Alzheimer's News and High Blood Pressure

According to an article in the December 13th, 2011 issue of The Globe and Mail newspaper, scientists at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada are currently working on a procedure to prevent the development of the degenerative plaques which form in the brain which lead to Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.  These plaques interfere with connections between neurons thereby leading to memory and other hallmark losses in functioning which are associated with types of dementia.  Despite the fact that Alzheimer's is not understood to be an immune disorder, but a neurological one, scientists foresee that a type of immunotherapy or vaccination would be the procedure of choice in order to inoculate people against it.  Estimates are that this type of treatment is at least four years away.

In the meantime, we have to do what we can to try to prevent this disorder.  One thing that seems to be a factor in the development of Alzheimer's (and other types of dementia) is high blood pressure. 

The small arteries of the brain are quite sensitive to elevations in blood pressure.  Long-term hypertension carries the risk of injury to these small vessels, impairing blood flow and resulting in damage to, and atrophy of, brain tissue.  Our risk of developing vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or some form of cognitive impairment increases with the development of hypertension.

It turns out that high diastolic pressure at age 50 predicts poor cognitive function at age 70.  High systolic pressure (in, or above, the range of 140 - 160) is associated with white matter lesions - a type of brain tissue damage that forms due to poor circulation - and an increased risk of developing dementia. (1)

D.

(1)  "High Blood Pressure Increases Dementia Risk", January 19, 2011, Deana Ferreri, www.diseaseproof.com

Men and Women as Friends

I've had a fairly high number of friendships with men over the past few decades, so I found an article I recently came across which discusses whether men and women can truly be friends - as opposed to romantic or sexual partners - to be of interest.  I wanted to see how my experiences stacked up against what the so-called experts had to say about the matter.  What I am going to do here is simply highlight some of the answers to a (quite unscientific) survey contained in the article from over 1,450 members of the Match.com dating site.

When asked whether individuals believed that men and women can be platonic friends, 83 percent said yes while 62 percent stated that they had had a platonic friendship which ended up crossing the line and becoming romantic or sexual.

Sixty-four percent of the men surveyed as opposed to 25 percent of the women were more likely to misinterpret the intimacy of friendship for sexual desire.

Ninety-four percent of respondents answered that it was possible to fall in love with someone who was a friend, first and foremost.  Only 4 percent said it wasn't possible for them to do so.

Seventy-one percent of respondents hoped that when they did fall in love, their partner would have started out as a friend.

And, finally, respondents thought that women were better than men at keeping sex out of a platonic relationship:  67 percent thought women were better at this aspect of the friendship while only 13 percent thought men were.

D.

From "Can Men and Women Be Friends?", Camille Chatterjee, www.psychologytoday.com, September 1, 2001 

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream (And Possibly Solve a Problem or Two)

While you sleep, you enter an altered state of consciousness, a different biochemical state than while awake, and progress through a series of stages. I will highlight stage 2 sleep in this article.

Stage 2 is described as 'light' sleep.  It comprises anywhere from 40 to 50 percent of your time asleep.  During this stage, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep occurs:  a period of rapid eye movement accompanied by heightened brain activity that is almost at the level of that which occurs while you are awake.  REM sleep usually begins about 90 minutes after falling asleep, although depressed/anxious people are thought to enter this stage much more quickly once they are asleep. A session of REM sleep can start out by lasting only 5 minutes, but as sleeping progresses, it may become longer and can eventually last up to 60 minutes.  I'm sure that most of you are aware that it is during REM sleep that dreams occur.  You have an average of five dreams per night though you may not remember most of what you dream.  If you awaken while experiencing a dream, or right at its conclusion, you may remember some or all of its details.  As the day progresses, most memories of dreams tend to fade away. 

For centuries, people have wondered why people dream and what dreams mean.  Theories abound.  Sigmund Freud believed that dreams expressed repressed wishes - usually impulses of an infantile sexual and/or aggressive nature.  Other psychoanalysts have theorized that dreams have more to do with narcissistic strivings or are compensation for feelings of inferiority.  More recently, psychologists have uncovered that it is during dreaming that information is processed, memories are fixed/set, and the nervous system is restored.

Though these theories may encompass some of your dreams, they can't account for every type of dream you may  have.  Just as thought while you are awake can drift through everything and anything, the process of dreaming, too, can cover similar types of thought, albeit during an altered biochemical state.  Simply put, the physiological demands of sleep alter the way the brain functions.  The sleeping brain makes sense of things very differently than the awake brain does, but as you sleep you continue to focus on issues/problems you may be facing, circumstances and events of your day, week, months - your life in general.  Simple triggers that determine some of the content of a dream can be something you noticed in an advertisment or television show, a conversation you had with someone, or some circumstance that happened during the day.  Dreams can tackle problems, or deal with deep-seated longings or desires.  Dreams may seem bizarre or nonsensical because the chemistry of the sleeping brain affects perception of thought, but as mentioned, the mind continues to drift through the same types of thoughts as it has during the waking hours: problems encountered, fears, worries, goals, desires, reminiscents, plans, people, ruminations or regrets.

Anything you've seen, heard, smelled, sensed that day, week, month, or anytime during your life may become tangled up in the seemingly nonsensical scenes in a dream.  It's amazing how people in dreams can start out as one person, then become someone so completely different as the dream progresses, or how you know the person in your dream to be a certain individual, but he/she looks completely different than in 'real life'.  You can also quickly move from place to place, desperately trying to escape something or someone, or deliver an envelope or brightly-wrapped package that suddenly morphs into a cello or cake.  You can find yourself at school or work or public speaking in your pyjamas, or perhaps in the nude. You can soar through the sky, you can run and lift off the ground, you can swim for miles underwater without oxygen, and you can get lost.  You can have anxious dreams about missing tests, or about trying to telephone for help only to find you keep getting the dialing wrong, or the phone doesn't work, or you can't properly explain to the person answering your call what your problem is.  You can have recurring dreams or nightmares.  On occasion, you can even break through the 'paralysis' of sleep and scream or cry out, waking yourself  (and others).  On and on it goes...  Dreams can so often seen incoherent, bizarre  - even simplistic at times. 

The altered state of consciousness as you sleep gives rise to fertile ground for solving problems or finding solutions to things you couldn't quite achieve while awake because it helps you find solutions beyond your normal thought patterns. To provide just a few examples:  Friedrich August Kekule came up with the structure of benzene while dreaming, Dimitry Mendeleyev came up with his final form of the periodic table of the elements and Otto Loewi devised the neuroscience experiment that won him a Nobel Prize in medicine, both while dreaming.   "Modern engineers Paul Horowitz and Alan Huang dreamed designs for laser-telescope controls and laser computing, respectively.  Innumerable artists and filmmakers have depicted images that came to them in their sleep.  Mary Shelley dreamed the two main scenes that became Frankenstein, and Robert Louis Stevenson did the same with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul McCartney and Billy Joel all awoke to discover new tunes ringing in their minds.  Mahatma Gandhi's call for a nonviolent protest of British rule of India was inspired by a dream." (1)

Over the past twenty years, "positron-emission tomography (PET) scans have allowed researchers to see which brain areas are involved in dreaming.  Parts of the cortex associated with visual imagery and the perception of movement become activated even more dramatically than while one is awake, as do some deep brain areas associated with emotion.  In contrast, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is less engaged during dreaming: this area is associated with volitional action and the evaluation of what is logical and socially appropriate.  These PET results fit the characteristics of dreams well; dream reports almost always contain visual imagery and often involve movement.  The prefrontal findings fit neatly with the fact that dreams have long been associated with less 'censorship' - not only in the Freudian sense of uninhibited sex and aggression, but also in terms of filtering out scenarios that are illogical or abnormal. " (2)

While you sleep, your senses continue to monitor the environment:  you can smell smoke, hear intruders or a dog bark, sense temperature changes and feel actual pain.  All of these may wake you up. You can also feel 'imaginary' pain inflicted on you in a dream, taste something that you are eating in a dream, or hear voices from a dream.  These things, too, can wake you up.  Though it is normal for a person's body to be 'paralyzed' while dreaming, sometimes individuals  break through this paralysis by screaming or jumping up in order to escape whatever is happening in the dream.  Some people walk around while asleep while others suffer from night terrors in which they can become agitated, violent or act out in some way as the circumstances of the dream break through the paralysis, but not the sleep.

Memory and learning are reinforced during REM sleep as the same circuits which were activated while awake continue to remain active during REM strengthening the circuits and, therefore, the memory and learning. 

Let's now think back to Kekule who understood the structure of benzene only after dreaming of a snake made of atoms taking its tail in its mouth.  (Benzene is a closed ring.)  Many studies of creativity suggest that disinhibition is a crucial component of creative thought and the brain areas that usually restrict our thinking to the logical and familiar are much less active during REM sleep.  As well, the "high activity in the visual areas of the sleeping brain allow it to visualize solutions more readily than in waking thought." (3)  Dreams, therefore, can be quite helpful for problems that require creativity or visualization to solve. How do you take steps before you sleep to solve problems or come up with new ideas while sleeping? Thinking about them just prior to sleep can increase the chance that a solution will become apparent while dreaming.

According to Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist who teaches at Harvard Medical School, you can practice 'dream incubation' in order to try to dream about a particular problem in the hope of finding a solution to it.  She suggests the following:

- write a note which outlines your problem and place it by your bed along with a pen, paper, nightlight or flashlight;

- review the problem prior to falling asleep and try to visualize it as a concrete image;

- tell yourself to dream about the problem as you start to drift off to sleep;

- upon waking, lie quietly while trying to recall details of dreams and write as many details down as you can remember. Any answers provided by the dream may not be obvious at first and may take some further thought to uncover.

For a more elaborate process add these two steps prior to drifting off to sleep: picture yourself dreaming about the problem, waking up, and writing on your bedside notepad.  And, arrange objects connected to the problem on your bedside table. (4)

D.

All references noted above are from "Answers in Your Dreams", Dierdre Barrett, Scientific American Mind, November/December 2011, pp. 27 - 33.

Midlife Depression in Women

Last week, I wrote exams in a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy course I've been taking.  A big component of the course dealt with depression.  In fact, I have a very thick text, written by Aaron T. Beck, which outlines everything there is to know about treating depression, utilizing the methods of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which, I understand, tends to work very well for resolving depression.

One of the prime times for depression to strike both men and women is during mid-life (ages 40 - 55).  I remember reading Dr. Christiane Northrup's book,"The Wisdom of Menopause" many years ago (not that I was there yet, but why not prepare!) and she wrote something which has stayed with me ever since and which in my own life I have found to be true.  She stated that women tend to become more introspective during their mid-life years.  This can lead to women questioning, among many other things, their choice of career and their choice of life partner.  Thinking too hard, evaluating and analyzing life, or 'navelgazing', if you will, can lead some people to evaluate themselves (and where they are at in their lives) too harshly.  Children leaving home, aging bodies and minds, and/or losing a life partner or a parent, can prompt us to question what has or not happened in our lives. Individuals are prompted by these and other life events to see their lives in a new light as they face the fact that their lives may not have turned out as planned, or as expected, or that life dreams and goals have been quelled due to some circumstance or another.

Women spend a lot of time at this juncture analyzing how they feel, and if they use what they are thinking and feeling in order to take positive action as a result of their dissatisfaction - great - it can really be an empowering time.  If, instead, they ruminate or dwell on what they think is wrong with life, and on how they feel as a result of what they are thinking and experiencing, this can very well lead to anxiety and depression.
According to American psychologist, Dr. Dan Gottlieb, "for some, these thoughts inspire change, but for others they lead to hopelessness, which can turn into depression." (1)

Stress as a factor which leads to depression and anxiety needs to be highlighted here.  It is more and more common now for women to still be raising children or teenagers during the mid-life years.  The stress of doing so, coupled with unbalanced hormone levels and sleep deprivation, can increase stress tremendously.  When a person is tense - and when estrogen is dominant - the level of the stress hormone, cortisol, rises.  When cortisol remains chronically high, it affects the balance of mood chemicals in the brain in such a way that makes a person more susceptible to depression and anxiety.  It is very important for women to be able to take some time to nurture themselves during these years - any type of activity that promotes health and aids physical and mental relaxation - like a run through a beautiful park, a walk along a river, playing a few tunes on the piano, or some time spent meditating or simply breathing deeply can go a long way towards preventing acute mental and physical stress.  As well, reframing thoughts in a more positive direction can also cut stress and counter depression and anxiety.

Anxiety and depression, however, are multi-faceted disorders, with genetic, chemical, physiological, auto-immune, and circumstantial factors like upbringing and other personal events, feeding into both of them.  Some women tend for any number of reasons to be more vulnerable to developing either or both of these disorders. 

Mid-life, though, can also be a time for enhanced expression and creativity, as new drives are awakened and time is found to develop interests that schedules would not previously allow for.  This can lead to an increased self-assurance/self-confidence, and a boldness or more of a 'laissez-faire' attitude where what others think doesn't matter so much anymore.  A woman may find a new self-acceptance, a certain peace about who she is with a "I am who I am and if nobody likes it, so be it" attitude.  For many women, if they can get the help they need to navigate successfully through mid-life, they can thrive and achieve things they never before thought were possible.  And, some women find that the best years of their life began in their fifties.

D.

(1)  "Understanding Depression at Midlife", Cheryl Platzman Weinstock, October 5, 2010, www.womansday.com

Putting the Science into Romance

Helen Fisher is a very famous anthropologist from Rutgers Univeristy who loves to give talks on the science of romance.  She has carried out a number of brain scans of people who are newly in love and during the scans, she found that the ventral tegmental areas of the brain are working particularly hard.  This area near the base of the brain appears to be running like a little factory, sending dopamine to higher regions in the brain.  This creates craving, motivation, goal-oriented behaviour, and an acute feeling of ecstasy.

The ventral tegmental area, however, doesn't work alone.  The nucleus accumbens, located slightly higher and farther forward in the brain, converts the exhilaration of a new partner into something akin to an obsession.  "Thrill signals that start in the lower brain are processed in the nucleus accumbens via not just dopamine but also serotonin and, importantly, oxytocin, which is one of the chemicals that floods new mothers and creates such a fierce sense of connection to their babies." (1)  (In men who become parents, the 'bonding-to-baby chemical" is vasopressin.)  When oxytocin is at play between new lovers, it can create an equally strong connection between them. 

And, finally, we have the caudate nuclei, a pair of shrimp-size structures on either side of the head which have a seemingly indelible memory.  They are the last major stop for love signals in the brain, but are also involved in storing patterns and mundane abilities such as knowing how to ride a bicycle or knowing how to swim - motor skills which tend to stay with us for life (provided no damage occurs to these nuclei.)  Apply the same principle to connecting and patterning in love and one can see how passion can turn so quickly into commitment.

Having one part of the brain "involved in processing love would be enough to make the feeling powerful.  The fact that three are at work makes that powerful feeling downright consuming." (2)  Perhaps we are fooling ourselves to think that we, in fact, have any choice (or free will) in the matter when it comes to who we fall in love with.

D.

(1) and (2), "The Science of Romance", Jeffrey Kluger, Time magazine special edition, "Your Brain: A User's Guide", p. 37.  

  

Endocannabinoid System and THC Mimics

The endocannabinoid system is an elaborate network of receptors and proteins that operate within the brain, heart, gut, liver, and throughout the central nervous system.  The system plays a powerful role in regulating cravings, mood, pain and memory. When bound by cannabinoids, they boost appetite and mood. (1)  THC which is acronym for the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, binds to these receptors.

Three THC knock-offs are gaining popularity on the black market and are commonly found in illicit products marketed as "Spice".  The first mimic is HU-210.  It has a similar chemical composition to THC, but is 100 times more powerful. The second mimic is JWH-073.  It is one of the easiest to  produce.  CP 47,497  is the third.  It is highly potent  and its long-lasting psychological effects make it highly addictive. (2)

D.
(1) and (2), "Tracking the Craving Killer", Discover (November 2011), pp. 12 - 13.

Notes on Boredom

Most days there are not enough hours in the day for me to pursue everything I would like to, so I seldom suffer from boredom.  I can remember as a young child, though, staring out the window come mid-August, wondering what to do with myself, wishing that school was back in session already because I was feeling bored.  I was back home from vacationing with my family and had run out of ideas as to how to keep myself busy and entertained after six weeks off of school!

You may find yourself suffering from boredom when you face any one of the following situations:
- when you are prevented from engaging in a wanted activity;
- when you are forced to engage in an unwanted activity; or
- when you are unable - for no apparent reason - to maintain interest in any activity or spectacle (or, I might add, when you can't think of anything interesting or engaging to do.)

Experts can't seem to agree as to whether boredom - a feeling - is a symptom of depression, or whether boredom can lead to depression.  So, I won't try to solve that question here.

It is often the case that boredom is trivialized and people suffering from it are often told to "snap out of it" or to "find something to do" (the latter being a common refrain by parents everywhere to a bored child) or "you're bored, I'll give you something to do!" (another common refrain by a parent to a child which was quickly followed by the assigning of one 'boring' chore or another).

"The first laboratory testing of boredom occurred in the late 1930’s and was then deduced to be a form of fatigue which was dissipated through the use of stimulants. In 1951 a book was published claiming that boredom was actually due to the repression of an individual’s natural drives and desires. After this date the research into boredom fell from grace and it wasn’t until 1986 that a psychologist developed the first full psychometric scale called, the "Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS)", as a method to measure boredom as an individual trait." (1)

An ongoing feeling of boredom, however, can fuel a longing for thrills to drive away boredom and may lead people to indulge in destructive, sensation-seeking activities, which include some form of risky behaviour.  "A 2005 study of 92 Scottish teenagers, for example, found that boredom was among the top reasons stated for taking drugs." (2)  Suffering from any degree of Attention Deficit Disorder (a disorder in which a person has trouble focusing or concentrating on a task or subject) can make an individual feel bored due to the simple fact that it is hard to maintain interest in something that he or she cannot concentrate on.

The BPS tests people to see how likely their nature is to become bored across a range of different situations.  Results have indicated - to no great surprise - that some people are more prone to boredom than others. People who find themselves feeling bored, may simply need more 'healthy' excitement in their lives, whether this is a set of new friends, some new activities or interests, or just a variation of normal routine.  Others may need to dig a little deeper psychologically because they suffer from an existential 'ennui' due to a feeling of lack of purpose in life.  Boredom that cannot be eradicated in a healthy manner can lead to destructive behaviours like gambling, recreational drug use, smoking, partying/drinking alcohol to excess, over-eating, and risky sexual and other behaviours - especially in teenagers whose brains haven't matured to full reasoning/decision-making/judgment capacity.

(And, here's to hoping that reading "Psyche and Mind" is NOT a contributing factor to any feelings of boredom you may currently be experiencing!)

D.

(1) and (2), "Overcoming Boredom", www.totallybored.co.uk

Eye Strain

If you spend long periods of time looking at a computer screen, you may find that you suffer the following effects: headaches during or after; irritated or dry eyes; blurred vision; slow refocusing when looking from screen to distant objects; difficulty seeing clearly at a distance; double vision; changes in how colours look; and/or frequent changes in eyeglasses prescription.

D.

Minty Energy Boost

According to Prevention: Outsmart Diabetes, minty aromas can help people exercise longer and complete tasks faster and with more accuracy.  And, supposedly, mint is a stimulating herb that evokes a primordial response to odours "we can also feel". (1)  According to Pamela Dalton, a senior research scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia, "such smells make us more vigilant, leading to greater energy". (2)

I sometimes chew spearmint gum after a meal, because I like the way it makes my teeth feel squeaky clean.  I don't drink any type of mint tea, though, because it makes me cold and gives me a headache.  I do put a few chopped mint leaves in my homemade turkey burgers, and many people use the leaves to garnish a drink or throw into a salad.  I grow many different mint varieties in my garden, including chocolate and orange.

So, on the next dark and stormy night, or perhaps just on a day where you're feeling a little tired, try breathing in the heady aroma of mint.  Brush a fresh leaf with your fingers to release the scent, breathe in a bit of mint aromatherapy, or wear a lotion fragranced with mint - "the cooling sensation it gives your skin coupled with the tingle it puts in your airways can be doubly invigorating." (3)

D.

(1), (2) and (3), Prevention: Outsmart Diabetes, "End Your Energy Shortage", Sarah Reistad-Long, p.156.

A Civil Society

Cyberbullying has been in the news a lot lately; so has sexual harassment.  The former, I have never experienced; the latter, I have. In fact, when I was 20, I quit an internship with Key To Toronto magazine because my boss wouldn't take "no" for an answer. That turned out to be only the 'tip of the iceberg' of the sexual harassment yet to come during my early twenties, both at work and at university.  I never dressed or acted provocatively at any of my jobs, but by the time I got to law school, and the male predators who wouldn't take "no" for an answer, I protected myself as best I could, by wearing baggy sweaters and jeans most of the time. (Didn't work and it wasn't about me or how I dressed anyhow...it was about power plays, and 'scoring', and aggression.)

Both cyberbullying and harassment - any kind of harassment - are about power. Sometimes they are about a sense of entitlement, too. (For example, I'm entitled to coerce you into sex because I hold more power than you;  or, I am man, you are woman - you know - cave man stuff.) Some feel threatened by you and need to ensure that they hold the power, that's why they do it.

But, this article is not going to be about the effects of harassment and cyberbullying on those targeted; nor, is it going to address the traits/problems of the perpetrators. It's going to look at the question of how humans stay good. Until we make it clear through serious sanctions in our homes, in our organizations, in our communities, and in our societies as a whole that neither of these aggressions is acceptable and that they will not be tolerated, these types of behaviours will not cease. It's time to get beyond old ideas and notions about kids and about adults, about men and about women, and adopt a zero tolerance policy in society as a whole. After all, it is within society that our schools, workplaces, and communities operate. And, there is something else that's been seeping into articles lately - and that is language that essentially places at least some, if not all, of the blame on the target - on the victim. I don't care how different someone is, how disabled someone might be, how quiet, or small, or vulnerable, or gay, or coloured, or pale, or skinny, or overweight, or sexy, or attractive, or naive, or Jewish, or Christian, another human has no right to zero in on another simply because he or she doesn't ‘like’ them, or like what they stand for, or because they need to feel powerful and in control. Consider this: is it okay for you to attack/harass someone because you have decided that you don't like green eyes? (Yes, that's as absurd as it can get sometimes...)

Humans are wired for gentleness and for aggressiveness.. Throughout history, we have had to nurture (gentleness) and protect (aggressiveness) our young, both of which acts ensure that our species endures. Most of us have been equipped with moral programming, but this does not mean that we will always practice moral behaviour. Knowing right from wrong doesn't guarantee that we will always act accordingly. It is up to society to make it clear what is acceptable and what is not. If you live in a society where protection of vulnerable people is a value, then policies must be adopted which ensure that protection. It may be okay to be aggressive towards someone in order to protect our children, but to act aggressively just because we don't like how someone looks or acts, or because we want power and control over them, or because they threaten our psyche - well, that's not okay.

Some people don't have a moral compass, or at least, a good one that's fully operational. And, most people are very good at rationalization: at explaining to themselves and to others why their behaviour is justified. For example, "ya, but she's a slut so she deserves it" (translation: "I don't like how she acts or dresses, so heaven forbid I should have to tolerate someone who bothers me, so she deserves to be bullied"); or, "ya, but he looks like a rat" (translation: "he really bugs me because he's ugly and I don't enjoy looking at ugly people, so he deserves to be bullied!")

The human condition itself causes us to be grossly imperfect creatures. And, personality disorders/syndromes, immature brains, injured brains, sociopathic tendencies, self-centeredness, self-esteem issues, and the narrow-minded attitudes we glean from popular television shows, internet sites (like porn sites and other sites promoting hatred, persecution, or violence), and from our families, friends, and some religious teachings, fertilize the ground which foments these types of behaviours.

To truly live in a civil society, we have much more work to do. We may never achieve our full potential in that regard, but we can at least strive to go as far as we can along that developmental road. Because let's face it, people bully because they can, and people harass because they can.


D.

The HSP - the Highly Sensitive/Perceptive Person

HSP stands for highly sensitive/perceptive person.  An HSP is someone whose brain and nervous system is 'wired' in a way that makes them more sensitive. This means that they are acutely aware of, attuned to, and affected by their environment, other people, and things going on within themselves. It can further be characterized as sensitivity to both internal and external stimuli, including social, emotional and physical cues: they are more emotionally and physically reactive.  Because they process cues, signals and other information more thoroughly than others, they become easily overwhelmed, experience more stress, startle easily, and are keenly aware of, and affected by, changes in their environment - even subtle ones - like energy, light, noise, smell, texture and temperature.

This sensory processing sensitivity is a basic, heritable, personality trait or temperament. It is not a pathology. It has evolved as a particular survival strategy for approximately 15 to 20 percent of individuals that differs from that of the majority of other people.  It is an inborn trait, noticeable at birth through observational studies of how infants respond to their environment and to other people. It has also been observed throughout the animal kingdom.

Approximately 30 percent of HSPs are extroverts; most, however, are introverts.  They all tend to be introspective, have rich inner lives, depth of thought, lean toward perfectionism, and require plenty of time alone in order to relax and replenish.  Social gatherings can leave them tense, exhausted, or highly aroused with difficulty falling asleep afterward.  They tend to not relax well in group activities such as a yoga class or other type of exercise class.  These types of classes which may promote relaxation and calmness in other people, can have the opposite effect on HSPs who relax better exercising alone. Even extroverted HSPs need time alone to replenish energy after periods of high intensity for them: after meetings, concerts, parties and social gatherings.

HSPs are easily disturbed, distressed or thrown into disarray by changes and don't enjoy living  situations which lack stability.  Constant upheaval (for instance, when a spouse travels frequently for business purposes) is overwhelming and upsetting.  And, because the nervous system of an HSP is so easily kicked into high gear, or affected profoundly, by things such as startling or loud sounds (like a firecracker going off or a rock concert), hormonal fluctuations, stimulating foods, spices and beverages, social interactions, strong scents or smells, bright lights, or temperature changes, they may often experience difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.  They may also experience physical symptoms such as digestive disturbances, food allergies and intolerances, or nervous system effects such as tension, heart arrythmias or headaches more easily from foods/beverages/circumstances that others can easily tolerate. They may have trouble tolerating medications/alternative remedies that others easily tolerate. Violent or horrific images are extremely disturbing and these images can stay with the HSP for several days, if not longer.

Being an HSP is not a psychological disorder, but can certainly lead to one as a result of life experiences and ongoing stressors. All types of anxieties, neuroses, and depressions can develop as HSPs find it harder and harder to cope in an environment that doesn't suit their needs.  They may experience high levels of stress and find it hard to deal with, or cope with, situations that they find too stressful.  Generally speaking, they are misunderstood by others, seen as weak and vulnerable, and as children - even as adults - may be bullied, ridiculed or made fun of.  But, having a high-functioning, easily-aroused, sensitive nervous system is a physical trait which a person has no control over - and did not choose, but was born with - just like the colour of one's skin, hair or eyes.

Because of how their brains and nervous systems are wired, HSPs may experience life as fraught with types of difficulty and upset that other ‘average’ people have a hard time understanding or experiencing.  If expected to function in an environment  that doesn’t allow them to have what they need in order to grow and prosper, they will most likely deteriorate both physically and emotionally/mentally and conditions such as anxiety and depression may very well be the result.  If they are repeatedly told that they are too sensitive, that they shouldn’t feel the way they do, shouldn’t need what they do, shouldn’t ask for what they need in order to be successful individuals, and told that they should be different than they are and better able to cope with all that is thrown at them, then they will deteriorate.

Western societies/cultures do not value sensitive people. HSPs tend to be highly intelligent, talented, and gifted individuals. Telling an HSP to “just get over it” or exasperatedly asking them why they are so sensitive, or laughing at them while expecting them to develop a thicker skin is damaging and futile because they can’t change their wiring. Instead, imagine the courage/fortitude it takes for them to continue living, coping and thriving.  If they are treated with love and understanding as children (and also as adults) they will cope and thrive.  Otherwise, their sensitivity can take a more pathological turn towards neuroses and could develop into a psychological disorder such as generalized anxiety, social anxiety, or depression.   

HSPs are at higher risk of developing depression and anxiety than is the general population.  HSPs tend toward loneliness and social isolation if they feel unaccepted and misunderstood, and also because they become easily stressed and require more alone time (remember most have more traits of the introvert than of the extrovert).  It can be hard for them to arrange social engagements in order to maintain friendships. While they may strongly desire social interactions and relationships, they may have a hard time sustaining them as others fail to understand them and they suffer easily from fatigue, stress and exhaustion, especially as they get older.  If they do not live in a stable environment, it makes it even harder for them to plan social engagements and to maintain friendships.  And, if they start to lose confidence they will withdraw, becoming more isolated, lonely, depressed and anxious.

Having written all of the above, it is important to note that HSPs usually do make sensitive and caring friends - noticing the energy and emotions of others. They are conscientious, exhibit high levels of intelligence, talent, skill, focus, perception, passion, intensity, depth, compassion and empathy. They are highly creative and attuned to the environment, as well as being great lovers of the arts, often noticing subtleties and hues missed by others.  They are especially attracted to professions which require high levels of creativity. 

D.

Estrogen Dominance

In one of yesterday's blog posts, Women and Insomnia, I mentioned the term, "estrogen dominance". 

According to Michael Lam, MD, women from ages 35 to 50, experience a 75 percent reduction in the production of progesterone while estrogen declines by only about 35 percent.  By menopause, the total amount of progesterone made is extremely low, while estrogen is still present in the body at about one-half of its pre-menopause level.  With only a gradual drop in estrogen and a greater drop in progesterone, there is insufficient progesterone to counteract the amount of estrogen.  Estrogen dominance results.

Close to all women age 50 and older are overloaded with estrogen - even if they have not actually reached menopause yet - and at the same time are suffering from progesterone deficiency.  Excessive estrogen causes a whole host of conditions, including insomnia and anxiety, both of which stress the adrenal glands.  This then leads to a further reduction in progesterone output and ever more estrogen dominance.  After a few years, the adrenal glands may become exhausted.  This, in turn, may lead to chronic fatigue, hormonal imbalance and blood sugar imbalance.

D.

This information in this article may be found at www.drlam.com

The Tale of Epictetus

Epictetus was a Greek philosopher who began his life as a slave in the Greek-speaking Roman province of Phrygia, which is now a region in central Turkey.  After being too tightly shackled, despite his assurances to his master that he wouldn't run away, Epictetus' leg broke.  He had warned his master that if he kept tightening the shackles his leg would eventually break and loss of production would result.  When Epictetus' leg broke, as he predicted it would, instead of showing anger and pain, or any emotional reaction whatsoever, he was very calm and accepting of the situation.  His master became unnerved and asked his slave why he showed no reaction to what had happened.  Epictetus explained that as the leg was irreversibly broken and he could do nothing to change what had happened, there was really no point in getting upset about it.  The master was very impressed and released Epictetus, so that he could become a travelling student philosopher.  He even gave him money, goods and letters of introduction to facilitate his journey.  His famous idea - "it is not the things of this world that hurt us, but what we think about them" - is now widely accepted throughout mainstream psychology.  (His idea has been expressed a few different ways, but they all promote the same idea: that an individual is not disturbed by events, but rather by his or her interpretation of the events, or by the meaning he or she attaches to the events.)

This is the principle upon which modern day Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is based. CBT works by focusing on the particular way in which an individual thinks and behaves in order to rectify behavioural, emotional and social problems, issues and challenges.  Clients learn to more clearly delineate their automatic thoughts, to see how these thoughts may be creating negative emotions and any resulting negative or unproductive behaviours.  They then work to quiet or change these negative thoughts in order to more positively view the world and their own issues, problems and challenges.

D.

Women and Insomnia

I have a very sensitive nervous system – like 15 to 20 percent of humans.  Supposedly, this highly-atttuned nervous system evolved as a survival mechanism.

During the first trimester of my one and only pregnancy, I had tremendous difficulty sleeping.  Many nights, I did not sleep at all.  It was a version of hell, trying to practise law, fend off anxiety, exercise, eat right, and stay healthy for myself and my child.  It was psychologically distressing.  I remember a friend telling me at the time that I will sleep when I’m tired enough.  I couldn’t believe it!  I was beyond tired!  She obviously couldn’t comprehend what I was going through.  The day I entered into the second trimester of pregnancy, it seemed like a switch suddenly went off and I was able to sleep normally again.  What a relief!

Now, I am experiencing what I term, “extreme perimenopause”.  Sleep has become elusive again.  Some nights I do not sleep at all, some I sleep only a few hours. Seldom do I get seven or eight hours, let alone the average 6 hours and 41 minutes that women aged 30 – 60 get on average, according to the U.S. National Sleep Foundation which also reports that women are more likely than men to have difficulty falling, or staying, asleep. (1)  In my household, this is definitely true where I am outnumbered by peacefully slumbering males, 2 to 1.  And, both of these males have lifestyles which throw my circadian rhythm off balance, and which negatively impact my ability to, and quality of, sleep.  (Yes, I am in a version of hell again: sleep deprivation has been used as a method of psychological torture for centuries.)

A woman’s biology can certainly affect how well she sleeps. The menstrual cycle and pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause all can affect the quality and quantity of a woman's sleep.  Because fluctuating hormones affect the nervous system, the more sensitive the nervous system, the more likely a woman is to experience moderate to extreme difficulty sleeping.  It is well-documented that changing levels of hormones like estrogen and progesterone have an impact on sleep.  Estrogen dominance is a key component which impacts a women's sleep negatively.

Research relating to sleep deprivation has uncovered that too little sleep results in daytime sleepiness, moodiness including irritability, and an increase in mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, an increase in the number of accidents, including those caused by poor coordination/poor balance/poor attention, problems concentrating/focusing, poor memory, poor job performance, compromised immunity causing illness, weight gain due to cravings and disordered eating, feelings of dissatisfaction and boredom, isolation due to difficulty having the energy to maintain friendships or attend social functions, blurred vision, an increase in muscle tension and headaches, and an increased risk of dying early from causes such as heart attack.

When insomnia persists over a long period of time, secondary anxiety can develop in which a person becomes anxious about not sleeping well, and about all the increased risk factors for his or her health due to not sleeping well. (Just 'google' sleep deprivation if you want to really worry about not sleeping well, and you'll get an idea of all the nasty things that may befall you due to insomnia.  Just to mention a few:  at increased risk of heart attack, alzheimer's, depression.)  It can become a 'vicious circle'.

Insomnia is the most common sleep problem in the United States (and I suspect elsewhere, too). Women are more likely than men to report insomnia. In fact, according to the 2002 NSF "Sleep in America" poll, more women than men experience symptoms of insomnia at least a few nights a week (63% vs. 54%). Fortunately, there are a number of approaches to improve sleep, including those you can do yourself such as exercising, establishing regular bed and wake times, making dietary changes (consuming less or no caffeine, avoiding stimulating foods and beverages, and avoiding alcohol), and improving your sleep environment and sleep hygiene (before-bed habits). One recent study found that overweight, post-menopausal women who exercise in the morning experience less difficulty falling asleep and better quality sleep than evening exercisers. (2)  Some individuals have found relief through yoga, meditation, or other relaxation techniques/exercises. Medications, supplements, and alternative remedies that induce sleep or relaxation, as well as those that treat underlying disorders may be helpful.  What works for one person, may not work for another.

D.

(1) and (2) National Sleep Foundation, “Women and Sleep", www.sleepfoundation.org

Optimism vs. Pessimism

One defining feature of a person's general outlook or attitude is whether they see setbacks as temporary and limited, or as all-encompassing.  According to Martin Seligman, a professor of psychotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania, "pessimists tend to believe they're to blame when bad things happen and that these bad things will persist and ruin other events in their lives." (1)  Optimists, on the other hand, see setbacks as temporary.

Now, whether an individual's general disposition is primarily inherited, or whether it is primarily influenced by the attitude/outlook of their primary caregiver(s) throughout their formative years is still open for debate.  It's most likely a blend of both and inherited disposition can change under influence by others and can also repel influence by others.  It can be quite difficult to separate characteristics we inherit from those which are the result of environmental factors although this is an area under continued study.  Traumas and other life events can go a long way towards whether any one individual tends towards optimistic thinking or pessimistic thinking.  But, how that individual learned to deal with traumas and life events, or how they learned to view them, would have an influence on how their general outlook develops, perhaps as much as, or more than, living through the event or trauma itself.  I think that the people closest to a developing child teach the child how to interpret life's events - what spin to put on them.  Was your parent open and trusting towards other people, or suspicious and antagonistic?  Was your parent generally agreeable, or basically disagreeable and bitter?  Did he or she see the silver lining in clouds or just the darkness?  Did they use pessimism as an attention-seeking mechanism?

Throughout life, how traumas are dealt with, and how life's day to day events are interpreted, have a great influence on whether more positive interpretive neural pathways are laid down, or more negative ones.  Does life wear you down, or do you rise to most challenges?  Individuals continue to be affected by experiences during their adult years and new neural pathways, whether positive or negative, continued to be forged.  It is not uncommon for individuals to become more optimistic as they age, nor is it uncommon for them to become more pessimistic.  The experiences we have, no matter what our age, affect both the mechanism and chemistry of the brain.*  All sorts of subtle workings continue to be at play in the brain, two of which are neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, and these are influenced by a whole host of other factors such as sleep, stress, diet and illness.  (It's complicated.)

No matter the mechanism, study after study seems to prove better health outcomes as people age for those with optimistic outlooks.  (Whether they are more optimistic because they are healthier, or whether they are healthier because they are more optimistic requires further study.)  Slowly, but surely, however, it seems that scientific studies are showing that thinking optimistically can make you mentally and physically healthier.  (Perhaps being an optimist is, in itself, a sign of good mental health.  Perhaps optimists look after themselves better and avoid more self-destructive behaviours.)

In Holland, researchers discovered after studying approximately 1,000 seniors, that the most optimistic among them had a 55 percent lower chance of dying from all causes and a 23 percent lower risk of cardiovascular death.  A study of law students at the University of Kentucky found that students who were more optimistic than their counterparts had stronger immune systems.  And, a study at the University of Pennsylvania which involved incoming freshman who participated in a series of workshops aimed at helping them cultivate a positive attitude, lowered their risk of developing depression.  Other research indicates that high levels of optimism are linked to better recovery from heart transplants and heart bypass surgery, protection from stroke risk, and even delayed onset of frailty among the elderly. (2)  And, another study has shown that seniors who still think of themselves as healthy despite the fact that they may have some issues with their health, have better health outcomes and stay stronger and more vital longer.

Researchers don't know exactly how optimism is a protective factor.  Further study is required.  What they do seem to now know is that the evidence they do have strongly suggests that pessimism is detrimental when it comes to disease development and outcomes of disease whereas optimism points towards added protection.

A 2009 study by The Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford, UK came up with what they have termed, an "optimism spectrum", which I thought might be of  interest here.  Some of you may find that the categories overlap.  For what it's worth, here are the categories - which category describes you?:
Unabashed optimist:  I am always very optimistic, whatever the circumstances
Contagious optimist:  I am always optimistic, and my optimism spreads to those around me
Concrete optimist:  I am optimistic, but I am realistic about the possible outcomes of events
Cautious optimist:  I am optimistic, but I am careful not to be complacent about my good fortune
Situational optimist:  My levels of optimism/pessimism change from situation to situation
Realist:  I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but simply realistic about the good and bad things in my life
Fatalist:  I accept that essentially I can't change what's going to happen to me, whether it's good or bad
Individualist:  I believe that essentially I have control over what's going to happen to me, whether it's good or bad
Pessimist:  I am generally pessimistic, whatever the circumstances. (3)

D.
*the changing nature of the brain throughout life is called  'neuroplasticity'.  Up until a couple of decades ago, it was thought that the brain was incapable of changing during the adult years, apart from changes induced by injury or disease.  (Like the old adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.)  It has been well-documented over the last several years, however, that you CAN teach that old dog some new tricks, and that ongoing experiences and learning does, indeed, change the brain.  Much is being written on this 'plastic' nature of the brain - on the ability for it to continue changing as we age, to continue laying down neural pathways and making new synaptic connections, based on what we learn and experience.

(1)  and (2)  Health:  Total Wellness For A Better Life, October 19, 2011, Chris Wadsworth, www.newsmaxhealth.com.
(3)  Optimism:  A Report from the Social Issues Research Centre, February, 2009, p. 22.

Disorders of Personality

Familiar Personality Disorders (PDs) include narcissistic, antisocial, dependent, histrionic, borderline, and avoidant ones, although about 10 conditions are recognized by psychiatrists and psychologists as PDs.  Everyone knows that individuals with this type of disorder have a problem - except for them. They often seek professional treatment only after persuaded to do so by another person.

PDs are among the most difficult cases to successfully treat. They don't exist apart from an individual's core personality, like something like an anxiety disorder does; rather, they wind through a person's entire personality and, generally speaking, IS the personality, not just an adjunct to it.  It is estimated that about 40 percent of individuals suffering from a PD can find some improvement with a combination of medication and some form of 'talk' therapy. 

The cost to society resulting from PDs is great.  Individuals suffering from a PD are often perpetrators of spousal and child abuse and other forms of violence, creating unhealthy living conditions for others. Even if they are able to be persuaded to undergo therapy, they may continue to deny that they have a problem, preferring to list everything that is wrong with everyone else - blaming everyone else, or the situation, for their problems.  They seek therapy under duress, often using the sessions in order to bolster their claim that they don't have a problem;  that it is others - their spouse, their colleagues - who are to blame for the way they act and that their actions are completely justified.  They are usually self-absorbed, believing that they have every right to be because they're 'so hard done by' at home, or at work.  When the therapist doesn't provide them with the expected validation for their behaviour, they simply fire the therapist.

PDs are extremely complex and as noted above, difficult to treat.  They are often heritable conditions, but can also come about as a result of conditioning during a person's early years because of things like childhood abuse or some other trauma.  A PD doesn't usually manifest itself until the late teenage years;  however, earlier signs may simply have been missed by parents.  Alternatively, because a parent may have the disorder, they can't see that anything is wrong with the child.  Even when environmental factors such as child abuse take place, it is hard to determine whether the reason the child ended up with, for example, a narcissistic personality disorder, was simply because of the abuse which led to self-loathing and low self-esteem - to then be covered up by self-aggrandizement - or that the abuse ended up manifesting as it did because it triggered the heritable condition.  In other words, that is how the abuse manifested itself in that particular child due to genetic factors, whereas in another child it may have manifested itself in another type of PD, or in anxiety or depression.

According to Jeffrey Kluger's article "Pain, Rage and Blame" in a special edition of Time magazine, "personality disorders are ego syntonic:  individuals believe that the drama, self-absorption, and other traits that characterize their condition are reasonable responses to the way the world is treating them." (1)  As a result, because the patient doesn't accept that there is something wrong with them - as they do when they have something like panic disorder or a phobia - how can they accept the treatment required to give them any chance at all towards healing?

While antidepressant and anxiety medications do little to change something as fundamental as personality, they may help to smooth out the rough edges, to calm the stress that comes from living so disordered a life.  Once some patients feel less stressed, they may be motivated enough to take on the harder work of a therapy like cognitive behavioural therapy in which new ways of thinking and reacting about life situations are taught, and then utilized, in order to enable patients to repair what is not working in their lives.

D.

(1) "Pain, Rage and Blame", Jeffrey Kluger, Time magazine special edition: "Your Brain:  A User's Guide", p. 52.

On Stress and the Brain

Stress inhibits neurogenesis (the formation of new neurons) in the brain.  Help!!!

Aerobic exercise (which increases the availability of oxygen and nutrient-filled blood in the brain, nourishing the brain) increases neurogenesis.  Yeah!!!


D.

In the Words of Eckhart Tolle: Meaning and Purpose

I am not a follower of Eckhart Tolle, but found this passage to be of some importance.  It reads as follows:  "As soon as you rise above mere survival, the question of meaning and purpose become of paramount importance in your life.  Many people feel caught up in the routines of daily living that seem to deprive their life of significance. Some believe that life is passing them by or has passed them by already.  Others feel severely restricted by the demands of their job and supporting a family or by their financial or living situation.  Some are consumed by acute stress, others by acute boredom.  Some are lost in frantic doing;  others are lost in stagnation.  Many people long for the freedom and the expansion that prosperity promises.  Others already enjoy the relative freedom that comes with prosperity and discover that even that is not enough to endow their lives with meaning.  There is no substitute for finding true purpose." (1)

D.

(1)  Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth:  Awakening to Your Life's Purpose.  New York, Pengin Group, 2005, p. 257.

Iphones, Blackberries and Other 'Smart' Devices

According to a recent article in the journal, Cortex, we are not addicted to our mobile devices, we are in love with them.  (Gleaned from brain imaging studies.)

D.

Should She or Shouldn't She

I recently came across a letter I wrote a while back in response to an article in the January 2005 issue of Canadian Living Magazine. I thought that the contents of the letter would make a good post for this particular blog.  So, here it goes.  (You'll be able to figure out, from the contents of the letter, what the article I was responding to was all about.)

Dr. David Posen "missed the mark" with his usage of the word "should" in "Happy New You" (paragraph 3, page 54, January 2005).  Even though he was trying to convey to us some examples of positive reprogramming of that little inner voice, the word "should" carries with it too many connotations of guilt and obligation to form any part of a healthy relationship with ones self.  It is never the right word to use for positive self-talk or reinforcement.  Better phraseology would be "my needs are important" or "I think I will do that for myself because it is something I enjoy doing".  In fact, one could even argue that he contradicts the initial content of his previous paragraph where he mentions standing up to the "shoulds" and "musts".  Even when trying to use "should" in a positive manner, as Dr. Posen attempts to do when he writes, "I should be able to do something for myself...I should start taking better care of myself" the feelings of guilt and obligation still lurk beneath these suggested phrases.  Such feelings perpetuate the process of "beating ourselves up" because we should be taking better care of ourselves, but we are not.  This can only detract from the goal of achieving a "happy new you".  The less we fill our heads with "should messages", the more at peace we will be.

D.

Think Fast!

It may be that accelerated thinking can improve your mood.  Six experiments at Princeton and Harvard universities in 2009 found that fast thinking "made participants feel more elated, creative and, to a lesser degree, energetic and powerful".  So, things like brainstorming or quickly doing a crossword or other puzzle  can boost a person's mood.  Small bursts of feeling good can lead to upward spirals in general mood.  The key here, though, is that the thoughts must be not only fast, but varied as well. People generally believe that one's ability to think fast indicates a positive mood.  This, in itself, may be the cause for the findings.  (Remember, too, that the simple act of smiling can have a positive effect on one's mood as it seems to trick the brain into thinking we must be happy if we are smiling.)  Or, it may be that thinking quickly triggers the brain's novelty-loving dopamine system.

Be wary, however, of fast, repetitive thoughts.  These can trigger anxiety. Repetitive thoughts which accompany slow thinking tend to sap a person's energy and cultivate depression.  Slow, varied thinking tends to lead to the kind of calm repose and peaceful happiness associated with meditation.

D.

Another Mood Food - Good or Not So Good?

Dark chocolate contains mood-lifting compounds like tryptophan, magnesium (debateable whether magnesium acutally boosts mood or not, though one study showed that it helped reverse depression in some people), tyramine, phenylalanine and anandaminde-related lipids which inhibit anandaminde hydroloysis in the brain, acting as cannabinoid mimics like those present in marijuana.  There's a glitch though:  the sugar that chocolate contains can lead to a sharp rise in blood sugar levels, followed by a sharp drop.  This can leave you feeling 'down' as your mental and physical energy levels suddenly dip. It is best to aim for a 70 percent or higher amount of cocoa solids, without added milk solids or other dairy products,  for maximum health-related compounds as well as less sugar.  There's another glitch:  as with coffee, the caffeine (and some other chemicals which chocolate contains like phenylalanine and tyramine) can bring on feelings of anxiety in susceptible individuals.  And, if you suffer from panic attacks, or episodes of tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, or ectopic heart beats, be wary of consuming regular coffee, tea or dark chocolate as each of these items can bring on one or more of these events.

And, as a final note, stimulants such as caffeine have been shown to increase aggression and anger levels in some individuals.

D.

Out of Character

David DeSteno and Piercarlo Valdesolo argue in their new book, Out of Character, that no action is purely good or bad and that speaking of one's true character misses the point because character is a fluctuating state.  It constantly oscillates to adjust to our current needs.  

This moral relativism may make some of you uneasy.  I know that I'll have to think long and hard about this one to figure out where I stand on the issue (and Cyndi Lauper might have to rewrite her song, True Colors!).

D.

Thriving in Love

Long-term love thrives on rose-coloured glasses.  People who retain over-inflated ideations of their partners' positive attributes report greater marriage satisfaction over the long term than do their less optimistic counterparts.  According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, optimistic partners apply 'approach' strategies to "problem-solving, employing cooperation and refraining from attacks". (1)  Less optimistic couples do the opposite:  they blame and attack, and use avoidant strategies (like 'giving the cold shoulder'), all which act only to further strain the relationship.

D.

(1)  Psychology Today, May/June 2011, p. 11.

On Empathy

I happen to greatly admire President Barack Obama.  A while back - some time in 2009, I don't remember the exact date, having not recorded it - the New York Times quoted President Obama as he spoke about the kind of judge he would appoint to the Supreme Court of the United States of America.  The President's description of empathy is one of the best I've come across to convey what it truly means to be able to empathize with another person.  As reportedly spoken by the President:  "That kind of judge will have empathy.  I view the quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes."

Empathy requires a whole lot more than just recognizing another's emotions, feelings, or point of view.  What is required is for you to "put yourself in their shoes", or "to walk a mile in their shoes" in order to fully and deeply comprehend where that person "is coming from":  what they are feeling, experiencing, and thinking.  Being able to identify with, not only comprehend, another's plight, within your own self, is what it means to empathize with your fellow man (or woman).  The ability to empathize is an integral part of the human condition - of what it means to be human in the first place.  It is the 'seat' of our humanity.

Individuals, either through accident of birth or environmental influence lack the ability to empathize are very scary individuals indeed.  They often come across as if there is some kind of empty spot in their brain where, for the rest of us, our humanity resides. Synapses are not connecting;  something is not wired.  A gap exists. 

Scientific research has been investigating the role that our brain's mirror neurons play in our day to day life.  Mirror neurons are what make empathy possible in the first place.  "Mirror neurons are activated both when one does something and when one observes somebody else doing the same thing.  Thus, they represent the neurological mechanism that allows us to put ourselves in the shoes of others."  (1)

The diversity in our world today is so vast that the very mechanisms which created it lack the ability to cope with it.  "The reason why people feel threatened by other people's habits and ways of life and have a 'gut reaction' against such diversity is due to the fact that their mirror neurons are less able to understand the 'stranger'.  His or her intentions and emotions are to a certain extent clouded by one's cultural identity and made inacessible to others." (2)  Most mentally healthy individuals, however, can consciously work hard to override this gap in understanding and expand their minds (utilize the concept of 'neuroplasticity') in order to include indentification with persons with whom we seemingly have little in common.  Intellect can be used to stretch us beyond our own experience and to cultivate rational and emotional thought which fosters harmony rather than antipathy.

Prejudice blinds us to the fact that the 'other' is actually a human - a person - and in Canada, one who is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  People who physically or emotionally harm others because they are of a different race, colour, sexual orientation, or are simply fat and out of shape, or small in stature seemingly lack empathy.  Can they not imagine how they would feel if someone did the same thing to them - possibly because they didn't like their haircut, or the colour of their eyes, or the scars on their face?

(The view of another person as "the other" also gives rise to the fear factor, but this column is not about the need to destroy, maim, harm another person due to the misplaced perception that it is required for self-preservation.  The perception is that because the other person is different he or she must pose a threat to me and must be dealt with harshly.  Or, perhaps the other person is perceived as weaker either emotionally or physically and how powerfully strong, energizing, and just plain great it does feel to be able to dominate that 'weaker' person.  Or, perhaps the attacker suffers from a deep-seated feeling of inferiority, so an attack enables her to feel superior.)

Most of the world's religions subscribe to a principle akin to: do unto others as you would have others do unto you.  I think that if we all kept this in mind, many of the world's troubles would simply cease to exist.  Rape as an instrument of warfare is one atrocity that quickly springs to mind as something we could certainly do without.  Gay bashing in Vancouver's west-end is another.  Oh, and allowing your dog to use my lawn as a toilet is yet another.  I know, sometimes it truly is hard 'to see past your own nose'.

D.

(1) and (2)  "How Do Mirror Neurons Work?", http://news.softpedia.com/  Note:  In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex, and the inferior parietal cortex.  A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.  The neuron 'mirrors' the behaviour of the other, as though the observer were itself acting.

Yet Another Mood Enhancer

I like to reach for a banana either before or after a workout.  Seems to be just the right thing to provide me with energy, or to restore it.  The combination of nutrients, healthy carbohydrates, and the amino acid tryptophan work together to elevate mood.  Bananas contain potassium, phosphorous, iron, and a little protein along with vitamins B6, A and C.  The fiber which bananas contain provides more sustained energy, which prevents a drastic spike in blood sugar and the subsequent drop in mood and energy that can follow.  The carbohydrates help the brain absorb the tryptophan and the vitamin B6 helps to transform the tryptophan into serotonin, a mood-elevating and calming brain chemical.

D.

A Little 'Mood Food'

Sunflower Seeds:  These little seeds are a rich source of folate and magnesium which are both important nutrients when it comes to regulating mood.

Whole grains:  Brown rice, oatmeal and whole-grain bread contain the mineral selenium which works like an antioxidant and may improve symptoms of depression.  Oxidative stress in the brain has been assoicated with depression in older people.  In one study (reported at WebMD.com) an evaluation of depression scores of elderly individuals showed that those who supplemented their diet with 200 micrograms of selenium a day had greater amounts of the mineral in their blood and a significant reduction of symptoms of depression compared to those taking a placebo.  Nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, and dairy foods contain significant amounts of selenium.

Spinach combined with chicken or salmon:  Together these foods combine to provide a rich source of the vitamins folate (spinach) and B12 (chicken and salmon).  Working together, these two nutrients help to prevent disorders of the central nervous system as well as dementia and mood disorders.

D.

Stress, Turmeric and Opioids

According to the latest issue of Scientific American Mind (May/June 2011, p. 21) women may be more prone than men to suffer from stress-related ailments. Studies seem to show that women are twice as likely as men to suffer from "depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other stress-related issues".

Research has shown that turmeric (a spice used in curry) may have beneficial effects on the brain after a stroke.  "Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies recently developed a synthetic derivative of turmeric, which dramatically improved the neurologiccal deficits in animal models of stroke and traumatic brain injury." (Scientific American Mind, May/June 2011, p. 21)

As most of us know, chronic pain can be mentally exhausting and physically debilitating.  Prescription pain medication in the form of opioids can effectively alleviate pain, but it is highly addictive.  Pain researchers have recently discovered that by delivering opioids in a new way - by implanting them under the skin -cravings for them were reduced.

D.

The Good Marriage

I'm quite sure that each and every one of you knows at least one couple (if not many more) whose marriage fell into ruins over the past couple of years.  If you are still married (and happily so, rather than miserably so) then congratulations are in order.  A miserable marriage is nothing to be proud of, but it's amazing how many people will linger in one, without positive change, long past the expiry date.  I don't mean to cause problems, but have you ever stopped to ponder whether your spouse is, in fact, happily married? 

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), nine psychological tasks might just be the prescription you need to make your marriage endure, grow stronger, and be a happy one.  (In order to comply with copyright requirements, I must reproduce the nine points exactly as written by the APA even though there are points I would like to enhance, clarify, or modify.  For instance, the first point speaks of not separating to the point of estrangement.  I would add:  "or isolation, which can happen when one of the partners is controlling or abusive".)  Anyhow, that's just one example.  Perhaps you will self-edit some of the points set out below.

1. Separate emotionally from the family you grew up in; not to the point of estrangment, but enough so that your identity is separate from that of your parents and siblings.

2. Build togetherness based on a shared intimacy and identity, while at the same time set boundaries to protect each partner's autonomy.

3. Establish a rich and pleasurable sexual relationship and  protect it from the intrusions of the workplace and family obligations.

4. For couples with children, embrace the daunting roles of parenthood and absorb the impact of a baby's entrance into the marriage.  Learn to continue the work of protecting the privacy of you and your spouse as a couple. 

5. Confront and master the inevitable crises of life.

6. Maintain the strength of the marital bond in the face of adversity.  The marriage should be a safe haven in which partners are able to express their differences, anger and conflict.

7. Use humour ("u" added to make it Canadian!) and laughter to keep things in perspective and to avoid boredom and isolation.

8. Nuture and comfort each other, satisfying each partner's needs for dependency and offering continuing encouragement and support.

9. Keep alive the early romantic, idealized images of falling in love, while facing the sober realities of the changes wrought by time.

  

D.

"Nine Psychological Tasks for a Good Marriage", American Psychological Association (APA), www.apa.org/helpcenter/marriage.aspx.  The APA's list was compiled with thanks to Judith S. Wallerstein, Ph.D., who is co-author of the book The Good Marriage:  How and Why Love Lasts.

Your Brain on Music

According to an article in Scientific American Mind, "music can activate your brain's reward centres and depress activity in the amygdala, the hub of emotional memory, reducing fear and other negative feelings" (1)

Also reported:  music can treat insomnia, lower blood pressure, soothe patients with dementia, and help premature babies gain weight.  And, soothing classical music can increase the milk yield of dairy cows. (2)

Music training can create a more robust brain. The corpus callosum, which connects the left and right brain hemispheres is bigger in musicians than in nonmusicians.  The motor cortex and cerebellum are also bigger. A big brain - more gray and white matter - is generally a good thing.  As we age, we want to try to maintain (even rebuild) as much brain mass as possible by keeping  it exercised (crosswords and other types of puzzles, reading, chess, and so on) and well-nourished with oxygen and other nutrients in order to stave off mental decline.

Some studies have shown that learning to play a musical instrument increases spatial and math abilities in children.

And, music can enhance our exercise regimens by providing increased feelings of motivation and distraction from fatigue.  It can also increase physical performance, level of alertness, and aid in the release of the feel-good chemicals that improve mood, like endorphins.  As the pleasure centres in our brain are activated by music, our exercise experience becomes more pleasurable.  And when we enjoy an activity, we perceive that time is passing more quickly.

D.

(1) and (2) "Six Ways to Boost Brainpower", Scientific American Mind, February/March 2009, p. 62.

More Notes on Attraction

A couple of weeks ago, my son treated me (with my money!) to a play titled, “The Philanderer”, written by George Bernard Shaw.  The play was very enjoyable: full of wit, charm, humour and provocation.  Shaw is famous for defining love as a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else.

One consideration which I hadn’t really turned my mind to concerning the 'chemistry of love and attraction' was something my friend with a Ph.D. in Psychology said in passing quite some time ago:  he said that 'familiarity' is one of the underpinnings of attraction and also of how people actually end up getting together as romantic partners.  It’s not everything, of course, but has been found to be an important underlying consideration that people use in order to determine the attractiveness and desirability of a potential mate.

Let me illustrate the point. In one study, researchers brought together a group of women.  Each of the women was to attend different classes at the University of Pittsburgh.  The women were told not to speak during the lectures; nor could they interact with any of the students.  The number of classes that each woman attended varied: 15, 10, 5 or none.  At the end of the course, students from the class were shown photos of the women and asked what they thought of them.  The women who were judged most attractive were those who had attended class 15 times.  The least attractive women were the ones the students had not seen.  This small study fits within countless others on the “mere exposure” effect:  people like what they are familiar with.  This could be deemed to be quite rational when you think about it, as it usually gives rise to notions of safety.  This could explain the appeal of the ‘girl or boy next door’: safety and attractiveness through ongoing exposure.  It could also be part of the reason why office romances are so prevalent and why friendships often progress to romantic involvement. 

Somewhat related is another study. Researchers had people rate the photographs of classmates in their yearbooks according to how much they liked them and how attractive they felt they were.  They then had strangers rate the photos for attractiveness. The ratings by the strangers did not match the ratings by the classmates.  The ratings of the classmates were swayed by how much they liked each person – supporting the saying that there is more to being good-looking than looking good. 

Another study found that strangers who were smiling were more attractive than those with a neutral expression.

In addition, people tend to be on the lookout for partners who are smart, faithful and kind.  In the largest study ever conducted of human mate preferences, which looked at people from 37 cultures, the most important factor for men and for women was found to be kindness.  Interesting...

D. 

Most of this article was adapted from an article which appeared in a special edition of Discover magazine: The Brain (Fall 2010).  The article, “The Rules of Attraction”, can be found commencing at page 30 of the edition. What I’ve written above is merely a small sampling of what factors may attract us in our desire to mate.  Some factors cannot be clearly defined as they are factors beyond our conscious awareness and basically boil down to:  “I just feel so good when I’m with you”.  

  

Fitness Below the Cranium

I learned a new word today, so it was a good day!  That word is ‘cerebrate’.  It simply means to think, to use the mind, and it comes from the Latin word ‘cerebrum’ which, in Latin, means brain.

We use the word ‘cerebrum’ to refer to the largest part of the human brain. You may also hear the cerebrum referred to as the ‘cerebral cortex’, or simply as the ‘cortex’. 

The cerebral cortex is divided into four sections or lobes.  Most of us have a ‘frontal lobe’, an ‘occipital lobe’, a ‘parietal lobe’ and a ‘temporal lobe’. 

The frontal lobe is involved with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions and problem solving, expression of personality, and behavior.  The brain’s ‘executive functions’* are mostly found here.

The occipital lobe is involved with visual processing.

The parietal lobe is associated with movement, orientation, recognition, and perception of stimuli.

The temporal lobe is associated with perception, and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory and speech.  

According to a podcast of the CBC Radio 1 show, “Quirks and Quarks”, which I listened to the other day, the best way to increase/preserve the brain’s executive functioning is to take part in some form of aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, dancing, jogging, swimming, or cycling for 30 to 40 minutes, 4 to 5 days per week.  In contrast, activities such as reading, learning a new language, completing crosswords or playing a game of chess, while all very good for enhancing and preserving the brain, utilize only very specific parts of the brain. 

Another advantage of aerobic exercise is that it keeps the heart muscle at a good size, protecting it against atrophy (shrinkage).  Better oxygenation of the brain occurs with a robust heart muscle: a healthy amount of blood can be pumped to the brain along with other vital nutrients, all of which keep brain cells healthy and the brain generally thriving.

I also read another study a couple of months ago that found that people aged 45 to 70 (those in the study group) who walk 40 minutes per day actually increase the size of the brain’s hippocampus which is located in the temporal lobe. This region is tucked just under part of the cortex and is used in order to store and retrieve memories held in the cortex.  The hippocampus actually comes in two sections, one on each side of the head, and isn’t fully formed until about the age of 2.  Events which happen before the age of 2 do not register as conscious memory, though any emotions surrounding the events can be reactivated later, albeit without conscious connection to the event.  For example, a distressing event which provoked fear in a child may cause a person to have fear surrounding something similar which happens later in life, without the person having conscious knowledge of where the fear actually originates from.  Memory of the actual event cannot be retrieved as it wasn’t stored in the first place.

Exercise would enhance the functioning of the other two lobes of the brain as well:  the parietal lobe and the occipital lobe.  It is not hard to imagine that any exercise that involves complex movement could enhance the functioning of the parietal lobe – dance, for instance.  Sports like tennis and squash could enhance the occipital lobe. 

I am sure there are many more aerobic activities to choose from that provide myriad brain benefits.  So, mix it up and keep it interesting!

D.

*In a nutshell, the executive function of the brain involves our higher cognitive functioning.  It enables us to plan, reason and make decisions, to draw on working memory and to execute tasks. Executive function primarily involves the frontal lobe which, as noted above, governs our ability to reason and to plan, certain parts of our speech, our movement and our emotions, as well as our ability to solve problems.