Heart Em Energy

Did you know that the heart and brain communicate through electromagnetic energy? Research studies have shown that the heart communicates information to the brain and throughout the body via electromagnetic field interactions. The heart generates the body’s most powerful and most extensive rhythmic electromagnetic field. The heart’s magnetic component is at least 500 times stronger (and some studies have estimated 5,000 times stronger) than the brain’s magnetic field and can be detected several feet away from the body. McCraty and colleagues have proposed that this heart field acts as a carrier wave for information that provides a global synchronizing signal for the entire body.

10% Brain Myth

Did you know that “you only use 10 percent of your brain” is a myth? According to Eric Chudler, Director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at the University of Washington, studies by both EEG and PET scans have shown that the brain is constantly occupied in running brain-body systems and in thinking. (This myth of using only 10 percent of your brain likely originated in studies of damaged brains during the last half of the 20thCentury.) Having said that, most people have room for improvement by developing skills through practice—very different from the notion that they use on 10 percent of their brains.

Benefit Yourself

Did you know studies have shown that the one who forgives, benefits more than the one who is forgiven? Forgiving is a sensible choice, for avoiding painful living, reducing tension and depression, and developing a peaceful normal life by gradual change. Forgiveness is not a sign of weakness but it is also not a once in a life time event. It is a skill and an attitude that only creates good will. It begins with your feelings of pain (for which you have a right) and the understanding that the incident was and will remain unfair. In forgiving, you have a right to give up your anger as an act of mercy even though the perpetrator may not deserve mercy. The motivation for forgiving is that you should feel better by healing your suffering.

Sports Fans and Cortisol

Did you know that watching a big game can trigger the adrenal glands to release two hormones, especially in the bodies of young male fans? Studies at the university of Valencia in Spain showed that testosterone and cortisol increased in the bodies of fans watching a big game. Fifty Spanish soccer fans were examined using 5-milliliter saliva samples. Researchers found no sex differences in testosterone levels of the fans examined; the amount of cortisol was generally much higher in the males than in the females, however. The levels of cortisol (typically released during stress) were higher in younger males than in senior males. Overall, watching the match appeared to be more stressful for males than for females.

Stress and the Female Brain

Studies by NIMH grantee Rita Valentino PhD: Women are twice as vulnerable as men to many stress-related disorders, such as depression and PTSD. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), which acts as both a hormone and a neurotransmitter, appears to be a key player. Researchers used antibodies and an electron microscope to see how the CRF receptor responds in the brains of male versus female rats — both unstressed and after exposure to a stressful swim. In the male brain under stress, many of the hormone's receptors retreated into the cell, making the brain less stress reactive. Even in the absence of any stress, the researchers found the female stress signaling system to be more sensitive from the start.
(http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2010/stress-hormone-receptors-less-adaptive-in-female-brain.shtml?WT.mc_id=twitter&sms_ss=email)

Physical Activity and Alzheimer's

Did you know that your level of activity can impact your risk for developing Alzheimer's? A study of individuals, average age of 82, showed that those in the bottom 10% of intentisy of physical activity were 2.8 times as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease compared to those in the top 10%.  An actigraph, a watch-sized device worn on the wrist, was used to measure physical activity. Interestingly, much of the recorded movements came from regular activities of daily living rather than formal exercise. The bottom line? Stay active!

Social Networking

Did you know that friends and family serve as conduits for you to be influenced by hundreds or even thousands of other people? According to the book “Connected,” as part of a social network, humans transcend themselves, for good or ill, and become a part of something much larger. You may want to be grateful for the people with whom you are connected, those who make a positive difference in your life.