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Brain training can help older adults stay sharp for years
NBC: A brief course of brain exercises helped older adults hold on to improvements in reasoning skills and processing speed for 10 years after the course ended, according to results from the largest study ever done on cognitive training. Older adults who underwent a brief course of brain exercises saw improvements in reasoning skills and processing speed that could be detected as long as 10 years after the course ended, according to results from the largest study ever on cognitive training.
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Is Sugar Addiction Why So Many January Diets Fail?
NPR: We've survived the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, when rich, sweet treats come at us non-stop. Now is the season of reform, when gym memberships, cleanse books, and weight-loss plans sell like gangbusters. The cycle has become so predictable, and disheartening, as our collective motivation to change our ways dissolves by February like a sugar cube in a glass of champagne. I've certainly done my fair share of January food-restriction experiments that fizzled at the first sign of a Valentine's Day candy heart. For me, it's refined sugar, pure and simple, that, over time, I've identified as the food I would most love to be able to resist.
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Will Mozart make my child smarter?
The Guardian: Playing Mozart and Beethoven to young children improves their listening skills, concentration and self-discipline, according to a study this week by the Institute of Education. The study was an evaluation of a programme for primary schools in the London boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Some teachers credited the music with improving English skills. If these are the effects of listening to music, what happens if you encourage your child to play an instrument? According to Glenn Schellenberg, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, who studied the link between music lessons and higher achievement at school, it won't make much difference.
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We Didn’t Eat the Marshmallow. The Marshmallow Ate Us.
The New York Times: In a series of famous experiments in the 1960s and ’70s conducted by the Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel, preschoolers were invited to sit alone in a room furnished only with a small desk. On the desk sat two marshmallows (or equivalently tempting treats) and a bell. The researcher told each child that he had to leave, but that when he returned, she could eat both marshmallows. If she wanted one marshmallow before then, however, she could ring the bell and eat one, but not both. Then the researcher shut the door, leaving the child alone with the forbidden marshmallows.
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Student Events at the 2014 APS Annual Convention
Applying to graduate school and finding employment after you’re done with your program of study are formidable undertakings, to say the least. At the 2014 APS Annual Convention, to be held May 22–25 in San Francisco, students can get advice from experienced graduate students and professional scientists who know the ropes. The convention will feature programs for undergraduates looking to gain research experience, graduate students preparing to find full-time work, and all the students in between. The Naked Truth Part I: Getting into Graduate School Panelists discuss graduate school preparation and the graduate school application process.
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Detecting Sickness By Smell
Humans are able to smell sickness in someone whose immune system is highly active, a study shows.
