Hunger Habits of a Space Barbie

If there's anything that can bring the GMSG closer..a bond we all share..it has something to do with hunger, so I thought the least I could do was dedicate my first blog post of the year to the incredible phenomena of hunger. After all, without hunger we'd never want to eat and can you imagine a world lacking food? 

There are many interesting aspects of hunger and weight. Of course it all seems pretty obvious since we go through this process of hunger multiple times in a day, but its good to know the specifics of what our body actually goes through. When we get hungry, hormones like insulin (when it has no more glucose to break down), orexin, and ghrelin are secreted by the lateral hypothalamus. When we are full, hormones like obestatin, PYY, and leptin are secreted by the ventromedial hypothalamus. All of these hormones work together to make sure we eat when our body needs nourishment and we stop eating when our body just can't take it anymore. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as perfectly as we'd like it to. The psychological aspects can lead to eating disorders. Eating disorders indicate unhealthy eating habits, whether you are eating too much or too little. Anorexia occurs when an individual drops 15% or more below what is considered normal weight. Bulimia occurs when a person binges and then purges. Both are extremely dangerous and can have serious physical consequences. When a person has anorexia, their perception is skewed. They have a distorted view of their own body image and usually have a perfectionist mentality. Bulimia has to do more with being in control and is less noticeable since you are not necessarily gaining or losing weight. 

Now that we've gone through the basics of hunger and eating disorders, I want to direct your thoughts to one of the most bizarre stories of 2013. This is the story of  the internet sensation, Valeria Lukyanova. If you haven't heard of this Ukrainian nutball, then you're really in for a surprise. Valeria is a human barbie. That does not mean that she dresses up like Barbie and goes to kids birthday parties. She actually has turned herself into a doll. Her waistline measures 50 centimeters. She wears tons of makeup, contact lenses, and got breast implants so she could turn herself into a human doll. And let me tell you, she is as crazy as it gets. Don't even ask me what she says about human Ken... 

Just so you can understand the magnitude of her craziness, here is a quote from her upcoming documentary (called Space Barbie):

"The aim of my life is to come to this planet to help people to realize that is it necessary to move form the role of the 'human consumer' to the role of 'human demi-god.' Everything is love. Love is God. I am you and you are me."

Real inspiring, right? Anyway, Valeria is basically trying to defy everything we know about the norms of humanity. Her goal in life is to perfect her appearance by looking as doll-like as possible. So, how does she keep her body so incredibly, inhumanely skinny? Well, she has been on a liquid diet for about a year, but thankfully she hasn't been feeling so hungry lately so she is thinking that she's reached the final stage before she can "subsist on air and light alone." Another time she told a reporter that she eats only fruits and her ultimate goal is to be powered by solar energy and completely reject food. 

What do you guys think about Valeria? It all baffles me. Does her ghrelin not secrete like crazy? Is this even considered anorexia? It seems too extreme for that.. Maybe she got her lateral hypothalamus cut out. This story would probably have been better to post during our Kohelet days, but its just as crazy when you think about how hunger works and eating disorders. Anyway, I guess its good to see people like this every so often and just be thankful for a moment that you aren't that crazy.

The Hungry Games- ADHD Version

         Chapter 8b primarily focuses on motivation and its impact. I was most interested in understanding the hunger aspect of motivation. What motivates hunger? There are both physiological and psychological factors involved with hunger. These factors determine when we feel hungry and when we feel satisfied.

         On the physiological side, there are hormones that cause hunger, like insulin, which breaks down the food that contains glucose, orexin, which triggers the body to want food, ghrelin, which is secreted when the stomach is empty to indicate hunger, and the lateral hypothalamus, which secretes orexin. Each of these hormones is directly related to causing us to feel hunger, whether secreted by the edocrine system, the stomach, or the brain.

          The hormones that cause us to feel full are also secreted by different parts of the body. Obestatin is secreted by the stomach when full, PYY is secreted by the digestive system when full, leptin is secreted by fat cells to lower the rewarding feeling of food, and the ventromedial hypothalamus, which secretes obestatin and leptin.

           Another part of the physiological side is the set point and settling point. The set point is the old idea that an individual's "weight thermostat", meaning every person's body has a certain weight that they are supposed to get at and stay at. If your weight is below or above your set point, you either release more hunger hormones or more full hormones. Nowadays, many believe that instead of having a set point that you're born with, we have a settling point. Once you gain a certain amount of weight, your settling point changes. At that level, the body responds to the balance between caloric intake and energy expenditure. Basal metabolic rate is the body's resting state of energy expenditure, or simply, what your body does naturally.

         As we were learning about these ideas, I was struck with a sudden question. A few people in my family have ADD and ADHD, and they take medicine in order to remain focused. However, their medicine causes them not feel as hungry during the day. I wondered why this would be, so I did some research. I found on additudemag.com that Larry B. Silver, M.D., a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown, says that the main group of medications that are used to treat ADHD are psycho-stimulants. These drugs, Ritalin, Dexadrine, and Adderall, can cause a loss of appetite. These drugs can cause you to feel full. Although I couldn't find the specific reason as to why they cause you to feel full, I can only assume that they stimulate the secretion of full hormones. ADHD medicine also has an effect on sleep, which is directly linked to the secretion of hunger and full hormones, so that could be a factor as well.

Our Pleasure In Others' Misfortune

Hello all! I welcome everyone to this new year of 2014. May this year bring plenty more chances for you all to ignore my many blogposts (amen). Now: let us begin. This week's blog post was inspired by the NYT article entitled "Our Pleasure in Others' Misfortune," which you can read by clicking here. This is actually somewhat of a book review for Richard H. Smith's new book The Joy of Pain.  

Have you ever felt a sense of hidden glee when something bad happened to somebody? Let's say something bad happens to somebody you're jealous of in some way... do you feel secretly happy because of it? Schadenfreude, or "harm joy," is the German term that describes this sensation. Schadenfreude is the pleasure we feel derived from another's misfortune. According to Dr. Smith, this seemingly "perverse" emotion serves an adaptive function: we are hard-wired to make social comparisons, which allow us to asses our talents and determine our status in the social order. Apparently even monkeys and dogs measure themselves against their peers. Do you ever feel like you're measuring yourself against your peers? Or maybe somebody your own age that you don't even know? Celebrities? It's completely normal, so don't feel embarrassed.. 

According to some psychologists, schadenfreude provides a glimpse into "the most basic conflict in the human psyche"- the friction between our selfish impulses and self-control. We're not trying to be bad people when we experience this delight, but we can't help it! Cheryl Stayred wrote, "We are all savages inside. We all want to be the chosen, the beloved, or the esteemed." Have you ever felt this desire? Or does this (apparently universal) desire seem too petty to you?

Let me be clear: in the case of schadenfreude, you are not doing anything to cause harm to another... it happens by happenstance. The article (as you know, because you read it) talks a lot about the downfall of Tiger Woods. Many people were jealous of Woods' seemingly perfect life: the beautiful wife and family, the flawless reputation. People compared themselves to Tiger and felt inadequate. When that whole scandal happened, people were happy because it brought Tiger closer to their level; people felt better about themselves. How did you feel when you saw Tiger's life falling apart? (No, not Tiger of the GMSG.)

Think about reality television. Dr. Smith writes that "we watch [reality TV] for those awkward scenes that make us feel a smidgen better about our own little unfilmed lives." Have you ever watched reality TV? If so- doesn't it make you feel better about your life?

So... What are your thoughts on schadenfreude? 

So long as it remains passive, schadenfreude can enhance our self-worth and serve as a reminder that even the most enviable people are fallible- just like us. 

BONUS! Compare this to the adaptation-level phenomenon or relative deprivation.  

Discovering New Ways to Solve Problems Can Be Glorious

Problem-solving. What a wondrous concept. One tribute to our rationality is our problem-solving skills in novel situations. Some problems we solve through trial and error. For other problems, we use algorithms, methodical, logical rules or procedures that guarantee solving a particular problem. It contrasts with the usually speedier-but also more error-prone-use of heuristics, the simple thinking strategies that often allow us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. By using heuristics and then applying trial and error, we may hit upon the answer.

Sometimes, no problem-solving strategy seems to be at work at all, and we arrive at a solution to a problem with insight, or a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem. It contrasts with strategy-based solutions. Teams of researchers have identified brain activity associated with sudden flashes of insight. When people were given a problem, researchers mapped the problem solver’s brain activity using fMRIs or EEGs. In the first experiment, about half the solutions were brought about by a sudden Aha! insight, which was typically preceded by a burst of activity in the right temporal lobe, just above the ear. When the “Eureka moment” hits us, we feel a sense of satisfaction, of happiness.

When Princeton mathematician Andrew Wiles was able to come up with the solution to Fermat’s last theorem, the moment demonstrates creativity, the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas. Studies suggest that a certain level of aptitude is necessary but not sufficient for creativity. Intelligence tests, which demand a single correct answer, require convergent thinking. Creativity tests require divergent thinking. Injury to the left parietal lobe damages the convergent thinking required by intelligence test scores and for school success, but injury to certain areas of the frontal lobe can leave reading, writing, and arithmetic skills intact, yet destroy imagination.

Robert Sternberg and his colleagues have identified five components of creativity. The first, expertise, is a well-developed base of knowledge and furnishes the ideas, images and phrases we use as mental building blocks. The more blocks we have, the more chances we have to combine them in novel ways. The second is imaginative thinking skills, which provide the ability to see things in novel ways, to recognize patterns, and to make connections. Having mastered a problem’s basic elements, we redefine or explore it in a new way. The third, a venturesome personality, seeks new experiences, tolerates ambiguity and risk, and perseveres in overcoming challenges. Venturing encounters with different cultures also fosters creativity. The fourth is intrinsic motivation, which is being driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge than by external pressures. Creative people focus less on extrinsic motivators than on the pleasure and stimulation of the work itself. The fifth, a creative environment, sparks, supports, and regulates creative ideas. Creativity-fostering environments often support contemplation.

We seek evidence confirming our ideas more eagerly than we seek evidence that might refute them. This tendency, known as confirmation bias, or searching for information that supports our preconceptions and ignoring or distorting contradictory evidence, can hinder problem solving. Once we incorrectly represent a problem, it’s hard to restructure how to approach it. Fixation is the inability to see a problem from a new perspective. Two examples of fixation are mental set, the tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past, and functional fixedness, or the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions. As a perceptual set predisposes what we perceive, a mental set predisposes how we think. Sometimes, a mental set based on what worked in the past prevents us from finding a new solution to the problem. Functional fixedness is demonstrated when a person may scour the house for a screwdriver when a coin would have turned the screw.

I encountered an interesting video on Ted-Ed that explains Vedic math, an ancient Indian method. The principle behind Vedic math is (10a+b)(10+1), which translates into 110a+10(a+b)+b (a is the coefficient). In the video, several ideas are introduced, such as the Base Method used to multiply numbers close to the powers of ten, which includes cross-subtraction and cross-addition. The other idea, mental squaring, is also very similar. The principle that underlies this is (x+a)(x+b)=x(x+a+b)+ab. X=base10,100. Another is the Vertically & Crosswise Pattern for 2 Digits.

The question posed at the end was also something to think about: Whether you want math to be dull and boring or fun and interesting, the choice is yours.

This was a very enlightening video that really requires you to think deeper than the usual problem-solving methods. It really shows how we can quite literally be "stuck" in solving a problem rather than realizing the world of possibilities that lie beyond our usual thinking strategies.

For your viewing pleasure, the video is below:

I encourage you to watch it. It might evoke an "ooh" or an "aah" at some point.

Criminal Motivation.

An important thing to find out about every criminal is what their motive was. What caused them to commit the crime. In the olden days people believed that a bad spirit would fall on them causing them  to do wrong. With our advanced science we have a better understanding to what causes people to commit crimes.

Some crimes that are committed we have an easy time understanding why it was done. We know that the man was short of money therefore he robbed the store.We know that the girl wanted that dress but couldn't afford it, therefore she shoplifted. But when the crimes get more complex the reasons behind them to do. Many times it takes teams of psychologist to figure out the motive to why a crime was committed. It is important to know criminals motives so we can try to prevent others from doing the same thing.

There are many theories about what motivates criminals to commit a crime.  Almost every criminal falls under at least one of them.

- Rational Choice Theory.  People act in their own self interest. They way out the negatives effects of getting caught versus the positive effects that they can get from  committing the crime. They decide it is worth is to commit the crime.

- Social Disorganization Theory.  People are influenced by the people around them. If they live in a place where crime is seemed as not something so bad they will think that is really is ok.

- Strain Theory. Society places certain expectations on people. We need to make money and work. If we cannot achieve those goals through a regular way the strain from society will cause someone to go about an illegal way to try and make themselves look like they do have money or a job.

- Social learning Theory. People develope motives and skills to commit crimes by watching others.

- Social control Theory. People who feel like they are being controlled like in school or work will use that as a motive to do something against that control.  

- Labeling Theory. We label people all the time. If we label someone as a criminal they often will act like one then.

- Biology, genetics and evolution. As with everything people are sometimes biologically made to be more prone to committing crimes. Poor diet, mental illness, bad brain chemistry and voluntary rewards are all reasons why people are motivated to commit crimes.

People have and will be forever committing crime. Hopefully if we understand their motives better we can help people before they commit the crime.

Brainwave Entrainment

This does not specifically have to do with anything we've done recently in class, but relates to bits of different things we have mentioned, and  is rather something cool I stumbled across. Brainwave Entrainment is a practice that makes brainwave frequencies fall in sync with stimulus frequencies to put the brain in a specific state (i.e., alpha, beta, theta, or delta waves.) This happens by stimulating different brain frequencies. This works because the brain can switch its dominant EEG frequency to that of an"external dominant stimulus". This can be done through seeing something, hearing something, seeing and hearing something at the same time, or electromagnetic radiation. The stimulus would have to be something specially able to stimulate these tones, like music at just the right frequency for the brain to mimic.

I was looking into this because I was looking for something that could help me focus, and I stumbled onto this music that is said to increase Beta waves in the brain, which help with attention and functionality. The music has undertones of Binaural beats and Isochronic tones. The Binaural beats are audio signals that cause a brain response of the same frequency/ type of signal. Headphones are important, because they are made up of two similar tones played at the same time in different ears, and then the brain creates the tone both of our ears end up "hearing" by combining the two tones. This is said to have many different health benefits, including decreasing anxiety and promoting memorization and learning. The sensation (as in sensation and perception) having to do with Binaural beats is thought to come from a part of the brainstem known as the superior olivary nucleus. Isochronic tones are evenly spaced out noises that rapidly turn on and off. They help priduce strong cortical responses in the brain, and these also have plenty of proposed health benefits, along with stress reduction, improved studying power and cognition, and plenty more!

A Cold War Fought By Women

Same woman, different outfit. Do you think differently of this woman depending on what she's wearing? 

Dear Ladies, for the love of Gahd, please read this one! Really- it's super interesting! It's called "A Cold War Fought by Women" and its by John Tierney and you can read it by clicking here and you're going to love it so just read it. My CliffsNotes on it won't do it justice, so you should really read the article. It's about women being aggressive and mean towards each other. Come on! If you love Mean Girls, you'll love this article even more, I promise!

Thirty years ago, science couldn't confirm anything about the competitive nature of women; today there are many studies done devoted entirely to the topic of female aggression. Now, science is starting to prove right ideas that those of us who have been in high school have all been hypothesizing: girls get super competitive with each other. Things that distinguish female competitiveness from that of the male variety: more subtle and indirect, less violent. Do you agree with this assertion? I think it is safe to say that I see a lot of this passive-aggressive female competition kind've often. Guys often make fun of the girls for this. They say stuff like, "Guys get in a fight, then get over it. Girls are so passive aggressive and never get over things." What do you think about this bold comment? 

 What's perhaps most interesting about this research is the finding that the pressure that young women feel to meet the standards of sexual conduct and physical appearance is due to this "intrasexual competition." As in- it is girl on girl forces that are pressuring girls to look and act certain ways.

Here's a brief overview of the experiment conducted by Tracy Vaillancourt and Aanchal Sharma at McMaster University: researchers put pairs of women into a laboratory for what they thought was a discussion about female friendships. The real experiment, however, took place when a different young woman entered the room asking where to find one of the researchers. This woman was conventionally attractive. Sometimes she wore a T-shirt and jeans and other times she'd wear a tightfitting, low-cut blouse and a short skirt. What did you think would happen? When she wore the jeans, she attracted very little attention from her fellow female peers. When she wore the other outfit, though, "virtually all the students reacted with hostility." 

They stared at her, looked her up and down, rolled their eyes and sometimes showed outright anger. One asked her in disgust, "What the [expletive] is that?"

Not surprisingly, the majority of the aggression happened after she left the room. The girls laughed about her and ridiculed her, going as far to suggest that "she dressed that way in order to have sex with the professor."  

"Women are indeed very capable of aggressing against others, especially women they perceive as rivals," said Dr. Vaillancourt. .. "The research also shows that the suppression of female sexuality is by women, not necessarily by men."

"Slut shaming" has often been blamed on men, but this evidence seems to suggest the opposite- that women are the primary aggressors of slut shaming. What do you think? (Slut shaming= stigmatizing female promiscuity) Personally, I have to say that I see slut shaming come a lot more often and naturally from other girls. But is this because they are feeling pressure from society? Is it because they feel insecure? What is the root of this issue? Women feel worse when they compare themselves to peers in their own social circles. Women tend to feel worse about themselves when they're surrounded by other women in makeup and sleek attire. What do you think of these findings? Does it resonate with you? 

 This article talks a lot about the valid evolutionary aspects that would factor into this competitiveness. However, I would like to see this issue from a more holistic perspective, from a bio-pscyo-social approach. I think it would be really interesting to look further into this. What other studies have been done? Has this study been repeated? How would you design a similar study? 

This article reminded me of the following scene from Mean Girls: 

Idealistically, I hope that we can find some way to stop this girl-on-girl madness. There must be some way.. Any ideas? Or do you not think/see it as a problem?

Amnesia

As we learned in class there are a few essential steps to memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. if something is messed up in one of these steps, we won't be able to remember the event or information. So, one would think that Amnesia is just a permanent damage to one of these steps (or atleast that's what I thought). What is it really?
When people lose their ability to memorize data, they have amnesia. It also refers to an inability to recall information that's stored in memory. Amnesia is the loss of memory. So it seems to be that my initial assumption was right! Lets look at the different causes of amnesia.
Organic causes may include brain damage through injury or the use of specific drugs. It may be the symptoms of some degenerative brain diseases (like Alzheimer's which we'll get to after).
Functional causes are psychological factors - like defense mechanisms.
Seems simple enough.. But then wouldn't it be fair to assume that Alzheimer's or dementia would also be just another form of damage to one of those steps (encoding, storage, or retrieval)? I would think so!
"Dementia isn't really a specific disease, it's a term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities."--- this was very insightful because I thought that dementia was it's own disease, I was wrong.
Alzheimer's, which is the most common form of dementia, is a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Although many think that it has to do with aging, it is not a normal part of aging and it worsens over time. As Alzheimer's progresses, brain cells die and connections among cells are lost, causing cognitive symptoms (memory loses, confusion, and problems with thinking and reasoning) to worsen. There are treatments that can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve the quality of life for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. The medication can't cure, but it can help lessen or stabilize symptoms for a limited time.
So, one would think that if Alzheimer's is is a form of memory loss, then the treatments would strengthen the steps of memory (encoding, storage, and retrieval). There are things called 'memory medications:' cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine. These medications treat the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Cholinesterase is given during the early to moderate stages. They prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine (important for learning and memory). It supports communication among nerve cells. For patients with moderate to severe stages, memantine is usually prescribed to improve memory, attention, reason, language, and the ability to perform simple tasks. It regulates the activity of glutamate (involved in learning and memory as well). It delays the worsening of symptoms temporarily.

      

The pictures above show two abnormal structures (plaques and tangles) that are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells. Plaques are deposits of protein fragment called beta-amyllid that build up in spaces between nerve cells. Tangles are twisted fibers of another protein called tau that build up inside cells. 

This is also a pretty cool link to a Brain Tour: http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_4719.asp

It explains how the brain works and how Alzheimer's affects it. 

Writing Things Down (Titles really aren't my thing!)

As we become more and more dependent on computers in school (and in life) we tend to pick up a pen and paper less and less. What we may not realize is what we are losing by doing so. 

I remember always being told to write things down when studying for a test because it would make it easier to remember in the end. Whenever I had a spelling test I wouldn't just sit there and spell the letters in my head or even say them aloud- I would instead write them on paper. If I didn't spell a word right my mom always made me write the word down ten times. It turned out that doing so really seared the spelling into my brain and helped me spell the word right on the test. 

As you can see from my personal experience, the idea that writing something down helps you better recall it later proved true. I would like to know if there is any hard evidence or studies done that proves this concept. 

It turns out there is. Anne Mangen of the University of Stavanger in Norway and Jean-Luv Velay, a French neuroscientist, found that writing by hand is a totally different experience than typing on a computer. According to their research, learning new letters (whether it be a child learning the alphabet or an adult learning a second language) is easier when the letters are written down, by hand, on paper. (Sorry, Rosetta Stone.) Apparently, the physical act alone of holding a pencil between your fingers sends signals to the brain which enables your "motor memory", and helps you later recall what you wrote down. This is different than the act of typing a key, because it is the same motion whether you are typing a "h" or a "z", and so on. 

Maybe we should all consider ditching the computer and taking those history notes by hand. It might take longer and require more effort, but those hand cramps may be worth it in the long run. 

Have y'all noticed that writing something down has helped you remember it? Would you consider switching from typing notes to handwriting them? 

Deja Who? Deja Vu!

As I was surfing the web tonight, I found a V-Sauce video on the psychological phenomenon on deja vu. Deja vu can be described as moments that, when we are in them, feel like they have happened before. It feels like you are in the exact same situation or moment from a past experience. To me, like Michael from V-Sauce, deja vu is similar to hypnosis. We don't have any provable information on how it really occurs.

People don't even have the ability to experience deja vu until they are 8 or 9 years old, and it only continues through maybe your early to middle twenties. Because of this, we can infer that deja vu is related to brain development. Michael explains to us that one of the number one causes of deja vu is that disconnection between the unconscious and conscious awareness of processing the stimuli entering the brain. He explains this through visual processing. From earlier units we know that the light waves enter through the eyes, and make their way back to the visual cortex, in the occipital lobe to be processed into an image. We also know that people who have damage to their occipital love are blind because they can't process any images. But, Michael brings another bit of information to our attention. While the lightwaves make their way from the retina to the occipital lobe, they make many stops along the way. One for example being the somewhere in the limbic system. This would give emotional meaning to the image someone is seeing or not seeing. People who only have damage to the occipital lobe can see the light waves and process emotion through them because of the passing through the limbic system. Just like the visual information, the memory associated with deja vu could stop in the limbic system and trigger emotions from the very place you are in, making you feel as though you are in the exact same position.

There could also be a biologic predisposition to deja vu. Michael explains this as random epileptic seizures of neurons in the brain. He then goes on to tell us that people who have deja vu very often, usually have some damage in their temporal lobes. These epileptic events are triggered in the temporal lobe, and they also explain hypnogogic jerk. The idea that when you are in stage one of sleep, you feel as though you may be falling or floating.

While that is what we know about deja vu for know, there are also presque vu, and jamais vu. Presque vu is when something is on "the tip of your tongue," but for the life of you, you cannot remember it. Jamais vu is when you say something over and over again and it suddenly starts to lose meaning and seems like a whole new word.

I think what makes all these "vu's" so interesting is that there is not anyone piece of provable evidence that we can use to confirm what deja vu is. It shall remain a mystery for now!