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How Older People Are Reaping Brain Benefits From New Tech
Overuse of digital gadgets harms teenagers, research suggests. But ubiquitous technology may be helping older Americans stay sharp. ... The opposite appears true. “Among the digital pioneer generation, use of everyday digital technology has been associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment and dementia,” said Michael Scullin, a cognitive neuroscientist at Baylor University. It’s almost akin to hearing from a nutritionist that bacon is good for you.
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Before You Offer Advice, Ask This Question
... How to give better advice Research suggests that when we give advice, it’s often biased toward our own experiences. We share insights that we would find useful, but they might not be as relevant to the other person, said Richard Larrick, a professor of management and organizations at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. There’s also evidence that unsolicited advice can harm relationships. And in the workplace, such advice can be seen as self-serving and is more likely to be ignored. Conversely, other research suggests that when people ask for advice, it is viewed by recipients as more valuable.
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How Our Brains Grasp Faces
Podcast: In this episode, cognitive scientists Rebecca Saxe of MIT and Heather Kosakowski join host Scott Sleek to discuss their groundbreaking findings about the development of the brain’s face-processing network.
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Why We Procrastinate On Joy — And How To Stop
But we can also put off things we enjoy — catching up with a friend we haven’t seen in a while, visiting a nearby attraction or opening that expensive bottle of wine. ... However, while this general tendency is “important and interesting,” there may be more than one explanation for why different people procrastinate, said Akira Miyake, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “I think things are much more complex, and we need to start paying attention to idiosyncrasies or adopting more person-specific ways of looking at why this is happening,” he said.
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Turning a Hobby Into a Habit
... The human brain—more specifically, the way it’s wired to enjoy jitters—is partly responsible for how well these shows have been received by viewers. “Our body doesn’t always know the difference between a heart-rate increase associated with watching The Bear versus going for a walk,” Wendy Berry Mendes, a psychology professor at Yale, told me. People have always sought excitement by being spectators; doing so causes, as Mendes put it, “vicarious stress”—a fight-or-flight response that feels good because it involves zero risk.
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How to Break Free From Your Phone
There’s that nagging voice again: “Put the phone away. No, really this time.” But we don’t; 84 percent of Americans say that they are online either several times a day or “almost constantly.” ... Delete the ‘slot machine’ apps Social media and video games apps are designed to hook you. Instead of looking at them on your phone, use a computer instead — one that you don’t carry around with you. Your phone should become like a Swiss Army knife, full of tools that you pull out when you need to get something done. Jonathan Haidt Social psychologist at the Stern School of Business at New York University and author of “The Anxious Generation”
