A template for publishing high profile neuroscience papers [MAD LIB STYLE!!!]

The Neurocritic has a post providing a template for publishing cognitive neuroscience in everyone’s favorite journal that begins with the letter “S”. I took the liberty of extending the form slightly so as to finish off a proper abstract.

I found this to be quite hilarious on a number of levels, but the one I will state publicly is that I used to love to do MadLibs (who am I kidding, I STILL DO!!!!) and it was pleasing to be reminded of those creative days.

What appears to have set off The Neurocritic was this recent paper in Science describing the role of vmPFC in self-control and decision making. [By the way, for two hilariously different break-downs of that particular paper, see here and here. Focus on what each blogger states is the central issue being addressed in the paper…]

Go ahead, take a shot at making your own cognitive neuroscience study abstract and list your results in the comments. Who knows, perhaps we can convince The Neurocritic to “break down” your paper as he (she?) has previously done (obviously, when it comes to providing an in-depth, funny take-down, The Neurocritic doesn’t let anything silly like the non-existence of a paper on the chosen subject stand in his (her?) way!!!)

Multiple words in the spaces, while discouraged, will be allowed if it makes the resulting abstract completely hysterical.

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The concept of _____________ has occupied philosophers and scientists throughout recorded history because the ability to _________ is central to human ________ and ________. Behavioral studies have examined the problem of ________ and provided valuable insights that suggest it is __________ (1–3), can be enhanced by ___________ (4–7), and is correlated with _____________ (8–10). However, little is known about the neurobiological underpinnings of ___________ and how these neural mechanisms might differ between ___________ and __________. Here we test the possibility that ___________ is modulated by ___________ through the use of ____________ technology. We find that ___________ tends to __________ during _____________ , but not during ____________ . This surprising relationship reveals a _______________ role for _______________ in _____________ and has important implications for both ___________ as well as _____________.