Effects of Gratitude on the Body
Researchers have found that when we think about someone or something we really appreciate and experience the feeling that goes with the thought, the parasympathetic -- calming-branch of the autonomic nervous system -- is triggered. This pattern when repeated bestows a protective effect on the heart. The electromagnetic heart patterns of volunteers tested become more coherent and ordered when they ... posted on Mar 23 2009, 10,215 reads

How Thoughts Change our Brains
In the 90's, neuroscientists overthrew the dogma that the adult brain can't change. To the contrary, its structure and activity can morph in response to experience, an ability called neuroplasticity. The discovery has led to promising new treatments for many, including stroke patients. But the brain changes discovered reflected input from the outside world. The Dalai Lama wondered, could it work t... posted on Mar 10 2009, 8,097 reads

Are you Socially Intelligent?
It is not enough to be intelligent, or even emotionally intelligent. The rules of the game have changed: we also have to be socially intelligent. So concludes Dr. Daniel Goleman, the bestselling author who first coaxed the idea of emotional intelligence into public consciousness. In his recent book, "Social Intelligence," Goleman presents a manifesto for a more compassionate, more socially interco... posted on Mar 09 2009, 5,150 reads

The Great Mystery of Consciousness
"To make scientific headway in a topic as tangled as consciousness, it helps to clear away some red herrings. Consciousness surely does not depend on language. Babies, many animals and patients robbed of speech by brain damage are not insensate robots; they have reactions like ours that indicate that someone's home. Nor can consciousness be equated with self-awareness. At times we have all lost ou... posted on Mar 08 2009, 4,245 reads

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
Brothers Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman followed different paths in life, but they decided to collaborate on a book when they realized that Ori, with his MBA, and Rom, with a Ph.D. in psychology, kept running into the same dynamic puzzle through their work: What makes smart people make irrational decisions? In "Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior," the brothers Brafman attempt to explo... posted on Jan 31 2009, 5,469 reads

5 Healthy Foods To Add To Your Diet
When it comes to eating, most of us are creatures of habit. Even when numerous studies point to foods that are full of valuable health-enhancing nutrients, we tend to resist adding them to our daily diet. More often than not, our excuse is that we simply don't know how to prepare them or incorporate them into meals. Here are five superior foods nutritionists recommend. ... posted on Jan 28 2009, 15,180 reads

20 Simple Tools for Happiness
"Happiness is ephemeral, subject to the vagaries of everything from the weather to the size of a bank account. We're not suggesting that you can reach a permanent state called "happiness" and remain there. But there are many ways to swerve off the path of anxiety, anger, frustration, and sadness into a state of happiness once or even several times throughout the day." This Reader's Digest article ... posted on Jan 26 2009, 17,159 reads

Alternative Medicine Is Mainstream
Heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer and obesity account for 75% of health-care costs, and yet these are largely preventable and even reversible by changing diet and lifestyle. The latest scientific studies show that our bodies have a remarkable capacity to quickly heal if we address the lifestyle factors that often cause these chronic diseases. Many people tend to think of brea... posted on Jan 22 2009, 5,302 reads

The Science of Smiling
"My personal trainer sometimes gives me an odd piece of advice during workouts: "Relax your face." For a long time, I found this advice confusing. Isn't physical exertion supposed to be expressed in grimaces? I thought of the face as a pressure-relief valve that helps emit the pain the body is experiencing. But the trainer suggested I think about it the other way around -- that controlling the fac... posted on Jan 16 2009, 7,860 reads

The Psychology of New Year's Resolutions
As we put the holidays behind us and dig out from underneath all of the wrapping paper, many of us turn to the New Year's celebration to engage in a ritual that any visiting alien might be puzzled by -- New Year's resolutions. Why do humans pick a single point in time each year to try and change certain things in their life -- behaviors, attitudes -- make resolutions about them, and then proceed t... posted on Jan 03 2009, 6,376 reads