Using data on 2 million people, from 80 nations, researchers from the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College in the US have found an extraordinarily consistent international pattern in depression and happiness levels that leaves us most miserable in middle age.Their paper entitled “Is Well-being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?” is to be published shortly in Social Science & Medicine, the world’s most-cited social science journal. The researchers found happiness levels followed a U shaped curve, with happiness higher towards the start and end of our lives and leaving us most miserable in middle age. Many previous studies of the life-course had suggested that psychological well-being stayed relatively flat and consistent as we aged. [continue reading…]
January 2008
With the start of the New Year millions of Americans have resolved to lie less, cheat less, put the holiday hangovers behind them, or otherwise better their lives. Some will moderate their bad habits; others may make significant changes and become shining examples of integrity. But most of those well-intended New Year’s resolutions are destined to fail. In an age where cheating scandals plague elite universities and major corporations are brought down by unethical actions, the debate about the origins and nature of our decisions play into a larger debate about genetic determinism and free will. [continue reading…]
For the especially unscrupulous con artist, the elderly are a tempting target. Now researchers have confirmed in the lab what frauds already knew instinctively: as they grow older, even people who seem perfectly on top of things may have trouble making good decisions.
New York Times
By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Published: January 29, 2008
A new study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University finds that people with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) experienced more accidents and performed more poorly on road tests compared to drivers without cognitive impairment. The study is published in the January 23 edition of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
While the study does confirm previous reports of potentially hazardous driving in persons with early AD, it also indicates that some individuals with very mild dementia can continue to drive safety for extended periods of time. The study included 128 individuals—84 with early AD and 44 age-matched control subjects without cognitive impairments. Drivers with early AD were enrolled in this study and followed every six months over two to three years. [continue reading…]
