If you've ever felt aggravated with your parents, even as an adult, you're hardly alone.
Nearly all parents and their adult children experience at least some tension in their relationships, a new study finds. Among the never-ending topics of frustration: cleaning the house.
The study asked parents and their grown children to rate the tension they felt on specific issues that can cause relationship strain. On simple scale, 1 indicated no tension and 5 indicated a great deal.
Ninety-four percent said they felt at least a little tension about one of the topics.
That's probably no big surprise to, say, about 94 percent of readers. But the researchers also found that mothers and fathers had different views than other family members about some of the tension-causing issues. Parents generally felt more intense strain, specifically when it came to issues such as their children's finances or housekeeping.
Health & Wellness
Level of willpower can be attributed to people's cravings for junk food, a new study found.
Self-control to reject unhealthy foods is related with two areas of the brain, researchers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) said in the study published in the May issue of Science.
The researchers used MRI to scan the brains of volunteers as they looked at photos of dozens of types of foods and decided which ones they'd like to eat. They found significant differences in the brain activity between people who had self-control in terms of making food choices and those with no self-control.
Self-control to reject unhealthy foods is related with two areas of the brain, researchers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) said in the study published in the May issue of Science.
The researchers used MRI to scan the brains of volunteers as they looked at photos of dozens of types of foods and decided which ones they'd like to eat. They found significant differences in the brain activity between people who had self-control in terms of making food choices and those with no self-control.
© Bian Passino/Kenosha News
A participant in Jo-Ann Lakemacher's stress management class uses an unusual drawing method to reduce tension
A participant in Jo-Ann Lakemacher's stress management class uses an unusual drawing method to reduce tension
Lack of money and unpredictable work environments make for pretty big pickles. Not surprisingly, finances and work are leading causes of stress, and with the current economic crisis, that includes worries over unemployment or the possibility of future unemployment.
According to an American Psychological Association study, in June 2008 more people reported physical and emotional symptoms due to stress than they did in 2007, and nearly half (47 percent) of adults reported that their stress had increased in the past year.
Experts say eliminating stress may not be possible, but there are ways to ease the pressures.
The first line of defense against the two most commonly used and pernicious food additives, MSG and aspartame, is avoidance. However, complete avoidance is not possible for everyone all the time. MSG, monosodium glutamate, has been disguised with several different names. Aspartame or its primary constituent, aspartic acid, along with disguised variations of MSG, have even shown up in food products or supplements sold in health food stores!
Eating out, you're sure to be taking in some MSG. Even if the restaurant doesn't add MSG to the food it prepares, MSG or disguised variations are sure to be within the foods purchased by the restaurant. Soups, gravies, and all liquids with MSG or aspartame will ensure a more rapid overload of excitotoxins than other forms of tainted foods.
Eating out, you're sure to be taking in some MSG. Even if the restaurant doesn't add MSG to the food it prepares, MSG or disguised variations are sure to be within the foods purchased by the restaurant. Soups, gravies, and all liquids with MSG or aspartame will ensure a more rapid overload of excitotoxins than other forms of tainted foods.
A class that teaches teenagers with autism the ins and outs of social etiquette appears to help them build social skills and stronger friendships, a small study finds.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles found that a 12-week class they developed -- dubbed PEERS -- was able to boost the social skills of teenagers with milder forms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles found that a 12-week class they developed -- dubbed PEERS -- was able to boost the social skills of teenagers with milder forms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
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On our new Eat This, Not That! Web site, we rounded up the best foods to munch on when you need a mental boost - and found studies that show, in fact, that you can be up to 200 percent more productive if you make the right eating choices. Stock up on these items to halt mental decline, jog your memory, sharpen your senses, improve your performance, activate your feel-good hormones, and protect your quick-witted sharpness, whether you're 15, 40 - or not admitting to any age whatsoever!
Scientists use various models to evaluate risk, but researchers have long understood that ordinary people don't rely on mathematical probability to assess the dangers posed by some phenomenon - they use other kinds of rules.
For example, we're much more accepting of risks that we assume voluntarily. That's one reason why people who smoke a pack a day will go to a zoning board meeting to fight against a diesel bus yard.
People are also more accepting of risk when they have a sense of control. Driving a car is much more dangerous than riding in an airplane, but as an airplane passenger, you feel helpless. Another reason people worry more about airplane crashes than motor vehicle accidents is because the events are more noteworthy - a whole lot of people killed all at once, instead of one or two here and there, even though the latter adds up to a lot more people over time.
For example, we're much more accepting of risks that we assume voluntarily. That's one reason why people who smoke a pack a day will go to a zoning board meeting to fight against a diesel bus yard.
People are also more accepting of risk when they have a sense of control. Driving a car is much more dangerous than riding in an airplane, but as an airplane passenger, you feel helpless. Another reason people worry more about airplane crashes than motor vehicle accidents is because the events are more noteworthy - a whole lot of people killed all at once, instead of one or two here and there, even though the latter adds up to a lot more people over time.
A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (April 20th, 2009) shows the difference in how the sugars fructose and glucose affect the body. Fructose showed more harmful effects such as increasing belly fat, higher cholesterol levels and increased insulin resistance. The study was conducted by Peter J. Havel, PhD, of the University of California in the United States.
The study included 32 overweight men and women with the average age of 50. The participants were divided into two groups, in an outpatient setting that was 8 weeks long or in a more strictly controlled inpatient setting that was 2 weeks long. During a period of 10 weeks the two groups drank glucose or fructose sweetened beverages totaling 25% of their calorie intake. Both groups put on more fat during the 10-week study, but the group that drank fructose sweetened beverages put on more fat on their bellies compared to the glucose group, which added mostly fat under the skin. "The study showed clear differences in how fructose and glucose are metabolized by the body," nutrition researcher and principal investigator Peter J. Havel, PhD, of the University of California at David told WebMD. The fructose group also showed increased cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels, and increased insulin resistance, while the glucose group showed none of these signs.
The study included 32 overweight men and women with the average age of 50. The participants were divided into two groups, in an outpatient setting that was 8 weeks long or in a more strictly controlled inpatient setting that was 2 weeks long. During a period of 10 weeks the two groups drank glucose or fructose sweetened beverages totaling 25% of their calorie intake. Both groups put on more fat during the 10-week study, but the group that drank fructose sweetened beverages put on more fat on their bellies compared to the glucose group, which added mostly fat under the skin. "The study showed clear differences in how fructose and glucose are metabolized by the body," nutrition researcher and principal investigator Peter J. Havel, PhD, of the University of California at David told WebMD. The fructose group also showed increased cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels, and increased insulin resistance, while the glucose group showed none of these signs.
Scientists at the University of Rochester have discovered that the hormone estrogen plays a pivotal role in how the brain processes sounds.
The findings, published in the May 5 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, show for the first time that a sex hormone can directly affect auditory function, and point toward the possibility that estrogen controls other types of sensory processing as well. Understanding how estrogen changes the brain's response to sound, say the authors, might open the door to new ways of treating hearing deficiencies.
"We've discovered estrogen doing something totally unexpected," says Raphael Pinaud, assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study. "We show that estrogen plays a central role in how the brain extracts and interprets auditory information. It does this on a scale of milliseconds in neurons, as opposed to days, months or even years in which estrogen is more commonly known to affect an organism."
The findings, published in the May 5 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, show for the first time that a sex hormone can directly affect auditory function, and point toward the possibility that estrogen controls other types of sensory processing as well. Understanding how estrogen changes the brain's response to sound, say the authors, might open the door to new ways of treating hearing deficiencies.
"We've discovered estrogen doing something totally unexpected," says Raphael Pinaud, assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study. "We show that estrogen plays a central role in how the brain extracts and interprets auditory information. It does this on a scale of milliseconds in neurons, as opposed to days, months or even years in which estrogen is more commonly known to affect an organism."
A new study out of the University of Pittsburgh suggests that a moderate dose of alcohol increases a person's mind wandering, while at the same time reducing the likelihood of noticing that one's mind has wandered.
The study provides the first evidence that alcohol disrupts an individual's ability to realize his or her mind has wandered, suggesting impairment of a psychological state called meta-consciousness. These findings suggest that distinct processes are responsible for causing a thought to occur, as opposed to allowing its presence to be noticed.
The study provides the first evidence that alcohol disrupts an individual's ability to realize his or her mind has wandered, suggesting impairment of a psychological state called meta-consciousness. These findings suggest that distinct processes are responsible for causing a thought to occur, as opposed to allowing its presence to be noticed.
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