Surprised, or not

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. ~Attributed to Harry S Truman

You learn something every day if you pay attention. ~Ray LeBlond

I offer below a few research studies that boast findings where the outcome, in some cases, seems like a no-brainer and in others a little surprising. Enjoy a little intrigue. Maybe you'll be surprised, maybe not.

Five days a week, I l-ah–ah-ah-ah-ove you. *An NIH-funded study reveals: The people who ate chocolate the most frequently, despite eating more calories and exercising no differently from those who ate the least chocolate, tended to have lower B.M.I.’s. There was a difference of roughly five to seven pounds between subjects who ate five servings of chocolate a week and those who ate none, reports lead researcher Dr. Golomb. [Like I need any encouragement to enjoy chocolate.]

Too much I in me. *From an illustrative study published in 1983: Larry Scherwitz, then a psychologist at Baylor University, taped the conversations of nearly 600 men, a third of them with heart disease. Dr. Scherwitz counted how often the men used first-person pronouns — I, me, mine — and found that those who used them most often were most likely to have heart disease and, when followed for several years, most likely to suffer heart attacks. [Do you suppose this applies to female Dee? Note the avoidance of ‘me.’]

Stress accumulates. *A March 26, 2012 online PNAS article reports: Alzheimer’s disease is increasing at a startling rate in younger individuals, largely due to a processed and refined food diet, environmental factors, and long-term chronic stress. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine published the result of a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explaining the mechanism behind continual exposure to stressors so common in our rapid-paced lifestyle. The unnatural accumulation of insoluble tau protein aggregates in brain tissue – neurofibrillary tangles – are one of the physical hallmark signs of Alzheimer's disease, and have been shown to contribute to disease progression in people under chronic stress conditions during the course of past studies. For more.

Who ya gonna call? *A fascinating new study of nearly two billion cell phone calls and almost half a billion text messages shows how our loyalties, as measured by phone communication, can shift over time. An international group of researchers (from Finland, Britain, Boston) obtained electronic communication records from 3.2 million customers of a mobile phone carrier in an unnamed European country, looking for patterns among 1.95 billion calls and 489 million text messages over a seven-month period, noting the age and gender of the participants. The two contacts each person called and texted most often were deemed to be their first and second "best friends."
Men appear to rely on female phone confidantes throughout their lives. But as women age, they tend to shift their phone affections away from men, spending more phone time with their adult daughters. See the full story, as reported in LA Times online, “As Women Grow Older, Daughter Becomes the Favorite.” [Yes, Rebekah, I miss you!]

Jog your brain. *From a team of researchers led by Justin S. Rhodes, a psychology professor at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois: using sophisticated technologies to examine the workings of individual neurons — and the makeup of brain matter itself — scientists have discovered that exercise appears to build a brain that resists physical shrinkage and enhance cognitive flexibility. Exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does. Exercise seems to slow or reverse the brain’s physical decay (most of us, beginning in our late 20s, lose about 1 percent annually of the volume of the hippocampus, a key portion of the brain related to memory and certain types of learning). Additionally, scientists found that exercise jump-starts neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells) in the hippocampi. For more, “How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain.” [I’m headed outside, in just a minute, to move more.]

Don’t worry, be open. *Researcher Barbara Fredrickson suggests: negative emotions narrow people’s attention and cognitions, positive emotions broaden attention and thinking. Over time, the expansive mindsets triggered by positive emotions help people to discover and build a variety of personal resources—psychological, cognitive, social and physical—which ultimately contribute to well being. (FYI, some of the everyday pleasant events known to elicit positive emotions are: helping, interacting with others, playing, learning, engaging in spiritual activity or meditation. Even looking at ‘happy’ images – like puppies, penguins, landscapes – induces a positive state and allows folks to have broader attention, see more connection to others, and be more creative.) [See Barbara Frederickson’s publications listing, or a short YouTube presentation “Positive Emotions Transform Us" or a longer one “Using Positivity to Bounce Back from Inevitable Setbacks”]

May you enjoy – learning daily - this May (which is nearly here!). May all things positive light your way and may you step into any opening: in health, in relationships, and in lovingkindness to yourself. Cheers, Dee

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. -Helen Keller, author and lecturer (1880-1968)

The light in the eyes (of him or her whose heart is joyful) rejoices the heart of others, and good news nourishes the bones. Proverbs 15:30

A happy heart is a good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing. Proverbs 17:22 (Amplified)