommend a book to the person who recommended it to us, or tell a new piece of gossip to the person who first told us about it. We remember learning something, but not where we learned it.

Total cryptomnesia is a little more challenging to induce - but still hardly rare. As we see in multiple science experiments about the subject, scientists know exactly how to bring it about. Groups of people are generally put in a room and all the group members are asked to participate in the same task. They are to take turns doing simple tasks, like listing the names of mammals or solving word puzzles. Each person in the group is asked listen to the others' answers as they play, and to contribute some of their own answers. After the group session is over, each member is asked to continue the game, either by coming up with still more names, or by recalling what their personal answers were. Cryptomnesia ensues. People, thinking they are coming up with still more answers, will list the answers of their teammates. They'll remember others' answers as their own. Everyone remembers what happens, but no one quite remembers whose idea was whose.

The "plagiarism" in these situations is quite understandable. Long, meaningless lists don't give the brain much individual detail to get a hold on. Still, the people who are listing other people's answers do truly believe that they came up with the solutions themselves. And the experiments lasted only a few minutes. Over years of reading, who knows what we absorb, forget, and begin to imagine as our own? Almost all studies mention literary or scientific cryptomnesia cases. While some plagiarism is certainly deliberate, many people simply to do it by accident. Most are lucky enough to utilize only vague themes or eerily familiar characters. Those who have a relatively good memory, like Helen Keller, have it harder. A good memory, especially a good verbal memory, is not guarantee against cryptomnesia. People still undergo cryptomnesia, but instead of being vague, they often repeat whole phrases and passages, believing the words to be their own.

Have you ever thought you made something up, or dreamed it, only to have someone tell you it really happened? Let us know.

Via The British Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning and Cognition, Helen Keller: A Life.

Image: Saurabh R. Patil

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