Here is what I am reading today:
“The more gray matter you have in the decision-making, thought-processing part of your brain, the better your ability to evaluate rewards and consequences. That may seem like an obvious conclusion, but a new study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory is the first to show this link between structure and function in healthy people — and the impairment of both structure and function in people addicted to cocaine.”
“Babies as young as eight months old prefer it when people who commit or condone antisocial acts are mistreated, a new study led by a University of British Columbia psychologist finds.”
“Using advanced imaging techniques and cognitive tests, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, have shown that repeatedly heading a soccer ball increases the risk for brain injury and cognitive impairment. The imaging portion of the findings was recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago.”
“According to a recent Herald poll, 37.5 percent have not had any sexual partners this semester, and 36.4 percent have had one. A small percentage — 9.3 percent — had two partners this fall and an even smaller percentage — 5.3 percent — had three to five.”
13 Comments
Jerusha · November 30, 2011 at 2:07 pm
The article on the 8 month old babies liking the punishment of bad people was really interesting. I have an eight month old niece and I guess it’s just odd for me to think she can comprehend good and bad people and on top of that prefer that the bad one gets punished. I wish the article could have gone more in depth on how they think the baby is processing that. I’m really curious as to how they’re thinking and how they perceive good and bad. I’m wondering if they understand their parents and form ideas of good and bad, in a rudimentary way of course, or if they may have an innate sense of right or wrong. I just find that really intriguing.
Jerusha · November 30, 2011 at 2:22 pm
I also found the sex article to be pretty surprising. In college, an active sex life is much more free and accepted than any other time during life. Or at least it seems that way. I think it’s very believable that sex lives are exaggerated in college atmospheres. Students are constantly talking about sexual experiences, which can give the impression that they are ongoing. However, they probably aren’t as prevalent as they seem. I am wondering if the numbers reported were low because of embarrassment of a higher than normal amount of sexual partners. I do think it’s very interesting that sex lives aren’t as active as they seem in college, an atmosphere of partying and casual hookups. Also, i’m wondering about the wording. Is a sexual partner considered someone who you’ve had intercourse with or can it just include oral sex?
Agordo09 · November 30, 2011 at 4:40 pm
“Soccer is heading for a downfall”
I am not surprised by this article at all. Even with proper technique a soccer player is still putting alot of stress on their brains and skull when they go to head a ball. they go to alot of trouble to protect shins and feet with protective shin guards and thick shoes but should really consider some sort of light headgear in order to pretect themselves from head injuries which can gradually become worse.
-Andrew Gordon
Agordo09 · November 30, 2011 at 4:50 pm
“Reward is in your grey matter”
I find articles like this very interesting. Knowing that we have the technology to observe what a persons decision making skills could play out like in the future is a little scary to me. What if companies decided to do brain scans for job interviews in order to see if we are capable of making educated decisions. Personally I believe that we are capable of what ever we put our minds to and knowing that companies or governments could one day install limitations on what we are allowed to do based on our biology is a frightening reality. It is a great thing that we as a species have access to so much information but if it is used the wrong way great and terrible things can happen such as past historic events have indicated. For me ignorance is bliss, I would prefer not to know how much grey matter I have and go on living my life believing that no matter how much matter I have I am capable of whatever I set my mind to and my decision making skills will reflect that.
-Andrew Gordon
Kailey · November 30, 2011 at 8:22 pm
I was taken aback by the article on how infants react to “bad” and “good” people. Having very young cousins, I have noticed their strong reactions to villains in movies and books. It shows that even the youngest members of our society have a sense of justice and recognize that they want to be surrounded by individuals who are generous, sweet, and giving. They in turn want to alienate or punish those who oppose to this lifestyle. These findings bring up concerns in regards to being in unsafe households and with parents that may not have high moral standards. Do the infants resent their parents, become accustom to their ways, take after them, lose their own moral senses?
lancesturgeon · December 1, 2011 at 7:09 pm
For the article “Soccer is Heading for a Downfall”:
I thought this article was very interesting. It is commonly known that football and boxing are very risky sports for brain injuries, but I feel like soccer is not publicly thought of as being dangerous for the brain. The truth is that professional soccer players are taught how to “properly” head the ball in order to prevent any injuries but in an actual game setting where it’s a matter of winning or losing, that proper technique tends to go out the window along with their healthy brains.
lancesturgeon · December 1, 2011 at 7:13 pm
For the article “Babies Embrace Punishment”:
Punishment is a normal life occurrence. Although it sucks, everyone has been punished at least once in their life for doing something wrong. I thought this article was actually pretty humorous because it is funny to think that infants “embrace” punishment. It is a social way of enforcing right and wrong. When people see other people getting punished for committing crimes, it usually provides them with a satisfactory feeling of justice. On the other side, when I see someone commit a crime who gets away with it, I get rather frustrated. It is interesting to see that infants have this sense of justice as well.
Vix · December 1, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Of course I know where the names came from, the Banjo-Kazooie video game series, since I remember you guys playing the Nintendo 64 originals back in the old days (which I still play them today).
It may be just personal opinion, but I think of your parakeets’ names as Banjo and Kazoo after the musical instruments. I prefer not to name real pets after video game characters because I don’t want to confuse our pets with the games of the same name (No offense, though. Spell them the way you like since they’re your parakeets). And besides, I think names that are original suit pets best. For instance, “Fuzzy” is a cute name for one of our cats.
The articles you posted were quite interesting. I don’t care for soccer at all (I prefer weightlifting and martial arts), so the “soccer is heading for a downfall” article wasn’t surprising to see. Your brain-related articles were also interesting to read.
amandalipson · December 1, 2011 at 11:43 pm
I read the article on college students having less sexual partners than most people would expect. To be honest, I am very surprised. The media portrays college to be the one place where everyone has multiple sexual partners and makes sex seem like an incredibly casual part of life. It makes me wonder if certain colleges differ in these statistics. I personally think that if this survey was taken throughout the US at a plethora of different colleges, the results would be slightly different. I think that these results should be made more public, especially to freshmen. It is unfortunate to think that certain individuals may engage in sexual activity that they do not necessarily want to pursue, yet think that it is the “norm” and don’t want to be different than their peers. All in all, these results are very interesting and quite a relief to hear since college students don’t always get the best rep for being classy.
amandalipson · December 1, 2011 at 11:53 pm
Reading about soccer and the heading injuries was incredibly interesting and something I could definitely relate to. I have played soccer since I was about 7 years old and have learned to fear heading. The contact of a fast-moving, somewhat hard ball at your head cannot be pleasant for anyone. This article makes me wonder if those “header protectors” actually do any good at all. I can imagine that soccer players who head the ball a fair amount, but not quite up to 1000 times per year, still experience issues with memory, learning, attention, etc. I wonder if the amount of times one heads the ball within a continuous span of 5-10 years makes a big difference. I remember simply heading a very fast-moving ball once created issues for myself. I remember being incredibly dizzy then later on having an issue remember the name of my English teacher. This was simply from heading one ball in an unfortunate way, so it scares me to think what life would be like if these effects were permanent.
anajafia · December 2, 2011 at 1:41 am
I’m not sure if the study at Brown of having intercourse is serious or to bring at least some slight humor. The article itself is titled “Students Fall Short of Sex Expectations.” Nonetheless the statistics shown surprise me. I would think the percentage of students nationwide having at least 1 sexual partner would be at least 10 percent more than shown, especially at Brown where they have, I guess, legendary sexual parties. College, at least in my opinion and I’m sure many of my fellow students, where all those doors to sexuality opens. The relaxed and liberal environment advocates this experimental stage in life, including getting to know your guy or girl friends a little bit better. Still the definition in sexual encounter here is slightly ambiguous, because our age group would say oral sex, or any other deviation from penetration, as not having sexual intercourse.
The best part of the article is the pie chart, because 1.2% of the students surveyed weren’t sure if they had sexual partners during the semester. I’m not sure if I should be worried or smile at how fantastic and one in a lifetime experience college parties are.
bkalbach · December 2, 2011 at 12:17 pm
In regards to sexpectations in college, I think it is difficult to understand the spectrum of sexual activity or promiscuity in relation to class standing. First of all, being very sexually active does not equal promiscuity, as is the case in an established romantic relationship or in a “friends with benefits” agreement. Several incoming freshmen are already in relationships, and whether they last the test of Hathaway or not, they might or might not already be sexually active. Likewise, upperclassmen have had time to form a relationship with someone they’ve met in college and my be sexually active with their partner. Promiscuity, from my observations, seems most often to be closely tied with alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a big part of college culture and upon entering college, the pressure to reduce anxiety and coagulate with your peers is strong. Upon turning 21, you are again thrown into a completely new bar scene situated around the consumption of alcohol. All classes are exposed to the same pressures and options. Whether incoming freshmen are having more sex or sexual partners than upperclassmen seems, to me, a unimportant question. I’m also not surprised that college kids aren’t having as much sex people would think. Movies and the media stereotypes college as a sexual playground where all the students are these hormone driven hedonists switching partners with more frequency than they switch classes. College is a unique environment but I would not expect that the difference of sexual activity or promiscuity between college students and individuals not in college and/or after graduation being very different. Is there a study about that?
mbise · December 3, 2011 at 12:15 am
Though the findings of “Students fall short of sex expectations” didn’t necessarily surprise me (based on my first hand knowledge of college students), what surprises me is how much it directly conflicts with the stereotype of college. College students are often assumed to be promiscuous without a second thought. The environment–surrounded by people of the same age, partying, etc.–seems to foster it. However, this same environment is also conducive to “hooking up.” I think that the prevalence of hook-ups plays a huge part in the inflated belief of sexual partner numbers.
I’d like to see how this study extends to other colleges, and the general college population.
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