The Speed of Inspiration - August 22, 2014. Researcher: Hallucinatory 'voices' shaped by local culture. By Clifton B.
Parker Steve Fyffe Tanya Luhrmann, professor of anthropology, studies how culture affects the experiences of people who experience auditory hallucinations, specifically in India, Ghana and the United States. People suffering from schizophrenia may hear "voices" – auditory hallucinations – differently depending on their cultural context, according to new Stanford research. In the United States, the voices are harsher, and in Africa and India, more benign, said Tanya Luhrmann, a Stanford professor of anthropology and first author of the article in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The experience of hearing voices is complex and varies from person to person, according to Luhrmann. Can-the-nervous-system-be-hacked. Photo One morning in May 1998, Kevin Tracey converted a room in his lab at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y., into a makeshift operating theater and then prepped his patient — a rat — for surgery.
A neurosurgeon, and also Feinstein Institute’s president, Tracey had spent more than a decade searching for a link between nerves and the immune system. His work led him to hypothesize that stimulating the vagus nerve with electricity would alleviate harmful inflammation. “The vagus nerve is behind the artery where you feel your pulse,” he told me recently, pressing his right index finger to his neck. The vagus nerve and its branches conduct nerve impulses — called action potentials — to every major organ. Nonetheless, Tracey was certain that an interface existed, and that his rat would prove it. Let Your Fingers Do the Seeing. Quick – name the five senses. Most people readily list sight, taste, hearing, and smell. And then pause before remembering: touch. "Touch is probably our most underrated sense," said psychologist Martin Arvidsson of Stockhom University in Sweden, whose research team has found that humans can perceive even smaller changes in surfaces than previously believed.
Touch matters, Arvidsson said. He points to the importance of touch in understanding others: "Babies explore the world through touch and find comfort in human contact. The future of artificial limbs. A child's skull before losing baby teeth. Flu risk 'cut by vigorous exercise' 16 March 2014Last updated at 22:06 ET Running is one form of potentially "flu-beating" exercise Doing at least two and a half hours of vigorous exercise each week cuts the chance of developing flu, new data suggests.
Around 4,800 people took part in this year's online Flu Survey, run by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Moderate exercise did not appear to have a protective effect, the researchers said. Overall, flu rates have been relatively low this winter. The Flu Survey, now in its fifth year, tries to track as much detail as possible about who does and does not get flu. One of the questions people must answer when they register, as well as their age, if they are around children and if they have been vaccinated, is how many hours of "vigorous exercise" they do each week, such as running, fast cycling or competitive sports, ranging from none to more than five hours. Laser Light Used To Enhance Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness 400% to 700%
Miscarriage risk 'reduced by lifestyle changes' 18 February 2014Last updated at 20:29 ET By Pippa Stephens Health reporter, BBC News The lifestyles of 91,427 pregnant women in Denmark were analysed for the study More than a quarter of first-time miscarriages could be prevented by making a combination of lifestyle changes, research in Denmark suggests.
Researchers said lifting more than 20kg (44lbs) each day during pregnancy and being obese or underweight increased the risk of miscarriage. Women beyond their early 30s, who drank alcohol and worked night shifts during pregnancy were also more likely to miscarry, they said. The study analysed 91,427 women. Continue reading the main story. CNN's World's Untold Stories: Dementia Village. Science & Environment - The puppet show that reveals how you read minds. Psychologists can use dolls to reveal how we judge true and false beliefs in the world around us.
Yet not everybody has this talent. as Jason G Goldman discovers. One of the most famous lines of research in psychology began with a puppet show. In a scientific experiment, children were invited to watch a scene featuring two dolls, then asked make a crucial decision about what they saw – see if you make the same choice as they did.
Want Perfect Pitch? You Might Be Able To Pop A Pill For That. Hide captionJazz singer Ella Fitzergerald was said to have perfect pitch.
Klaus Frings/AP Jazz singer Ella Fitzergerald was said to have perfect pitch. In the world of music, there is no more remarkable gift than having perfect pitch. As the story goes, Ella Fitzgerald's band would use her perfect pitch to tune their instruments. Although it has a genetic component, most believe that perfect pitch — or absolute pitch — is a primarily a function of early life exposure and training in music, says Takao Hensch, professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard. Hensch is studying a drug which might allow adults to learn perfect pitch by re-creating this critical period in brain development.
Body Atlas Reveals Where We Feel Happiness and Shame. Yellow shows regions of increased sensation while blue areas represent decreased feeling in these composite images.
Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen. Chests puffing up with pride — and happiness felt head to toe — are sensations as real as they are universal. Why Does the Fetal Position Ease Stomach Pain. A:The answer: it’s both physiological and mental.
“It’s a natural defensive posture,” says family practice and sports medicine specialist, Dr. Bob Adams. “When we have bad news, pain, or something’s really stressful, we hunch up. It probably goes back to when we were in the uterus,” where we were safe and warm. Physiologically, it’s difficult to tell exactly what’s going on without knowing the cause of your pain, but there are a few likely scenarios. Your body is made up of three types of muscle: smooth, cardiac, and skeletal. But you can assume the fetal position to help the surrounding skeletal muscles relax. The fetal position will also ease stomach pain caused by newly strained skeletal muscle.
The bike test that shows what we're really like at work. 15 December 2013Last updated at 19:31 ET Not all cyclists are the same Cycling through the City of London to work on a dark morning recently, I was overtaken by a man in a black coat with no helmet, no lights, and listening to music through headphones, writes Lucy Kellaway.
Baby illusion: Youngest born 'perceived as shorter' 16 December 2013Last updated at 12:02 ET Mothers perceive their youngest children as shorter than they actually are, a study suggests.
This "baby illusion" applies regardless of the number of children a mother has, Current Biology reports. Mothers underestimated the height of their youngest child by an average of 7.5cm (3in), yet accurately judged the height of any older children they had. The study authors believe this is an adaptive mechanism - to nurture and protect most vulnerable offspring. Always the baby. Horizons - Technobody. Before we turned up to interview our main guest for this programme, we were all asked to confirm we didn’t have a cold, were well and certainly did not have anything infectious. .... We were filming a leading light of medicine who, because she has had a heart and lung transplant, was very susceptible to any disease.
Science Addresses The Problem Of Pee Splashback. They call themselves "wizz kids. " Todd Truscott and Randy Hurd of Brigham Young University's Splash Lab, a research lab studying the physics of fluids, have been using high-speed cameras to examine exactly what happens to a stream of urine when it hits the toilet. They're on a quest against "splashback," simulating male urination in the lab (using this apparatus) to see how exactly you can go about getting it all in the bowl. For the sake of clean bathrooms, clean pants and happy subsequent bathroom-goers. According to Hurd, part of the messiness caused by male urination is due to a phenomenon called Plateau-Rayleigh instability, which causes streams of falling liquid to decompose into droplets. When a guy pees, the urine stream breaks into droplets about 6 inches away from the urethra exit. The Splash Lab will be presenting its research at the American Physical Society Meeting later this month. Swaddling resurgence 'damaging hips', surgeon warns.
28 October 2013Last updated at 22:08 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News Parents are risking their babies' health because of a surge in the popularity of swaddling, according to an orthopaedic surgeon. The technique involves binding the arms and legs with blankets and is used to help calm a baby and prevent crying. But Prof Nicholas Clarke, of Southampton University Hospital, said swaddling was damaging developing hips. The Royal College of Midwives and other experts advised parents to avoid tightly swaddling a child. Sitting straight 'bad for backs' Sitting up straight is not the best position for office workers, a study has suggested. Scottish and Canadian researchers used a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show it places an unnecessary strain on your back.
They told the Radiological Society of North America that the best position in which to sit at your desk is leaning back, at about 135 degrees. Experts said sitting was known to contribute to lower back pain. Data from the British Chiropractic Association says 32% of the population spends more than 10 hours a day seated. Half do not leave their desks, even to have lunch. Sleep 'cleans' the brain of toxins. The brain uses sleep to wash away the waste toxins built up during a hard day's thinking, researchers have shown. Tiny, wireless pacemaker due to be launched in Europe. Scientists Identify Protein Linking Exercise to Brain Health. Oct 12, 2013 09:04 AM EDT. International Journal of Obesity - Abstract of article: Visual illusions and plate design: The effects of plate rim widths and rim coloring on perceived food portion size. The First Mind-Controlled Bionic Leg Steps Into Reality.
Work-related musculoskeletal injuries in physiotherapists. To avoid injury while lifting, it important to estimate the weight of the load and the lifting environment. The worker has to choose a safe working method and be able to to use tools and equipment to make the work lighter. Lifting Lift the object close to your body to avoid stretching of the muscles and ligaments of the back (decrease the lever arm)Contract your abdominal and back muscles during lifting so the back stays in the same positionStand close to the object and keep your feet apart to maintain balanceLift with both hands and grip the object with your entire hand (not just the fingers)
How old memories fade away. Decoding the Science of Sleep. Lost sleep leads to loss of brain cells, study suggests. 19 March 2014Last updated at 02:50 ET By Helen Briggs BBC News Sleep loss is bad for mood and mental processing. Toward a Pill That Helps Us Learn as Fast as Kids - Olga Khazan. Newsbeat - Smartphone light may make most young people lose sleep. 4 April 2014 Last updated at 12:00 More than nine out of 10 young people expose themselves to the blue light from smartphones and tablets, before bed, causing problems with sleep. Bad sleep 'dramatically' alters body. The Psychology of Colors in Logo Design. Does pressing the pedestrian crossing button actually do anything? Can You Trust Your Eyes? Men's average height 'up 11cm since 1870s' Male faces 'buttressed against punches' by evolution.
Insomniacs' brains lose focus, scans suggest. What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? - Michael Molina. 'Money reduces trust' in small groups, study shows. How Old Are Your Ears? (Hearing Test) Near-death experiences are 'electrical surge in dying brain' This Is How Your Brain Becomes Addicted to Caffeine. How room and desk size affect people's comfort discussing personal issues.
FYI: Why Does My Voice Sound Different When I Hear It On A Recording? Odon childbirth device: Car mechanic uncorks a revolution. Odón Device: Prueba en maqueta funcional. Secret of Usain Bolt's speed unveiled. Secrets of the Creative Brain. Chocolate: The Scent That Could Save Struggling Bookstores - Caffeine energy drinks 'intensify heart contractions' Tapper identifies region of brain responsible for nicotine withdrawal symptoms - UMass Medical School. Human echolocation: Using tongue-clicks to navigate the world. The Blind Man Who Taught Himself to See : Daniel Kish at TEDxGateway. Unting crowds: Was Egypt's uprising the biggest ever? Suspended-animation trials to begin on humans. What a Shaman Sees in A Mental Hospital. Late nights 'sap children's brain power' Scientists discover brain’s anti-distraction system - Public Affairs and Media Relations.
First-ever human head transplant is now possible, says neuroscientist. Fasting for three days can regenerate entire immune system, study finds. Huge holograms offer medics more memorable classes. Why Do Some Irish Drink So Much? : Neuroskeptic. What Happens To Your Brain When You Get Black-Out Drunk? TEDGlobal: Future vaccines could be delivered via patch. How the brain controls a 'mind machine' In Golf, Moments Good and Bad Are Well Remembered. How do people survive solitary confinement? Men and women's brains are 'wired differently' Do daughters make you conservative? Violent video games leave teens 'morally immature' Watch a lung at work! Amnesia and the Self That Remains When Memory Is Lost - Daniel Levitin. 20 Optical Illusions That Might Break Your Mind. Freaky—This Simple Trick Lets You See the Blood Vessels In Your Eye.
Doing Two Things at Once? Stop! Why Pain Can Feel Good. Leg tumor- perfect longitudinal section. The weight of nations: an estimation of adult human biomass - 1471-2458-12-439.pdf. Australian Story Love and Other Drugs P2. The Top 10 Strangest Things You Didn’t Know About the Human Body. How it feels to have a stroke. Foreign Accent Syndrome on "My Strange Brain" Part 1. Are These Lines The Same Height? Your Answer Depends On Where You're From. Grandparents 'may relay autism risk to grandchildren' Male baldness 'indicates heart risk' Scientists make 'laboratory-grown' kidney. Hearing—Information about Hearing, Communication, and Understanding. Why Do I Fail When I Try To Recall How the Alphabet Is Arranged on the Keyboard?
Imagine A Flying Pig: How Words Take Shape In The Brain : Shots - Health News. Mindscapes: The woman who can't recognise her face - health - 02 May 2013. Psychopathic criminals have empathy switch. Alzheimer's blood test edges closer. Clive Wearing - The man with no short-term memory. The Human Brain Project - Human Brain Project. Toddler brain scan gives language insight. Learning second language 'slows brain ageing' Sleep's role in memory formation discovered: do you get enough?