Immune response affects sleep
Sickness-induced insomnia is common because of the link between the brain and the immune system. Fighting off illness causes sleep deprivation and affects memory, a new study has found. Biologists said a common perception is that if you are sick, you sleep more. But the study, carried out in flies, found that sickness induced insomnia is quite common. “In this paper we show that it can be the immune system itself that can cause these problems. By turning on the immune system in flies artificially (with no infection present) we reduced how long they slept and how well they performed in a memory test”, said Dr Eamonn Mallon, biologist, University of leicester.
EXERCISE can improve attention
Twelve minutes of exercise can improve attention in low-income adolescents, suggesting that schools should work brief bouts of exercise into their daily schedules. The study, published as part of the June volume of Frontiers in Psychology, compared low-income adolescents with their high-income peers. While both groups saw improvement in selective visual attention up to 45 minutes after exercising, the low-income group experienced a bigger jump. Selective visual attention is the ability to remain visually focussed on something despite distractions.
PRO-PROTEIN TO REDUCE STROKE
People with diets higher in protein, especially from fish, may be less likely to have a stroke than those with diets lower in protein, according to a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis looked at all of the available research on the relationship between protein in the diet and the risk of stroke. Seven studies with a total of 2,54,489 participants who were followed for an average of 14 years were included in the analysis. Overall, the participants with the highest amount of protein in their diets were 20 per cent less likely to develop a stroke than those with the lowest amount of protein in their diets. The reduced risk of stroke was stronger for animal protein than vegetable protein.
Watch your weight
By the end of the school year, many children feel they’re gaining two months of freedom. But new research suggests many will gain something else: unwanted weight. Between June and August, many US kids pack on excess pounds, particularly if they’re overweight to begin with, according to a Harvard-led review of previous research. “The majority of the studies we looked at demonstrated that, for at least some of the children, there was a risk for accelerated weight gain during the summer months,” study lead by author Rebecca Franckle said. “And the risk was particularly high among those who were already overweight, and also among blacks and Hispanics,” it added.
STAND DURING OFFICE MEETINGS
Need to get more out of routine office meetingsIJ Getting colleagues to stand up during those gatherings might help, new research suggests. The new study included teams who were given 30 minutes to develop and record a university recruitment video. Some groups did this in rooms with chairs around a table while others had no chairs. People in the standing teams were more excited about the creative process and more willing to offer ideas, which resulted in more information-sharing and better videos, according to the findings published online in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.