Do YOU speak FACEBOOK? More and more of my generation have been joining us on facebook to share stories from days-gone-by and family.
Here is what I am reading today:
Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping, senior author Jennifer G. Levitt, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA; first author Xua Hua, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher; and colleagues found aberrant growth rates in areas of the brain implicated in the social impairment, communication deficits and repetitive behaviors that characterize autism.
Autism is thought to affect one in 110 children in the U.S., and many experts believe the numbers are growing. Despite its prevalence, little is known about the disorder, and no cure has been discovered.”
a story too sweet not to post!
“The team, based at McGill University in Montreal, University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the UCL Institute of Child Health in London looked for gene methylation associated with social and economic factors in early life. They found clear differences in gene methylation between those brought up in families with very high and very low standards of living. More than twice as many methylation differences were associated with the combined effect of the wealth, housing conditions and occupation of parents (that is, early upbringing) than were associated with the current socio-economic circumstances in adulthood. (1252 differences as opposed to 545).”
““We think when you’re under pressure, that your attention goes inward naturally. Suddenly it means so much, you want to make sure everything’s working properly,” says Rob Gray, of the University of Birmingham, the author of the new article. And that is exactly when things go wrong. Something about paying attention to what you’re doing makes it not work right.”
“In what is described as the largest study on the subject to date, Danish researchers found no evidence that the risk of brain tumours was raised among 358,403 mobile phone subscribers over an 18-year period. The number of people using mobile phones is constantly rising with more than five billion subscriptions worldwide in 2010. This has led to concerns about potential adverse health effects, particularly tumours of the central nervous system.”
“A half-dozen amputees from a Camp Pendleton unit that suffered more casualties than any other in the war in Afghanistan will be in the nation’s capital next week to compete as hand cyclists in the 36th annual Marine Corps Marathon. “We’re going to do it for all the friends we lost,” said Lt. Cameron West, who lost his right leg and two fingers and suffered other injuries in a roadside bomb explosion in Helmand province in October 2010. “It’s going to be good for the soul.”
“While most studies have concluded that a cold climate led to the short lower legs typical of Neandertals, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that lower leg lengths shorter than the typical modern human’s let them move more efficiently over the mountainous terrain where they lived. The findings reveal a broader trend relating shorter lower leg length to mountainous environments that may help explain the limb proportions of many different animals.”
“Health prevention strategies to help Canadians achieve their optimal health potential could add a decade or more of healthy years to the average lifespan and save the economy billions of dollars as a result of reduced cardiovascular disease, says noted cardiologist Dr. Clyde Yancy.”
“Although portions of the visible world come in through one eye only, the brain instantaneously takes all that information and creates a coherent image. As far as we know, we “see” with both eyes at once. Now a new study suggests that the brain may know which eye is receiving information — and can turn around and tell that eye to work even harder.”
29 Comments
jennapetersen · October 24, 2011 at 8:16 am
I thought the article about the couple dying while holding hands was absolutely adorable. It is unbelievable that a couple was happily married for 72 years. It is extremely sad that many marriages today don’t last, but this couple was a lucky one that was together for longer than anyone can believe. Although it is devastating that the car accident killed both Norma and Gordon, it seems that they were meant to pass away together. They had been by each others side for the majority of their lives, and I think it was would been terribly difficult for one to live without each other. This summer I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. The tour guide was telling us that when in the concentration camp, Anne died because she thought her entire family had been killed. Anne passed away of weakness because she couldn’t imagine life without her family. It may be that this was the same for Norma. Once Gordon died, she couldn’t imagine life alone.
jennapetersen · October 24, 2011 at 8:25 am
I enjoyed the article about how athletes under pressure often make mistakes because they are thinking too much about what they are doing. A situation like this actually happened to me in high school. I ran track all four years, but never extremely competitively. I mostly did it for fun, but when track meets came along my nerves would build up. I would feel sick the entire day, afraid I was going to make a mistake. On the day of track finals I was participating in the 300 m hurtles and was in first place until the last hurtle. This is because on the last hurtle I tripped and fell to the ground. This article helped me understand why exactly I fell. It must have been that I was too focused on what I was actually doing. I couldn’t relax and my concentration caused me to choke. I feel extremely bad for the professional athletes whose performance really matters and who must deal with this.
akinsella · October 24, 2011 at 12:31 pm
I read the article about athletes choking under pressure and found it very interesting. I have played tennis all my life and can definitely relate to the feeling of “being under pressure”. I was always taught that the best way to overcome choking under pressure was to just work through it – the more times you perform under pressure, eventually the better you will be able to handle the situation. I liked the suggestion of analogies in order to help you succeed under pressure – it would help take the situation back to the basics and give you something to focus on. While I was reading, I was wondering if this study could be applied to school. Often times students “blank” when they’re taking a midterm or final because of the pressure that they are experiencing. I thought it would be very interesting to expand this study into one that tested something along the lines of students performances on tests when they’re under pressure.
akinsella · October 24, 2011 at 12:31 pm
I read the article about athletes choking under pressure and found it very interesting. I have played tennis all my life and can definitely relate to the feeling of “being under pressure”. I was always taught that the best way to overcome choking under pressure was to just work through it – the more times you perform under pressure, eventually the better you will be able to handle the situation. I liked the suggestion of analogies in order to help you succeed under pressure – it would help take the situation back to the basics and give you something to focus on. While I was reading, I was wondering if this study could be applied to school. Often times students “blank” when they’re taking a midterm or final because of the pressure that they are experiencing. I thought it would be very interesting to expand this study into one that tested something along the lines of students performances on tests when they’re under pressure.
carlyk · October 24, 2011 at 12:55 pm
The article about athletes “choking” was of particular interest to me. I’ve been heavily involved in sports my entire life and I have experienced the overwhelming feeling of pressure that the researchers are focusing on. I’ve always wondered what would be the best way to approach this nervousness and how to overcome it. It was interesting that they would suggest a type of counter-approach to the problem. For instance, they gave the example of a golfer thinking of a tube of toothpaste to ease his or her grip on the club. I am curious about what else these types of analogies could be expanded to, and if they would really make a difference in the outcome. If they do lead to positive results, it would open up an entirely new chapter about the psychology of coaching and I would definitely be interested in reading more about that.
akinsella · October 24, 2011 at 1:04 pm
After reading the article about DNA carrying some “memory” of your childhood living conditions, I had a lot more questions. This discovery will definitely open up a whole new set of questions followed by experiments. In their study, they found a link between an individuals socio-economic status as a child with their DNA sequence. I would be very interested to learn about the inheritance patterns of these genes – does the socioeconomic status of an individuals parent when s/he was a child have any impact on their offspring? I am very interested in see what other studies and results come about from this initial discovery!
carlyk · October 24, 2011 at 1:05 pm
I’ve always been fascinated by any type of research that emerges dealing with autism. The fact that this disorder has reached an incredible 1/110 ratio is simply astonishing and perplexing. Countless efforts are being made to further the understanding of autism and I think this article adds to the progress. It is very interesting that they found that the boys with autism showed a delay in brain development in the areas of the brain that present as the most distinguished in autism characteristics. As the article mentioned, the next step is to figure out why this is occurring. I also think it would be interesting to conduct similar testing to study other areas of the brain to see if they become over-developed in autism cases. Autistic children often show a high level of intelligence and unique abilities and I’m curious if much research has been done to explain these differences.
mfitzpatrick · October 24, 2011 at 1:51 pm
I think the article about the couple that died holding hands is just precious. I have always wanted to have a marriage like that.. My parents got divorced when I was only two so, my entire life I have basically had four parents. Additioanlly, most of my best friends parents were also divorced and eventually remarried. So, it is reassuring to see that marriages like this actually exist.
So many marriages end early and don’t last; whether the reason being that they were married too young, financial issues, infidelity, or more. And this couple was together for 72 years! That is ridiculously impressive and heart-warming.
mfitzpatrick · October 24, 2011 at 2:05 pm
The article about small changes to your lifestyle that can add decades to your life should be strongly enforced world-wide. Many countries are going through an obesity crisis, especially America. We need to act now. Healthy living is not hard once you get into it. And it benefits you not only in the short run, but also in the long run. In short-term, being healthy increases your energy, ability to do certain activities, and good feelings and confidence. In long-term, as stated in the article, and most important, being healthy increases your life span. We all want to live as long as we can and be as healthy as we can. It only takes the initiative to do so.
Jerusha · October 24, 2011 at 7:35 pm
I read the article on seeing through one eye. This article interested me because I have an eye that is 20/200 but my other eye is 20/20. Doctors have told me that my brain just doesn’t use my bad eye and puts all the focus on my good eye. I always wondered how that could possibly work but this research is making it a bit more understandable. I thought that seeing needed both eyes to comprehend everything but if your certain neurons can stimulate the brain to focus on visual information coming in through one eye then it would make sense why I can see normally. I think this is really intriguing! I want to find out more!
marcclanton · October 25, 2011 at 9:31 am
I thought the article about “choking” was particularly interesting. I have found myself in that particular situation many times; over analyzing every single move you are about to make. I was unaware that there was a field of research in this area, but I think it would be a very interesting area to be involved in. The technique of using an analogy (like not squeezing a toothpaste tube for a golfer), to not only refocus ones mind, but also to relax the muscles and ease some of the unnecessary tension involved in high stress situations is an interesting concept. I look forward to trying this technique, even if it just in a friendly, competitive game of volleyball.
Kbginger08 · October 25, 2011 at 12:38 pm
After opening the webpage, I was immediately drawn to the article regarding brain tumors and cell phones. I purchased an iphone this weekend, so my increased cell phone use had me recently questioning if the phone could be potentially be dangerous. It is reassuring to know recent research shows no risks. I think it is important to investigate assumptions such as cell phone and tumor growth, especially since the number of users is growing so rapidly. In addition, I think the idea that cell phones cause tumors has been too widely assumed. It’s good to see researchers are investigating the assumption.
amandalipson · October 25, 2011 at 9:33 pm
The “Simple Lifestyle Changes That Could Add Years to Your Life” article was very interesting in that the lifestyle changes really are incredibly simple. The ideas given to increase prosperous health are not unheard of—in fact, we see these lists everywhere. Yet their statistics are what personally shocked me the most. I had no idea that not being active could take off four year of one’s life or exactly how prevalent diabetes and high cholesterol are. The prevention tactics are so incredibly simple, and it shocks me that we are not more inspired to do them, seeing as they are prevalent in so many places. The fact that treating heart disease in the US could climb up to $818 billion in 2030 is ridiculous. I am surprised our government is not implementing more positive influences in our life to be healthier. I realize that school budget cuts are negatively affecting our schools, but if classes could be implemented into curriculums(especially within the states that suffer the most from heart disease/stroke) at earlier ages, prevention could be more applied and effective at an early age. It’d be nice if we could get to a point where these ideas are almost in-bred—it would be cost effective for both the government and for us.
amandalipson · October 25, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Reading the story about the couple who died in a car crash after spending 72 years together was incredibly bittersweet. It is amazing to see a couple spend so much time together and still be so happy and loving. I am very impressed/jealous to be honest. In college terms, I think about how most people get sick of their roommates within 2 quarters—and to think this couple was together almost constantly for 72 years is truly astounding. I really liked how the couple was kept together in the hospital and that the doctors and nurses allowed them to remain side by side and holding hands. It is also really interesting how their ashes were mixed together; it seems to really signify how incredibly intertwined and complementary they were to each other.
lexi williams · October 26, 2011 at 6:04 am
I thought that the article about the couple dying while holding hands was really cute. I am very surprised that someone took time out of their busy reporter schedule to write such a long article. I’m hesitant to admit that ever since the movie “The Notebook” came out, I loved it, and it depicts a couple dying in a similar way. I wonder if they didn’t get in a car crash if they still would have died the same way. I really do believe in long lasting marriages, and my parents have set a good example. They hit their 30-year anniversary last year, and I sure hope that it lasts 72.
annieaitken · October 26, 2011 at 10:39 am
The article on the development of Autistic brains seems to be an important step in learning about Autism. Simply the advancement in learning how the brain is still developing abnormally into adolescence seems like a helpful way in understand how therapists could work with the disorder. One of the researchers said that budding teenagers who have autism often have a hard time developing self identity and dealing with emotional matters. Maybe this information combined with the specific parts of the brain which develop more slowly, could lead us with ways to target specific areas and work with the functions those areas are responsible for. For example, in the putaman and anterior cingulet cortex the white matter is not properly pruned away; maybe explains why some kids with Autism have superior intellectual functions in some areas and also why kids sometimes have unique emotional responses to certain stimuli.
CCrosson · October 26, 2011 at 11:02 am
The article about cell phones and the risk of brain tumor immediately jumped out to me. I think this topic is very important for my generation and generations to come, because cell phone use is becoming more and more popular, and cell phones are being used by children at an increasingly younger age. I know that in my sister’s 3rd grade class almost half of the children have cell phones. It’s great to hear that this 18 year study has shown that there is no evidence that the risk of brain tumors has increased with the increased use of cell phones. I don’t think we should stop researching the effects that cell phones can have on our bodies, but it is good to hear a study come out that isn’t negative. I think it is important that we are all aware of the effects that all of the new technology can have on our bodies in the long-term.
CCrosson · October 26, 2011 at 11:12 am
I thought the article about simple life changes and how they can change your life expectancy was effective in getting the message across. We hear a lot in school, on the news, and from others that things like staying active, avoiding tobacco use, and maintaining a healthy diet are all important. When I’m told these things, I am usually thinking about the immediate future, and I am less motivated to go out and do these things. This article lays it out right off the bat, that following these 7 steps can add at least a decade to your life. This is an article that should be showed in schools, so that even young children realize that the decisions we make early on can have a huge impact on our quality of life.
Susan Carnohan · October 26, 2011 at 6:07 pm
I had a little bit of a good cry over the article regarding the couple married for 72 years. Since losing my dad a few weeks ago, I felt very sad that my dad and mom did not get their wish–to die together. They would have been married 61 years in June. My mom is still alive and doing well. It would have been hard to lose both of them at once; but, I can understand their wanting to be together not only in life but also crossing into eternity together.
Susan Carnohan · October 26, 2011 at 6:16 pm
I read the article on Autistic brain development with interest. It makes sense, what with the symptomatology that you see in children with autism. I know that this would be difficult to track; but, it would be interesting to see how much intervention affects brain growth and pruning at the neuro-cellular level. I have heard that with intensive intervention, at an early age, some children with autism can pass for typical children, with minimal symptomatology. I do, however, understand that there are varying degrees of severity as well as symptomatology. What I would like to know is, if the anterior cingulate is involved–the area where social hurts are registered–do children end up being even more hurt socially or less hurt socially when they are rejected or called names, etc. Or is the outcome variable with each child in this spectrum disorder?
mbise · October 28, 2011 at 4:48 pm
The findings in the study on cell phone use and tumors was a big relief to me. I have heard many times that cell phones cause cancer, but it is nice to see a strong study that shows otherwise. Cell phones, even those limited to calling parents and emergency numbers, are being used at younger ages and higher rates. I know that I feel weird if I don’t have my phone around, as I use it not just for calls and texts, but for notes and a calendar. I think that we will see more and more of this kind of study, as the relatively recent technology boom has raised a lot of questions on the long term effects of use.
David Hunter · October 29, 2011 at 1:31 pm
“Why Some Athletes Choke”
This article relates to me in so many ways. When I was in high school, I played basketball. I was quite good, but as I progressed better people were added to the team. I got less playing time and became self-conscious. Consequently, my performance dropped. My free-throw percentage in practices was 80 percent, but my free-throw percentage in games was 20 percent. I knew I had the ability to play better than I was playing, but I was too anxious.
This study has a lot of implications for other fields as well. Many people struggle because of anxiety during tests. Often times, people will do poorly on very important tests such as SAT and ACT. If researchers are able to find out ways to help them like using analogies. It stands to reason that they could help people with test anxiety as well.
David Hunter · October 29, 2011 at 1:44 pm
“small changes to your lifestyle can add decades to your life”
This article is excellent. As a college student, I only partake in some of these lifestyle changes. I wish I could do all of them, but I do not have the time. I keep telling myself that I will incorporate them into my schedule next quarter, but each quarter I keep getting too busy. Maybe I will do it next quarter.
I do have an interesting point to make though. It seems to me that people are extremely interested in living a long time. Also, they seem to be interested in living “nice” life. Sometimes, however, living a “nice” life interferes with living a long life. For example, eating junk food all the time is not healthy for the long run, but people do it.
Maybe having a good quality of life might be more motivating than having a long life. For example, instead of being motivated by the long term benefits of eating healthy (living a long life), people might be more motivated to be healthy if they see the immediate benefits of eating healthy (being healthy). Just food for thought.
kai zajac · October 30, 2011 at 6:01 pm
I really enjoyed the article about athletes and choking under pressure. In high school I played tennis, and I remember that my best shots always occurred during warm up, but as soon as the game started my shots were not nearly as accurate and fast. The article proposed using analogies to help combat this which I found interesting, however, I’m curious is there are stress relief methods such as yoga that could help ease athletes anxieties before games. For now I’m just happy that I can now justify my reasons for choking. Very cool article.
kai zajac · October 30, 2011 at 6:12 pm
The article proposing 7 steps for a healthier country caught my eye. It is scary how unhealthy our country is becoming, and how bad of a job our health care system is doing. For those lucky few who actually do have health insurance its still a completely flawed system. Rather then prevent disease, we now seem to have been brainwashed into thinking that there is a pill for everything. Our way of healing isn’t to prevent the disease from happening, but rather to treat the disease once it occurs. Our country would be much healthier, and better off financial if people decided to adopt a few healthy lifestyle habits rather than rely on our countless wonder drugs.
dlheller · November 5, 2011 at 3:22 pm
“Whether We Know It or Not, We Can ‘See’ Through One Eye at a Time”
My dad being an eye doctor, this article immediately caught my eye (no pun intended). It is interesting to see how studies on the eye have progressed. However, it is not surprising that the brain is capable of knowing which eye is looking at what stimuli and therefore able to concentrate on that particular stimuli more. Often times I find myself or others concentrating hard using a particular eye or saying that one eye is fuzzy but still having clear vision. I am interested to see how this data continues to affect those in the optometric industry.
mdewitt · November 6, 2011 at 11:53 pm
I thought that the article about there being no link between brain tumors and cell phones to be really interesting. In the past, I have always wondered what effect technology has on our health so this is good to know! It’s also interesting to me that cell phone usage would have different effects in different parts of the body. According to this article, your brain is safe, but I am also enrolled in a reproductive physiology class this quarter and we spent a significant amount of time learning about how electromagnetic energy affects reproduction. Turns out that heavy cell phone use has been shown in some studies to be linked to poor quality of reproductive genetic material in men.
Agordo09 · November 9, 2011 at 9:16 pm
Tumors and Cell Phones:
People have been using cell phones for years now. All technology we use contains trace amounts of radiation. Even smoke detectors which if you think about it, we are around constantly as a safety precaution. Radiation from cell phones is no different in my opinion. The effects are so small that over the course of our lifetimes they are irrelevant.
-Andrew Gordon
Agordo09 · November 9, 2011 at 9:26 pm
A couple dies holding hands:
I also heard a story about how during the Tsunami in Japan a mother with her child became trapped in a collapsing building. The mother realized the dangers around her and wrote a text on her phone saying something along the lines of “If I die, know this- I Love You.” She then wrapped her body around the child to protect him/her from falling debris. Later, rescue workers found the mother dead but after further examination heard the child crying unharmed, protected from its mothers fearless act of love.
-Andrew Gordon
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