Here we are in high school 40 years ago!

Here are some of the things that caught my eye!

• excessive drinking then obesity then poor brain health

“Prior research has shown that alcohol abuse and dependence are typically associated with higher rates of obesity, as evidenced by a high body mass index (BMI). Findings from a new study of the relationship between BMI and regional measures of brain structure, metabolite concentrations, and cerebral blood flow suggest that alcohol-related brain injuries may result from a complicated fusion of hazardous drinking, chronic cigarette smoking, and even elevated BMI.”

• fighting loneliness by addressing negative thoughts

‘ Changing how a person perceives and thinks about others was the most effective intervention for loneliness, a sweeping analysis of previous research has determined. The findings may help physicians and psychologists develop better treatments for loneliness, a known risk factor for heart disease and other health problems.”

• personality predicts cheating

“Students who cheat in high school and college are highly likely to fit the profile for subclinical psychopathy — a personality disorder defined by erratic lifestyle, manipulation, callousness and antisocial tendencies, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.”

• improve your own health and happiness by designing your own workplace

“ Employees who have control over the design and layout of their workspace are not only happier and healthier — they’re also up to 32% more productive, according to new research from the University of Exeter in the UK.”

• braincells determine obesity

“An international study has discovered the reason why some people who eat a high-fat diet remain slim, yet others pile on the weight.”

There is something very special about coffee and homemade gingerbread!

• Are you sleeping less and then eating more fat or the other way around?

“A study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that teens who slept less than eight hours per weeknight ate higher proportions of fatty foods and snacks than adolescents who slept eight hours or more. The results suggest that short sleep duration may increase obesity risk by causing small changes in eating patterns that cumulatively alter energy balance, especially in girls.”

• the brain speaks!

“”We have been able to decode spoken words using only signals from the brain with a device that has promise for long-term use in paralyzed patients who cannot now speak,” says Bradley Greger, an assistant professor of bioengineering”

• autistic toddlers prefer to gaze at geometric patterns

“When given the choice to gaze at geometric patterns or children dancing and playing, toddlers with autism spent more time looking at the patterns while typically developing toddlers preferred to look at other kids, a new study finds.”

Concord Grapes on our Arbor -- Happy Labor Day!

Here are a few things I am reading today:

• women devours 181 chicken wings!

“”I’m so happy!” said Sonya Thomas, who ate 4.86 pounds of chicken wings to win the contest, besting world eating marvel Joey Chestnut at the ninth annual National Buffalo Wing Festival.”

• acting selfish? blame your mother!

“The fact that our female ancestors dispersed more than our male ancestors can lead to conflicts within the brain that influence our social behaviour, new research reveals”

• more parents red shirting their kindergartners

“As schools start back into session around the country, some parents of young children face a difficult question: Send their little ones to kindergarten as soon as they become age-eligible, or hold them back in hopes that an additional year of maturity will give them an academic boost?”

• the words behind thought

“”On average, 70 per cent of our total verbal experience is in our head,” estimates Lera Boroditsky of Stanford University in California. The sheer volume of unspoken words would suggest that language is more than just a tool for communicating with others. But what else could it be for?”

What I loved for my birthday: Sweet & Sour Pork!

Here is what I am reading today:

cellphones and adults

“Texting by American adults has increased substantially over the past year, but still does not approach the magnitude of text messages exchanged by adolescents. Some 72% of adult cell phone users send and receive text messages now, up from 65% in September 2009. Fully 87% of teen cell users text. Teens text 50 messages a day on average, five times more than the typical 10 text messages sent and received by adults per day.”

wild chimps outsmart hunters

“Across Africa, people often lay snare traps to catch bushmeat, killing or injuring chimps and other wildlife. But a few chimps living in the rainforests of Guinea have learnt to recognise these snare traps laid by human hunters, researchers have found.”

dvds don’t make todlers Einsteins

“Toddlers get a kick out of giving adults a hard time. True to form, these wobbly-legged knowledge-sponges learn virtually nothing from best-selling DVDs that their parents believe will boost vocabulary and trigger academic superstardom.”

from the ancients: antibiotic beer

“Chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Sudanese Nubians who lived nearly 2000 years ago shows they were ingesting the antibiotic tetracycline on a regular basis, likely from a special brew of beer. The find is the strongest yet that antibiotics were previously discovered by humans before Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.

Bring on the cheese!!

“The reputations of milk, cheese and many other dairy products have taken a bit of a hit in recent years for their constituting a major dietary source of saturated fats — a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. How ironic, then, that a Swedish study now correlates intake of dairy fats with a reduced risk of heart attacks.”

My Readings via iPad

Here are my readings for today:

• link between stress and obesity

“Stress can take a daily toll on us that has broad physical and psychological implications. Science has long documented the effect of extreme stress, such as war, injury or traumatic grief on humans. Typically, such situations cause victims to decrease their food intake and body weight. Recent studies, however, tend to suggest that social stress–public speaking, tests, job and relationship pressures–may have the opposite effect–over-eating and weight gain. With the rise of obesity rates, science has increasingly focused on its causes and effects–including stress”

• cerebral cortex in marine worms

“Our cerebral cortex, or pallium, is a big part of what makes us human: art, literature and science would not exist had this most fascinating part of our brain not emerged in some less intelligent ancestor in prehistoric times. But when did this occur and what were these ancestors? Unexpectedly, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have now discovered a true counterpart of the cerebral cortex in an invertebrate, a marine worm.”

Nothing like a cool key lime pie on a hot summer day!

• The girl who walked out on Freud!

“Without a few unusual people, human behaviour would have remained a mystery – ordinary people whose extraordinary circumstances provided researchers with the exceptions that proved behavioural rules. Claudia Hammond revisits the classic case studies that have advanced psychological research.”

• killer whale evolution

‘Orcas, commonly known as killer whales, are still evolving, and quickly.”

• Hooked on headphones?

“Personal listening devices like iPods have become increasingly popular among young — and not-so-young — people in recent years. But music played through headphones too loud or too long might pose a significant risk to hearing, according to a 24-year study of adolescent girls.”

• early puberty

“Girls are hitting puberty earlier and earlier. One recent study found that more than 10 percent of American girls have some breast development by age 7. This news has upset many people, but it may make evolutionary sense in some cases for girls to develop faster, according to the authors of a new paper published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.”

• willing to take a survey? it may be in your genes!

 ”A new study from North Carolina State University shows that genetics play a key factor in whether someone is willing to take a survey.”

• attractive therapy

“Treatment of severe depression with magnetic stimulation is moving beyond large mental health centers and into private practices nationwide, following more than two decades of research on the treatment. Yet even as concern about its efficacy fades, one potential side effect—seizures—continues to shadow the technology.”

My daughter Kristin sent these lovely flowers on my birthday yesterday!

Here is what I am reading today:

• Oh to be young and feel loves keen sting!  — Albus Dumbledore

“Breaking up really is hard to do, and a recent study conducted at Stony Brook University found evidence that it may be partly due to the areas of the brain that are active during this difficult time.”

• autism and schizophrenia and family history

“An international study led by University of Montreal scientists suggests family history may not be a good predictor of the presence of mutations predisposing to autism or schizophrenia.”

Here I am holding something amazing... nothing quite as remarkable as the human brain

Here is what I am reading today:

• older adults and social media

“Social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older has nearly doubled — from 22% to 42% over the past year.”

• smoking and teen depression

“While some teenagers may puff on cigarettes to ‘self-medicate’ against the blues, scientists at the University of Toronto and the University of Montreal have found that smoking may actually increase depressive symptoms in some adolescents. Published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, the findings are part of the long-term Nicotine Dependence in Teens (NDIT) study based at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre.”

• with the right partner – two heads are better than one

“In the new age of coalition governments, the question of whether two heads are better than one is more relevant than ever. In a study published in the journal Science, neuroscientists from UCL (University College London) and Aarhus University, Denmark, shows that two heads can be better than one — but only if you have the right partner.”

• research shows our best and worst momments are in social relationships

“ In the first study of its kind, researchers have found compelling evidence that our best and worst experiences in life are likely to involve not individual accomplishments, but interaction with other people and the fulfillment of an urge for social connection.”

• walking boosts brain connectivity

“ A group of “professional couch potatoes,” as one researcher described them, has proven that even moderate exercise — in this case walking at one’s own pace for 40 minutes three times a week — can enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat declines in brain function associated with aging and increase performance on cognitive tasks.”

We all look different 38 years ago!

Here is what I am reading today:

• do-gooders are unpopular team members

‘”Unselfish workers who are the first to offer to help with projects are among those that co-workers like the least, according to four separate social psychology studies.In the most recent study, entitled “The Desire to Expel Unselfish Members from the Group,” psychologists found that unselfish colleagues come to be resented because they “raise the bar” for what’s expected of everyone. As a result, workers feel the new standard will make everyone else look bad.’

• spouses do not grow alike

“Instead, people tend to pick their spouse based on shared personality traits, the researchers report in the latest issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.”

• controling fear

“Fear can make you run, it can make you fight, and it can glue you to the spot. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy and GlaxoSmithKline in Verona, Italy, have identified not only the part of the brain but the specific type of neurons that determine how mice react to a frightening stimulus.”

Oh yes, it's almost time for another birthday!

Here is what I am reading today:

• language as a window into sociability

“People with Williams syndrome-known for their indiscriminate friendliness and ease with strangers-process spoken language differently from people with autism spectrum disorders-characterized by social withdrawal and isolation-found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.”

• yoga and mood

“Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that yoga may be superior to other forms of exercise in its positive effect on mood and anxiety. The findings, which currently appear on-line at Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, is the first to demonstrate an association between yoga postures, increased GABA levels and decreased anxiety.”

• mystery of beer goggles solved?

“…To find out if alcohol interfered with the ability to distinguish faces where the left and right sides were uneven, he and his colleagues designed an experiment involving images of faces that were tinkered with to make them perfectly symmetrical or subtly asymmetrical….”

• ADHD and pesticides

“…Chemicals on our produce may contribute to behavior problems in our kids, suggest three new studies….”