Kids Who Can’t Wake Up Want to bite into a savory chocolate brownie laced with hormones? “Grab a box today and let your problems melt away,” promises “Lazy Cakes,” a new “relaxation brownie” containing 4 mg of melatonin plus valerian root. One writer for Phoenix News ate the chewy cake and fell asleep for twelve […]
Sleep, Memory (2/1/11)
Are Memories Permanent? The brain creates memory through a near endless conversation. To move ideas from short term, working memory to long term memory the cortex and hippocampus communicate again and again. It may take ten years or more for “permanent” memories to encode in cortical locations – where they first registered as thoughts […]
Would you snort sleeping pills to treat your feet? (Silly uses of sleeping pills – 1/27/11)
Steve Tyler Treats His Feet Not everyone snorts prescription sleeping pills to treat their feet. Aerosmith rocker Steve Tyler podiatric self-management included snorting lunesta (eszopiclone.) When he tried it while performing in South Dakota in 2009 he fell off the stage. Please don’t do this when you’re judging American Idol, okay? As fans of the […]
Can we learn to multitask? (1/26/11)
Death TV The brain only does well one task at a time; multitasking is becoming the norm at work and play. The contradiction represented in those two statements is now being played out for keeps in emergency services and the American military. Utilizing large amounts of instantaneous information can save many lives; it can also […]
Stand up for your health (1/17/11)
Stand Up More and more studies demonstrate that sitting down is hazardous to your health. Yet moving, even standing for a minute, marks a positive change. So it’s time to stand up and take charge of your health. Scotland and America It’s strange to see two cohort studies of approximately the same size […]