Tag Archives: brain

Do you love being scared out of your mind?

02 Monday Mar 2020

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From rollercoasters to horror movies, there’s a biological reason being scared feels so good!

We get a type of high from being scared – called a high-arousal response. According to Margee Kerr, a sociologist who studies fear, it’s similar to the stress response that makes us want to fight or flee – but because we KNOW we’re not in real danger, our brain perceives it as pleasurable. And it is! We feel energized and free from thoughts that usually worry us. And it’s the same feeling we get when we’re really happy.

And that’s why, on a rollercoaster, you can be screaming one minute and laughing the next.

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We yawn more in winter…

13 Monday Jan 2020

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Not because we’re more exhausted – it’s because the air is cooler. According to the journal Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience, we yawn to keep our brain at the top of its game. Because when we inhale deeply, we’re replacing the hot, stagnant air in our lungs with the cool, fresh air around us. And the brain operates best when it’s cool – so yawning draws in cool air, and makes us more alert and quicker thinkers. So we yawn more in winter than summer because the air is cooler.

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Do you know someone who loves to make lists…

02 Monday Dec 2019

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…maybe it’s you? Well, here’s the reason why it makes us feel so awesome: According to psychologists from the University of Pennsylvania, it helps us adjust and cope when we’re faced with challenges. Whether that challenge is a crazy-busy day, getting the whole family ready for the holidays, or just trying to remember all the chores you have to do. Because modern life throws at us more information than our short-term memory can hold. Writing lists helps free up space so we can focus on what’s important, knowing we can come back to the list to refresh our memory. But there’s another reason why we love making lists: We love crossing things OFF our lists. It actually gives us a little brain thrill – or as psychologists call it, a “reward response.” And that little feel-good jolt propels us to keep going, so we can cross more things off the list.

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You can boost your brainpower every time you eat out.

23 Wednesday Oct 2019

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Just calculate the tip in your head! According to the book “Boost Your Brainpower In 60 Seconds,” using your phone’s tip calculator robs you of a chance to exercise your brain – the same way driving to a restaurant a mile from home robs you of the opportunity to exercise your body. And unless we reinforce simple mathematical skills, our brain will eliminate those neural connections because they’re not being used. Meaning, it really IS a case of use it or lose it. So the next time you’re out to eat, figure out the tip in your head to keep your brain sharp!

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Want a mood boost?

23 Monday Sep 2019

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Plant some cinnamon or chocolate-scented geraniums! They bloom like crazy in the fall and winter, and just pinching a leaf releases the powerful feel-good aroma of cinnamon or chocolate. Research at Wheeling Jesuit University found the scent of cinnamon instantly boosts alertness. And other research shows the smell of chocolate stimulates the happiness center of our brain.

Geraniums grow the best on a super-sunny windowsill. But they’ll do just fine if you shine a desk lamp with a fluorescent bulb on them for at least 4 hours a day.

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Socializing is exhausting – for our brain!

28 Wednesday Aug 2019

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Even the most outgoing, extroverted person needs some alone time. Because socializing is exhausting – for our brain. That’s the conclusion of new research from the University of Helsinki. They found that the more social people were, the more they reported being in a positive mood and feeling lower levels of fatigue. But those effects wore off at the 3-hour mark. After that, people who were still interacting with a group saw their mood drop and their fatigue increase. And that was true for social butterflies AND introverts. That’s because socializing is really taxing on the brain. Conversations, processing language, activating your memory and reading body language use up a lot of mental energy. And for anyone, talking to a bunch of people for a long time – specifically 3-hours – is draining. So maybe we should all make sure our parties are only 3-hours long.

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Eat more fruit if you’re pregnant. Here’s why!

26 Monday Aug 2019

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Moms-to-be, you can boost your unborn baby’s brainpower by making fruit your go-to snack. Researchers at the University of Alberta analyzed what mothers-to-be ate, and compared that to each baby’s IQ in the first year of life. The result: Moms who ate more fruit while pregnant had babies who scored higher on developmental tests – and the more fruit they ate, the higher the baby’s IQ. The reason? Because fruit is packed with antioxidants and nutrients, which pass from moms to their unborn babies.

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If you’ve had 3 nights of bad sleep in a row…

20 Tuesday Aug 2019

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…coffee won’t help you. That’s according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

They say, after 3 nights of tossing and turning, the maximum amount of caffeine we should have daily – 500 milligrams or 3 cups – isn’t effective at that point. After 2 bad nights, it’ll still help. But get to 3 in a row and the levels of adenosine in our system will be too high. That’s a brain chemical that promotes sleep… and the more adenosine we have, the more tired we become. And after 3 nights, we’ll have so much adenosine built up that not even a triple espresso can fix it. The only thing that will is a good night’s sleep.

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Feeling cranky?

15 Thursday Aug 2019

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That could benefit your brain AND your wallet! Researchers found cranky-pants people tend to pay more attention to what’s going on around them, and ask more questions, which gives them better memories and sharper minds. It also reduces their risk of being scammed, like when a criminal calls or emails, pretending that your bank or credit card company requires verification of financial information. While happy people tend to float on a cloud of positive emotions and exert less brainpower… making them much more likely to take mental shortcuts, and get taken in by a con.

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Want to reduce your risk of age-related memory loss?

12 Monday Aug 2019

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Eat berries at least once a week!

Harvard Medical School researchers found that people who ate the most blueberries and strawberries had the slowest rate of memory loss… a difference equal to about two-and-a-half years of aging. But the biggest surprise was that all it took was a half-cup serving of blueberries or a 1-cup serving of strawberries per week. Better brainpower from berries.

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