Make your own painkiller
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” goes the playground rhyme that's supposed to help children endure taunts from classmates. But a new study suggests that there's more going on inside our brains when someone snubs us — and that the brain may have its own way of easing social pain. The findings, recently published in Molecular Psychiatry by a University of Michigan Medical School, show that the brain's natural painkiller system responds to social rejection, not just physical injury.
Wear high heels to spend less
A new BYU study finds that consumers experiencing a heightened sense of balance are more likely to weigh the options and go with a product that falls in the middle of the high-end, low-end scale. “If you're someone who tends to overspend, or you're kind of an extreme person, then maybe you ought to consider shopping in high heels,” said study author Jeffrey larson, a BYU marketing professor. larson and BYU coauthor Darron Billeter have discovered that most anything that forces your mind to focus on balance affects your shopping choices as well. The results of the study, the authors write, demonstrate that influential cognitive processes are at play as people stumble through life, regardless of whether those stumblings are literal or metaphorical.
Fat may lead to memory loss
Although problems with memory become increasingly common as people age, in some persons, memories last long time, even a life time. On the other hand, some people experience milder to substantial memory problems even at an earlier age. Although there are several risk factors of dementia, abnormal fat metabolism has been known to pose a risk for memory and learning. People with high amounts of abdominal fat in their middle age are 3.6 times as likely to develop memory loss and dementia later in their life. Neurological scientists have discovered that same protein that controls fat metabolism in the liver resides in the memory center of the brain (hippocampus) and controls memory and learning.
Walk in the woods reduces stress
Work, home, even in the car, stress is a constant struggle for many people. But it's more than just exhausting and annoying. Unmanaged stress can lead to serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. One of best ways to wind down and reconnect after a stressful day is by taking a walk. Though any walking is good, walking in the woods has been proven to be better at reducing stress. “When we get to nature, our health improves,” a researcher said. “Our stress hormones rise all day long in our bloodstream and taking even a few moments while walking to reconnect with our inner thoughts will lower those damaging stress hormones.
Kiss and find your right partner
What's in a kissIJ A study by Oxford University researchers suggests kissing helps us size up potential partners and, once in a relationship, may be a way of getting a partner to stick around. “Kissing in human sexual relationships is incredibly prevalent in various forms across just about every society and culture,” says Rafael Wlodarski, the DPhil student who carried out the research in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University. “The role that kissing plays in sexual relationships is that it helps assess the genetic quality of potential mates, it is used to increase arousal and it is useful in keeping relationships together.”