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Unreliable Narrators
"We have looked for so long at foggy landscapes reflected in misty mirrors that we have come to like fog."
A collection of short films by Jon Rafman.
Films shot on location in Montreal, San Francisco, and Chicago. "We have looked for so long at foggy landscapes reflected in misty mirrors that we have come to like fog." ... more -
Group seeks Bush sewage 'tribute'
A citizens group in San Francisco wants to pay an ironic tribute to President George W Bush when he leaves office - by naming a sewage plant after him.
The group, calling itself the Presidential Memorial Committee of San Francisco, wants the issue voted on at this November's election.
"It's important to remember our leaders in the right historical context," said petition organiser Brian McConnell.
The Republican Party thinks the plan stinks, and it will fight the measure.
Mr McConnell's group has submitted more than 12,000 signatures on a petition to the San Francisco Department of Elections.
If at least 7,168 of those signatures are found to be valid, the question of whether to rename Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant after the outgoing president will be added to the ballot papers in November.
"In President Bush's case, we think that we will be cleaning up a substantial mess for the next 10 or 20 years," said Mr McConnell.
"The sewage treatment facility's job is to clean up a mess, so we think it's a fitting tribute." A citizens group in San Francisco wants to pay an ironic tribute to President George W Bush when he leaves office - by naming a sewage... more -
Control Your Memory
Research shows that practice can help you forget painful memories and control your memory.
Can't go to a favorite restaurant without thinking about your ex? Better plan to eat there daily. According to research, it may be possible to push unwanted memories out of your mind—but only with repeated practice.
Motivated by studies that found that children are more likely to forget abuse by family members than by strangers, study author Michael Anderson, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, designed an experiment to find out if memory can be consciously controlled.
In the first 15 minutes of the experiment, participants memorized a series of 40 word pairs. Anderson then presented participants with only one word from the pair, sometimes asking them to remember the associated word and sometimes asking them to forget it. Published in the journal Science, his findings show that participants who repeatedly tried to suppress words eventually became more likely to forget them, even when offered clues and money to remember. "People forced to encounter reminders of unwanted memory find ways to adapt accordingly." Anderson says. However, Anderson is careful to clarify that "the findings don't have direct implications for forgetting trauma."
The study sheds light on the flip side of memory research, which often focuses on how to improve recall. "There are many positive aspects of forgetting." Anderson argues. "To be unable to push out of mind outdated or painful information risks impairing your concentration and your well-being."
By: Nicole Bode
Psychology Today Magazine, Jul/Aug 2001
Last Reviewed 26 Jun 2008
Article ID: 2134 Research shows that practice can help you forget painful memories and control your memory. ... more -
Plastic Brain Outsmarts Experts
"...new research, led by Swiss postdoctoral fellows Susanne M. Jaeggi and Martin Buschkuehl, working at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, suggests that at least one aspect of a person's IQ can be improved by training a certain type of memory. " "...new research, led by Swiss postdoctoral fellows Susanne M. Jaeggi and Martin Buschkuehl, working at the University of Michigan in ... more
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Socializing Appears to Delay Memory Problems
An active social life appears to delay memory loss as we age, a new study shows.
The finding, which appears in the July issue of The American Journal of Public Health, suggests that strong social ties, through friends, family and community groups, can preserve our brain health as we age and that social isolation may be an important risk factor for cognitive decline in the elderly.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health used data gathered from 1998 to 2004 from the Health and Retirement Study, a large, nationally representative population of American adults ages 50 and older. Participants took memory tests at two-year intervals during the study period. Testers read a list of 10 common nouns to survey respondents, who were then asked to recall as many words as possible immediately and again after a five-minute delay. The researchers also measured social integration based on marital status, volunteer activities, and contact with parents, children and neighbors.
The results showed that individuals who in their 50s and 60s engaged in a lot of social activity also had the slowest rate of memory decline. In fact, compared to those who were the least socially active, study subjects who had the highest social integration scores had less than half the rate of memory loss. The researchers controlled for variables like age, gender, race and health status. Those who had the fewest years of formal education appeared to have the most to gain from an active social life as they aged. The study showed that the protective effect of social integration was greatest among individuals with fewer than 12 years of education.
“The working hypothesis is that social engagement is what makes you mentally engaged,'’ said Lisa F. Berkman, the study’s senior author and director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. “You can’t sit and withdraw if you’re constantly talking and working on things and figuring out problems in your daily life. It’s not just completing a crossword puzzle, it’s living your life.'’
The data are particularly important for those caring for aging family members. Simply visiting and giving support to an older family member does not make them socially engaged. “A lot of people when they think about the elderly focus on social support — things like what can I do for an older mother,'’ Dr. Berkman said. “But having someone to count on is not what we’re measuring. It’s not about support, it’s about being completely engaged and participating in our society.'’
What was notable about the study is that participants didn’t have to be married or surrounded by extensive family to receive the protective effect of social engagement. “There are lots of relationships that are substitutable,'’ Dr. Berkman said. “You don’t have to have friends if you have family. If you don’t have family but you have friends, that’s good. If you volunteer in civic organizations, that can substitute. People don’t have to have all of these things. They just have to have some breadth and diversity in the kinds of networks and ties they have in a community
An active social life appears to delay memory loss as we age, a new study shows. ... more -
Blind boy rides a bike, skiis and delivers papers
Zach is a 13 year old kid from Los Alamos, New Mexico. He rides a bike, skiis, kyacks and has a paper route. He goes to a regular school, and rides a regular bus. Seems pretty normal right?
The only difference is, he's totally blind. Zach is a 13 year old kid from Los Alamos, New Mexico. He rides a bike, skiis, kyacks and has a paper route. He goes to a regular scho... more -
Woman with perfect memory baffles scientists
James McGaugh is one of the world's leading experts on how the human memory system works. But these days, he admits he's stumped.
McGaugh's journey through an intellectual purgatory began six years ago when a woman now known only as AJ wrote him a letter detailing her astonishing ability to remember with remarkable clarity even trivial events that happened decades ago.
Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date. James McGaugh is one of the world's leading experts on how the human memory system works. But these days, he admits he's stumped. ... more -
The woman who can't forget ANYTHING
Speaking publicly for the first time about her ability, the 42-year-old likened her daily life to a split-screen television - on one side is what she is doing in the present, on the other, the memories which keep flooding back.
Credit // The Daily Mail Speaking publicly for the first time about her ability, the 42-year-old likened her daily life to a split-screen television - on one s... more -
Heath tops Aussie art awards
A haunting portrait of the late actor, painted by Melbourne artist Vincent Fantauzzo just weeks before the star's January death, has received the People's Choice Award at Australia's annual Archibald Prize art awards.
The prestigious award was unsurprisingly awarded to the artist after the exhibition was voted on by more than 32,000 people and became an unofficial shrine for the actor A haunting portrait of the late actor, painted by Melbourne artist Vincent Fantauzzo just weeks before the star's January death, has r... more -
Best ways to remember more
What's the best way to hang on to what you learn? New memory research has answers.
Cramming for exams in a haze of No-Doz is the kind of activity one can only hope to outgrow. But demands for retaining new information hardly ended with graduation -- there are speeches to be delivered, professional certifications, boards, and bars to pass. Should you pull all-nighters? Study till you drop?
Now, four ways to remember more.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/04/29/o.smart.s...
http://www.cnn.com/
What's the best way to hang on to what you learn? New memory research has answers. ... more -
It's on the tip of your tongue, but whatever you do, don't think about It
We've all experienced it. You're in mid-conversation and all of a sudden you forget a word or name. It's on the tip of your tongue, you've used the word numerous times in the past, but for some inexplicable reason you just can't recall it.
Surprisingly, a new study reveals that you should stop right there, since straining to recall something in this way may actually reinforce the "mistake pathway," making it more likely to happen again.
In the study, which was published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, a group of thirty students were asked to perform word retrieval exercises. They were given series of definitions, and had to find the corresponding word.
They were then asked do indicate whether or not they knew the answer, or if it was on the tip of their tongue (TOT). If the answer was TOT, students were given either 10 or 30 seconds to recall the answer. In follow up tests performed two days later using the same set of definitions, those given more time to recall the answers in the previous test were more likely to get stuck again.
"We know this is how the brain works, it reinforces whatever it does. So [the study results] completely make sense," says researcher Karin Humphreys of McMaster University in Ontario. "But at the same time, it's so counterintuitive to how we feel, we should learn from all our mistakes."
So next time, rather than torturing yourself with the prolonged anguish of attempting to recall an evasive word, save yourself the frustration and just go look it up on Google. You'll be doing yourself (and your friends) a favor.
http://www.dailymantra.com We've all experienced it. You're in mid-conversation and all of a sudden you forget a word or name. It's on the tip of your tongue, yo... more -
Backup your brain
Evernote is software that helps you remember the stuff in your life. The system allows you to put photos, notes, and other things into an online repository that you can access anywhere. Evernote is software that helps you remember the stuff in your life. The system allows you to put photos, notes, and other things into... more
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Binge drinking 'damages memory'
Binge drinking teenagers are still at risk of absent-mindedness and forgetfulness days later, a study says.
A team from Northumbria and Keele universities compared 26 binge drinkers with 34 non-bingers in memory tests, and found the drinkers fared worse.
They told the British Psychological Society conference that binge drinking could be harming developing brains.
A spokesman for the charity Addaction said drinking at dangerous levels was putting some young people at risk.
"There is evidence that excess alcohol and binge drinking in particular damages parts of the brain that underpin everyday memory"-
Dr Thomas Heffernan, University of Northumbria
Binge drinking teenagers are still at risk of absent-mindedness and forgetfulness days later, a study says. ... more -
Falling asleep on job improves memory
Falling asleep on the job for a few minutes can improve your memory and mental performance, according to a team of German researchers.
Olaf Lahl at the University of Dusseldorf, Germany, has shown that simply falling asleep does more than refresh the brain - it can improve recall and mental efficiency.
In fact, a six-minute nap can have the same effect as night-time sleep on memory.
Lahl’s team asked students to memorise a list of vocabulary and tested their ability to recall the list after an hour of playing solitaire.
Volunteers were asked to remember a list of 30 words. They were then given an hour’s break before the memory test. During the break, some volunteers were allowed to nap for six minutes, while others had to stay awake.
The researchers found that those who had been allowed to nap displayed ’superior recall’ in the memory test compared to those who stayed awake.
The researchers said this was the first time that a very brief sleep has been shown to improve memory.
‘To our knowledge, this demonstrates for the first time that an ultra-brief sleep episode provides an effective memory enhancement,’ Lahl wrote in the Journal of Sleep Research. Falling asleep on the job for a few minutes can improve your memory and mental performance, according to a team of German researchers.... more -
I'm preggers and I've lost my mind
A new study out of Australia shows that women's memory functions are impaired during pregnancy and for at least a year afterwards. Pregnant women don't forget things they know well, but they have difficulty remembering or learning new information. The study didn't uncover causes, it just confirmed differences between brain function of pregnant and not-pregnant women. It also didn't show if the difference was long-term, as the study only looked at women for a year after giving birth, so the difference could last even longer than a year. Theories for the differences are hormonal changes and sleep deprivation.
Great, I can't wait. (Oh, and I'm not actually pregnant! That was just a title!) A new study out of Australia shows that women's memory functions are impaired during pregnancy and for at least a year afterwards. Pr... more -
How many countries can you name in five minutes?
I got 82, which I was pretty proud of until I saw the list of countries I forgot. Try it!
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Scientists stumble upon a way to reverse memory loss
During experimental brain surgery, a team of scientists have stumbled upon a mechanism that could hold the key to understanding how memory works. The accidental breakthrough came as a result of deep-brain stimulation. What was meant to suppress the patient's appetite instead lead to an intense experience of déja vu. They're now applying this technique in a trial to treat Alzheimer's patients, and if successful will offer hope in the form of a brain "pacemaker". During experimental brain surgery, a team of scientists have stumbled upon a mechanism that could hold the key to understanding how me... more
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Losing a Daughter
This video is in memory of Danielle Romero who was killed by a drunk driver. Directed by Lynsey Bohannon of NMSU-Grants.
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scientists discover brain chemical responsible for loneliness and forgetfulness
it's called allopregnanolone.
all are pregnant alone. test tube style. once they synthesize this stuff and we no longer need to mate. it's called allopregnanolone. ... more -
Brain Doping: The New Frontier Of Performance Enhancing Drugs
Performance-enhancing drugs are not just for athletes... or impotent men... There's another kind of drug that builds up your mental muscle, and academics, musicians, students and poker players are taking the pills to sharpen their minds. Adderall, Provigil, Ritalin, Inderal... the drugs are all legal and prescribed for other disorders such as ADD, ADHD, narcolepsy and Alzheimer's. The effect of the drugs on healthy people hasn't been tested much, and like with any drug there are negative side effects if taken improperly. Labs are now racing to develop a memory pill.
"Unlike the anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and blood-oxygen boosters that plague athletic competitions, the brain drugs haven't provoked similar outrage. People who take them say the drugs aren't giving them an unfair advantage but merely allow them to make the most of their hard-earned skills."
Do you agree? Or should we be more concerned about pill popping for a bit of "cosmetic neurology"? Performance-enhancing drugs are not just for athletes... or impotent men... There's another kind of drug that builds up your mental mu... more
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