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Major new report establishes effective methods of enhancing and preserving brain power as we age.
In 1900, only 4.1 percent of U.S. citizens were older than 65; in 2000 that number had jumped to 12.6 percent; and by the year 2030, 20 percent of our population could be in that category. Cognitive decline was long seen as an inevitable consequence of aging, but recent years have seen a surge of interest in activities and products touted to forestall this outcome. What is the truth? Is decline inevitable, or is there a possibility of retaining our faculties if we exercise them? And which kinds of exercises and products are effective, and which are merely hype?
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Hush Little Baby… Linking Genes, Brain and Behavior in Children
It comes as no surprise that some babies are more difficult to soothe than others but frustrated parents may be relieved to know that this is not necessarily an indication of their parenting skills. According to a new report in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, children’s temperament may be due in part to a combination of a certain gene and a specific pattern of brain activity. The pattern of brain activity in the frontal cortex of the brain has been associated with various temperaments in children. For example, infants who have more activity in the left frontal cortex are characterized as having “easy” temperaments and are easily calmed down.
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Breaking the Norm: Experiment Makes Men and Women Equally Picky When Selecting a Mate
When it comes to dating, are women really choosier than men? The abundance of research on this subject leads us to believe that they are, but a study forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reports evidence to the contrary. The study’s authors, psychologists Eli J. Finkel and Paul W. Eastwick from Northwestern University, suggest that when it comes to mate selection men and women might not be as different as we think. Finkel and Eastwick put a simple twist on a common speed-dating experiment and discovered that simply approaching a potential romantic partner (versus being approached) changes the way those potential dates are viewed.
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Don’t Stand So Close to Me: Proximity Defines How We Think of Contagion
We judge probability and make risk judgments all the time, such as when we try new products or consider which stocks to trade. It would seem that our decisions would be rational and based on concrete factors; however, we are not always so pragmatic. Some judgments are not based solely on relevant information but can be influenced by subjective beliefs. For example, most of us would probably cringe at the thought of drinking a sugar solution that was labeled “sodium cyanide,” even if we knew it was perfectly safe to drink.
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New Pitt Study on Alcohol Reveals Drinkers Not Only Zone Out—But Also Are Unaware That They Do
A new study out of the University of Pittsburgh suggests that a moderate dose of alcohol increases a person’s mind wandering, while at the same time reducing the likelihood of noticing that one’s mind has wandered. The paper, titled “Lost in the sauce: The Effects of Alcohol on Mind Wandering,” explores this phenomenon and is published in this month’s issue of Psychological Science. The study provides the first evidence that alcohol disrupts an individual’s ability to realize his or her mind has wandered, suggesting impairment of a psychological state called meta-consciousness.
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Children as Young as 19 Months Understand Different Dialects
We are surrounded by a multitude of different accents every day. Even when a speaker of another English dialect pronounces words differently than we do, we are typically able to recognize their words. Psychologist Catherine Best from MARCS Laboratories, University of Western Sydney, along with colleagues from Haskins Laboratories and Wesleyan University, report a ground-breaking study on the early development of this cross-dialect skill, which they term “phonological constancy.” In this experiment, 15- and 19-month-old American toddlers looked at a colored checkerboard on a monitor in order to hear sets of familiar words or unfamiliar words.
