Melatonin protects brain function Sun. Sept. 29, 2013 by Michelle Marks, staff writer (NaturalHealth365) Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, a pine cone-shaped gland in the brain. How does melatonin improve brain function? Melatonin supports brain function via its powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Research shows that melatonin exhibits strong neuro-protective properties under conditions such as oxidative stress or inflammatory conditions. Melatonin also demonstrates many health benefits such as immune support, decreased risk of degenerative conditions, relief from fibromyalgia, and reduce menopausal symptoms. What factors affect melatonin secretion? Being exposed to too bright light in the evening, receiving very little day light, poor consumption of vegetables, high intake of caffeine, over consumption of alcohol, low physical activity or sedentary lifestyle and jet lag are some of the many factors that negatively influence the production of melatonin by our brain. References:1.
Inside Paul Allen's Plan to Reverse-Engineer the Human Brain - Wired Science In 2003, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen spent $100 million to build the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. With laser-equipped microscopes and custom brain-slicers, the institute has mapped the brains of mice, monkeys, and humans, showing which genes are turned on—and where—to better understand vision, memory, autism, and other neural phenomena. Last year Allen ponied up another $300 million to aim the institute at a narrower but more ambitious goal: a complete understanding of how the mouse brain interprets visual information. To succeed, they’ll have to go beyond static gene maps and learn how to watch a living brain in action. The new method will track electrical activity in neurons—not just in one mouse but many. Of all the things you could have invested in, why brain research? Well, as a programmer you’re working with very simple structures compared to the brain. How do you think your investment has paid off so far? Oh, I think it’s had a real impact.
I Saw It on the Internet, part one This is part one of a series on posts on fact checking science related articles. Read part two of this series. -- Part 3 - Part 4 The next time you log into your favorite social media site, take a moment to look at all the “amazing”, “shocking”, and “astounding” articles that your friends and family have shared. You’ll learn that your food contains horrible poisons, that some household chemical is a cleaning marvel, or that Mars is going to look as big as the Moon on a certain day. Are those things true? Why fact check? Why should you verify information before posting it? Rest assured that if you don’t fact check the information, someone else will. Misinformation also hurts your “cause”. Why would someone post information that is wrong? Well, there are several reasons. Some articles are trying to convince you to accept their viewpoint, and are willing to “bend the truth” a bit in the process.
wait but why: Putting Time In Perspective Humans are good at a lot of things, but putting time in perspective is not one of them. It’s not our fault—the spans of time in human history, and even more so in natural history, are so vast compared to the span of our life and recent history that it’s almost impossible to get a handle on it. If the Earth formed at midnight and the present moment is the next midnight, 24 hours later, modern humans have been around since 11:59:59pm—1 second. And if human history itself spans 24 hours from one midnight to the next, 14 minutes represents the time since Christ. To try to grasp some perspective, I mapped out the history of time as a series of growing timelines—each timeline contains all the previous timelines (colors will help you see which timelines are which). A note on dates: When it comes to the far-back past, most of the dates we know are the subject of ongoing debate. For teachers and parents and people who hate cursing: here’s a clean, Rated G version.
Tibetan Breathing for Health What is Tibetan Breathing? Tibetan Breathing is self-help healing technique that expands your lungs and increases oxygen in your blood. All your organs (and your brain) benefit from more oxygen and work better. Daily practice of this breathing program has been shown to calm the nervous system, regulate heart activity, relax muscles and spasms, oxygenate the blood, reduce blood pressure, stimulate digestion and help to clean the body of toxins. How to perform Tibetan Breathing Sit comfortably with your spine straight and your feet apart and flat on the floor. This simple breathing exercise establishes an equilibrium between positive and negative currents throughout the body. You can perform Tibetan Breathing while sitting, laying down or even while walking (keep your hands in your pockets). Note: this Tibetan Breathing Technique is a very powerful energizer which should not be overdone. Also see our recommendations for the 5 Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation
Dopamine regulates the motivation to act Printer friendly version Share 10 January 2013 Asociación RUVID The widespread belief that dopamine regulates pleasure could go down in history with the latest research results on the role of this neurotransmitter. The neuroscience journal Neuron publishes an article by researchers at the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón that reviews the prevailing theory on dopamine and poses a major paradigm shift with applications in diseases related to lack of motivation and mental fatigue and depression, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, etc. and diseases where there is excessive motivation and persistence as in the case of addictions. "It was believed that dopamine regulated pleasure and reward and that we release it when we obtain something that satisfies us, but in fact the latest scientific evidence shows that this neurotransmitter acts before that, it actually encourages us to act. Application for depression and addiction Attached files Dopamine
As Babies, We Knew Morality - Emily Esfahani Smith New research supports the understanding that all people are born with a sense of good and bad. What does that say about altruism, community, and the capacity to kill one another? Several years ago, an energetic young mother, Tia, was out and about with her infant Aimee when disaster struck: a group of men, accompanied by vicious dogs, surrounded the pair, snatched up Aimee, and brutalized Tia. They left her helpless and without her daughter. Aimee was eventually rescued. Mike, a squat and especially hairy fellow, didn't exactly look the part of a knight in shining armor. Is it correct to say that Mike's actions were "moral"? Though we share more than 95 percent of our DNA with these apes, many people think that morality is a uniquely human creation. Another idea, equally influential, is what the primatologist Frans de Waal calls veneer theory. But over the last decade, a growing body of evidence has challenged both the blank slate view of morality and veneer theory.
These kickass games let you do real-life science I like that there's all these games out there that actually contribute to real science. It's nice to know that I'm Contributing to Science! But they all end the same way: I just spent 25 minutes mapping craters on the moon, and that's enough for this month. While I used a crowd sourced example, the same can be said for most of these games. I haven't tried them all, so maybe one is, like, super-duper awesome. But mostly they're ... kinda ... boring. I'm not doing science. What I want to see is a 'truer' citizen science website, something that allows your average Jane or Joe to come up with questions, propose testable hypothesis, and carry out experiments. I think it would be great if there was a place for people to go where they can ask these sorts of silly questions, formulate hypothesis, make predictions, and test them.
The top 20 leafy greens and herbs to juice Mon. Dec. 9, 2013 by Linda Kordich (NaturalHealth365) Juicing a variety of leafy greens and herbs is important for our overall health – especially when it comes to juicing and blending on a regular basis. Every vegetable and fruit has its own nutritional and chemical signature. For example, a pineapple has a different chemical structure than an orange, and a carrot has a different chemical make-up than a radish – the list goes on and on. Leafy greens, for example, need to be rotated weekly. The next week, alternate to another different three greens. Remember, every green, fruit and vegetable has different chemical structure to them. So, try not to juice just kale – as many of us do – because we get used to a certain taste, and most of us know that kale is nutritionally high in protein and other nutrients, but that does not mean we should be ‘exclusively’ juicing it. Starting with leafy greens: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Here are some herbs to try: 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.