To learn its signature melody, the male songbird uses a trial-and-error process to mimic the song of its father, singing the tune over and over again, hundreds of times a day, making subtle changes in the pitch of the notes. For the male Bengalese finch, this rigorous training process begins around the age of 40 days and is completed about day 90, just as he becomes sexually mature and ready to use his song to woo females.
Month: May 2012
How To Effectively Battle Against Daily Stress
There are many types of stress, including family stress, financial stress and job stress. Do not expect to completely eliminate stress from your life. What are you supposed to do when you’re facing unrelenting stress? The answer to that question is in this article.
Visual imagery can be a great stress reduction tool. Research has shown that using positive imagery works very well when trying to rid yourself of stress. Envision a place where you feel the most relaxed, whether it is having a hot shower or lying on the beach catching some sun. Feel the stress wash away from you as you relax in your happy place. Simply shut your eyes and allow yourself a few minutes of imagining yourself in a desirable location, whenever you need it most. This can largely impact how much stress you feel.
Alcohol is never the answer to a stressful day. Having a few drinks with a friend is okay, but you should not drink every day. It can lead to a cycle of becoming more stressed, and in the worst cases can even lead to addiction.
Be careful not to drink too much caffeine in a day. Caffeine can increase hormones that cause stress, you can feel more stressed by drinking more coffee. Instead of coffee, replace that with green tea as a stress reducer.
Drink some orange juice or eat your favorite citrus to calm your nerves. Citrus fruits contain vitamin C, which can ward off coughs and colds, and help you to avoid the stress caused by sickness.
If you are currently dealing with stress by diverting your attention to unhealthy activities, you should replace these activities with ones that are more healthy and productive. Over-eating, for example, can easily be turned into a quick walk or a few push-ups as a means of combating stress. If you use good coping skills, instead of bad ones, you will feel much better.
Alleviate your stress by engaging in an activity you love on a daily basis. Read on your iPad, listen to music on your iPod or walk through the neighborhood while you talk to a friend on your iPhone. Even if you are very busy, it is imperative to find outlets to improve the way that you feel as the day wears on.
In conclusion, there are many things in life that will cause stress, and some of them cannot be avoided. Use the guidance provided in this article, and you will be well on your way to tuning out many of the stress triggers in your daily existence, and gain a new sense of peace.
Acid in the brain: Team develops new way to look at brain function
University of Iowa neuroscientist John Wemmie, M.D., Ph.D., is interested in the effect of acid in the brain. His studies suggest that increased acidity or low pH, in the brain is linked to panic disorders, anxiety, and depression. But his work also suggests that changes in acidity are important for normal brain activity too.
With fat: What’s good or bad for the heart, may be the same for the brain
It has been known for years that eating too many foods containing “bad” fats, such as saturated fats or trans fats, isn’t healthy for your heart. However, according to new research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), one “bad” fatsaturated fatwas found to be associated with worse overall cognitive function and memory in women over time. By contrast, a “good” fatmono-unsaturated fat was associated with better overall cognitive function and memory.
Various metabolic risk factors could be linked to diabetes-related pain with major implications for treatment
Around 1 in 50 people in the general population and 1 in 6 of those aged over 40 years experience neuropathy (damage to the nerves of the peripheral nervous system), which can cause numbness, tingling, pain, or weakness. The most common cause of neuropathy is diabetes, and up to half of diabetes patients can be affected. Currently, among the only treatments for neuropathy are glucose control (which often only delays it) and pain management. Yet less than half of patients are treated for pain, despite the availability of many effective therapies . Growing evidence suggests that various metabolic risk factors, including prediabetes, could be linked with neuropathy and thus be targets for new disease-modifying drugs. The issues are discussed in a Review in the June issue of The Lancet Neurology, by Dr Brian C Callaghan and colleagues, all of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.