Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/MgE9ZDdOkJk

Just 20 minutes of open monitoring meditation can improve your ability to quickly catch errors while you can do something about them.  That’s true, even if you never meditated before.

Michigan State University psychologists report this finding after testing some 200 volunteers.  Half were taught an open meditation technique while the controls just rested quietly with closed eyes prior to a computer task.  The open monitoring meditation group detected their errors on that computer task 20% more effectively than controls.

Open monitoring meditation prescribes an unfocused, broad awareness of your mind’s internal dialog.  By encouraging expansive thinking, it feeds your creativity as well as self-editing error detection.  Get a meditation phone app and try it. 

Lin, Eckerle, Peng, Moser. On Variation in Mindfulness Training: A Multimodal Study of Brief Open Monitoring Meditation on Error Monitoring. Brain Sciences, 2019; 9 (9): 226 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9090226

https://www.pocketmindfulness.com/focused-open-meditation/

#Meditation #correction #creativity #openmonitoring

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/MgE9ZDdOkJk

Just 20 minutes of open monitoring meditation can improve your ability to quickly catch errors while you can do something about them.  That’s true, even if you never meditated before.

Michigan State University psychologists report this finding after testing some 200 volunteers.  Half were taught an open meditation technique while the controls just rested quietly with closed eyes prior to a computer task.  The open monitoring meditation group detected their errors on that computer task 20% more effectively than controls.

Open monitoring meditation prescribes an unfocused, broad awareness of your mind’s internal dialog.  By encouraging expansive thinking, it feeds your creativity as well as self-editing error detection.  Get a meditation phone app and try it. 

Lin, Eckerle, Peng, Moser. On Variation in Mindfulness Training: A Multimodal Study of Brief Open Monitoring Meditation on Error Monitoring. Brain Sciences, 2019; 9 (9): 226 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9090226

https://www.pocketmindfulness.com/focused-open-meditation/

#Meditation #correction #creativity #openmonitoring

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/zqb0k0Jk2HY

You know vegetables are healthy, but you avoid their bitter tastes like the plague.  A freshly minted study from the University of Kentucky explains that your extreme aversion may be due to you having two copies of the bitter taste gene.

The researchers studied the food preferences and genetics of 175 participants.  Those with two copies of the bitter taste gene were more than 2.5 times as likely to be in the group of vegetable haters.   Those with one copy of the bitter gene ate more veggies but not as many as those without a bitter gene.

If you find veggies bitter, experiment mixing them with foods you love. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191111084916.htm

#Vegetables #bitter #genetics

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/zqb0k0Jk2HY

You know vegetables are healthy, but you avoid their bitter tastes like the plague.  A freshly minted study from the University of Kentucky explains that your extreme aversion may be due to you having two copies of the bitter taste gene.

The researchers studied the food preferences and genetics of 175 participants.  Those with two copies of the bitter taste gene were more than 2.5 times as likely to be in the group of vegetable haters.   Those with one copy of the bitter gene ate more veggies but not as many as those without a bitter gene.

If you find veggies bitter, experiment mixing them with foods you love. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191111084916.htm

#Vegetables #bitter #genetics

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/n1nANeZkIcg

From the “use it or lose it department,” a University of Buffalo study credits physical activity with lowering the incidence of nasty hip and extremity fractures.  The investigators focused their interest on more than 77,000 post-menopausal women followed over a 14 year period.

Clocking at least 35 minutes a day of recreational and ordinary household movement triggers an 18% reduced risk of hip fracture.  The benefit increases with a greater intensity and duration of activity, but any and all activities put healthy stresses on your bones which in turn strengthens them.

Women and men, the young as well as our seasoned citizens do benefit….. so get moving and keep moving on a regular basis.

Michael J. LaMonte, Jean Wactawski-Wende, Joseph C. Larson, Xiaodan Mai, John A. Robbins, Meryl S. LeBoff, Zhao Chen, Rebecca D. Jackson, Andrea Z. LaCroix, Judith K. Ockene, Kathleen M. Hovey, Jane A. Cauley. Association of Physical Activity and Fracture Risk Among Postmenopausal Women. JAMA Network Open, 2019; 2 (10): e1914084 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14084

#Activity #fractures #hip #bones

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/n1nANeZkIcg

From the “use it or lose it department,” a University of Buffalo study credits physical activity with lowering the incidence of nasty hip and extremity fractures.  The investigators focused their interest on more than 77,000 post-menopausal women followed over a 14 year period.

Clocking at least 35 minutes a day of recreational and ordinary household movement triggers an 18% reduced risk of hip fracture.  The benefit increases with a greater intensity and duration of activity, but any and all activities put healthy stresses on your bones which in turn strengthens them.

Women and men, the young as well as our seasoned citizens do benefit….. so get moving and keep moving on a regular basis.

Michael J. LaMonte, Jean Wactawski-Wende, Joseph C. Larson, Xiaodan Mai, John A. Robbins, Meryl S. LeBoff, Zhao Chen, Rebecca D. Jackson, Andrea Z. LaCroix, Judith K. Ockene, Kathleen M. Hovey, Jane A. Cauley. Association of Physical Activity and Fracture Risk Among Postmenopausal Women. JAMA Network Open, 2019; 2 (10): e1914084 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14084

#Activity #fractures #hip #bones

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/XDftX03kAT4

If you’ve been turning your home or apartment into a nursery in hopes of purifying the air you breathe, don’t bother.  Engineers from Philadelphia’s Drexel University critically reviewed the past 30 years’ literature on this topic.

It turns out that the very toxins that plants would be clearing from the air, so-called volatile organic compounds or VOCs, are cleared far more efficiently by natural air circulation through the home than by any resident plants.  The NASA studies that suggested a role for home greenery were conducted in sealed chambers with no ventilation.

So grow plants indoors to enhance your home’s beauty.  To keep the air clean, let fresh, outdoor air circulate freely.

Bryan E. Cummings & Michael S. Waring. Potted plants do not improve indoor air quality: a review and analysis of reported VOC removal efficiencies. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 2019 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-019-0175-9

#Plants #cleanair #VOC #airpollution #ventilation

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/XDftX03kAT4

If you’ve been turning your home or apartment into a nursery in hopes of purifying the air you breathe, don’t bother.  Engineers from Philadelphia’s Drexel University critically reviewed the past 30 years’ literature on this topic.

It turns out that the very toxins that plants would be clearing from the air, so-called volatile organic compounds or VOCs, are cleared far more efficiently by natural air circulation through the home than by any resident plants.  The NASA studies that suggested a role for home greenery were conducted in sealed chambers with no ventilation.

So grow plants indoors to enhance your home’s beauty.  To keep the air clean, let fresh, outdoor air circulate freely.

Bryan E. Cummings & Michael S. Waring. Potted plants do not improve indoor air quality: a review and analysis of reported VOC removal efficiencies. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 2019 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-019-0175-9

#Plants #cleanair #VOC #airpollution #ventilation

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/yz3F48H3Qpo

Immersion in 360 virtual reality scenes of the frozen Arctic helps those exposed to painful stimuli cope with both the acute and continuing pain.  Surgical investigators from London’s Imperial College report these findings from a preliminary study of 15 participants.

Acute pain was produced by a small electric shock.  Continuing pain at the same site was triggered by capsaicin, the burning chemical in chill peppers.  Watching frozen ocean water and enormous icebergs suppressed both acute and chronic pain sensations.  Photos of the same scenes were ineffective.

Other experiments show that VR can successfully reduce dental pain.  These current experiments will be expanded in hopes of developing reliable, non-drug pain suppression techniques.

Sam W. Hughes, Hongyan Zhao, Edouard J. Auvinet, Paul H. Strutton. Attenuation of capsaicin-induced ongoing pain and secondary hyperalgesia during exposure to an immersive virtual reality environment. PAIN Reports, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000000790

#Pain #virtualreality #VR #opioidepidemic

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/yz3F48H3Qpo

Immersion in 360 virtual reality scenes of the frozen Arctic helps those exposed to painful stimuli cope with both the acute and continuing pain.  Surgical investigators from London’s Imperial College report these findings from a preliminary study of 15 participants.

Acute pain was produced by a small electric shock.  Continuing pain at the same site was triggered by capsaicin, the burning chemical in chill peppers.  Watching frozen ocean water and enormous icebergs suppressed both acute and chronic pain sensations.  Photos of the same scenes were ineffective.

Other experiments show that VR can successfully reduce dental pain.  These current experiments will be expanded in hopes of developing reliable, non-drug pain suppression techniques.

Sam W. Hughes, Hongyan Zhao, Edouard J. Auvinet, Paul H. Strutton. Attenuation of capsaicin-induced ongoing pain and secondary hyperalgesia during exposure to an immersive virtual reality environment. PAIN Reports, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000000790

#Pain #virtualreality #VR #opioidepidemic