YANSS tackles procrastination at length…quoting this Jonah Lehrer piece along the way: “Don’t.” Thinking about thinking is ID’d as key: The now you may see the costs and rewards at stake when it comes time to choose studying for the test instead of going to the club, eating the salad instead of the cupcake, writing the […]
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A study examines the idea of unlimited willpower. Up until now, many researchers have asserted that the only way to stay focused during projects that require intense concentration is to seek occasional restoration with physical distractions such as food, rest, or other activity. They believe this will help a person feel recharged and get back
Deborah Tannen looks at why having a sister makes people happier. My own recent research about sisters suggests a more subtle dynamic. I interviewed more than 100 women about their sisters, but if they also had brothers, I asked them to compare. Most said they talked to their sisters more often, at greater length and,
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PsychCentral sums up a meta-study, “The Neuroimaging of Love.” Findings suggest falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but also affects intellectual areas of the brain…Researchers also found falling in love only takes about a fifth of a second.
Bad jobs are bad–a recent study confirms it (PsychCentral). “Our work found that people in poor-quality jobs—jobs which were insecure, did not provide future job prospects or had high levels of strain—had no better mental health than people who were unemployed,” said Dr. Leach.
A pedometer study shows Americans take fewer steps than people in other countries. One tidbit: Being single was associated with taking more steps. Single people averaged 6,076 daily steps, compared to 4,793 steps for married people. Widowed participates moved the least, averaging 3,394 daily steps.
A study finds a possible explanation why men are twice as likely as women to become alcoholics. Dopamine has multiple functions in the brain, but is important in this context because of its pleasurable effects when it is released by rewarding experiences, such as sex or drugs…Despite similar consumptions of alcohol, the men had greater
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A client’s recommendation: Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Tower TEDs about her stroke.
Left Brain/Right Brain Read More »
Study: Love decreases pain. Commenters: Unimpressed. Researchers from Stanford University studied the link between love and pain by scanning the brains of 15 college students who all professed to being deeply in love. The eight women and seven men were placed in brain scanners that tracked their body’s response to pain — in this case
From Why All Indiscretions Appear Youthful (NYT): In recent years psychologists have exposed the many ways that people subconsciously maintain and massage their moral self-image. They rate themselves as morally superior to the next person; overestimate the likelihood that they will act virtuously in the future; see their own good intentions as praiseworthy while dismissing others’ as
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