Monthly Archives: July 2007

Medical Science

A Gene to Better Remember Traumatic Events

1 Comment

A Gene to Better Remember Traumatic Events: Scientific American
A Gene to Better Remember Traumatic Events
Gene variant found in 30 percent of Caucasian population and 12 percent of African-Americans leads to more vivid recollections of emotionally powerful episodes—both good and bad
By Nikhil Swaminathan

The above is a great article published in Scientific American which may explain why some people remember traumatic events so vividly and others in the same events do not have the inense memories.

It would at least in part explain why some individuals suffer from PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and others involved in the same event have less or no problems as a result.

Click on the link at the top of this post to read the complete original article.

Medical Science

Learn to Manage Emotions

2 Comments

» Learn to Manage Emotions – Psych Central News
Learn to Manage Emotions
By: Psych Central Senior News Editor
on Thursday, Jul, 26, 2007

Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
on July 26, 2007 at 11:31 am

Managing emotions is an arduous task for some but a skill that is essential to success in business and personal relationships. Often individuals who can not manage their emotions choose dangerous or destructive courses of action.

Emotional control, a trait associated with adulthood, is best learned during adolescence, a life period often characterized by wide swings of powerful emotions.

“There’s a stereotype that teens don’t manage their emotions, their emotions manage them,” said Reed Larson, a professor of family ecology at the University of Illinois.

Accordingly, Larson and colleagues studied if teenagers can be taught to manage their emotions. Their article is published in this month’s journal of Child Development.

Read More AT Psych Central

Medical Science

Scientists Find Social Networks Affect Obese Individuals

VOA News – Scientists Find Social Networks Affect Obese Individuals
Scientists Find Social Networks Affect Obese Individuals
By Deborah Tate
Washington
25 July 2007

Researchers say obesity is not only caused by genes, but by overweight people being part of social networks of obese individuals. Investigators say the finding helps explain an epidemic of obesity over the past 30 years. VOA’s Jessica Berman reports. Continue reading Scientists Find Social Networks Affect Obese Individuals →

ADHD

ADHD Practical Information and Advice: An Article Explaining Why It Seems They’re Not Listening

4 Comments

Blinks: A Phenomenon of Distractibility in Attention Deficit Disorder
by James Reisinger, MBA, CLU, CFP, ADD

Where do ADDers go when they space out and why can’t they just say, “I’ll think about that later?” I offer an answer to this question and a glimpse inside the head of a person with ADD. My hope is that this insight may spark a new look at the existing research and prompt confirming studies. I named this peculiar experience a “blink,” an identifiable characteristic that distinguishes the blink phenomenon as an experience unique to ADDers. Others with ADD have called them “skips,” “thoughts racing,” “spacing out,” “tune outs,” “static,” “thoughts,” or “gaps,” because the person skips over, tunes out, or has gaps in awareness of events going on around them.A blink occurs as the ADDers attention involuntarily shifts focus from what is relevant to something irrelevant. This shift from a ‘local” situation (such as talking, reading, or working) to some other internal mental content (e.g., a thought, picture memory, or plan) blocks the local information.People blink their eyelids without noticing the moment of darkness. A “lid closing” during a sneeze is noticeable, more so if driving or doing some action (try keeping your eyes open the next time you sneeze). If a deaf student sat in a lecture and closed his eyes for a few seconds or minutes, it would reduce what he could learn. Continue reading ADHD Practical Information and Advice: An Article Explaining Why It Seems They’re Not Listening →