readings in psychology for january 13 2011

Here is what I am reading today:

• what your brain looks like after being married 20 years! (I wonder how mine has changed after 38 years of marriage?)

“Contrary to popular opinion, people who say they are still madly in love with their spouses after more than two decades are not crazy. At least, some of them aren’t. And in answer to your next question, apparently they’re not lying either. This is the proposition of a new study  published in the December issue of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience that took brain scans of long-married people who claimed to still be besotted with their marital partner.”

• new blog: neuroscience and relationships

““On this blog, I’d like to share some of the methods I use, principles, recent findings as it relates to the brain and healthy personal lives and relationships, how understanding how our brain and body are designed is an essential part of self healing processes, understanding self and others, and so on,” notes Dr. Staik.”

• laugh well and live well!

“Researchers have long known that laughter boosts the immune system, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduces stress. In a preliminary new study, psychoneuro-immunologist Lee Berk and his team at Loma Linda University in California show that the parallels between laughing and exercise go even further: Shifts in appetite hormones following a case of the giggles resemble the effects of a moderate session at the gym.”