How well do you know yourself? It's a question many of us struggle with, as we try to figure out how close we are to who we actually want to be. In a new report in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologist Timothy D. Wilson from the University of Virginia describes theories behind self-knowledge (that is, how people form beliefs about themselves), cites challenges psychologists encounter while studying it, and offers ways we can get to know ourselves a little better.
The study of self-knowledge has tended to focus on how accurate we are at determining our own internal states, such as our emotions, personality, and attitudes. However, Wilson notes that self-knowledge can be broadened to include memory, like recalling how we felt in the past, and prospection, predicting how we will feel in the future. Knowing who we were and who we will be are as important to self-knowledge as knowing who we are in the present. And while a number of researchers are conducting studies that are applicable to those various facets of self-knowledge, Wilson observes that there is not much communication between them, one reason this field is challenging to investigate.
Health & Wellness
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Disease mongering "is the selling of sickness that widens the boundaries of illness and grows the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments," according to Ray Moyniahan and David Henry in the April 11, 2006 paper in PLoS Med, titled, "The Fight against Disease Mongering."
"It is exemplified most explicitly by many pharmaceutical industry -- funded disease-awareness campaigns -- more often designed to sell drugs than to illuminate or to inform or educate about the prevention of illness or the maintenance of health," the authors explain.
"Drug companies are by no means the only players in this drama," they point out. "Through the work of investigative journalists, we have learned how informal alliances of pharmaceutical corporations, public relations companies, doctors' groups, and patient advocates promote these ideas to the public and policymakers -- often using mass media to push a certain view of a particular health problem."
© iStockphoto/Darko Radanovic
Amy Ross, a graduate student in the lab of Marise Parent, associate professor at Georgia State's Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, fed a group of Sprague-Dawley rats a diet where fructose represented 60 percent of calories ingested during the day.
She placed the rats in a pool of water to test their ability to learn to find a submerged platform, which allowed them to get out of the water. She then returned them to the pool two days later with no platform present to see if the rats could remember to swim to the platform's location.
Study shows about quarter of population experienced mental problems, but only half sought professional help
About a quarter of the population in Israel had suffered from mental distress in 2007, but only about half of those who experienced problems reported seeking professional help, a new report on the subject published by the Myers JDC Brookdale Institute revealed.
The survey aimed at examining the patterns of seeking care ahead of the reform of the mental-health system under which it will transfer responsibility for providing mental-health services to the health plans.
The study showed that the rates of mental distress were particularly high among the Arab population (38%), the chronically ill (33%), low-income respondents (33%), the elderly (33%), and women (31%).
About a quarter of the population in Israel had suffered from mental distress in 2007, but only about half of those who experienced problems reported seeking professional help, a new report on the subject published by the Myers JDC Brookdale Institute revealed.
The survey aimed at examining the patterns of seeking care ahead of the reform of the mental-health system under which it will transfer responsibility for providing mental-health services to the health plans.
The study showed that the rates of mental distress were particularly high among the Arab population (38%), the chronically ill (33%), low-income respondents (33%), the elderly (33%), and women (31%).
The scientists who authored the new study advocate a nationwide shift in autism research to focus on an array of potential factors in the environment that babies and fetuses are exposed to, including pesticides, viruses and chemicals in household products.
"It's time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California," said Irva Hertz-Picciotto, an epidemiology professor at University of California, Davis who led the study.
Parkinson's sufferers are more likely to have significant levels of a pesticide in their body than healthy people, a new study has found.
Researchers believe that the chemical could act as a "trigger" to people already prone to develop the disease.
They hope that testing for the pesticide in the blood could someday identify patients at risk of developing the devastating neurological condition.
Around 120,000 people in Britain have Parkinson's, which occurs when nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls muscle movement become damaged or die.
Researchers found the pesticide beta-HCH in 76 per cent of people with Parkinson's, compared with 40 percent of healthy controls and 30 percent of those with Alzheimer's.
Researchers believe that the chemical could act as a "trigger" to people already prone to develop the disease.
They hope that testing for the pesticide in the blood could someday identify patients at risk of developing the devastating neurological condition.
Around 120,000 people in Britain have Parkinson's, which occurs when nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls muscle movement become damaged or die.
Researchers found the pesticide beta-HCH in 76 per cent of people with Parkinson's, compared with 40 percent of healthy controls and 30 percent of those with Alzheimer's.
© Photo: Abraham Hyhatt / flickr
Israeli researchers are linking increased cases of salivary gland cancer to the use of cell phones
Israeli researchers are linking increased cases of salivary gland cancer to the use of cell phones
The study was commissioned by the Israel Dental Association and directed by Avi Zini of the community dentistry department at the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. The study included examination of the incidence of oral cavity cancers in Israel from 1970 to 2006. Among salivary gland cancer cases, researchers found a worrying rise in the number of cases of malignant growth in parotid glands - the salivary gland located under the ear, near the location where cell phones are held during conversations.
By contrast, the incidence of salivary cancers in glands of the lower mouth - the so-called submandular and sublingual salivary glands - remained stable. From 1980-2002 the number of cases of parotid salivary cancer held steady at around 25 per year. The number of cases rose dramatically in the five years after to 70 cases per year.
© Aramando Babani / EPA
Dutch researchers have found that, at 30 weeks of development, fetuses have a memory of 10 minutes. At 34 weeks old, they can remember events for four weeks. The findings help explain central nervous system development -- and how fetuses may react if that growth is abnormal.
In the study, researchers in the Netherlands applied a sound-and-vibration stimulus to the abdomens of 93 pregnant women. The stimulus lasted for one second and was repeated every 30 seconds, at a location just above the fetus' leg. The fetuses ranged from 30 weeks to 38 weeks.
At first, the fetus would make a startled-like movement, says study coauthor Dr. Jan Nijhuis, director of the Centre for Genetics, Reproduction and Child Health at Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Eventually though, it would stop reacting. The researchers then counted the number of stimuli before the fetus stopped responding.
"Good Morning America" medical editor Dr. Tim Johnson has broken down brand new studies on Alzheimer's disease. and wants you to know what they mean. Find out his thoughts on the new research below.
Alzheimer's and Omega Three Fatty Acids
The findings from an 18-month, government-backed study suggest taking supplements of docosahexenoic acid, or DHA -- an omega-3 fatty acid -- does not arrest Alzheimer's in people who have already developed the mind-robbing disease.
Alzheimer's and Omega Three Fatty Acids
The findings from an 18-month, government-backed study suggest taking supplements of docosahexenoic acid, or DHA -- an omega-3 fatty acid -- does not arrest Alzheimer's in people who have already developed the mind-robbing disease.
You can rid you body of most fluorides with some easy natural remedies. Fluorides have been linked to a variety of severe chronic, even acute health issues. First a quick review summary of fluoride.
Fluoride Toxicity
Fluoride is a soluble salt, not a heavy metal. There are two basic types of fluoride. Calcium fluoride appears naturally in underground water sources and even seawater. Enough of it can cause skeletal or dental fluorosis, which weakens bone and dental matter. But it is not nearly as toxic, nor does it negatively affect so many other health issues as sodium fluoride, which is added to many water supplies.
Fluoride Toxicity
Fluoride is a soluble salt, not a heavy metal. There are two basic types of fluoride. Calcium fluoride appears naturally in underground water sources and even seawater. Enough of it can cause skeletal or dental fluorosis, which weakens bone and dental matter. But it is not nearly as toxic, nor does it negatively affect so many other health issues as sodium fluoride, which is added to many water supplies.
