How ‘The Starry Night’ Explains The Scientific Mysteries Of Movement And Light

In 1889, from his bedroom window in the asylum he checked himself into, Vincent Van Gogh created one of the most recognized pieces of art in the history of mankind- and it has a surprising secret.

Van Gogh drew inspiration for The Starry Night from a drawing done by William Parsons in 1845. Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, was an Anglo-Irish astronomer who managed to view the Whirlpool Galaxy through a massive 6 ton telescope he had installed inside his castle. Parsons then depicted this spiral structure in a drawing, and a print of this was soon circulating all throughout Europe. Van Gogh created a masterpiece with the aid of this depiction of the stars, but he also gave us clues to better understand some of the most complex mysteries of science.

Lord Rosse’s drawing of M51, known today as the Whirlpool Galaxy

Brilliant animator, Natalya St. Clair, and TED-Ed have brought us a helpful explanation of how Van Gogh’s painting incorporates turbulent flow in fluid dynamics- one of the most complicated mathematical ideas to explain, and also one of the most difficult for the human mind to grasp. This mind-bending interpretation mixes together art, science, and mental health for an astounding interplay amid physical and psychic turbulence.

“Van Gogh and other Impressionists represented light in a different way than their predecessors, seeming to capture its motion, for instance, across sun-dappled waters, or here in star light that twinkles and melts through milky waves of blue night sky.

The effect is caused by luminance, the intensity of the light in the colors on the canvas. The more primitive part of our visual cortex — which sees light contrast and motion, but not color — will blend two differently colored areas together if they have the same luminance. But our brains primate subdivision will see the contrasting colors without blending. With these two interpretations happening at once, the light in many Impressionist works seems to pulse, flicker and radiate oddly.

That’s how this and other Impressionist works use quickly executed prominent brushstrokes to capture something strikingly real about how light moves.

Sixty years later, Russian mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov furthered our mathematical understanding of turbulence when he proposed that energy in a turbulent fluid at length R varies in proportion to the five-thirds power of R. Experimental measurements show Kolmogorov was remarkably close to the way turbulent flow works, although a complete description of turbulence remains one of the unsolved problems in physics.

A turbulent flow is self-similar if there is an energy cascade — in other words, big eddies transfer their energy to smaller eddies, which do likewise at other scales. Examples of this include Jupiter’s great red spot, cloud formations and interstellar dust particles.

In 2004, using the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists saw the eddies of a distant cloud of dust and gas around a star, and it reminded them of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” This motivated scientists from Mexico, Spain, and England to study the luminance in Van Gogh’s paintings in detail. They discovered that there is a distinct pattern of turbulent fluid structures close to Kolmogorov’s equation hidden in many of Van Gogh’s paintings.

The researchers digitized the paintings, and measured how brightness varies between any two pixels. From the curves measured for pixel separations, they concluded that paintings from Van Gogh’s period of psychotic agitation behave remarkably similar to fluid turbulence. His self-portrait with a pipe, from a calmer period in Van Gogh’s life, showed no sign of this correspondence. And neither did other artists’ work that seemed equally turbulent at first glance, like Munch’s ‘The Scream.”

While it’s too easy to say Van Gogh’s turbulent genius enabled him to depict turbulence, it’s also far too difficult to accurately express the rousing beauty of the fact that in a period of intense suffering, Van Gogh was somehow able to perceive and represent one of the most supremely difficult concepts nature has ever brought before mankind, and to unite his unique mind’s eye with the deepest mysteries of movement, fluid and light.”

Are you a fan of Van Gogh’s work? What other artists do you find mentally or scientifically intriguing? Tell us about them in the comments!

Written by Raven Fon

The post How ‘The Starry Night’ Explains The Scientific Mysteries Of Movement And Light appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

Profound Advice On Writing From Some Of History’s Greatest Writers

Have you ever wondered how some of history’s greatest writers became so great at what they did? They all started down the same path- wanting to express something inside themselves. Sometimes that can be tricky and we don’t always find the words to express what we feel. So how do they do it, and what advice could they give to help us? Profound bits of wisdom from some masters of the craft are here to lend you clarity and advice.

Stephen King:
“In both writing and sleeping, we learn to be physically still at the same time we are encouraging our minds to unlock from the humdrum rational thinking of our daytime lives.”

“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.”

Annie Dillard:
“At its best, the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you look for it. You search, you break your heart, your back, your brain, and then — and only then — it is handed to you.”

Anne Lamott:
“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.”

Ernest Hemingway:
“All bad writers are in love with the epic.”

“As a writer you should not judge. You should understand.”

Henry Miller:
“Work on one thing at a time until finished.”

Kurt Vonnegut:
“Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”

“The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not.”

Susan Orlean:
“You have to simply love writing, and you have to remind yourself often that you love it.”

E. B. White:
“Only a person who is congenially self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays”

“Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down.”

“Writing is not an exercise in excision, it’s a journey into sound.”

“Writers do not merely reflect and interpret life, they inform and shape life.”

H. P. Lovecraft:
“A page of Addison or of Irving will teach more of style than a whole manual of rules, whilst a story of Poe’s will impress upon the mind a more vivid notion of powerful and correct description and narration than will ten dry chapters of a bulky textbook.”

George Orwell:
“Sheer egoism… Writers share this characteristic with scientists, artists, politicians, lawyers, soldiers, successful businessmen — in short, with the whole top crust of humanity.”

“By using stale metaphors, similes and idioms, you save much mental effort, at the cost of leaving your meaning vague, not only for your reader but for yourself.”

Helen Dunmore:
“A problem with a piece of writing often clarifies itself if you go for a long walk.”

Anaïs Nin:
“Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terrors, great loneliness, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them.”

“It is in the movements of emotional crisis that human beings reveal themselves most accurately.”

William Faulkner:
“The only environment the artist needs is whatever peace, whatever solitude, and whatever pleasure he can get at not too high a cost.”

“It’s the most satisfying occupation man has discovered yet, because you never can quite do it as well as you want to, so there’s always something to wake up tomorrow morning to do.”

“The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is … to help man endure by lifting his heart.”

Susan Sontag:
“To make your life being a writer, it’s an auto-slavery … you are both the slave and the task-master.”

Leonard Cohen:
“The cutting of the gem has to be finished before you can see whether it shines.”

William Styron:
“For a person whose sole burning ambition is to write — like myself — college is useless beyond the Sophomore year.”

Schopenhauer:
“Truth that is naked is the most beautiful, and the simpler its expression the deeper is the impression it makes.”

C.S. Lewis:
“The only moral that is of any value is that which arises inevitably from the whole cast of the author’s mind.”

Nietzsche:
“Style ought to prove that one believes in an idea; not only that one thinks it but also feels it.”

Roald Dahl:
“I doubt I would have written a line … unless some minor tragedy had sort of twisted my mind out of the normal rut.”

Do you have a favourite author that inspires you? Tell us about it in the comments!

Written by Raven Fon

The post Profound Advice On Writing From Some Of History’s Greatest Writers appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

How checking your cellphone before you go to bed can seriously damage your health.

We all do it, just before we nod off, quickly check that last Facebook post or a quick skim through the text messages and emails in bed, AFTER the light have gone out, it’s harmless right?

Actually its not harmless at all, we are playing russian roulette with our natural body rhythms, second to having a double expresso, it’s one of the worst things that you can do before trying to get some shut eye.

You see, Smartphone screens emit bright blue light so you can see them even at the sunniest times of day. But at night, your brain gets confused by that light, as it mimics the brightness of the sun and interrupts your circadian rhythm, which determines when your body releases hormones. So every time you check your phone at night, it’s sending a stream of photons right into your eyes and telling your brain not to secrete melatonin – the hormone that makes you feel tired.

Image source: Tech Insider

Its a catch-22 situation because if you’re anything like us, probably results in you checking your phone for longer, and by the time your brain has finally had enough, it’s several hours past your desired sleep time. Do this consistently, and you’re missing out on a few hours of sleep every night.

Now, that might not sound so bad, but researchers are just beginning to understand why sleep is so important. Not only does getting between seven and nine hours of sleep a night let our active neurons rest, it also supports the glial cells that are crucial for cleaning up the neurotoxins that build up in our brains throughout the day. When we don’t get enough sleep, these glial cells can’t do their jobs, and we end up with impaired memories and attention spans.

So put that phone down at night as far away from you, messages can wait till the morning, but your rest can not.

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Can You Name These Cartoon Characters?

The Realities of Living with Depression

A couple of months ago, I wrote an article about ways to fight depression. The reception I got, based on the comments, was not quite what I expected. In fact, people hated it…

It’s not the first article that I’ve written that people didn’t like. It was, however, the first time negative public opinion stuck with me. Very rarely in life do I ever think I owe anyone an explanation, but in this case, I am offering one: I wrote the article as a reminder to myself, because I too have dealt with depression my entire life. I’m taking this opportunity to open up for the people out there that feel the same way as I do every day, but don’t know how to say what they are feeling. One of the most frustrating aspects of depression is trying to explain to other people exactly what depression is REALLY like. No sugar coating. No back-patting. Just a real discussion of how depression affects your life.

It’s Hard for Even ME to Understand

If there is one word I could use to describe depression it would be “perplexing”. I know I shouldn’t be depressed. I know I should love life and enjoy every minute, but there are days when it is a monumental feat to just get out of bed. If you were to ask me why, I honestly don’t have an answer. Depression doesn’t take a day off, so it is a constant struggle to keep moving forward, even when you know in your soul that you need to keep going. It’s like trying to climb up an icy hill wearing latex boots. It’s exhausting and frustrating because you just want to break out of your funk, but some days you just can’t. I go entire weeks in a deep funk at a time, and that just compounds the depression and anxiety. There are always going to be people that say things like “snap out of it”, and trust me: if I COULD I WOULD. It’s so easy to just say “oh, be happy”, but if you’ve never lived with depression, you don’t know how hard that can actually be.

Alone in a Crowd

If you suffer from depression there are times when you could be in a football stadium full of people and it makes you feel more alone than you have ever been. You feel like people don’t understand you, because often times – you don’t even understand yourself. Even when you do what I am trying to do and explain yourself, you just feel like you are rambling. You think “if I don’t understand this, how could anyone else?” When you crawl in your own head and try to make sense of what is going on mentally and emotionally, it is like trying to break through a language barrier. Your words don’t come out right. You get lost in your own thoughts. Trust me, I am doing it right now.

Putting on a Brave Face

So, you do what I try to do every day. You paste on a brave face, and you tell yourself that you can beat this. You fight every day to suppress those nagging, negative thoughts. You smile like a fool so that people won’t assume that there is something wrong with you. The problem is: you know that something is wrong. It never goes away, even if it ebbs from time to time. At the end of the best days, the depression is still there, patiently waiting.

Expression, When I can, Doesn’t Help

Even when you find the words to express how you’re feeling, very rarely does it change anything. It’s like acknowledging that there is a fire that you can’t put out. Sure, you’ve identified the issue, but there isn’t a real solution. Sure, you can get medicated out of your gourd, but personally, I’d rather be depressed than drugged. I know that’s not the case for everyone, that is just my personal opinion.

So, What Do You Do?

For me, I focus on the simplest aspects of life and draw as much pleasure out of them as I can. I take life one day at a time, good, bad, or otherwise. I know I am going to have bad days, and I just move forward. One thing depression can never take away from you is the ability to make progress. I also take great solace in the fact that I am not alone in how I feel, no matter how much I may feel like it. There are endless sources for motivation, support, and understanding out there. In part, that is why I wanted so badly to write this, to let you know that if you suffer from depression like I do, You Are Not Alone. I can’t stress that enough. I hope that in some small way I’ve shed a little light on what depression really is for people that don’t understand it in themselves or in others.

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5 Keys to Make your Dreams a Reality

Dreams are the fuel in our lives that drives us to achieve new and better things for ourselves. I will be the first to admit that I often times spend more time dreaming than I do working toward making those dreams a reality. No matter how far-fetched your personal dreams may seem, there is always a chance you can make them come true. Here are 5 key things to keep in mind when you decide to make your dreams a reality.

Focus on the Small Victories

No matter if you dream is to start a business or scale mount Everest, you have to stay aware of the little victories along the way. Every baby step forward is a step towards where you want to go. Sure, they seem insignificant in the grand scale of the journey, but every single inch forward is an inch further than you were before.

Stay Committed

As we move towards achieving our dreams, it seems like any little setback can shift us off of our path. Setbacks are not an opportunity to turn and run, they are an opportunity to truly focus on what we want and how to get there. Taking the time to evaluate a failure objectively is the difference in letting failure become a trend and using failure as a lesson for what to do in the future.

Stay Motivated

Motivation is the key to success, plain and simple. If you don’t have a passion for whatever it is that you are doing, how can you expect to achieve it? Motivation is a little, simple thing that is readily available in a variety of mediums. Read a quote from someone you admire, remind yourself of how far you’ve come, reach out to someone for a pep-talk – whatever you do, just keep going.

Maintain Good Habits

Good habits in life are the grease on the wheels that keeps us moving forward. Little things, like getting enough sleep or eating right, may seem like they aren’t connected to achieving our goals. In reality, they are essential. Maintaining good habits isn’t something that happens overnight, so keep that in mind while you work to improve your habits.

Stay Tough

Last, and certainly not least, you’ve got to be tough. There are going to be struggles in the pursuit of your dreams that are going to feel insurmountable. Know in your heart that there is nothing that you can’t do in this life with a little faith and the right attitude. This life is yours, so get to living it!

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The Brillaince of Johnny Depp

Generally, I am not one to ogle at celebrities, but Johnny Depp is the exception to my rule. No, I’m not obsessed with pirates (in a bad way). No, I don’t have a man crush (yeah, I do). I just honestly think the guy is brilliant. I’m not just talking about his acting, either – the guy really is pretty smart. Most of all I really like 2 things about Johnny Depp: 1. He is totally selfless and does a ton of charity work 2. He has an awesome outlook on life, and people. Here are 23 of my favorite Depp quotes on being yourself, loving life, and loving each other.

“If someone were to harm my family or a friend or somebody I love, I would eat them. I might end up in jail for 500 years, but I would eat them.”

“if you love two people at the same time, choose the second. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn’t have fallen for the second.”

“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.”

“My body is my journal, and my tattoos are my story.”

“We’re all damaged in our own way. Nobody’s perfect. I think we’re all somewhat screwy. Every single one of us.”

“Just keep moving forward and don’t give a shit about what anybody thinks. Do what you have to do, for you.”

“The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants.”

“There are four questions of value in life… What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living “for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is same. Only love.”

“I try to stay in a constant state of confusion just because of the expression it leaves on my face.”

“When kids hit 1-year-old, it’s like hanging out with a miniature drunk. You have to hold onto them. They bump into things. They laugh and cry. They urinate. They vomit.”

“She’s kind of a walking poem, she’s this perfect beauty…but at the same time very deep, very smart.”

“I don’t think anybody’s necessarily ready for death. You can only hope that when it approaches, you feel like you’ve said what you wanted to say. Nobody wants to go out in mid-sentence.”

“You gotta be careful: don’t say a word to nobody about nothing anytime ever.”

“You can close your eyes to the things you don’t want to see, but you can’t close your heart to the things you don’t want to feel.”

“I’m shy, paranoid, whatever word you want to use. I hate fame. I’ve done everything I can to avoid it.”

“The term ‘serious actor’ is kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it? Like ‘Republican party’ or ‘airplane food.'”

“I am doing things that are true to me. The only thing I have a problem with is being labeled.”

“If there’s any message, it is ultimately that it’s okay to be different; that it’s good to be different, that we should question ourselves before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different, talks different, is a different color.”

“I think the thing to do is to enjoy the ride while you’re on it.”

“They say the world used to be bigger. The world’s still the same–there’s just less in it.”

“My daughter was asked by a little old lady in a London hotel restaurant what her daddy did. She answered, “He’s a pirate” – I was very proud of that answer.”

“Growing old is unavoidable, but never growing up is possible. I believe you can retain certain things from your childhood if you protect them – certain traits, certain places where you don’t let the world go.”

“I don’t pretend to be captain weird. I just do what I do.”

“They stick you with those names, those labels — ‘rebel’ or whatever; whatever they like to use. Because they need a label; they need a name. They need something to put the price tag on the back of.”

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Homophobia Linked to Psychological Issues

With the gay marriage debate being a hot topic of conversation in the news, there are a lot of opinions being thrown around. Personally, I think people should be able to whatever makes them happy and no one, not even Kim Davis, should be able to stop them. I also think that is interesting, in light of all this conversation about the legalities and morality about gay marriage, there is new research that suggests that homophobia is linked to many other psychological issues.

The study, which was conducted by lead researcher Emmanuele Jannini at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, suggests that homophobic people typically have other psychological issues. The study involved asking 551 Italian university students from ages 18 to 30 to fill out a questionnaire about the levels of homophobia, as well as their levels of depression, anxiety, and psychoticism. The question were based on a 5 point scale and included statements like:”Gay people make me nervous”, “I think homosexual people should not work with children”, “I tease and make jokes about gay people”, and “It does not matter to me whether my friends are gay or straight.” The questionnaire also asked details about the student’s particular attachment style and whether it was secure or insecure. There were also questions about the person’s coping strategies.

What the researchers found was that the people that scored the highest on the homophobia questions also scored the highest for the traits of psychoticism. Psychoticism is actually a personality trait that is defined by hostility, anger, and aggression toward others. They were also found to typically have “fearful-avoidant” attachment styles and immature defense mechanisms. The better someone scored on the other psychological aspects of the test scored the lowest in the questions regarding homophobia. According to Jannini, “The study is opening a new research avenue, where the real disease to study is homophobia.” It seems that homophobia is truly a deeper condition that simply being judgemental on a religious or moral foundation.

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How To Travel When You’re Broke And What It Can Teach You

The greatest learning experience anyone can have is through traveling. Opening your eyes and your mind to new experiences and cultures can give you so much more viable information than any textbook. But some of us (most of us) can’t afford to just hop on a plane and go wherever our hearts desire. So how does one go about seeing the world when they are basically broke? I can’t speak for everyone, but I can tell you what I did when I decided to travel.

First, I had to get a passport and there is no cheap way to do that. They cost around $135.00 plus photo fees. If you are an American citizen without a passport, you’re not alone. As of 2013, only 36% of the American population owned a passport, and roughly 10% of those never even used it!
Next, I made a choice of where I wanted to go and started looking for cheap flights. Of course, we don’t have many budget airlines here in the states, so you are going to have to spend some time scouring the web if you want to find a wallet-friendly flight. Also, I usually had to switch between airlines and deal with a few layovers, but 4 hours here and 6 hours there is worth saving $350. I used SkyScanner, Momondo, and browsed budget airline sites to find my tickets.
Finally, where to stay? Thanks to organizations like Couchsurfing and Workaway, I was able to live abroad comfortably, with very little spending. Couchsurfing is basically staying with strangers who open their homes to travelers, and share their city and their lives with them- for a couple nights. Workaway is for a more long-term stay, and that program is a miracle for those who are interested in seeing the world on a budget. With Workaway, you work 5 hours a day (usually with an awesome family who can teach you numerous things), and are provided with room and board. Yep, 5 hours a day and you get a roof over your head, 3 meals a day, and the ability to see new things and learn lots of incredible stuff.

So that’s how I started traveling. And I haven’t stopped yet. Why would I? The life-lessons I have learned, the way my mind was opened to different cultures and beliefs, everything about traveling has been beyond beneficial to me. I thought I would share a few of those things I learned with you.
Here are five things traveling has taught me:

1) Take Risks.

Say “Yes” and jump.
Leaving America with only an over-packed rucksack and a little money, then heading to a country I had never been to was a difficult first step on this journey. But I did it, and I am glad I did. I was told that my decision was “stupid” and that I was “unprepared”. To be honest, we all do things that someone else considers stupid. As far as unprepared… Okay, I might not have had a safety net but I didn’t feel as though one was necessary. Which was an entirely new feeling unto itself. I have ALWAYS needed something to fall back on and I have ALWAYS had something to fall back on. You know what that did for me? It made me lazy. It made me take things for granted. It showed me that I could do anything I wanted to and I would be safe from everything, including myself. It was nice to have but living in a bubble of safety isn’t really living. Every choice I now make has an effect and I have to think about what I do because I am responsible for myself. Even though others care about me, they are not responsible for me. We need to take care of ourselves because that is truly the only assurance we have that we will be “okay”. It’s a nice thought that others will be there for you when you need it, but that is not a guarantee. Which brings me to the next thing I have learned.

2) People are inherently good.

You don’t see that very often, living in a country where most people are obsessed with themselves instead of noticing others, but it’s still there. The people I have met in this past year have turned my world upside down. I have been shown kindness from strangers, been hugged by strangers, been given help from strangers, and been shown new levels of faith and trust from strangers. There were still a sprinkling of jerks in the mix, and there always will be, but the good greatly outweigh the bad. I once lived in fear of other human beings. I was beyond socially anxious – I was disabled when it came to being around others. Thanks to this experience, that is all in the past. I still am not a fan of human beings, but I am learning to like them a bit more and not be so closed-off towards them.

3) Stop. Breathe. Focus. Smile. Try again.

Those five steps will help you in almost any situation. I tend to be a reactive person, or I was until this trip. Heck, I still am a bit, but I try to be proactive. When that fails, I have to stop what I am doing, stop reacting, and breathe. Silence your words, close your eyes and take a deep breath in. Release it and concentrate on what is going on. Focus on a positive resolution to the problem; you will find one. Smile and try again. This seems so easy, and it is. I should’ve learned this a while ago but we learn what we need to at the right time, when it applies to our personal life lessons.

4) Get back to nature.

The city is nice and it has it’s conveniences, but it gets old fast. Nature is beautiful and it speaks to the soul. If you want to get to know yourself and those around you, get away from everything that distracts you – the internet, the phone, the television. Touch the trees, feel the leaves, walk upon the earth, kiss the wind, dance under the stars, sing with the birds. Nature is there for you. It helps you understand and it shows you what you need to see. Most of all, it stirs something inside of you. Well, it should anyways. If it doesn’t, you just need to spend a little longer in it’s grace. The path between start to finish is oftentimes strange, yet familiar; take that familiarity and that strangeness and look deeper into the void until you see something you can no longer question- until there is no doubt about who you are and where you are going.

5) Love with a backbone.

Love yourself, love your friends, love your enemies. You don’t have to like what someone does, and you don’t have to tolerate their choices, but you should try to love them because they are a human being- just like you. You can be kind and firm. You can love with a backbone. I will love you, but that does not mean I will enable you. Sometimes we associate love with making someone happy but that isn’t love, that is fear. Don’t be afraid to speak the words your heart shies away from. We are all connected and the sooner we realize that truth, the better we will all be.

There will be much more in my travels that will inspire me and teach me, but this is a very good start and I am looking forward to whatever the Universe sends my way.

Written by Raven Fon

The post How To Travel When You’re Broke And What It Can Teach You appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

11 Things ‘Type A’ Personalities Want You To Know

The perfectionist, the competitor, the high-strung friend of yours.

They are the Type A personality and there is more to them than just their uptight behaviour. Beneath the surface of their personality traits, lies a whole slew of things to which you might be unaware.

Back in 1976, Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman concluded an eight-and-a-half year study of men between the ages of 35-59 and found some interesting facts about personality types through using questionnaires. Some examples of what was asked to them:

• Do you feel guilty if you use spare time to relax?
• Do you need to win in order to derive enjoyment from games and sports?
• Do you generally move, walk and eat rapidly?
• Do you often try to do more than one thing at a time?

Based on the responses they received, each participant was placed into one of two groups:

Type A behavior: competitive, ambitious, impatient, aggressive, fast talking.
Type B behavior: relaxed, non-competitive.

Even though 1976 was a while ago, their findings are still thought to be currently relative. John Schaubroeck, a Michigan State University psychology professor, has written many research papers on Type A personalities and says, “Type A is a shorthand way of referring to a predisposition that people have. It’s not like there are ‘Type A’s’ and then there are ‘Type B’s,’ but there is a continuum that as you’re more on the Type A side of the spectrum, you’re more driven, and tend to be impatient and competitive and get irritated easily by impediments to your progress on things.”

I know myself to be more of a Type A personality, and I have struggled with trying to relax for a good portion of my life. There’s a lot more to us than being an oxymoron of chaotic organization. Below are just a few of those things Type A personalities would like you to know about them.

1. It’s not impatience, it’s efficiency.
Anything that hinders us from achieving our goals- yeah, we pretty much hate that. Traffic, waiting in line, and being put on hold all fall under our umbrella of annoyance. We don’t dislike these things because we are impatient, we dislike these things because we could be doing something more productive with our time, and we have to-do lists to complete before dinner.

2. Showing up late (and early) is torture.
If we have an appointment at 7:00, you can bet we will be there at 7:00. Type A and Type B personalities have a different sense of time. Type A’s will usually always guess a minute has passed in nearly 58 seconds, whereas Type B’s casually assume a minute has passed around 77 seconds. We would never be late, and would prefer it if everyone else was just as punctual.

3. Our days revolve around to-do lists.
How else are we supposed to keep track of the numerous things we have to get done? Our brains are impressive, but we all need a bit of help now and again.

4. Each task we are given is urgent.
If you ask us to do something, we are going to get it done- and quickly. This urgency we feel makes us appreciate co-workers who have the same resolve, and who can work at the same speed as us. Again, we can not stand wasting time. Type A personalities “appreciate individuals that can communicate in a clear, concise and succinct manner,” psychologist Bernado Tirado told Psychology Today.

5. Goal-oriented? Yes, right here!
When we commit to something, we really commit. We will see something through til the very end, regardless if it is a presentation or Saturday night movie plans. “[Type A’s] are certainly more occupied with achieving outcomes,” Schaubroeck said to HuffPost Healthy Living. “And given that they’re so occupied with achieving their goals, it makes sense that they would be more likely to do so.”

6. We find it difficult to relax.
Again, this is where our sensitivity to time comes into focus. If we could be doing something productive, why would we ever relax in the middle of our workday? Downtime can feel like a challenge to us, unless we have previously scheduled it on our to-do list, of course.

7. We are easily stressed out.
Friedman’s study found that Type A’s are more sensitive to stress, and that is not good for our health. In fact, Type A personalities were found to have an increased risk of coronary heart disease due to our levels of stress. So yes, we are bundles of stress and we know that. It’s a work in progress.

8. We tend to fidget.
I click pens, but tapping your foot, grinding your teeth, and biting your nails are all considered common behaviour for those with Type A personalities. In fact, it is one way we handle our stress levels, according to researcher Meyer Friedman.

9. We have emotions and we make you aware of them.
Sometimes we go above and beyond what is expected, and we do that because we care (maybe even a little too much at times). So when we react or behave how we do, it’s because we are highly conscientious. We just really want everything to go well, especially if we have a part to play. If we seem uptight or frustrated when we are planning someone’s birthday, it’s only because it should be spectacular and we think they deserve it.

10. We don’t have an “off” switch.
Our minds are constantly going, and sometimes we can dwell on a mistake for what seems like eternity. Type A personalities often worry and overthink so much that it can keep affect our sleeping patterns, as well as our daily lives.

11. We are competitive… Especially with ourselves.
This is the one thing that most would consider a “flaw.” We put so much pressure on ourselves to be the best we can be, and then expect others to put forth just as much effort for themselves. We are often disappointed. Type A’s have a need to succeed, and if that means turning a game of Monopoly into a legal battle with legitimate property rights, so be it.

Despite what you may think of us Type A personalities, we really do have the best intentions, and we care about you. You’ll see just how much on your birthday.

Written by Raven Fon

The post 11 Things ‘Type A’ Personalities Want You To Know appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

Transplanting still beating hearts could save more lives, but is it ethical?

The New Organ Care System, or ‘heart in a box’, is a new heart-storage system that keeps hearts warm and beating while they are being transferred from a donor to a new patient, no longer will they require to be packed on ice to be preserved for transplantation.

The ground breaking system designed by Transmedics consists of a transportable cart that keeps the heart at the appropriate temperature and humidity while still supplying it with oxygen, blood and nutrients. These are fed through tubing clamped to the heart to help it continue to beat. Currently, “heart in a box” is too expensive to be distributed widely as its a whopping  $250,000 a piece and is still in the testing phase.

In the past the pool of possible donors was rather limited since hearts were taken from brain-dead individuals whose bodies were still healthy. But the “heart in a box” can reanimate a heart that has stopped beating in a body that has undergone “circulatory death,” where the heart itself is no longer functioning, not just the brain, and so the device allows surgeons to take hearts from donors that would not have been eligible in the past.

Without such help, surgeons consider hearts from dead donors too damaged to use. “The device is vital. The heart gets an absolutely essential infusion of blood to restore its energy,” says Stephen Large, a surgeon at Papworth Hospital in the United Kingdom, which has used the system as part of eight heart transplants.

“In the short term they’ll open the field,” commented Korkut Uygun, a transplant surgeon from Massachusetts General Hospital, to the Technology Review. Uygun thinks that one day we’ll have the technology to restore other organs, such as livers, up to an hour after they have undergone circulatory death, not minutes.

Its still early days, but so far there are 15 cases of the “heart in a box” successfully reanimating a heart from a donor after they’ve died.

Typically, an organ is cooled to about 4°C (39°F) to slow down the tissue’s metabolic rate and the rate of degenerative processes. But this system could increase the number of hearts that are transported, overcoming issues such as the time limit heart porters have when transporting a chilled heart. Other vital organs could soon be trialled for example lungs, only last three to six hours on ice – whereas the Transmedics device preserves lungs for 24 hours without needing to cool the organ down.

There is no way to test the function around a cooled organ, as there is no blood flow so it is susceptible to damage. This is especially critical for a patient about to undergo the invasive surgery to receive it, and the months of adapting to the new organ afterwards. Now, a team near Cambridge has taken radical steps to test how the heart functions. Using Transmedics’ device, the team claims to have restarted hearts while still inside dead donors. The doctors can then observe the blood flow to vital organs, before clamping and removing the heart five minutes later. These results are unpublished.

With technology keeping organs alive outside the body, even to save lives, its going to raise some challenging moral

“How can you say it’s irreversible, when the circulatory function is restored in a different body? We tend to overlook that because we want to transplant these organs,” mused Robert Truog, a medical ethicist from Harvard University, to MIT Technology Review. “My argument is that they are not dead, but also that it doesn’t matter” provided that the family has consented to the procedure. “The question is whether they are being harmed, and I would say they are not.”

Just a heartwarming story or a major breakthrough in medical history? What do you think? Feel free to share and start the conversation below.

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New Research into the Dynamics of Trust and Why We Need it in Our Lives

If you really think about it, trust is one of the most important aspects of our lives. Not just the trust we put in those close to us, but the trust we put in everyone around us. For instance, when we get in our cars every day, we trust the other drivers around us to not just lose it and yank the wheel into oncoming traffic. I know that is a funny was to approach the topic of trust, but it is true. If we didn’t trust others to maintain even a basic level of normalcy, we’d never leave the house.

Then comes a point where you have your trust violated. You swear up and down that you’ll never trust anyone again, but eventually it happens. So why is it that we, as humans, almost require the ability to trust in others?

According to Professor David Dunning from the University of Michigan, “Throughout our lives, sooner or later our trust is going to be violated in major ways, but there’s a social dynamic that pushes us to trust other people beyond the economics of the situation.” Mauricio Delgado and two other researchers set out to study this exact social dynamic in a study that was recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

The study involved playing a very common trust game involving money where the participant and a partner were both given a dollar. They are told that if they invest together, they will get a return of 3 dollars to split. If the partner chose not to invest and the participant did, the participant would be left with nothing. “The trust game has been widely used in behavior economics to measure how people interact—the amount of money someone can send to the other person indicates how much he or she trusts them,” says Delgado. The participants played the game 3 times: once with a friend, once with a classmate (not a close friend), and a computer.

What Delgado didn’t tell the participants is that the game was rigged. The partners of the participants would defect 50% of the time. This way, the only variable in the game was the social context of the partner/participant connection. What the research found was that people trusted their friend and classmates more than the computer, even though the defection rate was the same. Participants even went as far as to get mad at their friends when they defected. “Friends would come out of the experiment and yell each other,” Delgado says. The participants were told in a debriefing that the results were rigged, because according to Delgado, “We didn’t want to ruin any friendships.”

While the participants were playing the game they were also being monitored with an fMRI scanner. Researchers found that when the partners went along with the investment there was increased activity in the sections of the brain that are associated with rewards, namely the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. Delgado explains that “In different trials, the money doesn’t change—what changes is the context. And that tended to modulate the activity in these brain areas.” This, according to the researchers, shows that the result of the brain activity isn’t financial – it is social.

Dunning did a similar research study, but in his study found that although more than half of the participants chose to invest with a stranger – they only expected to see a return 45% of the time. Basically, people were trusting a stranger even at the risk of a loss as a method to develop a social bond based on mutual loss. Dunning’s study had a reciprocation rate of 80-90%, despite what participants expected their partner to do.

Dunning says, “There’s a moral norm here—you don’t want to insult the other person. If you don’t trust them, you insult their character. This prompts people to actually trust a stranger even when they never expect to see the money come back to them. That’s how highly people value relationships. And [in the big picture] we all profit from that emotionally, financially, and socially.”

Both of these studies raise an interesting point in human sociology: We need to trust others, even when it defies logic. It is part of how we bond with friends and even with strangers. It’s how we develop social bonds and move forward as a group. Consider that the next time your buddy asks you to borrow money.

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Five Ways to Energize Your Day Without Caffeine

Most people who work an office job will have to reach for caffeine at some point during the day to stay alert. Coffee is the main source for caffeine in an office environment, but some people even resort to energy drinks or sodas to get them through their day. While these may help you temporarily, just think about what they are doing to your long-term health. Even one energy drink per day can be detrimental to your long-term well-being. The good news is that there are a few tricks that you can try to help you bypass the caffeine but still make it through the day with energy.

1. Listen to Music
Some people say that music reduces their focus, which is understandable. However, just listening to a song or two that you like every hour can work wonders for your overall energy level. Can’t get going in the morning? Turn on your favorite tunes while you get dressed or while you’re driving to work. Singing along to the song will perk you up even more!

2. Take a Walk
Office jobs are good for keeping you at a single station for most of the day. That’s why it’s critical that you get up and walk around occasionally. Take the long route to the restroom or take a quick stroll outside. It may not seem like a lot, but your mind and body will appreciate it and you will fee more rejuvenated as you do it throughout the day.

3. Get Some Natural Light
Fluorescent lighting can be one of the main causes of your fatigue throughout the day. If you have a chance to open a window, be sure and do that so that you can get some natural light. If that’s not possible, then take a walk outside for 5-10 minutes. When you are starting to get tired in the afternoon, go outside instead of putting your head down on your desk. Just a few minutes of natural light can perk your brain up to make you more alert.

4. Chew Gum
Chewing gum will not only make your breath smell better, but it can also increase your awareness. Chewing repeatedly increases blood flow to the brain, which helps you become and stay alert. The next time you get tired, get out a piece of gum and see if you feel a difference after a few minutes.

5. Watch a Funny Clip
Many companies have restrictions to what websites you can visit at work, but if you have the chance, take a few minutes and find a quick clip to give you a chuckle. We aren’t saying to download a whole episode about something, but there are plenty of videos that are just a few seconds long that are sure to get you to at least smile. Smiling moves muscles in the face, which can help get the rest of your muscles moving.

It will be difficult for anyone to completely shut themselves down from indulging in caffeine, but some of these tips are definitely worth a try the next time you find yourself reaching for a soda or energy drink. Quitting an addiction is tough on anyone, but the long-term health benefits on reducing your caffeine intake will be worth it to you and you can still find ways to be productive at work.

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How one every day mineral can completely transform your health and wellbeing.

Thousands of years ago our ancestors would have been stomping around in nutrient laden soil and mud on a daily basis whilst drinking water and washing in mineral rich stream and seas.

Today, most westerners bathe and drink excessively treated drinking water that has been stripped of its natural nutrients whilst we dress covered from head to toe with our feet rarely getting to absorb any minerals from the earth. With such a highly processed way of existing its no wonder we are deficient of vital minerals such as Calcium and Magnesium.

While many are aware of the importance of calcium, the parallel and in some ways even more crucial role of another essential mineral — magnesium — is less widely known.

There are fifteen essential minerals required by our bodies to function properly. These can be divided into “trace minerals”, those required in very small amounts, and “macro-minerals” or “major minerals”, those required in larger amounts.

The six major minerals required in excess of 250 mg per day include:

Calcium
Magnesium
Potassium
Phosphorous
Sodium
Chloride
The body needs these minerals on a regular basis as it cannot manufacture them. Four percent of the body’s weight is made up of minerals, but their function as regulators is vast.

Magnesium is perhaps one of the most overlooked minerals. This is especially important because, an estimated 80 percent of Americans are deficient in it. 

 The health consequences of deficiency can be quite significant, and can be aggravated by many, if not most, drug treatments. From the year 1900 to 2000 the average magnesium intake has dropped by 50%. The reason for this is that magnesium in foods is destroyed by processing.

Magnesium is predominant in leafy greens and seeds. If you don’t eat a lot of these foods you are probably deficient as well. The minimum amount of magnesium needed by the body is 3 mg per pound. If you have anxiety or fatigue your needs are much greater. Magnesium both energizes and relaxes the body. Not many other elements have this amazing quality.

Dr. Dean has studied and written about magnesium for about 15 years. In January, 2003, she published the first edition of The Magnesium Miracle, according to Dr. Dean, two major lifestyle factors that deplete your body of magnesium are stress and prescription drugs. Unfortunately, the conventional medical approach for the former oftentimes leads to the latter, making your situation progressively worse as Dr. Dean explains:

The scenario that I like to talk about is very basic. You will recognize it immediately in either yourself or your family members. You go to your doctor. You’re under massive stress. Massive stress means you’re losing magnesium. You’re burning magnesium out of your body, because it helps support your adrenal glands. It helps keep you away from anxiety and depression. It helps relax your muscles.

 By adding this mineral to your diet, you are guarding against—and helping to alleviate—such threats as heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, depression, arthritis, and asthma. 

 There are a number of factors implicated in the disease process, and many of them can be traced back to a deficiency in minerals.  So if we decide to take a mineral, which one do we choose? It appears magnesium should be at the top of the list, as it could quite possibly be the panacea to many health problems.

Symptoms of magnesium deficiency:

– Heart disease
– Muscle cramping
– Diabetes
– Stress and sleep disorders
– Bowel disease
– Osteoporosis

Recently re-discovered as an overlooked key to good health, a number of medical researchers are recommending increases to the RDA for magnesium, with a report stating that it is essential to life, necessary for good health, and a vital component within our cells, magnesium’s benefits help our bodies maintain balance, avoid illness, perform well under stress, and maintain a general state of good health.

Magnesium’s benefits can include reduced symptoms from conditions such as chronic pain, fatigue and insomnia. Magnesium may also provide protection from a number of chronic diseases, especially those associated with aging and stress.

Conditions that can benefit from increased Magnesium intake:
Magnesium is known to reduce muscle tension, lessen pain associated with migraine headaches, improve sleep, and address neurological disorders such as anxiety and depression.

Conditions linked to magnesium levels include:

Pain:

Headaches
Muscle Spasms and Muscle Cramps
Fibromyalgia
Mental Health and Sleep:

Anxiety
Depression
Autism and ADD
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
Insomnia
Tics

Other Conditions:

Psoriasis, Acne and Eczema
Asthma
Blood Pressure
Diabetes
Osteoporosis
Magnesium works within our cells — the powerhouses, factories and regulators of the body’s systems.

Because it is a necessary part of hundreds of biochemical reactions occurring constantly inside our cells, magnesium’s presence or absence affects the brain, the muscles, and the heart and blood vessels.

Researchers suggest that adding magnesium to their diets decreased the participants sympathetic nervous activity, effectively reducing stress and allowing them to relax.

Calcium is often pointed out as necessary for stronger bones, but it means little if you don’t have adequate levels of magnesium and vitamin D.

Magnesium activates cellular enzyme activity, allowing the body to convert vitamin D into its active form to help with calcium absorption and bone building. Magnesium aids the release of the hormone calcitonin, which helps to preserve bone structure and draws calcium out of the blood and soft tissues and back into the bones.

It should be noted that magnesium is also positively identified in helping with a number of other critical processes including brain function, muscle building, metabolic action, balancing blood sugar and digestion.

On a personal note, I started spraying Magnesium Oil on the soles of my feet every night and having magnesium flake baths about six months ago and the results have been life altering and I can attest to first hand, that the addition of adequate magnesium to your life can help you can drastacilly improve your overall wellbeing, I’m now super chilled. Choose quality supplements that suit you, I prefer applying topically as well as eating a diet full of leafy green vegetables, seaweed, nuts/seeds, and cacao, to experience the benefits of this ‘miracle mineral’.

The post How one every day mineral can completely transform your health and wellbeing. appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

Even Smart People Misuse These 16 Common Phrases

Grammar-police. You know them well. Sometimes they can be annoying, but oftentimes they are just trying to be helpful. When someone knows the correct way to say something, or the proper use of a phrase, they may feel that sharing that information will be beneficial to others. Either that, or it really irks them when someone says things incorrectly.

Let’s be honest for a moment, shall we? When you hear someone using a phrase or term that is 100% erroneous, you make an assumption about their level of intelligence or their education. To reference one of my favorite comedies, a “pedal stool” is not the same as a “pedestal”, and people may think of you as daft if you say the former.

Words have a lasting impact on those you interact with. Using an idiom incorrectly or using faulty grammar is equal to walking into a board meeting in your jammies. Well, that’s what Byron Reese thinks, anyways. Reese is the CEO and co-founder of the internet-based company, Knowingly, and is a reputable name in the tech world. Knowingly recently launched Correctica, a helpful tool that reads over websites and finds errors that simple spell-checkers just can’t do. There are countless websites out there with errors- and the world of business is no exception. Reese says, “When I look for these errors on LinkedIn profiles, they’re all over the place- tens of thousands.”

Recently, Correctica scanned dozens of the most prominent websites out there, and you may be surprised to learn how many errors were found. What are some of the most commonly misused phrases and errors? Reese compiled a list, thanks to his trusty software, and we’re here to share it with you.

1. Prostrate cancer
An easy one to mistake, of course. But, by adding one letter, you change the entire meaning of the phrase. Instead of cancer restricted to one area of the body, you now have cancer that is prone to lying face-down on the ground. Mayo Clinic and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both have this error on their pages.

2. First-come, first-serve
What you are literally saying here is that the first person who arrives is the one who will be serving everyone who follows. The correct way to use this phrase is “first-come, first served”. Even Harvard and Yale got this one wrong.

3. Sneak peak
To take a quick look, is a “peek”. The top of a mountain is the “peak”. To use the phrase correctly, one would say “sneak peek”, meaning to take a secret or early look at something. Oxford University and the National Parks Service made this error, which is simply ironic for the latter.

4. Deep-seeded
Correctly, this is “deep-seated”, which means to be firmly established. While it might make sense to think “deep-seeded” indicates that something comes from deep within the ground, it’s not the correct use of this phrase. Both the Washington Post and the White House websites were found to have this error on their websites.

5. Extract revenge
Removing something is called “extracting”, like you would hear at the dentist’s office. To use this phrase correctly, you would say “exact revenge”, as in to achieve revenge. The BBC and the New York Times have made this mistake.

6. I could care less
I have personally heard numerous people say this, and it has bothered me each and every time. When you say “I could care less”, you are literally saying that you do care and yes, you have more care to give on the matter. Saying the correct “I couldn’t care less” implies you really have reached maximum apathy on a subject and could not possibly care less about it.

7. Shoe-in
“Shoo” means to urgently move something in a direction, and the correct use of this term is “shoo-in”. It came about in the early 20th century and was originally related to horse-racing, but then broadened to contain a political meaning. It’s easy to see why some people confused the spelling to “shoe” when the meaning engulfed politics- shoes are easily lost, and they aren’t capable of changing unless you do it yourself.

8. Emigrated to
This one is all about proper verb usage. To “emigrate” is to come FROM somewhere, and to “immigrate” is to go TO somewhere. And that is the rule that is applied- emigrate from, immigrate to. How many people do you know who get this one wrong?

9. Slight of hand
When someone has “slighted” you, they have insulted you, and that’s not the correct way to use this expression. “Sleight”, meaning dexterity or cunning, is the right way to use “sleight of hand”. Next time you text your friend about an illusion you saw, you can spell this one properly.

10. Baited breath
The correct use of this expression is “bated breath”, as in suspenseful. When you “bait” someone, you are taunting them or preparing to catch them. The term “bated” is almost completely obsolete nowadays, which helps to continue the mistakes made with this expression.

11. Piece of mind
“Peace of mind” means calmness and tranquility. When someone says “peace of mind”, they are saying they are totally at ease. Whereas “piece of mind” means that one is handing out parts of their mind. Completely dfferent.

12. Wet your appetite
56% of the time this expression appears online, it is incorrect. The right way to use this is to say “whet your appetite.” “Whet” means to sharpen or stimulate, and this idiom means to enliven your desire for something.

13. For all intensive purposes
What purposes do you have that are “intensive?” The correct way to say this phrase is “for all intents and purposes.” Originating from English law, this phrase dates back to the 16th century and means to “officially” or “effectively” do something.

14. One in the same
To correctly use this phrase, you would say “one and the same.” To say “one in the same” means something is inside the same thing as itself- and that makes no sense, unless you are talking about cloned implosions.

15. Make due
When you owe something, payment is due. So, “make due” would mean to “make owed”. Correct use of this term is “make do,” which means to “make the best of.” “I ran out of lemons and had to make do with limes.”

16. Peaked my interest
This one can be argued for hours. The original meaning of this idiom is meant to convey “arousal or awakening of interest,” but some people prefer to say “peaked my interest” as a way to suggest they are at their highest level of interest. They both mean different things, and the correct way to use this expression is “piqued my interest.”

Now that you have had a look over some of these, can you say you know someone who will benefit from this list? Is that person you? Maybe you have a resume or a website you would like Correctica to scan for you? They have a nifty “proof it free” tool, and it’s very easy to use.

Smart people know a lot of things, and intelligence IS sexy after all.

Written by Raven Fon

The post Even Smart People Misuse These 16 Common Phrases appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

Interesting Research is Proving that Misophonia is a Real Psychological Condition

I am not one to put a lot of stock into self-diagnosis via the internet. In fact, I am pretty sure that by answering the right questions about symptoms on WebMD result in a cancer diagnosis 97% of the time. Therefore, I really try not to pay attention to every new medical or psychological condition that pops up in my normal research pools. Well, that was the case, until I heard about Misophonia.

Misophonia is defined as an intense or angry reaction to an everyday sound like lip smacking, pen clicking, or in my case – chewing food. When I first read the description, I thought “Wow, is this really a thing? because if it is, I have it.” Nothing drives me crazier than being able to hear people chew food. It’s not just a mild annoyance, I am taking RAGE. It is so weird because I am not an angry person by nature, so my reaction to something as simple as the sound of chewing food is unsettling to me. Self-diagnosis or not, I think that misophonia is completely legitimate. Now, there is an emerging community of researchers that share that belief.

One of the problems with studying misophonia is that people who have it often don’t understand it. Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran is one of the only scientists to publish a study on misophonia. The study originated when a support group for people with misophonia contacted Ramachandran to study their condition in 2011. According to Miren Edelstein from the University of California, “we were kind of skeptical. Nobody had heard of this disorder.” Their skepticism was reduced when they interviewed 11 members of the support group.

What Edelstein found was that anyone who was subjected to “chewing, mouthy sounds”, they reacted negatively. The difference was that the people who claimed to have misophonia reacted MORE. This indicated that misophonia may just be an extreme end of a normal reaction scale, but it is a real thing. Another interesting thing is that the volunteers who had misophonia all knew that their reactions were extreme and inappropriate. Some of the volunteers even talked about how they had developed coping mechanisms to deal with their misophonia.

So how common is misophonia? According to a study that was done at the University of South Florida, almost 20% of a panel of 483 students reported what would be considered clinically significant symptoms of misophonia. Researcher Monica Wu said that those symptoms include “this extreme reaction to really selective sound stimuli.” Wu also found that misophonia symptoms were similar in nature to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and OCD. This raises the question: “could misophonia casuse anxiety and depression?”

Arjan Schröder and his colleagues at the University of Amsterdam proposed that misophonia should be classified as a new psychiatric disorder. Schröder and his team studied 42 patients who claimed to have misophonia and found that specific sounds triggered and aggressive response and social isolation coping mechanisms. Therefore, according to Schröder, misophonia should be categorized on the same scale as OCD. Although there isn’t a lot of research being done for misophonia, the research that is being done is very comprehensive. As someone who self-relates to misophonia, I am glad to see that there are other people who are addressing what can be an awkward mental reaction to something that is seemingly innocuous.

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New Research shows Genteic Differences in Night Owls

As a self-proclaimed night owl, I’ve often wondered if I might actually be part vampire. Some days it doesn’t seem like my brain starts working until the sun goes down, and that can have an adverse effect on you life in more ways than one. Sure, it makes for an interesting and diversified social life at times, but having a backwards circadian rhythm (sleep cycle) had been linked to all sorts of medical issues from obesity to cancer.

In an effort to understand the working of the internal human clock, a team of geneticists from the University of Leicester have been studying the DNA of fruit flies to get an idea of the genetic makeup of early risers (larks) and late-nighters (owls). The researchers chose fruit flies because, surprisingly enough, they actually share about 80% of their DNA with humans. They are not susceptible to any kind of behavioral influence like humans, so when it comes to linking DNA and behavior, they are the perfect test subject. In this study, the fruit flies were divided based on when they emerged from their pupal state, which is linked to their natural internal clocks. The researchers found a significant difference in the DNA of the flies that emerged early in the day and the flies that emerged late at night.

The lead researcher, Eran Tauber, described the phenomenon as being similar to a pinball machine. “Once a gene expression is delayed (in Larks), a completely different cascade of molecular events is carried, similar to the ball in a pinball machine that takes a different route in each run. The end point might be similar, but the different molecular routes result in a different journey time.” Tauber’s team is working to find out exactly which genes work to regulate our internal clocks to better treat circadian rhythm disorders. I, for one, am interested in seeing what they conclude in their research because I know how much having a normal sleep cycle would benefit me in my everyday life. Knowing that there may be a genetic answer, in fruit flies at least, in encouraging news.

Image courtesy of University of Leicester

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17 Celebrities Who Are Making A Difference With Kindness

Oftentimes, we find that the media focuses on things and people that have no real significance, nor depth. There are an infinite number of useless facts that cloud our mind- what someone was wearing, who they are engaged to THIS year, where they spent their holiday, the list goes on and on. Let’s change that up a bit and tell you some of the good (and even great) things that people with influence have done to make this world a brighter  place. The following 17 celebrities have done some remarkable deeds to show they care. Check them out!

1. George Takei

2. John Cena

3. Dave Grohl

4. Lebron James

5. Marilyn Manson

6. Jon Bon Jovi

7. JK Rowling

8. Zach Galifianakis

9. Tupac

10. Dave Chappelle

11. Mila Kunis

12. Daniel Radcliffe

13. Emma Watson

14. Russel Brand

15. Johnny Depp

16. Tom Cruise

17. Keanu Reeves

I know there are a lot more people out there who are doing great and wonderful things for this planet and the people inhabiting it. Do you know of anyone who is making a difference that you would add to this list? Leave us a message in the comments!

Images courtesy of Dose

Written by Raven Fon

The post 17 Celebrities Who Are Making A Difference With Kindness appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

4 Ways Video Games Make You More Intelligent (Backed By Science)

Growing up, I have always played video games. Since the days of Atari and NES, I have been a
gamer. That also means I have been told (by many people) how detrimental video games are- both for
my mental health, and for my general health. That didn’t deter me though, because I knew what I
felt and what I learned from video games was very helpful to me in numerous ways. Turns out I was
right, and science is finally here to back me up!
Action-based games improve accurate decision-making response time by 25%

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Games that are fast-paced require you to think quicker and make decisions faster. Most of the time, you are trying not to get killed and that means lightning-quick reactions are a must. How does this help in a real life situation? According to a study from the University of Rochester, those who play action games have a better understanding of what is going on around them, and are able to make decision faster. Researchers conducted a test where dozens of 18-25 year olds were split into two groups. Group A played 50 hours of the action game “Call of Duty 2” and “Unreal Tournament”, and group B played 50 hours of “The Sims 2.” What they found was that those in group A were able to complete tasks and deduce answers to situation-related questions 25% faster than those who were in group B. Also, their answers were just as accurate! “It’s not the case that the
action game players are trigger-happy and less accurate: They are just as accurate and also faster,” study researcher Daphne Bavelier said in a statement. “Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference.”

Playing video games can give you more control over your dreams 

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Jayne Gackenbach conducted research at Grant MacEwan University that found those who play video games have more control over their dreams and have decreased nightmares. She says, “If you’re spending hours a day in a virtual reality, if nothing else it’s practice. Gamers are used to controlling their game environments, so that can translate into dreams.”

There have been a few similar studies that have shown gamers to be lucid dreamers, which means that they have conscious control over the events in their dreams.

Researchers believe that this may happen due to the “practice” that gamers have living in another reality.

Video games improve your eyesight 

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Daphne Bavelier led another study from the University of Rochester regarding video games, in 2007. This study found that playing video games can improve one’s vision through something called “contrast sensitivity.” Basically, contrast sensitivity is when someone is more sensitive to moderately different shades of colour.

Additional findings revealed that people who played action-based video games averaged 58% better at perceiving minuscule differences in contrast.

“When people play action games, they’re changing the brain’s pathway responsible for visual processing,” said Bavelier. “These games push the human visual system to the limits and the brain adapts to it. That learning carries over into other activities and possibly everyday life.”

Video games improve memory, focus, and multitasking abilities in adults 

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There are many learning games out there that can offer challenges to adults, but some of them are more beneficial than you know. One game called NeuroRacer is amongst those. NeuroRacer involves swerving around obstacles while picking out specific road signs at the same time, and was found to “improve the short-term memory and long-term focus of older adults,” as reported by the New York Times.

A study led by J. A. Anguera at the University of California, tested a group of adults aged 60-85. The individuals in this group played NeuroRacer for a total of 12 hours a month and were given 6 months conduct the entirety of the test. After the 6 month period, the older adults had improved memory skills, were better at multitasking, and had improved attention skills. Nature journal of science cites the study, which says, “These findings highlight the robust plasticity of the prefrontal cognitive control system in the ageing brain, and provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, of how a custom-designed video game can be used to assess cognitive abilities across the lifespan, evaluate underlying neural mechanisms, and serve as a powerful tool for cognitive enhancement.”

Video games help children improve reading and motor skills 

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There have been numerous studies done on the benefit of playing video games as children, and they all say the same thing: video games improve cognitive function and motor skills. One such study, published in the journal Cell, researched children with dyslexia who played video games and found their reading skills to be more accurate, and to be faster.

Another study, this one from Deakin University in Australia found that children who played interactive games (like Wii) had better object motor skills than those who played non-interactive games.

Both of these studies show us that video games can be very beneficial to growing children, and to those with learning disabilities.

If you’d like to watch a TED talk by lead researcher Daphne Bavelier on her findings related to how video games affect the brain, I’ve got that right here for you. It’s definitely worth the watch.

Gaming is a huge business worldwide. In 2014, the gaming industry had revenue over $100 billion, and this year is expected to close above $125 billion. With statistics like that, it’s easy to see that gaming will be a part of our lives for a while. Good thing it’s not bad for us!

Written by Raven Fon

The post 4 Ways Video Games Make You More Intelligent (Backed By Science) appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.

How speaking more than one language helps you understand the human heart.

As the mother of a three year old who is trilingual (he speaks English, Dutch and Afrikaans). You can imagine how thrilled I was to discover that there is a growing body of research revealing that people who learn to speak more than one language throughout their lives have essentially trained their brains to be stronger muscles making them smarter, more creative and more responsive to their own feelings and emotions.

There’s just something about people expressing their thoughts in multiple languages and being able to experience this world using so many different perspectives when we connect with others in their native language that is so appealing.

Imagine how absolutely mind-blowing it would be to have the person of your dreams tell you those three magic words in more than one tongue?

After observing how my infant son in a social situation selecting his language and directing it to the appropriate person with the sole purpose to be able to connect with them clearly. I think there is something deeper to speaking more than one language than meets the eye or brain. It’s something in the heart, in the soul.

People who speak more than one language have stronger, faster brains. Lets look at why being bilingual is like bodybuilding for the brain:

 The New York Times reports  found that speaking more than one language in life truly strengthens the brain in multiple studies performed on participants of all ages — from infants to those in their twilight years.

 A study published by the National Academy of Sciences researched cognitive gains in seven-month-old infants introduced to more than one language from birth, compared to children being raised in a mono-language home.

The testing process was simple and effective:

• The researchers used audio in order to train the infants to anticipate changes in visuals taking place in front of them.
• Infants were given an audio cue before seeing a visually stimulating award, in this case a puppet popping up on one side of their screen.
• They repeated this action so the babies would anticipate the reward after hearing the audio cues.
• To test how well the babies anticipated their “reward,” the researchers displayed the puppet on the opposite side of the screen after the audio was played.
• Researchers found that the infants who were exposed to more than one language from birth more quickly adapted to the switched screens.

Another study, led by neuropsychologists at the University of California, was conducted on 44 elderly bilingual people. It suggested that using more than one language slowed the onset of many illnesses, like Alzheimer’s and dementia. With NPR reporting that dementia patients who are bilingual experience onset on average, four-and-a-half years later in life.

Training the brain to learn more than one language from an early age, as well as using those multiple tongues throughout your life is just like working out any other muscle in the body , the more you train it, the easier it is to flex and use on a daily basis – well into your golden years.

While research makes it abundantly clear that being bilingual means having a stronger and sharper brain, you may not assume that learning more than one language would make you more creative, too. I imagine if your mind is flexible enough to think in two languages or more, then you can quickly think outside of the box.

 However, Psychology Today reports people who are bilingual can come up with more creative problem-solving techniques and fluidly respond to challenging tasks than those who only use one language as they are more proficient in the formations of things like syntax, figurative language and metaphors, which allow their brains to think more creatively and respond to obstacles in more innovative ways.

Medical Daily reported on a study that observed 120 nine-year-old students to see if being bilingual effected their problem-solving ability and creativity.

Dr. Fraser Lauchlan, the lead author of the study said that:

‘Our study has found that it can have demonstrable benefits, not only in language but in arithmetic, problem solving and enabling children to think creatively. We also assessed the children’s vocabulary, not so much for their knowledge of words as their understanding of them. Again, there was a marked difference in the level of detail and richness in description from the bilingual pupils.’

This confirmed that by learning multiple languages from an early age, children are more equipped to understand various ideas and concepts rather than a single, streamlined thought process. It’s as if being bilingual allows us to tap into the more creative aspects of our brains that are normally left unused.

My hope for my son is to encourage him to speak numerous languages to assist him in not only learning more about different cultures and various communities, but also to guide him in learning more about himself and all the creative ways he can express who he is.

Speaking more than one language helps you understand the human heart.

 Susan Ervin-Tripp, from the University of California Psychology department, has been studying the effects of learning multiple languages on the human experience for years. In her paper titled Emotion in Bilingualism, she writes,

‘When we are in situations demanding a change in language, we may have a strong sense of a shift in values and feelings. Some bilinguals even report they have two personalities.’

And she’s right. Language in its various forms can be used as a tool to help us understand our core morals, beliefs and even passions and by understanding the effects being bilingual has on the brain, we can begin to see the enormous benefits speaking more than one language has on the human soul.

Not only does it better connect us to the world and people around us, but multiple languages help us connect to ourselves.

And for children growing into adulthood language unlocks the door to the heart by allowing us to easily communicate with each other and ourselves, by being able to understand who we are better, we ultimately become better lovers.

If speaking multiple languages can help us simplify and organise our thoughts better, then it can help us to understand the complex variations of love, life and happiness and relay those feelings to our loved ones clearly and effectively.

If you didn’t get a chance to learn that many languages when you were younger, don’t despair, you can start at any time and perhaps you could just learn the most important words in the world.

We know how crucial it is in any relationship to repeat those three words to our families and loved ones every night before we lay our heads down and every morning as the sun rises: I love you, Je t’aime,Te quiero, Ich liege dich, Ik hou van jou, Aloha Au Ia`oe……………

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