Here is what I am reading today:
“…”These results aren’t definitive, but they are consistent with the following story,” said Gauthier. “Everyone is born with a general ability to recognize objects and the capability to get really good at it. Nearly everyone becomes expert at recognizing faces, because of their importance for social interactions. Most people also develop expertise for recognizing other types of objects due to their jobs, hobbies or interests. Our culture influences which categories we become interested in, which explains the differences between men and women.””
“A recent study examined people’s bodily responses while watching presidential campaign ads — and discovered another way that people avoid political information that challenges their beliefs.”
“Adequate sleep is an important part of a weight loss plan and should be added to the recommended mix of diet and exercise, states a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).”
“The reasons why autism spectrum disorders are almost five times more common among boys than among girls may soon be revealed, thanks to a five-year, $15 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant awarded to Yale School of Medicine for the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) research program.
4 Comments
mminor · September 24, 2012 at 1:34 pm
In reading the “Sex Matters” article I do find it interesting that the categories that the genders recognized were so different in their breadth. How is it that men are better at vehicles while women are better at living things. It seems that the category “living things” is very broad compared to that of “vehicles”. Also, it would seem to be beneficial for women who are supposed to be more nurturing, to be focused on living things but I still find the category of vehicles for men to be too narrow.
dford · September 24, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I find it interesting that sleep plays such a big role in so many aspects of life, including weight management. Many people view sleep as a waste of time, or at least time that could be spent on other activities. In reality, adequate sleep helps with learning and retention, attitude, stress, and even eating habits and weight management. Sleep deserves more attention that we give it.
BenSimon · September 24, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Society puts so much unnecessary social pressure on females (especially children) that the fact that autistic individuals are so predominantly male cannot logically be due to underdiagnosis in females or overdiagnosis in males. There must be biopsychological components, and I am glad that psychology is finally reaching such a peak in autism research (although I still occasionally hear ignorant people blame vaccines for some or all autism cases, and I am quick to correct them).
jblangle · November 12, 2012 at 7:25 pm
In the “sleep and weight loss” article I think that it is important that individuals get adequate amount of sleep because it is essential for daily function. Especially with how more and more jobs are requiring 40+ hours of work and still need to be able to accomplish errands outside of work it is difficult to squeeze in everything in one day. If the individual decides to stay up later with trying to complete tasks it plays a huge role on how the person will decide to eat. Being on the run all the time effects the food choices that one person might have because of the inadequate sleep they are getting. The article states that the lack of sleep stimulates the consumption of more food and increases appetite regulating hormones. It also states that the Canada Obesity Network is now including adequate sleep measurements in the assessment tools which is something that could definitely become a difference in the schedules of these individuals.
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