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Hyper-binding ain’t for sissies
Imagine this hypothetical scenario: You’re at a cocktail party and the host introduces you to a stranger, whose name is Jeremy. It’s a crowded party, and as you chat with Jeremy, you’re also picking up snippets of another conversation nearby. Something about a big football game on Sunday. It doesn’t concern you, so you try to tune it out. You have a short but pleasant conversation with Jeremy, then go on to mingle with other guests. What do you remember when you run into Jeremy the next day? Well, if you’re young, you will probably recognize Jeremy’s face and associate his face with his name. That’s normal social memory.
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Is lead the culprit in ADHD?
ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is among the costliest of behavioral disorders. Its combination of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity leads to accidental injuries, school failure, substance abuse, antisocial behavior and more. Yet despite nearly a century of study, the disorder’s roots remain mysterious. Much of modern ADHD research has focused on heritability of the condition, and indeed evidence suggests that genes may account for as much as 70 percent of hyperactivity and inattention in children. But that leaves 30 percent unexplained, so recently the focus has shifted to the environment.
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The future is lookin’ sweet
Many addiction recovery programs teach a principle called HALT. HALT is an acronym for Hungry-Angry-Lonely-Tired, and the idea is that any one of these conditions of mind and body can be a threat to continued sobriety. HALT is an article of faith, based on years of collective experience. It’s not considered all that important why these visceral states might be related to relapse. But scientists think it’s important. Not the HALT principle itself, but the connection between bodily states and decisions, both good and bad. And new research may indeed shed some light on at least one part of the question: the link between food, hunger, and unsound judgment.
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The Science of Prayer
Everyone who is in any kind of serious relationship—with a partner, a child, a close friend—has been guilty of transgression as one time or another. That’s because we’re not perfect. We all commit hurtful acts, violate trust, and hope for forgiveness. That’s simply a fact, and here’s another one: Nine out of 10 Americans say that they pray—at least on occasion. Florida State University psychologist Nathaniel Lambert put these two facts together and came up with an idea: Why not take all that prayer and direct it at the people who have wronged us? Is it possible that directed prayer might spark forgiveness in those doing the praying—and in the process preserve relationships?
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A broken heart? Take two Tylenol and call me . . .
Anyone who has ever experienced heartache knows that the “ache” is not metaphorical. Hearts and minds can hurt with the intensity of a migraine. Rejection and isolation can break one’s spirits as surely as a nasty fall can splinter a femur. So why don’t we treat psychic pain the same way we treat our bodies’ agonies? This seemed like an obvious question to University of Kentucky psychologist Nathan DeWall, yet when he searched the scientific literature, he could find no attempts to even ask the question. So he did the obvious: He handed out Tylenol to see if the drug might soothe people’s emotional suffering. DeWall and his colleagues ran two studies.
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Revisiting the Green Monster
When South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was caught red-handed returning from a tryst with his Argentine mistress last June, he told the Associated Press that he had met his “soul mate.” His choice of words seemed to suggest that having a deep emotional and spiritual connection with Maria Belen Chapur somehow made his sexual infidelity to his wife Jenny Sanford less tawdry. Jenny Sanford wasn’t buying it, and neither would most women. What the two-timing governor didn’t understand is that most women view emotional infidelity as worse, not better, than sexual betrayal.
