Clear Description of PTSD

one could say that in PTSD, the "emotional brain" assumes dominance over the "rational brain".

The reason appears to be the failure of the Hippocampus to create abstract verbal representations that inhibit the brain's access to sensory-perceptual recollections of the traumatic event (Conway & Pearce, Psychological Review, 2000).


When the brain is overwhelmed, the hippocampus shuts down. Not only does it fail to turn the trauma into words that can be processed after the event, but during the event, that shutdown impairs critical thinking. Ever hear about an event and wondered why so-and-so didn't just...whatever? They're not stupid. It's a brain thing. And, Mr./Ms. Armchair Quarterback, yours works the same way.

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/recovering-trauma/201008/post-traumatic-stress

Advice From Disney Princesses

Hilarious!!!

Advice from Disney princesses.

Ariel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8xCgC3w1zs

Belle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuk-h2ZYNJU

Geek Chic: The Pi Necklace

http://thegloss.com/fashion/random-photo-cheat-in-class-with-this-pi-necklace/

Why Smart People Do Dumb Things

The articles linked from this list are full of enlightening research. From why the written word is so powerful to backfiring rewards to stereotypes and more, this list has some juicy food for thought.

http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/01/10-more-brilliant-social-psychology-studies.php

We Like to Pick Our Own Carrots

This is interesting.

"According to research cited by Sheena Iyengar in The Art of Choosing, infants as young as 4 months enjoyed the power of choice to turn on music by their own volition. In adults, "neurons in the striatum...respond more to rewards that people or animals actively choose than to identical rewards that are passively received." Isn't it amazing that our very brain cells vibrate happily to our active choices?"

I'm wondering how this relates to all of the research showing that employees aren't terribly motivated by monetary rewards. If you gave employees a choice of money, vacation time, flex time, etc., would you get better work out of them than with the standard "Here's the list of things you have to accomplish to get your bonus" approach?

From whence the quote: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/changepower/201008/the-choice-motivator

Regrets of the Dying

These lists pretty much all say the same thing. Wish I'd taken more chances. Wish I'd asked that girl/guy out. Wish I'd ditched my job and followed my dream. And so on.

I'd like to replace all of these lists with "Wish I'd learned to accept that, at every point, I did the best I could with what I had and to appreciate the growing I've done along the way." After all, 50 or 80 years of building confidence in yourself should be cause for celebration, not cause to berate yourself for not having had your current level of confidence decades earlier.

Romantic Love is Motivating

I was struck by this paragraph in a blog post about the difficulty of breaking up.

"This brain imaging study of individuals who were still 'in love' with their rejecter supplies further evidence that the passion of 'romantic love' is a goal-oriented motivation state rather than a specific emotion" the researchers concluded, noting that brain imaging showed some similarities between romantic rejection and cocaine craving. "The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that romantic love is a specific form of addiction."

Good insight as to the ways in which our emotional beings can sometimes be so at odds with our analytical sides. Logically, it makes no sense to want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with you. Getting the heart on board with that thought is a whole 'nother story.