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Study shows how stress triggers immune system
USA Today: Shedding some light on why stress might be bad for you, a new study finds that parts of your immune system ramp up when you get into personal conflicts with others. It's not clear how this effect of stress may make you sick, but the activated parts of the immune system -- which cause inflammation in the body -- have been linked to conditions such as diabetes and cancer. "The message is that the flotsam and jetsam of life predict changes in your underlying biology in ways that cumulatively could have a bad effect on health," said study co-author Shelley Taylor, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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To-Do List: Let’s, Let’s Stay Together
The New Yorker: To know: The Department of Justice shut down the popular service Megaupload and filed criminal charges against seven people connected with the company … France is considering withdrawal from Afghanistan after four of its troops there were killed … The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is in Israel to discuss Iran’s nuclear program … Deadlock at a meeting in Geneva means that “leap seconds” will get at least three more years of life. Read the full story: The New Yorker
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Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2011: Meet the Brain, BBC Two, preview
The Telegraph: If you ever wondered how your brain works, take this chance to catch Professor Bruce Hood’s superb three-part lecture series, aptly titled Meet Your Brain, first shown on BBC Four over Christmas. Hood is professor of experimental psychology at Bristol University, and his ability to reduce complex concepts to bite-sized chunks for children (of which this audience is made up) makes these lectures perfect also for adults keen to get a taste of the latest developments in psychological research without going to any trouble. In tonight’s opener Hood starts out by showing how the brain not only governs all our physical processes, but also gives each of us individuality and identity.
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Mind Over Matter: Patients’ Perceptions of Illness Make a Difference
Whenever we fall ill, there are many different factors that come together to influence the course of our illness. Additional medical conditions, stress levels, and social support all have an impact on our health and well-being, especially when we are ill. But a new report suggests that what you think about your illness matters just as much, if not more, in determining your health outcomes. In the February issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Keith Petrie, of the University of Auckland, and John Weinman, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, review the existing literature on patients’ perceptions of illness.
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A Conversation About Music, Mind, and Health
What effect does music have on the brain, and what can music teach us about the brain? In this video 24th APS Annual Convention Speaker Aniruddh Patel and music therapist Barbara Reuer speak with David Granet of the University of California's Health Matters about music, cognition, and health. Scientists are just beginning to understand music’s implications for language acquisition, emotions, social skills, learning, and memory. Watch the interview to learn more about music and the mind, including research published in Psychological Science showing that music and other synchronized activities encourage cooperation.
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The psychology of uncertainty, repeal and the individual mandate
The Washington Post: Eric Horowitz flags new research in the journal Psychological Science that sheds some light on why the uncertainty around the health reform law’s fate may be making Americans more resistant to its individual mandate, the requirement to purchase health insurance. Psychologists Kristin Laurin, Aaron Kay and Gavin Fitzsimmons note that people tend to react to laws restricting their freedom in two different ways. We either rationalize the new restriction, telling ourselves to make the best of it, or we resist, responding negatively to new limits on freedom.
