Brain Science

Sorry for the over the top headline, but the answer to the question appears to be yes…and please read this whole post, there is something really good at the end.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh scanned the brains of 94 people over the age of 70. They were looking to see the differences in the brains of people who were of normal weight (BMI under 25), overweight (BMI 25-30), and obese (BMI over 30).

If you are 5 foot 10 and you weigh 220, you have a BMI of 31.6 and would be considered obese. If you are 5 foot 10 and weigh 180, your BMI is 25.8 and you would be considered overweight for purposes of the study. There are certain athletes with lot of muscle mass that make the BMI inaccurate, but for the rest of us it is a valid measurement.

It turns out that Obese people have 8% less brain tissue than people of normal...continue reading »

You have probably heard about the Placebo effect. We know new drugs are measured against the placebo effect because a good percentage of people get better just by taking sugar pills.

I think a lot of us don't take the time to consider how crazy this is. Some pretty major health conditions are "cured" by basically the belief that the pill or injection will work.

This is obviously power of the mind stuff, but until recently scientists had never been able to actually "see" the placebo effect actually working in the brain.

Thanks to Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (f MRI) and PET scans...continue reading »

I have been doing some interesting reading, and I thought I would share with you some interesting information on how to spot a liar.

This should be a useful tool over this holiday weekend.

Busting the relatives is always a fun deal. Was uncle Harvey really a war hero? Did daddy really enjoy going to your brother's piano recitals?

First, let's dispel some myths.

How many of you believe that if someone crosses their arms or has a closed posture...continue reading »

A new study, published in the November 2008 issue of the journal Current Biology* just blew my mind.

Researchers found that just by changing the way subjects looked at an achy limb, they could affect the degree of pain experienced AND the swelling of the limb.

This is pretty crazy stuff, but is just more evidence of the mind/body...continue reading »

If you've been following this blog for a while, you know I am a big-time "brain performance" guy. This is probably why I got into the hypnosis publishing area, as I'm always looking for ways to achieve peak performance. In my opinion, the brain is the key.

I've written about neurofeedback, brain entrainment, brain software, and neuro-plasticity, but I've never written about supplements that improve your brain's performance.

There is a reason, and it's this:

Until recently, I just have not been able to find a formula that is both affordable...continue reading »

The Stock Market, the "Bail Out", and the crazy political situation might be causing you some stress.

I know I am a little stressed about the economy right now. Is this tinge of stress and anxiety I am feeling a bad thing?

New Anxiety Study

According to a 2008 study, published in the journal Psychological Science*...continue reading »

If it wasn't hard enough already, new research out of Monash University and now published in Nature demonstrates that as we age key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger!

We aren't talking about REALLY OLD here, according to Dr. Zane Andrews, a neuroendocrinologist at Monash...continue reading »