Are Video Games Increasing Childhood Obesity?

BY SHERWIN RICHARDSON

In the past three decades, childhood obesity has been growing at an alarming rate. In 1975 – 1980 the figures from the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) estimated that only 5 percent of children and adolescents ages 2 – 19 were overweight. In 2007 – 2008 that number rose to 17 percent. Children that are now overweight are having health issues that were only seen in adults like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. There are many factors that could be associated with the rising numbers in childhood and teen obesity. However, video games might not be something you would normally consider a factor.

Indirectly, it seems as though technology has the upper hand at aiding to increase the obesity epidemic. Children and teens seem to be replacing outside activities with picking up a play station or Xbox controller. Unfortunately, we are finding that video games are increasing the rate of a sedentary lifestyle. On average, children and teens are playing video games three or more hours per day. Children and teens that are physically inactive could develop a slue of problems. In addition to obesity concerns, type II diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, kids could fall victim to cardiovascular issues, ridicule from peer groups for being over weight and/or bullying. Furthermore, children that live a sedentary lifestyle increase their chances of being sedentary as an adult.

There are measures that could be implemented to decrease the chances of childhood obesity. For one, parents should decrease the amount of time their children spend in front of the television or computer playing video games.  In addition to cutting down the hours, it is recommended that families do some form of physical activity together. By making the activity fun and family oriented, it will get children in the habit of physical activity.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html

http://children.webmd.com/news/20040702/video-games-tv-double-childhood-obesity-risk

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2065609/Todays-kindergarten-kids-road-obesity-nation-gets-fatter.html

Finally! It’s the man’s turn

BY SIMRAN TOOR

Finally! No longer do we women have to be the only ones to remember to take the pill every day. Now men can also take equal control and responsibility to prevent pregnancies. Even though it is thought that the man should bring a condom, but condoms break. And lets not forget about the people who don’t believe in condoms, so the pill will provide extra protection against pregnancy. This pill will soon be available to the public sooner then you think. The male birth control pill will be available in many different forms like a patch, a injection given every three months, a pill, and a implant that is placed under the skin every 12 months.

The male birth control has been through many tests and studies, which have proved to be effective. The drug works the same way the female contraceptive works, the male contraceptive has hormones such as testosterone and progestin that stop sperm grown. This drug has proven to be safe, efficient and reversible. There were some side effects noted which included headaches, night sweats, and some weight gain. But these side effects eventually subside overtime and the side effects occur because of the additional hormones from the contraceptive. This pill will be on available in about three years and about five years till it will get an FDA approval. It sounds like a long time but it’s about time that men take equal responsibilities.

Why Women Have Sex.

BY IRENE MATTONE

Have you ever stopped to think about the main reasons women have sex? Do you think men and women both have sex for the same reasons? Two psychologists thought long and hard about this mind-boggling question, and what they found ranges from pretty predictable to positively puzzling!

The psychology behind why women really have sex is probably far more complex than you would imagine.  Psychologists Cindy Meston and David Buss from the University of Texas in Austin interviewed over 1,000 women, and later wrote a book based on their research titled Why Women Have Sex. The women they interviewed were from all around the world, and also through an online survey.  Meston and Buss ended up with 237 reasons and motivations. They found that the main reasons why women have sex include: sexual attraction, desire for physical pleasure, expressing affection, and for sexual release, which may be predictable to most people. More important reasons that woman gave were about boosting their self-esteem or sexual esteem, to get revenge, and to relieve pain.  A good percentage of women also claimed to have sex just for the health benefits. They reported having sex to relieve headaches, menstruation pain, stress, aid to more relaxed sleep, enhance mood and decrease levels of depression and anxiety, combat loneliness, and get exercise.

The authors say that many of the complexities of women’s sexual motivations can be explained by human evolution.  One common reason for women is stealing a friend’s lover; According to the researchers, this can be viewed as a way to win a more desirable partner, someone with better genes.  Fifty-three percent of women in the study admitted that this was their reason for stealing a friend’s lover. Some women act in “mate-guarding”: having sex out of a duty to please the other partner. Buss, who happens to be an evolutionary psychologist, states that “One of the things we realized early on was that there’s this huge gap in the field of study in that we thought women’s sexual motivations were sort of intuitive and understood. But what shocked me was the sheer complexity of women’s psychology.” Buss also told the Times that he “was surprised by the importance of revenge.” He even mentioned that he was particularly surprised by the explanations he got from women about why they were vengefully having sex.  “A few had sex in order to give someone else a sexually transmitted disease.” – How disgusting!

In their research of finding out why humans have sex, Meston and Buss found that among men’s top 20 reasons are attraction and “it’s fun”, but also ranging to “I realized I was in love.”  This may seem pretty straight forward, but too bad it’s not that easy for women. For the woman, her brain is the primary driver of her arousal.  This means that women tend to overanalyze and dissect to the point that their motivations don’t have much impact on their physical desire. Other ways men and women differ can be as simple as their anatomical differences. When a man’s blood flow is increased by seeing an attractive woman, Viagra, or even through acts that are not related to sex, it can lead to an erection and therefore trigger sexual desire.  This is in no way true for women.  Simply increasing a woman’s blood flow will not help her sexual desire increase. Meston states that she could write a whole book on the topic of low female sex drive, including the fact that more than half of women under 60 still suffer from low sex drive, and a quarter are unable to orgasm.

Christopher Lynn, Ph.D., from the University of Alabama quotes Why Women Have Sex when he explains what it is about a man that attracts women.  He says, “Evidence suggests that women prefer male bodies with the classic V-shaped torso with a high shoulder-to-hip ratio, which are hypothesized to have signaled good hunting and protection ability in the ancestral environment.” According to research, females find men with symmetrical faces most attractive because such symmetry tends to allude to male genetic quality and developmental stability.  Another point is voice attractiveness, in which women tend to prefer deep voices. Females are most often attracted to elegant movement, interesting personality, and a good sense of humor as well. These traits function as fitness indicators. By reviewing this evidence from their studies, the researchers believe that human females choose mates based on what animal behaviorists call “mate-copying”, which involves females judging males as more attractive if the males are known to be successful with women. According to a 1979 study by Weatherhead and Robertson, this can be parallel to the idea of “sexy-sons”: the hypothesis by which mating with males who are seen to possess the ability to attract females makes a female desire to unite her genes with his in order to build bodies of sons and grandsons that are attractive to their generation of females.

It should come as no surprise that some women have sex with men to get material things, or even to get the man to do household chores.  It is no secret that most sexual courtships involve some form of gift-giving on the male’s part. One study among undergraduates at a Midwestern school found that 9% of women had initiated sex for a tangible benefit and 82% of those women did so outside of an ongoing romantic relationship. Buss told the Times that women have sex based on what they call “sexual economics,” which includes a woman having sex in order to get her partner to take out the garbage, getting free dinners, or even getting expensive gifts. Women also have sex for an ego boost, or to enhance their self-perception of attractiveness.  Women’s self-perceptions are altered by media and social standards; however studies show that “only 5% of women even have the genetic potential to look like a runway model.”

Do women have sex more often because they are in love? In Chapter three of Why Women Have Sex, love is described as “a combination of intimacy, passion, and commitment.” Some women in this study did report using sex to attain or express love and commitment; however, at the physiological level, certain parts of the brain are affected by “emotional love” through drug-like effects.  In newer relationships, there is a decrease of serotonin, and in more evolved relationships, later stages of attachment are characterized by vasopressin and oxytocin changes.  These hormones are the body’s way of ensuring the process of reproduction by producing a chemical concoction in our bodies to form attraction and attachment.

Vasopressin and Oxytocin are hormones that are very chemically similar in respects to how they are structured.  They are located on the same chromosome separated by a very tiny distance. Vasopressin is released directly into the brain, where it plays an important role in social behavior and bonding, especially for men.  In an book by Jennifer Roback Morse, Smart Sex:Finding Life-Long Love in a Hook-Up World, the economics professor states that although men may have a desire to have sex with multiple women, vasopressin helps them to counteract this tendency.   She also explains how oxytocin in the brain is “involved in social recognition and bonding”, and effects women more-so than men due to women’s estrogen levels.

To further expand this study, I would be interested in seeing more research on why men have sex. It would be a lot more helpful to see men’s top reasons compared side-by-side to women’s. It’s understandable that they would want to understand the psychology behind women’s reasons for sex, but I don’t think they should under mind the reasons men have sex. They had previously done a study in 2007 on why humans have sex, and I think they should have used their results from men in that study, or conducted a new study, to compare the results they found from women in this study. I also think they could have explained more about the chemicals vasopressin and oxytocin. I was curious after I saw they mentioned it and didn’t explain it, so I took the liberty of looking up the hormones’ effects myself.  I do find it interesting that this study shows connections between women’s reasons for sex to evolutionary facts. An example of this being how women choose men with specific physical features because in evolution it was thought signal good hunting and protection ability.  Although seeing women’s reasons for sex through an evolutionary eye is interesting, I think they should have done more personal studies with people to see why some individuals in particular have their reasons for having sex.  It would give more of a concrete foundation to their study if they were able to tell us that a specific group of women, for example, from the north eastern coast of the United States have sex because of x-y-z and they know this because of possible stressful life events they previously experienced, or their geographical location, or even because they all have similar personalities.

References:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1928189,00.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1211624/Why-women-sex-To-relieve-boredom-win-favours-stop-headache.html#

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-14/man-woman/29864769_1_cure-women-headache

http://thenewviewonsex.blogspot.com/2008/04/oxytocin-vasopressin-and-tale-of-two.html

http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP08275283.pdf

Attention Nice Guys (and Girls): Good News

BY SARAH GARSON

When it comes to success, are you the type to say, “screw them!” and do whatever it takes to get to the top? Or do you put others ahead of your own personal advancement? If you fall into the latter category, there’s good news: a new study has been done that challenges the old idea of “nice guys finish last.”

Dr. David Rand from Harvard University conducted a study and found that real-world social networks- that is, social networks that are dynamic and always changing- actually encourage cooperativeness and punish selfish behavior. Rand’s research, based on these complex social networks, finds that cooperation and friendliness is rewarded by an expansion of the social sphere, whereas greed results in being shunned and cut off.

Rand recruited 800 volunteers for his study. In groups of 20 to 30 players, the subjects played an online game. Each player began the game with an equal number of points, and was randomly assignd one or more “connections.” Throughout the game players were given the opportunity to generously give 50 points to each player they were connected to, or to keep the points for him or herself. After each round 30% of the players were given the opportunity to “update” their connections: they could either break certain connections and make new ones, or maintain connections that they liked. The unusual design of the experiment was especially important because of Rand’s idea that social networks are constantly changing and evolving. Previous studies on social networks were often based on static snapshots of a group. However Rand’s method is much more congruent with the way that complex social networks actually exist and work in the world.

“This model is closer to real life, thus the results are closer to real life,” Rand explains. “What this is showing is that a key aspect of real-world social networks is the dynamic component. The point of this paper is to say that those networks are always shifting, and they’re not shifting in random ways.”

In his experiment, Rand found that the subjects were much more likely to make new connections or maintain existing ones with players who had acted generously. Connections were often broken with selfish players. From this finding, Rand describes what he calls a “correction mechanism” that is inherent to social groups. Players who were initially selfish or uncooperative were twice as likely to become cooperative after experiencing the unpleasant predicament of being shunned. Therefore being cut off or shunned from the group acts as an “internal discipline,” which ensures that levels of cooperation and generosity remain high within the network. Rand’s theory implies that social networks execute a kind of natural classical conditioning.

Rand’s research is compelling, and definitely a breath of fresh air compared to all the negativity out there, however it raises some questions. My first and foremost problem with his experiment is as to how well an online game can replicate an actual social network. The decision-making process involved in deciding whether or not to be generous with points in a game is markedly different from a more real life decision, such as whether or not to hook up with your best friend’s girlfriend, or screw over a co-worker to secure a promotion. Also, in an online game it is obvious when someone is not being nice, however in real life people don’t walk around with a sign over their head that says “generous” or “selfish.” Of course, Dr. Rand’s topic is very difficult to study, and while I may criticize his methods, I’ll admit that I have absolutely no idea what could have been done to improve the study. While his study may have flaws and his findings might not be applicable in all situations, they definitely still have value. It would have been interesting if Dr. Rand had also collected information about each participant’s age, gender, race, and other demographics. It seems like a very simple thing to include in a study, especially an online one, so it would have been quick efficient and would provide extensive information.

Dr. Rand’s findings come as a relief for anyone who worries that they are “too nice,” and possibly a wake-up call for anyone who tends to put their own interests above all else. However one must still remember the importance of making sure you are doing what is best for you as well. I think it’s best to be somewhere in the middle of the spectrum…don’t be a total doormat, but don’t be so aggressive that you screw over your friends to get what you want.

Sources:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/11/16/nice-guys-can-finish-first/31520.html

Marijuana: The Proscribed Medicine

BY DANNY TAY

An apple a day keeps the doctor away while a puff from a joint can keep chronic pain away.  Throughout the years there has been much controversy relating to the use of medicinal marijuana.  Can the controlled use of cannabis really benefit us? While media turns and twists marijuana into something harmful and ugly, what they don’t tell us is how beneficial marijuana can be to certain people.  From diseases as serious as cancer, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy to less severe health conditions such as migraines, nausea and arthritis, the inhalation or consumption of marijuana has been proven to actually help with pain relief.

Many studies have shown that the active ingredient in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can provide some medical benefits to certain patients.  While there is no evidence that marijuana can cure diseases and ailments, there have been many proven studies showing that the use of medicinal marijuana as a controlled substance can diminish pain associated to many illnesses.  According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), “cannabis and cannabinoids may have benefits in treating the symptoms of cancer or the side effects of cancer therapies” (Cancer.gov).  Furthermore, cannabis has been shown to actually kill cancer cells when studied in the laboratory at the NCI.

Of course there are many drugs in the market that can alleviate pain or help with certain diseases, however each bottle of medication comes with warning labels that list the risks and side effects of each drug.  Furthermore, these prescribed and over the counter drugs can prove harmful to our livers.  Marijuana on the other hand, in its purest form, is completely natural and has no proven harmful side effects.  There is a lot of unfounded rhetoric stating that smoking pot can cause lung cancer being that you’re inhaling smoke as you do with cigarettes.  On the contrary, cigarette  causes cancer because the tobacco is radiated where as in marijuana it isn’t.

I am not promoting the use of marijuana or an advocate for those who are pro prop 19; I am simply showing some insight on the other side of the spectrum.  We are taught never to judge a book by its cover, yet we dismiss and belittle the thought of legalizing medicinal marijuana solely on what is portrayed by the media.  So, before you chose to fight for or against the legality of marijuana, I ask that you consider all sides of the spectrum and educate yourselves further before passing judgment just because something is depicted a certain way in our society.  Think outside the box.

 (Dr. speaking about Marijuana).

References:

http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/marijuana

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/patient

http://mpp.org/

http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/medical_marijuana_review.html

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000087

Need a Good Reason to Cut Class?

BY LAUREN RUF

Tell your professor that sitting down for too long is killing you.  Yes, literally killing you.  According to Marc Hamilton, PhD, “sitting is a health hazard on the order of smoking.”   Sitting for too long can wreak havoc on your metabolism because it reduces muscle movement drastically.  When you are standing you shift your weight back and forth resulting in many quick, tiny movements.  Standing also engages your leg and hip muscles, and when muscles are engaged, they release an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase.  This enzyme is responsible for burning fat that is floating around in your blood.  When you are sitting for too long and the amount of lipoprotein lipase drops, the HDL levels, or the ”good cholesterol” in your body also drops.  The insulin in your body also becomes less effective, increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.  Some of these effects can happen over the course of just one day, and they can really add up to be even more harmful over time.

The American Cancer Society conducted a study by tracking people’s health from 1992 to 2006.  The subjects were 123,000 Americans broken up into categories based on gender.  “The men in the study who spent six hours or more per day of their leisure time sitting had an overall death rate that was about 20 percent higher than the men who sat for three hours or less. The death rate for women who sat for more than six hours a day was about 40 percent higher.”  This may have been due to the fact that people who sit more often are at an increased risk for diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, etc. and those diseases can cause premature death.

Interestingly enough, there was a somewhat similar study conducted in Australia that showed that the more television a person sat to watch on a daily basis, the higher their risk of dying was.  At first this seems extreme, but David Dunstan, the author of the study, calculated many possibly contributing factors only to find that, “age, sex, education, smoking, hypertension, waist circumference, body-mass index, glucose tolerance status and leisure-time exercise did not significantly modify the associations between television viewing and all-cause . . . mortality.”  Sitting really was the main culprit.  These studies seem to show that making a habit out of sitting too much can literally shed years off of your life.

A new trend attempting to counteract the negative effects of sitting is that people are replacing office chairs with exercise balls.  It was thought that by taking away the backrest of a traditional chair people would have to sit up straight and engage their muscles.  Leaning back in a normal chair you are forcing your back into an unnatural curve.  Unfortunately, a British study in 2009, “found that prolonged sitting on a therapy ball led to just as much slumping and ‘poor sitting position’ as a desk chair.”  But exercise balls are not all that bad because they do engage the muscles more, and one can burn more calories sitting on these than on chairs.  They are still not as effective as standing up or moving around.  So ask your parents to buy you Wii or an Xbox Kinect, it can save your life.

Sources

http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20535043_2,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=homepage

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/stand-up-while-you-read-this/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/health/21really.html

http://www.neatorama.com/2011/05/09/sitting-down-all-day-really-bad-for-you/

Listening to music while exercising: thumbs up or down?

BY CRYSTAL HENRY

How important is music in your life? According to musical genius Stevie Wonder, “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand… “Music is like a language, all on its own, with or without words.  Music has been described as “the language of the soul”   For many individuals; music can be a positive force for mental health, calming, relaxing, and intellectual stimulating.  We incorporate different forms of music in our lives daily for these purposes.  Hearing a song that you enjoy can have an effect on an individual’s mood and motivation level, especially during exercise.   Exercise as we all know is good for your body and enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health.  According to research, if you listen to music while exercise, your brain will probably work better too.

Are you living a stressful life?  Well if you are, exercising or doing any physical activity and listening to music can help reduce your stress level.   In the Exercise and Music Clear the Brain article written by Lee Dye, discussed the effects and benefits of listening to music while exercising can have on your physical performance.  Were the subject’s brains really stimulated by the sound of music?  Well to find out, clinical psychologist Charles Emery of Ohio State University was about to find out through research and case studies.  Emery put his theory to the test, with the help of 33 men and women in the final weeks of a cardiac rehabilitation program.  All participants were tested for mental performance after exercising without music, and exercising with music.  I thought that the research methods used in this study were appropriate because it cater to both males and females of all ages and races. Another method he could have used was observing individuals in exercise groups or classes such as Zumba and Pilates.  For this method he could have a control group who did Zumba with upbeat music and the other group who did not use music throughout the class to see how the presences of music effects one’s energy, motivation and mood.

Do you believe that your workouts are enhanced by the presences of loud music blasting or playing softly in your ears?  If your response was yes, then you can in fact be correct because based on the findings, Emery discovered that on average, the participants performed more than twice as well on verbal fluency test after listening to music while exercising than they did after exercising without the music.  I personally find music to be a tremendous energy booster and motivation builder while working out because of the way my body responds to the exercise.

Music enhances the frontal lobe in the brain as well as performance.  Listening to music is a more complex endeavor than it seems on the surface.  Everyone has their favorite genre of music to motivate them while exercising, whether it is Classical, or Hip-Hop music.  The human brain actually has to sort out tones, and timing, and sequencing of various sounds, to understand music.  What gene gets you pumped and excited while running or lifting or doing any kind of physical activity?  Most likely the songs on most individual’s iPods at the gym would be Hip-Hop, R&B, Pop and Rock.  Now do you think that people who workout to Beethoven verses Jay Z and Beyonce would have a different responds to the exercise?

Your Brain on music VS. Your brain on drugs

You might like all these types of music, but no matter which genre of music you are exercising to, your brain somehow makes sense of music and allows you to make the decisions about your musical taste.  If you had to make a workout playlist on your iPod, what songs would be on it?  Can listening to Hip-Hop music or upbeat music instead of classical during a cardiovascular endurance exercise allow one to run longer and have a better workout?  The answer is yes.  Research has shown that music with a strong beat like hip hop can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats brining sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm, meditative state.  The music you choose to listen to can make a huge impact on your workout mood and intensity, so the next time you go to the gym create a playlist with upbeat motivational songs with a good beat.

How do you feel when you have to workout without your Ipod?  Does this have a negative effect on your workout or training level or are you able to still have the same intense/successful workout?  For me personally, whenever I leave my iPod at home, I still have a good workout, but not as good of a workout if I were to have my music to keep me focus and driven.  For those of you who have been to a gym before, have you noticed that there is always upbeat music playing all around the facility.  This fact proves that music does have a huge impact on our performance while exercising.  Working out in complete silence may = frustration + a less exciting and uplifting atmosphere.

You are not alone, champions benefit from listening to music while exercising too

Michael Phelps is an American swimmer who has overall, won 16 Olympic medals.  So what do you think he is listening to on his iPod?  During the Olympic Games in nearly every camera shot of Michael on dry land, he can be seen with iPod headphones dangling from his ears.  If you thought that his playlist consist of the latest Hip-Hop, you were correct because he listens to it before every race and during workouts because he said that it helps motivate him.  The artists that populate Phelps iPod include: Jay Z, Young Jeezy, Eminem and Outkast.  Occasionally, he’ll throw some techno into the mix, but usually keeps thing rap-centric

I’m not guarantying you that the next time you swim or go to the gym to workout that you will become an Olympic athlete, but you certainly will enjoy your workout better and maintain that same level of motivation from the begin to the end of your workout.  Whether you are male or female, young or old, everyone can benefit from listening to music while working out.   Remember, the next time you go to the gym or participate in any physical activity, bring your iPod along and listen to your favorite songs and I can ensure that you will have a successful, exciting and positive workout.

Article: ABC News Study: Exercise and Music Clear the Brain

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=99556&page=1#.Ts0nibLNmJ5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVIiYyD2_YU&feature=related

BY LAUREN GRECO

Do you ever get extremely irritated for no reason and wonder why… or act impulsively and regret it later on? Well, I think we all have, but if this is typical or common behavior for you, new research shows that you may have lower levels than others, of the neurotransmitter GABA, (gamma-aminobutyric acid).

GABA is found in a specific part of the brain that is involved in regulating self-control and studies show that is the most crucial inhibitory neurotransmitter. Although GABA is not the only factor related to impulsive behavior, it may be partly to blame.

Recent advances in brain imaging have allowed psychologists to see how the brain can regulate people’s behavior. With the new technology, Frederic Boy led a research team to study how amounts of GABA in the brain have effect impulsivity.

The team gathered a group of men that had no history of impulsive behavior, (such as violence or substance abuse) and gave them an impulsivity questionnaire, which tested for different aspects of impulsiveness. Next, the researchers tested the men’s brains using an imaging device called magnetic resonance spectroscopy in order to measure the amount of GABA that the men’s brains contained.

Results show that the more GABA the men had in their prefrontal cortex, the less likely they were to show “feeling of urgency” which is one aspect of impulsivity tested for on the questionnaire. According to the article, the feeling of urgency is, “the tendency to act rashly in response to distress or other strong emotions and urges.” The men with lower GABA had higher urgency tendencies.

There are a few downfalls to the study and the article. One being that women’s GABA levels were not tested. The article says that the findings may be true in women but they were not included in the study because it may have caused hormonal imbalances for them. The study also lacked having another group of men to test, perhaps those who HAVE had impulsive behavior problems in the past. I feel that these are two severs problems with the study; it is crucial for researchers to do the study on women as well as men in order to have reliable data and information regarding GABA. If GABA has no correlation to impulsivity in women, it could call for new studies to determine the difference of GABA’s effects on men and women. Therefore, I feel that this particular study is inconclusive until women are tested and there is more evidence. I also feel that the article title should have been named “Low Levels of Neurotransmitter MAY be linked to Impulsivity.”

However, I found another study, which was conducted at The University of Chicago School of Medicine that showed similar results to Boy’s research. However, this group of researchers tested GABA levels in spinal fluid as opposed to the brain. They also tested a group of people who had no history of impulsivity as well as people who have had a history of impulsive behavior, which I feel makes this research more valid than that of the article I read.  The results of the study showed that GABA levels are directly correlated with impulsivity.

In conclusion I feel that peoples impulsive behavior is due to a combination of social, environmental and genetic factors. So, a little bit far fetched… but if a person acts on impulse, for example: committing a crime and has extremely low GABA levels, is there a possibility that they would be pardoned from the crime? Is the crime their fault or is impulsive criminal behavior uncontrollable for them? How would we handle a future issue like this if more research was done to show that people’s GABA levels are very important in decision making? Any thoughts…

Article

http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/11/04/low-levels-of-neurotransmitter-linked-to-impulsivity/31082.html

Reference

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.hofstra.edu/science/article/pii/S0022395608000927

Obesity: Do bigger portions make us more powerful?

BY BREANNE DAY

According to James Warren from the Chicago News Cooperative, how we see ourselves is associated to the amount of food we eat.  A study was done called “Supersize me: Product size as a signal of status” from Northwestern University, where research connects obesity with    consumer status.  The study concluded that “those who feel relatively powerless will eat bigger food portions when given the choice, since they associated portion size with status.”  Those who are higher up in the social world eat less, mainly thinking there is no such thing as too rich or too slim.  Obesity is often associated with low-income individuals who don’t have access to nutrition education or healthy food.  This study states how “those with a sense of powerlessness link larger food portions to increased status.” David Dubois and Derek Rucker did a study where they took three differently sized options for smoothies at a student cafeteria and the biggest one was named Power.  They had 183 students judge others based on how the others responded to three sizes of pizza, coffee and smoothies.  The ones that picked the largest were viewed as the ones with the highest social status.  Another study was done where people who ate hor dourves in bigger sizes felt more powerful.  Warren hopes that if we change the size-to-status relationship, than we can decrease obesity.

In my opinion, I agree that people of a higher social status associate smaller portions with higher social status.  However, I disagree on a more personal level because I eat less when feeling powerless because I feel that healthier foods give me more energy and make me feel better about myself.  The researchers in this study did do a lot of investigation on the correlations of portion sized and social status.  However, I did some research of my own and came to find a few discoveries.  In the article “Do people pick super-sized portions to boost their social status?” Nancy Shute discovered that a “In a new study, people chose jumbo portions of food and drink when they felt they lacked power and status.”  She goes on to talk about how it’s common for people to constantly feel powerless; therefore people over-eat to make themselves feel better.  This seems to be subconscious and unintentional but can be a logical explanation for the rising obesity problem in America. What do you guys think?

LINKS:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/11/04/142019920/do-people-pick-super-sized-portions-to-boost-their-social-status

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/us/a-new-linkage-offers-possibilities-in-the-anti-obesity-campaign.html

Add me!

BY LAURA SAMEYAH 

Do you feel loved when your Facebook friends “like” your posts or status updates? Do the numerous birthday wall posts boost your confidence and provide social support? According to the article titled “More Facebook friends, Fewer real ones, Says Cornell study” Keith Hampton argues that Facebook users actually get more social support. However,  Matthew Brashears, a sociologist from Cornell University asked people online to list the names of people they have discussed important issues with over the past 6 months. He used the database called, Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences. The results he found were that 48% of the participants reported having one close friend, 18% reported two close friends. 29% reported more and 4% reported nothing. Are we really getting more social support by logging into our Facebook accounts than from an actual person? In a recent study      the authors hypothesized that there will be a positive association between the number of Facebook friends college students have and their subjective well being. The authors also asked if perceived social support from Facebook mediate the association between the number of Facebook friends and subjective well being. Participants   were asked to list the number of Facebook friends they have. They were also asked to rank the availability of social support on a 5-point Likert scale. 1 represented “not available at all” and 5 represented “extensively available.” For example, a statement would say that Facebook friends “congratulate me on my accomplishments.” The results of the study showed that there was indeed a positive association between the number of Facebook friends and college students’ subjective well being. As the number of Facebook friends increase the level of happiness increases. However, perceived social support did not mediate this association. The authors suggest that college students feel happy from looking at their Facebook friends because it reminds them of the social connections they share. From personal experience with Facebook, I agree with this statement. The ability to view your “wall to wall” or “see friendship” between you and another friend reminds one of the bond he or she may share with this person, provided that the person is an actual friend. Facebook even provides a “friendship picture” to further affirm your belief that you are actually friends with the person. Back to social support, I don’t agree that Facebook users get the most social support. Matthew Brashears states that online contact and personal contact are different and we trust fewer people to disclose our personal information. The three main types of social support: Emotional, tangible and informational are all available offline. Although, you can get emotional and informational support from Facebook, tangible support like money and rides are obviously impossible. Also, I think that the quality of emotional and informational support is better in person than onscreen.

LINKS:

Original article      

Additional article

Kim, J., & Roselyn Lee, J. (2011). The Facebook paths to happiness: Effects of the number of Facebook friends and self-presentation on subjective well-being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, And Social Networking, 14(6), 359-364.