How Our Values are Processed in the Brain

The price of your soul: How the brain decides whether to 'sell out'

ScienceDaily (2012-01-22) -- A neuro-imaging study shows that personal values people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold. The experiment found that the realm of the sacred -- whether a strong religious belief, national identity or code of ethics -- is a distinct cognitive process, and prompts greater activation of a brain area associated with rules-based, right-or-wrong thought processes, as opposed to regions linked to costs-versus-benefits thought. ... > read full article

Why We Spend When We Shouldn't

A front page article in today's Globe and Mail by Tavia Grant on why retail sales seem to be strong this year despite wage stagnation and vacillating consumer confidence included some "sage" words from yours truly! :)

The questions Tavia asked are really good ones and are at the crux of much of what I research. Part of the explanation could be attributed to the pent-up demand effect, where even if consumers are financially limited and they try their best to resist the urge to spend and be frugal, when there are cues from the environment, like ubiquitous reminders of the rapidly approaching holiday season, or when there are stressors or pressures, due to worry about one's job or the economy for example, theory from psychology and consumer behaviour posits that people may be even more susceptible to the temptation to spend even when there is uncertainty that the cash is available to pay for these purchases. So while we might expect that a dip in consumer confidence might dampen spending because people should be preparing for what they expect might be harder times, in fact it can be difficult and stressful for people to cope over an extended period of time with that fear and trepidation. In addition, because we have certain cultural expectations of what an ideal holiday is and often it is important to at least provide a happy experience for loved ones it makes sense that people would muster up any surplus, whether from a savings account or a credit card, in order to make the best of hard times. This can result in surges in spending even during declines in consumer sentiment. In a nutshell it is still difficult for us to predict how consumer confidence impacts consumer spending given the idiosyncrasies of how we psychologically consumer when under stress. There are many other factors that can modulate that impact. I think that some of us react to the uncertainty in the environment by looking for ways to feel confident, in control and successful and interestingly the process of shopping to procure consumption items especially for our households and families is very satisfying, very rewarding.

I Hate Cortisol! It Makes Me Fat and It's Keeping My Baby Up At Night!

When babies awaken: New study shows surprise regarding important hormone level

ScienceDaily (2011-12-01) -- Cortisol may be the Swiss Army knife of hormones in the human body -- just when scientists think they understand what it does, another function pops up. While many of these functions are understood for adults, much less is known about how cortisol operates in babies and toddlers, especially when it comes to an important phenomenon called the cortisol awakening response, or CAR. ... > read full article

Anterior Cingulate and Orbitofrontal Cortex Involved in Addiction

Findings offer new clues into the addicted brain

ScienceDaily (2011-10-30) -- What drives addicts to repeatedly choose drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, overeating, gambling or kleptomania, despite the risks involved? Neuroscientists have pinpointed the exact locations in the brain where calculations are made that can result in addictive and compulsive behavior. ... > read full article

Drugs and the Disorganized Mind

How cannabis causes 'cognitive chaos' in the brain

ScienceDaily (2011-10-25) -- Cannabis use is associated with disturbances in concentration and memory. New research by neuroscientists in the UK has found that brain activity becomes uncoordinated and inaccurate during these altered states of mind, leading to neurophysiological and behavioral impairments reminiscent of those seen in schizophrenia. ... > read full article

The Brain Thinks Dreams Are Real

Scientists measure dream content for the first time: Dreams activate the brain in a similar way to real actions

ScienceDaily (2011-10-28) -- The ability to dream is a fascinating aspect of the human mind. However, how the images and emotions that we experience so intensively when we dream form in our heads remains a mystery. Up to now it has not been possible to measure dream content. Scientists in Germany have now succeeded, for the first time, in analyzing the activity of the brain during dreaming. ... > read full article

Slower Growth of Connections in the Brain for Autistic Kids

Autistic brains develop more slowly than healthy brains, researchers say

ScienceDaily (2011-10-20) -- Researchers have found a possible explanation for why autistic children act and think differently than their peers -- for the first time, they show that the connections between regions of the brain that are important for language and social skills grow much more slowly in boys with autism, when compared to healthy children. ... > read full article

Teen IQ Instability: Developmental Changes in the Brain Impact IQ

Brain scans support findings that IQ can rise or fall significantly during adolescence

ScienceDaily (2011-10-20) -- IQ, the standard measure of intelligence, can increase or fall significantly during our teenage years, according to new research, and these changes are associated with changes to the structure of our brains. The findings may have implications for testing and streaming of children during their school years. ... > read full article

Ever Heard of Drunkorexia? Another Twist on Addictive Consumption

Drunkorexia: A recipe for disaster

ScienceDaily (2011-10-17) -- It is well-known that eating disorders are common among teens and college students. Heavy alcohol consumption is another well-known unhealthy habit of this age group. A new study shows that when college students combine these two unhealthy habits, their long-term health may be affected. "Drunkorexia" is a new term coined by the media to describe the combination of disordered eating and heavy alcohol consumption... read full article

Do Schizophrenics Really Hear Voices...Maybe?

Schizophrenia genetics linked to disruption in how brain processes sound

ScienceDaily (2011-10-14) -- What links genetic differences to changes in altered brain activity in schizophrenia is not clear. Now, three labs have come together using electrophysiological, anatomical, and immunohistochemical approaches -- along with a unique high-speed imaging technique -- to understand how schizophrenia works at the cellular level, especially in identifying how changes in the interaction between different types of nerve cells leads to symptoms of the disease. ... > read full article

Brining A Whole New (Other) Meaning to "Businesswomen" Around The World

The Economist's Schumpeter column, which I often vehemently disagree with for its extreme opinions, hit a home run last week with The Daughter Also Rises: Women Are Storming Emerging-World Boardrooms. It chronicles the sagas of numerous female "businesswomen" (which in Russia has a less than flattering double meaning...who knew? See the article!) in emerging markets around the world and the painful but steady shifts that working, educated even millionaire and billionaire women are making in places where culture has stood firmly to dangerous and lethal beliefs about what half the population can and can't do!

Insomniac Blues! Lack of Sleep Kills Productivity

Insomnia costing US workforce $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity, study shows

ScienceDaily (2011-09-02) -- Insomnia is costing the average US worker 11.3 days, or $2,280 in lost productivity every year, according to a new study considered to be more accurate than previous estimates. Researchers hope such numbers will prompt the implementation of screening and treatment programs for employees. Because insomnia is not considered an illness -- the kind that results in lost days at work -- employers tend to ignore its consequences. ... > read full article

Alarm Bells in the Brain: Alcohol Indeed Turns That Ringing Down

Alcohol dulls brain 'alarm' that monitors mistakes, study finds

ScienceDaily (2011-09-02) -- Most people have witnessed otherwise intelligent people doing embarrassing or stupid things when they are intoxicated, but what specifically happens in the brain to cause such drunken actions? A new study testing alcohol's effects on brain activity finds that alcohol dulls the brain "signal" that warns people when they are making a mistake, ultimately reducing self control. ... > read full article

Beating the Young Whipper Snappers: Decision Making Does Get Better With Age

Older adults are better at decision-making than young adults

ScienceDaily (2011-08-23) -- We make decisions all our lives -- so you'd think we'd get better and better at it. Yet research has shown that younger adults are better decision-makers than older ones. Some psychologists, puzzled by these findings, suspected the experiments were biased toward younger brains. ... > read full article

I Love "Aha" Moments: How the Brain Makes Predictions

Everyday 'clairvoyance:' How your brain makes near-future predictions

ScienceDaily (2011-08-18) -- Every day we make thousands of tiny predictions -- when the bus will arrive, who is knocking on the door, whether the dropped glass will break. Now, in one of the first studies of its kind, researchers are beginning to unravel the process by which the brain makes these everyday prognostications. ... > read full article

This Is Why I Look The Way I Do: Lack of Sleep and Beauty Are Linked

The key to being attractive (and looking healthy)? A good night's sleep

ScienceDaily (2010-12-16) -- If you want to look attractive and healthy, the best thing you can do is get a good night's sleep, finds new research. ... > read full article

Talking and Listening Processed in the Same Region of the Brain fMRI Reveals

Speaking and understanding speech share the same parts of the brain

ScienceDaily (2011-08-16) -- The brain has two big tasks related to speech: making it and understanding it. Psychologists and others who study the brain have debated whether these are really two separate tasks or whether they both use the same regions of the brain. Now, a new study finds that speaking and understanding speech share the same parts of the brain, with one difference: we don't need the brain regions that control the movements of lips, teeth, and so on to understand speech. ... > read full article

It's Cool to Be Fat? At Least for Dogs...

If fat dogs are cool, could fat people be, too?

ScienceDaily (2011-08-13) -- Fat dogs are cool. And obese people may be, too. That's what new research suggests. ... > read full article

I Eat When I'm Stressed!?

Scientists highlight link between stress and appetite

ScienceDaily (2011-08-12) -- Researchers have uncovered a mechanism by which stress increases food drive in rats. This new discovery could provide important insight into why stress is thought to be one of the underlying contributors to obesity. ... > read full article

Not Sure About More Kids But...Family Life Sacrificed for a Career in Science :(

Many top U.S. scientists wish they had more children, study finds; 25 percent of scientists consider leaving the profession for family life

ScienceDaily (2011-08-08) -- Nearly half of all women scientists and one-quarter of male scientists at the United States' top research universities said their career has kept them from having as many children as they had wanted, according to a new study. ... > read full article