Archives for category: Quirky brains
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How hugging heals

March 17, 2013 //
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the rescuing hug

‘The Rescuing Hug’ – This picture is of two week old twins who were in separate incubators, and one was not expected to live. A hospital nurse fought agast the hospital rules and placed the babies together in one incubator. The healthier of the two threw her arm over her sister in an endearing embrace. The smaller baby’s heart rate stabilised and her temperature rose to normal.

As someone whose nickname was ‘squeeze’ when I was a little girl, I can attest to loving a hug.

But recently, hugs have started to reveal their health effects.

Studies have shown that hugging has been shown to release oxytocin, sometimes referred to as “the love hormone”, in particularly high quantities following positive social interactions (like hugging). Oxytocin is key to boosting trust, sociability, and triggering maternal instincts while lessening anxiety and social fear.

However in 2010, hugging got an upgrade to a healing activity.

A study among couples found that increases in oxytocin following hugs correlated with faster wound healing. The hypothesis was that oxytocin reduces inflammation, thus allowing the wound to heal more quickly.

The study also showed that people who said they felt more social and spousal support and had more hugs and massages had higher oxytocin levels than those who reported less support and physical intimacy.

For man’s best friend, patting your pet also boost oxytocin (for canine and man alike!), and emailing loved ones has the same effect.

Providing doses of oxytocin has also been shown to result in more positive than negative behaviours during disagreements with your partner, confirming prior evidence that oxytocin  affects couples’ positive and negative communication behaviours. Read more on the study here. It also can improve communication skills for autistic children if provided in doses.

So what are you waiting for?

Do as Hunter and Collectors say.

Go find a squeeze.

Hugs are the universal medicine. 

~Author Unknown

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Categories brain, EEG, Emotions, MRI, pets, Quirky brains, Relationships, science, Senses

How dolphins sleep with half their brain

March 4, 2013 //
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Flipper is a smart fish.

Not only can he do my favourite trick of warding off sharks, but he also uses his sleep time with an effectiveness most new parents can only dream of.

When sleeping, dolphins can’t afford the luxury of physically stopping for a kip. Instead they need to keep swimming, and crucially breathing, to stay alive.

So how do they sleep?

Scientists have found that they actually manage to switch off half their brain, so that the active part can control swimming and breathing, while the rest rests.

Better than that, they team up in pairs to sleep, switching off the respective inner hemispheres (halves) of their brains, so that the outer halves are alert for predators, attack, Elijah Wood, Paul Hogan etc.

Talk about teamwork.

Check out this highly educational video offering rare insight into dolphins and their brains at work.

Note, if you do not find this funny, we prescribe that you need more sleep.

Categories Interesting bits, Quirky brains, science, Senses, Sleep

What the nose doesn’t know

February 19, 2013 //
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Your snout is able to determine over 10,000 different smells using about 500 nasal receptors.

However for some people, smell is but a memory.

They are unable to smell a whiff of anything and this total loss of smell is known as anosmia.

It currently affects around 5% of the US population, which means there are around 16 million people unable to smell leaking gas, smoke, or even worse, themselves (resulting often, undertandably, in some level of social anxiety).

As well as that, they sometimes can’t taste the flavours in food.

Your brain portion that controls smell is located at the base of your skull, so even mild head injuries to the back of the head can result in anosmia, however this is often temporary.

But for those whose smell never returns, hallucination of smells can form in their place where people think they smell coffee, smoke or other alarming substances even when there is none.

Hallucinated smells of a particularly vile smell kind are called cacosmia as described by Bonnie Blodgett in her book ‘Remembering Smell’ where she was plunged into a flurry of terrible smells from rotten eggs to chemicals, mould and sick.

On a more positive note, there have been recent studies to suggest that those who have a good sense of smell are more emotionally sensitive (thought to be because the two areas of the brain related to emotion and sense are in the limbic system), and science has taken steps closer to proving the simple truth that a memory can be triggered by a smell due to the proximity of the amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for emotional memory) to the hypothalamus and olfactory tracts (nose!).

So if you can smell the roses, be thankful. Some people are getting noses full of nothing, or worse.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1063&bih=580&tbm=isch&tbnid=Qf4Q1xQq7Ouo6M:&imgrefurl=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-sense/201003/i-hit-my-head-and-i-cant-smell-thing&docid=SJ5eWnXwWl84aM&imgurl=http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u610/olf.gif&w=338&h=300&ei=2LciUZa7Heqa1AXGooGABA&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:88,s:0,i:351&iact=rc&dur=2350&sig=104541046096363718316&page=7&tbnh=182&tbnw=238&start=79&ndsp=15&tx=179&ty=69

Facts found in Oliver Sacks’ newest book ‘Hallucinations’.

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Categories brain, Healthy brains, Memory, Neuro Conditions, Quirky brains, science, Senses, Smell, Taste

Love In All Forms

February 13, 2013 //
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Love can come in the most curious forms.

In his latest book ‘Hallucinations’, Oliver Sacks tells a story about his patient, Gertie C., who suffers intense visual hallucinations as a result of Parkinson’s postencephalictic disease – or ‘frozen’ disease (as described in Sacks’ book and film ‘Awakenings’).

Sometimes frightening, sometimes funny, hallucinations are an offshoot of the disease which is thought to be due to a build up of proteins in the parts of your brain that deals with sight and movement.

After some distress at her visualisations, Gertie decides to submit to the oddities her brain conjures, and embrace the experience instead…

In the form of a hallucinatory gentleman caller.

Every night, he arrives faithfully on her doorstep with flowers, presents, love and warm companionship.

Who says love isn’t real?

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Categories brain, Emotions, Love, Neuro Conditions, Quirky brains, Relationships, Senses, Sight

What Brain Gender Are You?

November 15, 2011 //
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According to the BBC’s ‘Brain Sex‘ quiz, my brain is exactly half boy, half girl, i.e. on-balance for skills that are traditionally male (spatial, logic) and traditionally female (emotion, intuition).

It’s a weird kind of thought.

Thankfully they explain it a bit as you go through each task: in essence, the majority of the differences between male and female brains are thought to be due to hormone differences and how they affect the development of the brain.

For example, men generally outperform women at “spatial tasks”, (although many women also score extremely well), and one theory suggests that exposure to higher levels of testosterone before birth gives men an added advantage because testosterone may stimulate the development of the right hemisphere of the brain – the side that contributes most to spatial awareness.

Females, on the other hand, tend to outperform men on tasks about “object position” (e.g. “has anyone seen the car keys?”), and some scientists think that women’s oestrogen levels make them much better at noticing details of their environment and spotting changes.

This perhaps also explains why women tend to perform better at ‘The Reading The Mind In The Eyes’ test devised by Simon Baron Cohen (Sacha Baron Cohen cousin!) which measures how well men and women display empathy towards others.

The amount of testosterone we are exposed to in the womb is also thought to influence the growth of our ring fingers. This theory may explain why men’s ring fingers are often longer than their index fingers. The average male ratio is .96. On average, women’s index and ring fingers are more or less of equal length, with a ratio of around 1.00. There is even some evidence that our finger ratio can be affected by the number of older brothers we have!

Want to know which side of your brain is more dominant?

What kinds of faces you find attractive and why?

Take the quiz now and rate your own brain’s gender at bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody

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Categories brain, Brain Quizzes, gender, Gender brains, internet, male brain

Do As Coco Did…

October 8, 2011 //
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The world’s most elegant woman, Coco Chanel, was said to have advised the following when dressing with accessories:

“Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”

Taking this sage advice from a woman who was far ahead of her time, what would you “take off” from your calendar of 1001 things to do today?

If you could do one less thing, what would it be?

Try it.

Coco says to 🙂

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Categories brain, Interesting bits

Lonely? Get a pet.

September 4, 2011 //
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While we have all heard that dogs are man’s best friend, U.S. researchers at Miami University and St. Louis University have  made some significant scientific connections between the companionship a pet can bring, and an increase in physical and mental health.

In particular, pet owners with non-aggressive dogs expressed a higher sense of self-esteem, we more extroverted, got more exercise, reported a great closeness to significant others in their lives, and significantly, were less lonely, and less fearful about getting close to other people.

The study participants were also asked to write about a time when they felt socially excluded and then write about a favorite pet or a favorite friend; writing about pets was just as effective as writing about a friend in terms of minimizing feelings of rejection, the researchers found.

In short: get a pet!

Read more at www.washingtonpost.com.

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Categories brain, Interesting bits, pets, Relationships

Psyche, Goddess of the Soul

September 4, 2011 //
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Psyche, revived by the kiss of Love. Antonio Canova, Italy, 1793

The word “psyche” has been used as far back as ancient Greece, by philopsophers such as Artistotle in his ‘Treatise On The Soul’.

The basic meaning of the Greek word ψυχή (psūchê) was “life”. Derived meanings included “spirit”, “ghost”, and ultimately “self”, “conscious personality”.

‘Metamorphoses’ (a.k.a. ‘The Golden Ass’) written by the 2nd century AD novelist and rhetorician, Apuleius, is an ancient Greek mythological story which includes the tale of “Cupid and Psyche” (or “Amour and Psyche”).

The story of Psyche, goddess of the soul, and Cupid (or Eros), god of love, revolves around the Cupid’s nasty mother Venus who, jealous of Psyche’s beauty, curses her to fall in love with a hideous beast. Cupid, sent to shoot the cursed arrow, instead, himself falls in love with her.

Furious, Venus places a curse on Psyche that keeps her from meeting a suitable husband, or any husband at that. As she does this, it upsets Cupid greatly, and he decides as long as the curse stays on Psyche, he will no longer shoot arrows, which will cause the temple of Venus to fall. After months of no one — man or animal — falling in love, marrying, or mating, the Earth starts to grow old, which causes concern to Venus, for nobody praises her for Cupid’s actions.

Finally, she agrees to listen to Cupid’s demands, allowing him one thing to have his own way. Cupid desires Psyche. Venus, upset, agrees to his demands only if he begins work immediately. He accepts the offer and takes off, shooting his golden arrows as fast as he can, restoring everything to the way it should be. People again fall in love and marry, animals far and wide mate, and the Earth begins to look young once again.

Though Cupid now visits Psyche every night, he demands she does not look at him in the light. But one night her wicked sisters trick her and she sees his face illuminated. Cupid flees.

In despair, Psyche searches the world for her lost love, and eventually begs Venus to help her find him. Venus sends Psyche into the Underworld to complete three seemingly impossible tasks, and she succeeds at these tasks with the help of some friends. The final of these tasks is to find a box containing beauty which Venus needs to replace her ailing looks.

Psyche retrieves this, however, she decides to open the box and take a little bit of the beauty for herself. Inside, she can see no beauty; instead an infernal sleep arises from the box and overcomes her. Cupid, who had forgiven Psyche, flies to her, wipes the sleep from her face, puts it back in the box, and sends her back on her way.

Then Cupid flies to Mount Olympus and begs Jupiter (Zeus) to aid them. Jupiter calls a full and formal council of the gods and declares that it is his will that Cupid marry Psyche. Jupiter then has Psyche fetched to Mount Olympus, and gives her a drink granting her immortality. Begrudgingly, Venus and Psyche forgive each other.

Finally, Cupid and Psyche are permitted to be together forever and they have a daughter named Hedone (Pleasure).

So… the soul + the heart = pleasure.

Nicely put, Apuleius.

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Categories brain, Interesting bits, Literature

I want to ride my (mind-controlled) bicycle…

July 27, 2011 //
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The first ever mind-controlled bike has arrived!  The ‘PXP’, from Toyota, Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Deeplocal, and Parlee Cycles reads your thoughts via a specially built helmet to change gears as you ride.

The bike helmet, designed by Deeplocal, incorporates a built-in EEG array that lets you shift gears just by thinking about it!

The helmet learns to read your thoughts after a ten-minute “training” session to distinguish your “shift up” thoughts from your “shift down” thoughts.

“When you see the bike shift for the first time, it’s kind of like magic,” Matthew Pegula, Deeplocal Lead Engineer, tells Co.Design.

“…we’re not too far off from this being commercially viable.”

Cadel Evans, you have to get this new toy.

COOOOL.

Read more at Fast Code Design and John Watson’s blog.

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Categories brain, EEG, Interesting bits, science, Sport

The Art of Conversation

July 7, 2011 //
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My first class at The School Of Life in Bloomsbury, London, explored ‘The Art of Conversation’.

Presenter John Paul Flintoff, columnist for the Sunday Times, delved into the history of conversation and discovered Irish novelist Johnathan Swift was in fact shy as a mouse and hated conversation. However, he was determined to have a good one, so he persevered…
If a man of his verbosity was felt like he had nothing great worth saying to people, then surely there’s hope for us all.

It’s been proven that conversation is a currenecy as important as money; psychological studies have shown that those who have deeper conversations rate themselves as happier than those who regard their conversations as largely superficial.

So here are six ways to have better conversations, courtesy of Mr Flintoff and The School of Life.

Six ways to have better conversations:

1/ Have curiosity about strangers – everyone is different but similar to you. Find out how much so.

2/ Take off your mask – everyone has one. See what changes when you make space for others to do the same.

3/ Empathy + lack of assumptions – we all know how to be kind but we forget. We also tend to box each other before we know them from a bar of soap. Remember your kindness (and how much you dislike being labelled), and you’ll find you have more connections with people.

4/ Get behind the job title – we are all more than our current job title. NEVER ask what people do! The curiosity might kill you for the entire length of the conversation, but it’s much more fun.

5/ Adventurous openings – try to avoid the formulaic. Ultimately people will thank you for it. We had some interesting ideas come up which revolved around asking people ‘the craziest things they’d ever done’ and ‘what is your biggest secret’. But if you think that’s off your richter scale of comfort, just aim to ask something about people’s appearance eg ‘where did you get your shoes’. People love that shit.

6/ Courage – it’s scary striking up conversations with strangers. After all, we’ve all been told not to do that from a young age. But with a spirit of adventure, great conversation can pull you apart, refresh you and make way for a new you. Don’t be shy…
Thanks to The School of Life and John Paul Flintoff for a wonderful evening. Book in, if you can, for more classes at www.theschooloflife.com.

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Categories brain, Conversation, Interesting bits, Literature, Relationships
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