John Cacioppo & I working with new friends on social media!
Here is what I am reading today:
“Research from Queen Mary, University of London suggests that omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, have the potential to protect nerves from injury and help them to regenerate. When nerves are damaged because of an accident or injury, patients experience pain, weakness and muscle paralysis which can leave them disabled, and recovery rates are poor.”
“Dr. Beck discusses the growing nature of cognitive therapy. Based on the building blocks of an empirically validated theory, cognitive therapy is continually evolving through numerous trials, moving towards inclusion of a biological theory.This audio clip was taken at Beck Institute’s Level I Workshop for Students and Faculty.For more information on Beck Institute Workshops visit http://www.beckinstitute.org/cbt-workshops/. “
“Iron is a popular topic in health news. Doctors prescribe it for medical reasons, and it’s available over the counter as a dietary supplement. And while it’s known that too little iron can result in cognitive problems, it’s also known that too much promotes neurodegenerative diseases.”
“The photographer says she realised there were lots of good images of soldiers in Afghanistan, but they didn’t show how a person could change through combat.”
“UCLA biologists working as “evolutionary detectives” studied the faces of 129 adult male primates from Central and South America, and they offer some answers in research published Jan. 11, in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The faces they studied evolved over at least 24 million years, they report.”
“The perception that women are scarce leads men to become impulsive, save less, and increase borrowing, according to new research from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.”
“By automating and standardizing the process in which brain samples are divided into sections and then imaged sequentially at precise spatial orientations in two-photon microscopes, the team, led by Assoc. Prof. Pavel Osten and consisting of scientists from his CSHL lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has opened the door to making whole-brain mapping routine.”
3 Comments
phtran · January 16, 2012 at 2:22 am
I found the article on iron supplementing to be interesting, since I’ve been supplementing throughout the years as well. It was interesting to read that poor iron intake during adolescence has such a substantial effect on cognitive achievement in children, due to the role iron plays in making myelin (essential for cell/brain communication) — but even moreso to read that iron-deficiencies during developmental years has a large impact on brain wiring during adulthood.
It makes me glad that I’ve regularly supplemented (or at least eaten enough red meat) in order to avoid iron deficiency throughout the years.
However, since “iron overload” is known to be damaging to the brain and to cause neuro-degenerative disease, it makes me think twice about continuing to supplement. (Do I really want to be more at-risk for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s just because I was being “too careful” in making sure I get all my nutrients in?)
phtran · January 16, 2012 at 2:47 am
Another stand-out article: “Afghanistan soldier photos ‘show effect of war’,” was a very interesting read. I do believe that periods of stress and traumatic events can have major effects on the brain and body. These stressors/events are bound to manifest themselves in one way or another — whether it be through a complete personality change, an entire physical transformation, both, or maybe (much less drastically) minor tweaks in personality/physicality. But in my opinion, it all depends on the the type of stress or trauma that one is exposed to.
As explained, I can imagine that something like war (constantly being exposed to the deaths of your colleagues) would most definitely trigger some type of mental mechanisms that may alter (and determine) the personality of these soldiers for years to come.
Alana Snelling · January 20, 2012 at 11:29 am
In response to the “taking too much or too little iron” article, one of the first questions that I began to ask about the study were the ratios of males to females that volunteered to participate. I have heard many times, that women are those individuals who have iron deficiencies more often than not because of hormone differences compared to men. If what I have been told is correct, it would be interesting to look at what portion of the participants were female. I also believe that the iron deficiency has to do with the areas in which people live. Once again I would l find it interesting to see if any of the data that was collected could correlate with certain areas in which they live in the United States/world.
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