June 2008

A man without memory

This is a cut segment from a larger documentary on Time titled “BBC – Daytime”. It discusses some of the mysteries of memory and how time effects our lives.

Clive Wearing has a neurological disorder called Anterograde Amnesia which is a condition that doesn’t allow new memories to transfer into long-term memory. This means that he will never remember anything since his incident, similarly to the movie Memento.

Clive was an accomplished pianist in the 80s’, and fortunately can still play the piano flawlessly. He only remembers his wife, and anything else to him is new information, even if it was presented to him once before.

There’s more information on Clive located here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Wearing… and more information on anterograde amnesia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterograde_amnesia

Source: BBC, UTUBE

  • Can be offset by taking antioxidant vitamins with meal
  • But a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables is best defence

 Adults with type 2 diabetes who eat unhealthy, high-fat meals may experience memory declines immediately afterward, but this can be offset by taking antioxidant vitamins with the meal, according to new research from Baycrest.

There is already growing evidence linking diabetes to cognitive complications in humans. Adults with type 2 diabetes are especially vulnerable to acute meal-induced memory deficits after eating unhealthy foods. [continue reading…]

Your brain lies to you- It’s true!

False beliefs are everywhere. Eighteen percent of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth, one poll has found. Thus it seems slightly less egregious that, according to another poll, 10 percent of us think that Senator Barack Obama, a Christian, is instead a Muslim. The Obama campaign has created a Web site to dispel misinformation. But this effort may be more difficult than it seems, thanks to the quirky way in which our brains store memories – and mislead us along the way.

Link to read more
Source:American Psychological Association , International Herald Tribune June 30,2008

MU professor finds men doing field research on women are limited to certain subjects

From the Petri dish in the controlled environment of a sterile laboratory to the faraway fields of another country, virtually anything can be the topic of scientific study. However, a University of Missouri religion professor found that if the researcher is a male fieldworker studying women, the situation can be challenging.

             “The question of whether men can conduct field research on women ultimately will be determined by the quality and type of the data that they gather,” said Robert M. Baum, professor of religious studies in the MU College of Arts and Science. [continue reading…]