Avoid thinking about past regrets...focus on only happy memories to amp up happiness

Seeking happiness? Remember the good times, forget the regrets

ScienceDaily (2011-05-02) -- People who look at the past through rose-tinted glasses are happier than those who focus on negative past experiences and regrets, according to a new study. The study helps explain why personality has such a strong influence on a person's happiness. The findings suggest that persons with certain personality traits are happier than others because of the way they think about their past, present and future. ... > read full article

Help for working moms...from Google COO Sheryl Sandberg

I very eloquent diatribe by Google COO Sheryl Sandberg on why we need better options for women in the workforce and why it is good for companies!!

How to glow at work? Prof. Gratton from LBS tells us how...

Prof. Linda Gratton gives us the story of Fred and Frank as a way to understand how you can learn to glow at work even if you hate it! It is an interesting excerpt from her book Glow...you can either change what you do or change how you do it!

Embarrassment in the Brain: Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Medial Frontal Cortex

Neurological basis for embarrassment described

ScienceDaily (2011-04-16) -- Recording people belting out an old Motown tune and then asking them to listen to their own singing without the accompanying music seems like an unusually cruel form of punishment. But for a team of scientists, this exact Karaoke experiment has revealed what part of the brain is essential for embarrassment. ... > read full article

Don't have power? Get more choices...It all equals control which is really what we want!

Power and choice are interchangeable: It's all about controlling your life

ScienceDaily (2011-04-28) -- Having power over others and having choices in your own life share a critical foundation: control, according to a new study. New research finds that people are willing to trade one source of control for the other. For example, if people lack power, they clamor for choice, and if they have an abundance of choice they don't strive as much for power. ... > read full article

Your brain can fall asleep while you're awake and make your life miserable

Microsleep: Brain regions can take short naps during wakefulness, leading to errors

ScienceDaily (2011-04-28) -- If you've ever lost your keys or stuck the milk in the cupboard and the cereal in the refrigerator, you may have been the victim of a tired brain region that was taking a quick nap. ... > read full article

Even babies can detect the Circadian rhythm of day and night

From the beginning, the brain knows the difference between night and day

ScienceDaily (2011-04-28) -- The brain is apparently programmed from birth to develop the ability to determine sunrise and sunset, according to new research on circadian rhythms that research sheds new light on brain plasticity and may explain some basic human behaviors. ... > read full article

Circadian clock genes in the brain disrupted in Alzheimer's patients

Disruptions of daily rhythms in Alzheimer's patients' brains

ScienceDaily (2011-04-29) -- Disruptions of circadian rhythms and sleep-wake cycles have been observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease. A new study unravels a possible basis for these perturbations. Recent findings show function in multiple areas of the human brain. ... > read full article

Being busy for busy's sake: Just doing anything is better than doing nothing

Who needs motivation? The rewards of doing 'something'

ScienceDaily (2011-04-29) -- When psychologists think about why people do what they do, they tend to look for specific goals, attitudes, and motivations. But they may be missing something more general -- people like to be doing something. These broader goals, to be active or inactive, may have a big impact on how they spend their time. ... > read full article

How our brains respond to danger may be different for women vs. men

Men and women may respond differently to danger

ScienceDaily (2009-11-30) -- Researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brain activation have found that men and women respond differently to positive and negative stimuli, according to a new study. ... > read full article

Our brains respond to social status based on our own social status...say what?

Our own status affects the way our brains respond to others

ScienceDaily (2011-04-28) -- Our own social status influences the way our brains respond to others of higher or lower rank, according to a new study. People of higher subjective socioeconomic status show greater brain activity in response to other high-ranked individuals, while those with lower status have a greater response to other low-status individuals. ... > read full article

What makes former smokers successful? Brain imaging studies may be able to tell us!

Brain imaging demonstrates that former smokers have greater willpower than smokers

ScienceDaily (2011-04-27) -- A new study compares former smokers to current smokers, and obtains insight into how to quit smoking might be discovered by studying the brains of those who have successfully managed to do so. ... > read full article

Men Respond to Stress with OFC Fight or Flight; Women Not So Much...

ScienceDaily -- Functional magnetic resonance imaging of men and women under stress showed neuroscientists how their brains differed in response to stressful situations. In men, increased blood flow to the left orbitofrontal cortex suggested activation of the "fight or flight" response. In women, stress activated the limbic system, which is associated with emotional responses.

Neural Correlates of Embarrassment

Neurological basis for embarrassment described

ScienceDaily (2011-04-16) -- Recording people belting out an old Motown tune and then asking them to listen to their own singing without the accompanying music seems like an unusually cruel form of punishment. But for a team of scientists, this exact Karaoke experiment has revealed what part of the brain is essential for embarrassment. ... > read full article

Reading Sarcasm Clue to Dementia Risk

Inability to detect sarcasm, lies may be early sign of dementia, study shows

ScienceDaily (2011-04-17) -- By asking a group of older adults to analyze videos of other people conversing -- some talking truthfully, some insincerely -- a group of scientists has determined which areas of the brain govern a person's ability to detect sarcasm and lies. ... > read full article

Judging First Impressions...With Accuracy!

People know when first impressions are accurate

ScienceDaily (2011-04-17) -- First impressions are important, and they usually contain a healthy dose both of accuracy and misperception. But do people know when their first impressions are correct? They do reasonably well, according to a new study. ... > read full article

Addicted to Media? College Students Are!

Students around the world report being addicted to media, study finds

ScienceDaily (2011-04-05) -- College students around the world report that they are 'addicted' to media, describing in vivid terms their cravings, their anxieties and their depression when they have to abstain from using cell phones, social networking sites, mp3 player. ... > read full article

Helicopter Parenting? Maybe Not Such A Bad Thing...

The new adulthood: Extended parental support as a safety net

ScienceDaily (2011-03-15) -- A new study shows that contrary to popular anxieties about slacker young adults who refuse to grow up, or indulgent parents who stifle their adult children’s development by continuing to support them, there is evidence that parental assistance in early adulthood promotes progress toward autonomy and self-reliance. ... > read full article

Text Message Interruptions Can Curb That Crave

Text messaging helps smokers break the habit: Studies demonstrate brain activity link and use a new technology to monitor smoking

ScienceDaily (2011-03-07) -- New studies have isolated the brain regions most active in controlling urges to smoke and demonstrated the effectiveness of text-messaging to measure and intervene in those urges. ... > read full article

Cross-Gender Comparisons Can Bring You Down!?

Social Comparisons In Early Childhood

ScienceDaily (2008-10-30) -- Previous research has shown that preschoolers maintain positive self-evaluations and high levels of performance even when they see that their peers have out-performed them. However, new research suggests that preschoolers are very sensitive to gender information. These findings reveal that when preschoolers see that they have performed more poorly than a peer of the other gender -- even just one time -- there are lasting negative consequences on behavior and self-concept. ... > read full article