Stroke Risk and Sleep

Do you routinely get more than six (6) hours of sleep per day? I hope so! New research connects  risk of strokes with amount of sleep. Researchers followed 5,666 individuals for up to three years. After adjusting for body-mass index or BMI, studies showed a strong association with daily sleep periods of less than six hours and a greater incidence of stroke symptoms for middle-age to older adults, even beyond other risk factors. Study participants were of normal weight and had not sleep apnea. Researchers hope that this information can provide a strong argument for increasing physician and public awareness of the impact of sleep as a risk factor for stroke symptoms. Now you're aware! If you are having difficulties with sleep, see your healthcare professional. Develop new behaviors to help reduce your risk of stroke symptoms.

Brain Mapping

Were you under the impression that the human brain had already been mapped? Only partially. Recently, researchers in Germany (think of them as brain explorers) have found two new brain areas. They're at the front of the brain in a region known as the Frontal Pole, a portion already known to be associated with working memory and with social cognition and emotion processing. These two new brain areas have been named FP1 and FP2 (sounds a bit like Star Wars!). According to researcher Katrin Amunts, it took nearly three years to isolate and identify these two new areas. "Every time it's like a new continent, and it's surprising to find more and more areas," she said. Researchers estimate there may be 200 separate areas of the brain. Their goal is to have most of them identified on a brain map within five years.

Neuron Diversity

The word neuron, as we understand it today, did not exist before 1891. In that year, German anatomist Wilhelm Waldeyer dubbed the discrete cells that form the nervous system neurons. (In 1896, Rudolph Albert von Kolliker coined the term axon to describe the long slender cables that transmit signals away from cell bodies. In 1889, William His named the thin branching fibers that ferry signals toward the cell body dendrites.) Today, more and more is being learned about them. Neurons are not all alike in the way they look or function. In fact, they differ from one another more than cells in any other organ. Some neurons send electrical signals along fibers that stretch several feet; other neurons’ branches extend only a few millimeters from the cell body. Some neurons possess a fractal beauty similar to that of ferns and corals (e.g., Purkinje cells may sport finely branched nets, like a sea fan), while some of their neighbors look more like tangled tumbleweeds. One neuron might appear more or less round under the microscope—like a firework frozen in climax—whereas another might spider through the brain like a daddy longlegs. The brain is a multi-diverse and inclusive universe.

Creating Flashbulb Memories

Did you know that Flashbulb memories may be more likely to form in the presence of specific criteria? For example, the event needs to be novel and surprising, intense enough to trigger an emotional reaction, and important enough to the individual to have a significant impact. In addition, the amount of background information the person has learned prior to the event could impact the quality of the memory, while talking about the event with others and/or frequently hearing media coverage of the event could lead to overlearning of the information.

Smarter with Age

Intelligent or Creative memory is being touted as the new model of the brain. It is one in which analysis and intuition work together in the brain in all modes of thought as the mind processes concepts and ideas. Reportedly, this type of memory can strengthen with age if a person decides to hone it. The Google story is but one of countless examples of this type of whole-brained thinking. Neuroscientist Barry Gordon , with coauthor Lisa Berger, provided an overview of this newer model of the brain in their book Intelligent Memory: Improve the Memory That Makes You Smarter.

Are You a Mnemonist?

As compared with natural memory, some individuals have learned to develop artificial memory through the process of learning and practicing memory techniques. Known as mnemonists, they use specific memory aids (such as mnemonic strategies) to help them recall long lists or groups of information. The mnemonic strategy can be a special phrase, acronym, short poem, or peg words/pictures. While the mind typically has difficulty recalling abstract concepts like numbers, it can often recall visual images quite easily. The mnemonic major system is a common technique for converting numbers into visual images that are then placed along points of an imaginary memory journey in the correct sequence.  When the individual wants to recall a piece of information, he or she just accesses the requisite visual image

EQ and EQ

Beginning in the mid-ninties with Goleman's book in Emotional Intelligence or EQ, the concept has had some real impact. Until recently, however, it has been viewed primarily as an individual competency. That is changing. Vanessa Urch Druskat and Steven B.Wolff have been studying the concept of EQ among organizational teams, because the reality is that most work in organizations is done by teams. They believe that an organization can improve by helping teams enhance their EQ—that powerful combination of self-management skills plus an ability to relate to others. To build a foundation for EQ, a group must be aware of and constructively regulate the emotions of individual members, the entire group, and other key teams with whom it interacts. Studies have shown that groups with the highest collective emotional intelligence outperform other groups.