San Bernardino and a beautiful day! CLICK to see my trip
Here are my readings for today:
“Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified for the first time a novel mechanism that regulates circadian rhythm, the master clock that controls the body’s natural 24-hour physiological cycle. These new findings could provide a new target not only for jet lag, shift work, and sleep disturbances, but also for disorders that result from circadian rhythm disruption, including diabetes and obesity as well as some types of cancer.”
“While it has become clear in recent years that susceptibility to pain has a strong inherited component, very little is known about actual “pain genes” and how they work. In the November 12th issue of Cell, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and their collaborators report on a novel human pain gene. People with minor variations in this gene showed clear differences in susceptibility to acute heat pain and chronic back pain. Corroborating mouse studies give some clues as to how the gene controls pain sensitivity. The gene was uncovered in a genome-wide hunt for pain genes in fruit flies, which revealed hundreds of other candidate pain genes that await further study.”
“This sort of comment from perceptive colleagues or friends may indicate perfectionistic tendencies, but in general the recipient isn’t likely to recognize their trait as a problem. Even if someone wryly acknowledges himself as a perfectionist, there’s a widely held — if mistaken — belief that perfectionism is an unambiguously positive trait.”
“People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing, and this mind-wandering typically makes them unhappy. So says a study that used an iPhone web app to gather 250,000 data points on subjects’ thoughts, feelings, and actions as they went about their lives.”
6 Comments
natzafis · November 13, 2010 at 12:46 pm
The article discussing perfectionism hit a little too close to home. I definitely feel that I have issues striving to achieve way too high of standards that I set for myself. While for the most part, I feel as though setting such rigid expectations of everything has contributed to my success in academics especially, it is interesting that the psychologist study they conducted proved opposite for total publications of many professors. It is obvious that attempting to be perfect in every aspect of life would have negative impacts on self-esteem, productivity, and performance and I would like to think that I am more conscientious than perfectionistic, but I feel like I draw many parallels with what the article discussed. I constantly battle with the “good or good enough?” question and push myself to my mental and physical health limits in order to live up to what I expect of myself. I need to work on accepting that what I do is good enough.
ahhuang · November 14, 2010 at 7:04 pm
“Pain gene”
It really surprised me that sensitivity to pain is correlated to heredity. But it makes sense because my parents and I have similar level of pain tolerance.
I always thought that I had a very high pain tolerance for many unpleasant experiences (herniated disks, root canals operations, and second degree burn) and survived them. It makes me wonder if this is related to human survival ; if one is able to endure more pain, there’s a higher chance of survival and battles or diseases.
Further understanding of how pain works is essential because some patients have higher sensitivity and may need less invasive or painful methods to helps them with their discomforts.
Lindsay · November 15, 2010 at 10:14 am
I agree that there is a gene factor primarily because my older brother got in a car accident and had internal bleeding, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. He was taking to the hospital after walking around not knowing that he was in such critical condition because of shock. when he got to the hospital as they were taking glass shards out of his face they were asking him on a scale of one to ten how much pain are you in and he said about 4 or 5. the nurses and doctors were really surprised they said due to the severity of his injuries he should be in a huge amount of pain. I have never been in an accident that has lead me to stay at the hospital but i do know that i have more sever menstrual cramps where i get nauseated or have thrown up from pain and i can go about my day like its nothing.
connormcgill · November 16, 2010 at 4:27 pm
It is weird to hear that a wandering mind is an unhappy one. When I think of bliss I think of relaxing, thinking about whatever I want to think about. It is true though that during my daily life, I feel happiest when conversing or exercising.
Katy Lackey · November 17, 2010 at 7:37 pm
I also thinks its odd to claim that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. I feel that there are a lot of factors not mentioned in the article such as the person’s health, both mental and physical that can contribute to the unhappiness. Also what about the people who do not use iphones, or any type of cell phone at all? There have actually been several reports that those who use technology less are more happy with their lives, so the actual use of the technology seems to be a potential factor that may sway the results as well.I liked reading the article to understand what is being studied, yet I have trouble finding credibility in a test performed primarily with an iphone.
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