Some people in India perform many tasks simultaneously.Depending upon the number of tasks they perform, they are called ‘Ashtavadani( performs eight tasks simultaneosly,Dasa vadani(performs ten tasks)’.
These acts relate various disciplines, Maths,Vedic hymns, answering questions on music, performing one act with one hand and another with the other hand,Astrology,playing music, and many more.
Testing them would have yielded more insight.
Story:
Next to the many amazing feats our brain pulls off daily, its inferior ability to juggle a few simple tasks sticks out like a sore thumb. Now research from Vanderbilt University suggests that these limits on multitasking arise from slow processing in the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s central executive. Although the area has been known to be involved in multitasking, its exact role is a matter of debate.

Using functional MRI, the researchers found that when people were juggling two assignments, their prefrontal cortex appeared to deal with the tasks one by one—creating that familiar mental bottleneck—instead of processing them in parallel as do sensory and motor parts of the brain. With training the prefrontal activation time became shorter, cranking up the speed of the mental conveyor belt by about 10 times. Unfor tunately, the researchers note, the benefits of training might not apply to tasks other than those specifically practiced. “It’s not like you become able to multitask [with drills]; it’s just that you become able to do each task very quickly,” says cognitive neuroscientist Paul Dux, now at the University of Queensland in ­Australia, who conducted the experiment.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mental-bottleneck

“For the past twelve years”, says Dehaene, “my research team has been using every available brain research tool, from functional MRI to electro- and magneto-encephalography and even electrodes inserted deep in the human brain, to shed light on the brain mechanisms of consciousness. I am now happy to report that we have acquired a good working hypothesis. In experiment after experiment, we have seen the same signatures of consciousness: physiological markers that all, simultaneously, show a massive change when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information say a word, a digit or a sound.”Furthermore, when we render the same information non-conscious or “subliminal”, all the signatures disappear. We have a theory about why these signatures occur, called the global neuronal workspace theory. Realistic computer simulations of neurons reproduce our main experimental findings: when the information processed exceeds a threshold for large-scale communication across many brain areas, the network ignites into a large-scale synchronous state, and all our signatures suddenly appear.But this is already more than a theory. We are now applying our ideas to non-communicating patients in coma, vegetative state, or locked-in syndromes. The test that we have designed with Tristan Bekinschtein, Lionel Naccache, and Laurent Cohen, based on our past experiments and theory, seems to reliably sort out which patients retain some residual conscious life and which do not.”My laboratory is now pursuing this research intensively on patients, animals, human adults and young children, with the hope of turning our brain-imaging measurements into a real-time monitor of conscious experience. The time thus seems ripe to share this work with a broader audience of readers interested in cutting-edge science and technology, but also those concerned with the philosophical, personal and ethical implications of these findings.”

via Edge In Paris: SIGNATURES OF CONSCIOUSNESS — A TALK BY STANISLAS DEHAENE.

FDA to Evaluate Safety and Legality of Alcoholic Beverages Containing Caffeine

“The increasing popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible.” — Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs, FD

What are caffeinated alcoholic beverages?

Caffeinated alcoholic beverages are alcoholic beverages to which the manufacturer has intentionally added caffeine and/or other stimulants that are metabolized as caffeine (e.g., guarana). An increasing number of companies are producing these beverages, with young people as the apparent marketing target. The reported prevalence of combined caffeine and alcohol use among U.S. college students is high as 28%.

What are the potential health concerns with caffeinated alcoholic beverages?

• Studies have shown that people who drink caffeinated alcoholic beverages drink larger quantities of alcohol.
• Caffeine can mask the negative effects of alcohol intoxication, increasing the chance that users will engage in potentially risky behaviors, such as drinking and driving, because they don’t feel that they are intoxicated.
• Users of caffeinated alcoholic beverages are also more likely to experience alcohol-related consequences, such as being taken advantage of or taking advantage of someone else sexually.
• Consuming these beverages may also be associated with adverse effects on heart rhythm, most likely in individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions.

Is caffeine approved by the FDA for use in alcoholic beverages?

A food additive is presumed by the FDA to be unsafe unless its particular use has been approved by federal regulation or is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) under the conditions of its intended use. The FDA has approved caffeine as GRAS for use only in non-alcoholic cola- type beverages at concentrations of no greater 0.02 percent. The FDA has not approved caffeine for use at any level in alcoholic beverages.

What is the FDA doing about this?

On November 13, 2009, the FDA issued a mandate to nearly 30 manufacturers* of caffeinated alcoholic beverages to produce within 30 days their rationale and supporting data concluding that their use of caffeine in an alcoholic beverage is either GRAS or prior sanctioned.** To be GRAS, the burden is on the manufacturers to show that 1) the use of caffeine is safe for use in alcoholic beverages based on publicly available scientific evidence and 2) there is a consensus among qualified experts regarding the safety of caffeine for this use. In their letter to manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, the FDA states that, “If FDA determines that the use of caffeine in your alcoholic beverage is not GRAS or subject to a prior sanction, FDA will take appropriate action to ensure that this product is removed from the marketplace.”

*In the past year, Anheuser-Busch and Miller agreed to discontinue their caffeinated alcoholic beverages and agreed to not produce any caffeinated alcoholic beverages in the future.

**A substance is considered prior-sanctioned if its specific use in food was authorized by the FDA or the Department of Agriculture prior to September 6, 1958.

SOURCES: Adapted by CESAR from the following documents available on the FDA website at http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodIngredientsPackaging/ucm190366.htm: “FDA to Look Into Safety of Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages; Agency Sends Letters to Nearly 30 Manufacturers,” FDA Press Release, 11/13/09; FDA, Questions & Answers on Caffeine in Alcoholic Beverages, 2009; CAB Letter to FDA from Attorneys General, 9/25/09; CAB Letter to FDA from Scientists, 9/21/09.

I’ve had to place myself on a strict Bataille diet. I’ve had to limit the Monsieur to un chapitre per journee towards the end of the journee otherwise I spend the entire journee wandering in his words. And there are a couple of other pressing priorities such as feeding the chickens and learning to write Ruby computer code or shoes code (or building v simple graphic apps in Shoes with Ruby language), whichever it is the Puffin and I are learning, thanks to the mighty Sarah Mei and her inspired ideas and instructions.

From Wired.com:

Sometimes seeing means deceiving before believing, depending on your age. Children and adults size up objects differently, giving youngsters protection against a visual illusion that bedevils their elders, a new study suggests.

This unusual triumph of kids over grown-ups suggests that the brain’s capacity to consider the context of visual scenes, and not just focus on parts of scenes, develops slowly, say psychologist Martin Doherty of the University of Stirling in Scotland and his colleagues. Even at age 10, children lack adults’ attunement to visual context, Doherty’s team concludes in a paper published online November 12 in Developmental Science.

As a result, visual context can be experimentally manipulated to distort adults’ perception of objects’ sizes. But Doherty’s group finds that children, especially those younger than 7, show little evidence of altered size perception on a task called the Ebbinghaus illusion.

“When visual context is misleading, adults literally see the world less accurately than they did as children,” Doherty says.

This pattern holds for Scottish children and adults in the new study as well as for Japanese children and adults who participated in other investigations conducted by Doherty’s team.

Some researchers argue that East Asians focus broadly on the context of what they see while Westerners focus narrowly on central figures. Doherty says the new findings instead indicate that adults in both Scotland and Japan can’t help but track visual context, although this tendency was stronger in the Japanese adults.

Other investigators have noted that children with autism don’t succumb to visual size illusions, consistent with the idea that autism involves an excessive focus on details. But visual context largely eludes all young children, not just those with autism, Doherty asserts.

Even if the new findings hold up, it’s still possible that further research will show that children with autism develop a susceptibility to size illusions more slowly than those without it, remarks psychologist Danielle Ropar of the University of Nottingham in England.

Psychologist Carl Granrud of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley calls the new study convincing but “somewhat surprising.” Children exhibit sensitivity to visual context on some other visual tasks, he says, such as one in which two equal-sized horizontal lines are perceived as differing in length when flanked by diagonal lines.

Earlier research has yielded conflicting evidence that children fall prey to the Ebbinghaus illusion, partly because of weaknesses in study designs, Doherty says.

His team studied 151 children, ages 4 to 10, recruited from a Scottish primary school and nursery school. Another 24 volunteers, ages 18 to 25, were college students.

Participants viewed a series of images containing pairs of orange circles in which one circle was 2 percent to 18 percent larger than the other. An experimenter asked participants to point to the circle that “looked bigger.”

Control images showed only two orange circles. In other images, each orange circle was surrounded by gray circles intended either to hinder or aid accurate size perception.

Misleading images showed the smaller orange circle surrounded by even smaller gray circles to boost its apparent size. Large gray circles surrounding the larger orange circle were intended to shrink its apparent size.

In helpful images, large gray circles surrounded the smaller orange circle to make it appear smaller than it actually was. Small circles surrounded the larger orange circle to magnify its apparent size.

Four-year-olds correctly identified the larger circle in 79 percent of control images. That figure rose with age, reaching 95 percent in adults.

For 4- to 6-year-olds, accuracy of size perception for misleading images remained at about what it was for control images. Misleading images increasingly elicited errors from older children and tricked adults most of the time. Adults made almost no errors on helpful images. Kids from age 7 to 10 erred on a minority of helpful images, while 4- to 6-year-olds performed no better than chance.

Below: (a) Most people see the further circle as being larger than the nearer one, though they are equal. (b) Adding surrounds, as in the Ebbinghaus illusion, increases the perceived size difference between the two circles. (c) The large element in the centre of the second row from the top may be seen as being larger than that arrowed below, but they are equal.

Images: Martin Doherty

You’re stupid. You’ve admitted it, and now you’re seeking help. I want to congratulate you! That’s the first step towards making your stupid life better.
First thing’s first though; you are stupid and will be forever. This book will not change that. This book will however, mask your stupidity from the rest of the world and may lead to promotions, dating, new job opportunities, more friends, and definitely more confidence!
It’s not easy to fool people when you’re stupid. Especially people who aren’t stupid. Let’s call this type of people “Smart” people, shall we? Smart people are very quick to pick up on the fact that you’re stupid. You’ve got to be perfect from the beginning around them, or else they will see you as a sheep in wolf’s clothing. That’s an example of a “smart” idea: a truncated and intentionally-reversed extended metaphor using the structure of a simile. You scoffed at things like this in school, but metaphors, similes, and other clever literary devices are a fundamental part of smart people conversation. Similes and metaphors are discussed in detail later in this book, so we won’t worry about them now.
Instead, what we’ll focus on now is the face you made after reading that sentence about the wolf and the sheep. You scrunched your nose tightly and rolled your eyes around in the hopes that your brain would explain why I was talking about animals. If you are smarter, but still stupid, you waited to make the face until I started talking about all that simile and metaphor stuff. This frowny-eye-rolling is a common face that stupid people make when presented with something that bores them or something they don’t understand. This book is about fixing stupid habits just like that face!
Most of the stupid habits you have are based on your stupid instincts. Right now, I want you to close your mouth, and breathe through your nose. TRUST ME, you won’t suffocate! Go ahead and try it. You see? Now you know you can trust me.
It’s not necessary to understand WHY I want you to do the things I want you to do. The important thing is that you DO them and practice them, over and over, for the rest of your life. Most of these things will be difficult. Breathing through your nose alone will take years for you to master. You currently breathe through your mouth because the “instinct” part of your brain is looking out for your survival. This is because the cognitive or “thinking” part of your brain isn’t capable of making good decisions. Stupid people like yourself are prone to doing things directly opposed to your own survival. For instance, I’m sure you’ve found yourself at one time or another in a single-person competition for stuffing the most miniature marshmallows into your nose to see how many will fit. Since this is literally smothering yourself for no reason, your brain makes you breathe out of your mouth, since it figures you’ll live longer that way.
Don’t worry! You will still be able to indulge all of your fun, stupid impulses. I’ll simply teach you how to save them for “private time”, or “stupid friend hang-out time.” when you’re around other people as stupid, or more stupid, than you are. This book is full of helpful, good habits like “stupid friend hang-out time”. However, every habit will take practice to master, so I want you to make a promise with me.
Go ahead and read this out loud: “I promise that I will follow the instructions in this book. I promise that I will practice every day, and that I won’t give up, no matter how frustrating it is for my stupid brain. Sincerely, me!”
There. You’ve just made a promise to both you and I. You said it out loud, so you have to stick to it. It’s too late to turn back now, which is wonderful, because you’re going to have a great new life! (if you think you and I are the same person, or opposite people from when this introduction began, you’re still reading out loud. Please stop reading out loud.)
To create a sense of familiarity, which will subconsciously compel you to finish the rest of the chapters through recognition, despite your short attention span, Just for fun, I’ll give you a brief overview of the topics we will cover in-depth during the rest of this guide.
The first half of this book is all about breaking down and hiding the stupid things you do:
Chapter 1 is what you’re reading right now.
In chapter 2, I will tell you tricks to keep your stupid life separate from your new smart life. This will be an ongoing process. You will learn to enjoy top 40 music and Michael Bay movies secretly while alone or with a few select stupid friends, instead of loudly and in front of everyone.
In chapter 3, I’ll teach you how to shut your mouth before it says the stupid thing you just thought. You’ll learn to use silence with making faces to pretend that you’re deep in thought.
The second half of this book is all about the tricks you can use to pretend you’re smart:
In chapter 4, we’ll reread the first half of the book, because you’ll have skipped ahead, thinking you didn’t need to learn those techniques and “do homework from a stupid book”.
In chapter 5, you get a makeover! As fun as it seems, this will actually be one of the hardest sections of the book, and one of the most important. You will learn to dress in a “nerd costume” for the rest of your life. Calm down! Stop wrinkling your face, stop chewing your lip, quit punching whatever you’re punching, and listen up. You know deep down that “nerds” are the very smartest of smart people. The benefit of looking like a nerd is that smart people will assume you are socially awkward instead of stupid and will therefore more readily ignore whenever you slip up and do stupid things.
In chapter 6, I’ll discuss using props to appear smart. We will discuss scavenging techniques for smart props, including making habits for success. You’ll learn how to search local coffee shops every morning for partially-completed crossword puzzles to spend the rest of the day pretending to fill out. Tips like this will give silent proof of your “smarts” when people might otherwise see through your smart costume.
In chapter 7, I’ll help you get into the habit of saying smart things and inventing opinions. It DOESN’T MATTER what your opinions are. The only important thing is to NEVER CHANGE YOUR MIND about your opinions. You’ll learn to be condescending about other people’s opinions. I’ll even teach you phrases to use if you get into hot water with someone such as “I suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree!” You’ll also learn to memorize a single generic quote to use at parties and whenever you want to impress someone of the opposite sex.
The third half of this book is all about using your newfound techniques to SECURE your future:
In chapter 8, I’ll give you a lie detector test to be sure you’ve read every chapter thoroughly. If not, i’ll remind you that you made a promise to me, and make you go back and read what you skipped.
In chapter 9, I’ll teach you about material investments. It’s important to invest in “things” and “stuff” that will make you appear smart for the rest of your life: a modestly large house, a slightly above-average car, and many more material things. Your stupid thinking is right in assuming the more things you own, the better; but you have to own the RIGHT KINDS of things! Filling your house with the right long-term props is very important. You’ll learn about chess and backgammon boards. You’ll check prices on pianos and expensive-looking (but not extravagant!) artwork.
In chapter 10, you’ll hire an accountant and do EXACTLY what they tell you do with your money. I’ll tell you briefly what a saving account is and why it’s better not to run out and spend every paycheck immediately on liquor and clubbing. Even though you won’t understand right away why this is bad; when you see how savings and investments lead to MORE liquor, you’ll be happy you listened.
In chapter 11, you’ll invent a new category of people you can look down on for the rest of your life, like “Liberal Elites” or “Right Wing Fascists”. This is a prime time to hire a writer to write a book with your name on it! Tell everyone you wrote the book. This is key.
In our last chapter, chapter 12, you’ll make the most important investment in your future; tricking a beautiful INTELLIGENT person into loving and marrying you. This will be the most difficult thing you will EVER do and it will take all the resources you’ve built and all the techniques you’ve learned. You will master keeping your stupid life and your smart life separate by passing off your stupidity once and for all as something else. We will discuss faking Asperger’s Syndrome, Social Anxiety Disorder, and the like.
By the end of this book, you will be a new person; a person you’ve invented. You will be successful beyond belief, and you’ll have someone who loves you for the rest of your life.
Does this sound too good to be true? Well guess what? I’M A STUPID JUST LIKE YOU! Or at least, I used to be. But following my own system, I’ve made a wonderful, explosive new life as a SMART! I’m CEO of my own Fortune 500 company, I have a syndicated talk radio show, I’m married to a supermodel, I live in a mansion in Beverly Hills, and I have three somewhat intelligent children. I’m sure you don’t believe me, but it’s true. All the “smart” phrases I’ve used in this book were painfully constructed over several years using a dictionary, a smart writer friend, and the help of my brilliant wife. My system worked for me! IT WILL WORK FOR YOU!!!

I happened upon this film (broken up in to segments) about a brain-injured woman from Australia.

Seven years earlier, an 18 year old woman, ALICIA was seriously injured in a car accident. It was her brain rather than her body which suffered.

This documentary tells the story of her long journey of recovery. Not content with just regaining a ‘normal life’, Alicia pursues her original dreams of becoming an actress. Through Beth, the main character from Sam Shepard’s play ‘A Lie of the Mind’, Alicia is able to express the common experiences of brain injury, her alienation from society for being different and her lack of inhibitions.

Flashbacks, dreams, Alicia’s video diary, interviews told with heart and extraordinary honesty by her family, friends, medical practitioners, healers and theatre colleagues; all contribute to unmask and reveal the many faces of Alicia and explores the issues confronting everyone involved with acquired brain injury. ( http://www.stellamotion.com.au)

Watch and learn

Other Names: Mini stroke

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a stroke that comes and goes quickly. Occurs when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain. That makes the blood supply to the brain to pause. Symptoms of a TIA are similar to symptoms of a stroke or a stroke, but its duration is less. Occur suddenly and include:

* Numbness or weakness, especially on one side of body
* Confusion or trouble speaking or understanding
* Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
* Loss of balance or coordination of movements

Most TIA symptoms disappear within an hour but can last up to 24 hours. Because you can not tell if symptoms are due to a TIA or stroke, you should go to a hospital quickly. TIAs are often a warning sign of future spills. Taking medicines such as anticoagulants, may reduce the risk of stroke. The doctor may also recommend surgery.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Other Names: Cerebral Hemorrhage

A stroke is a medical emergency. Strokes occur when blood flow stops the brain. In just a few minutes, brain cells begin to die. There are two types of stroke. The most common type, called ischemic stroke, is caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel in the brain. The other kind, called hemorrhagic stroke, is caused by a ruptured blood vessel that bleeds down into the brain. The “mini-strokes” or transient ischemic attacks, occur when the blood supply to the brain is briefly interrupted.

The symptoms of a stroke are:

* Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg (especially on one side of the body)
* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination of movements
* Sudden headache with no known cause, severe

If you have any of these symptoms, you should quickly go to a hospital to get treatment. Acute therapy for stroke is to stop the spill dissolving the clot or bleeding control. The post-stroke rehabilitation helps individuals overcome disabilities caused by the spill. Drug therapy with anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents is the most common treatment for stroke.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

A cerebral aneurysm is a widening in the wall of an artery in the brain. Sometimes they are so small as a raspberry. Most cerebral aneurysms do not show symptoms until they become large, begin to bleed or rupture.

If a cerebral aneurysm presses on the nerves in his brain, can cause symptoms. These may include:

* A drooping eyelid
* Double vision or other vision changes
* Pain above or behind the eye
* A dilated pupil
* Numbness or weakness on one side of the face or body

Treatment depends on the size and location of the aneurysm, if it is infected or has ruptured. If a cerebral aneurysm ruptures, symptoms may include sudden headache, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, loss of consciousness and signs of a stroke. Any of these symptoms requires urgent medical attention.

National Heart, Lung and Blood

Aphasia is a disorder caused by damage to parts of the brain that control language. It can hinder reading, writing and expressing what you want to say. It is more common in adults who suffered a stroke. Other causes include brain tumors, infections, injuries and dementia. The type of problem you have and the severity will depend on the part of the brain damage suffered and the extent of it.

There are four main types:

* Expressive aphasia: the patient knows what you mean, but has difficulty to say or write
* Receptive aphasia: voice is heard or read a form, but does not find meaning to what they read or hear
* Anomic aphasia: has difficulty using the right words to describe objects, places or events
* Global aphasia: a patient can not speak, understand what they are told, read or write

Some people recover from aphasia without treatment. However, most need speech therapy as soon as possible.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

health

I’ve been thinking a lot about my reaction to the post about the BIA booting a blogger from their conference. And I’m wondering if I should regret my hot-headed reaction.

On the one hand, I have received tremendous help from the BIA in some respect. On the other, I have heard stories like this — and other accounts, where people were actively discouraged by the BIA from saying that you can recover from traumatic brain injury.

It’s a mixed bag. As most things with people are.

The thing is, though, the Brain Injury Association is more than a person. It’s a collection of persons which professes to assist other persons. And as such, if it’s going to truly assist, I would think they would welcome the presence not only of a member of the press but also someone who has been impacted by brain injury.

Or maybe they’re wary of brain-injured folks in general, knowing what they do about “us”…?

Who can say? One of the things I’m taking away from this is yet another reminder of how hot I can get on short notice. And it warns me to check myself periodically, to make sure I don’t go off the deep end. It reminds me I’ve had multiple concussions, multiple mild traumatic brain injures… and as such, I owe it to myself and to others to measure my responses carefully, and weigh the possible effects/consequences, before I let fly.

I had considered taking down the post from before, but it’s a valuable learning/teaching lesson. So, I’ll leave it up there, warts and all.

I’ve been meaning to tell you about the great presents I got at my 6th birthday party!

It was so exciting opening them all…

I got an ENORMOUS teddy from Dizzy Mum’s little human pups (I love it! It is the biggest stuffie I have ever had!)…

…a fluffy yellow ducky from George the Bernese Mountain Dog, which makes a funny “quack quack” sound when I squeeze it…

.

…a soft, cuddly elephant AND a little tennis-ball hedgehog from my new Agility friend,  Scarlett the Shepherd…

.

…a cute bird with beautiful colours from Cookie & Cinnamon…

…and (how thoughtful!) a special medicine to help pets travel well from Finnegan the Sheltie!

(I also got some fishy yummies from Lucky Bear but unfortunately, they have long disappeared in my tummy! )

Both Cookie & Cinnamon and George had also made their own cards for me!

.

Aren’t I a lucky girl?

And then there was the Nina Ottosson “Dog Brick” Interactive Toy that my humans got me all the way from the faraway place called England!

Here is a video of me trying it out:

Hsin-Yi was quite surprised that I wasn’t as dumb as she thought and I actually managed to figure it out quite quickly – ha! ha! Next time they will have to buy the 3 Dog level for me!

Well, I have never had so many new stuffies at one time in my life…I don’t know which one to take to bed with me!

By LiveScience Staff posted: 24 November 2009 08:52 am ET                 Ok I know what you’re thinking, not a word….

“We’ll all be gone and forgotten within the blink of an eye …. Yet we get up, do the same thing, day after day, diligently, urgently, beating ourselves  up to try and get something right … even though in our heart of hearts, [we] atheists know there’s no bloody point – and if that ‘aint madness, I don’t know what is.”

Download Tommy Boyd’s audio blog #4 here

Shyness is universal in that we can find it within people all across the world. I’m sure you could even find it within members of a tribe in the Amazon. However, what remains the difference is how shyness is treated amongst the people of a particular area. In this post I will examine the differences between North America and Asia’s view on shyness.

In North American societies, children who are shy are likely to have difficulties in peer relations, school performance. These children realize their difficulties in social situations and many develop negative self-perceptions of their competence and other problems such as depression and loneliness. Studies have also shown that this may contribute to later adjustment problems in education or career stability. The adjustment difficulties are seen to be caused by Western society’s emphasis on assertiveness, competitiveness, and self-expression. The qualities North American’s generally expect from their children is to be assertive rather than reserved and restrained, and shyness is often considered a problem of socially immaturity or incompetence.

There is evidence that shyness is perceived as less problematic in many Asian countries such as Korea, and Indonesia. Shy children in China have tended to be accepted by peers and seen as competent by teachers and adults. This appreciation of shyness in China may be due to it’s endorsement of socially restrained behaviours in society. In Taoism and Confucianism philosophies behavioural restraint is considered to indicate social maturity and mastery. Also shy children may obtain support more easily from an environment that is more understanding and these shy children feel more competence to seek school achievement and develop positive emotions about themselves. However, in this same study I make reference to below, they find that the larger city urban areas in China are becoming more North American and along with this is the view of being assertive.

Implications:

In terms of education I believe that teachers must have more training on how to teach shy children and how to help them become apart of peer relations. As this study pointed out, children adjust better to life when they are seen as competent and this can help to develop a positive self-perception. Shy children are put into schools with the disadvantage that they way they act are considered immature and incompetent. While it would be impossible to change the view society has on shy children, teachers have the power to help develop shy children to feel confident going into a North American society. On a personal note I was put into the special education classes all throughout my early childhood years based purely on the fact that I was shy. I wouldn’t answer questions because I had to do so in front of the whole class which was extremely anxiety provoking. Now after attaining many years of academic success and higher education I look back on those years and shake my head because the teachers were trying to solve a learning problem when it was an anxiety problem.

References:

Chen, X., Wang, L., Wang, Z. (2009). Shyness-sensitivity and social, school, and psychologyical adjustment in rural migrant urban children in China. Child Development, 80, 1499-1513.

FOR ONE WEEK ONLY

Gem of the Week at Lifetime Of Life

Eric Turkheimer’s “The Three Laws of Behaviour Genetics”, as examined by Steven Pinker in “The Blank Slate”.

Click here for Gem of the Week.

We spent last Saturday afternoon at Barcamp. It was held at the IDA, Suntec City Tower 3.

It was my first time attending Barcamp, and it was a pretty interesting experience. It’s basically an event where people gather to talk about a variety of topics (Wikipedia called it “user-generated conferences”), and everyone’s encouraged to ask questions and share whatever they know about them. On Saturday, topics that people wanted to talk about were pasted on the walls, and we used tiny red stickers to vote for them. Get enough votes, the topic goes through, and you just pop into a room to listen to whatever the speaker has to say.

I attended 4 discussions.

1) “Learning How to Draw By Using Both Sides of the Brain” by JF Koh

The left brain is what makes you logical and analytical, while the right brain is what makes you creative and intuitive. Both sides are used in different aspects of our lives, but often one side becomes dominant. Koh explained that people in this day and age are conditioned to rely more on their left brains, rather than their right. I can fully understand that, and I think that it may be particularly evident in Singapore, where there seems to be a larger focus on Mathematics and Science.

Brain

He handed us pieces of paper and got us to draw a beach scene: the sun, the sea, a palm tree on an island with some birds flying around.

Um, naturally, my drawing barely looked like a drawing. To spare you the agony, I shall not reproduce it here.

The point Koh was trying to make in getting us to draw this was to teach us the theory of Association. Since young, we were taught to associate certain words with certain icons. Like a person with a stick figure, a sun with a yellow circle and lines pointing outwards etc. We grow so used to Association, thanks to our left brain, that we leave out the details and just draw the main, broadest details.

To combat this, he got us to to contour drawing. Place your hand on a piece of paper, and then try to draw its outline, taking note of various contours and spaces between your fingers. This helps you make better sense of shapes, sizes and minute details.

To find out if you’re a right or left-brained individual, here’re are some tests you can check out.

http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm

2. “Spiciest chilis in the world” by Nitin Pai

Food being so close to our hearts, this was one of my favourite discussions. I found out that the spiciness of chilis are measured by the Scoville scale, and that the two spiciest chilis in the world are Bhut jolokia, a thumb-sized chili pepper and the habanero chili. The speaker told us about some interesting recipes we could try out. One of them involves blending one of the 2 chilis I mentioned (I can’t remember which one) and then spreading it all over chicken wings. The other involves taking 5 or 6 chili padis, mixing it with some vodka and then allowing it to sit for awhile to get really spicy alcohol, I suppose.

No, I don’t have the guts to try it out, although the chicken wing recipe sounds really tasty. I’m hungry just blogging about it.

Bhut Jolokia

3. “For smart geeks: How to explain difficult concepts to lesser beings” by Coleman Yee

I was a bit worried about this presentation at first, because I thought it’ll be some boring, technical thing, but it definitely wasn’t. Coleman had an easy charm, and was rather charismatic, plus his explanations were really interesting and easy to understand. You can follow Coleman on Twitter @metacole.

While teaching people various concepts, we have to remember that we have “the curse of knowledge”. That while knowledge empowers us, it might also cripple us when we explain things to people, perhaps because we aren’t in their position and don’t understand why they aren’t getting it. In addition, we should always try to “oversimplify” things first before feeding bigger chunks of information to whoever you’re trying to teach. I think that this is an important lesson for us Communication students. All too often, people like to elevate themselves, throwing in big words during conversations cus they get a kick out of seeing the look of bafflement on others’ faces. We should remember that successful communication is defined by actually getting the message across. If people don’t get you, you have failed at being a good communicator. Check out his slides at www.metacole.com.

4. “(Tech) Tools to Personal Effectiveness” by James Norris

James Norris was affable, and a good speaker too. He comes from Texas and came to Singapore only 3 months ago. He showed us some tools on increasing personal effectiveness, like Excel sheets for you to fill in, ranging from those involving personal goals, your happiness levels and your fitness levels which can even generate charts and graphs to track your improvement. Organised, I’m not. So I better be getting me of those forms sometime soon. Check out his tools at www.jnorris.org

Till the next Barcamp. See you around!

23 years trapped inside what others think is a coma while your brain is working close to normal, but you can’t get people to notice.  Big news?  It most certainly is!

Rom Houben is the person trapped in this way.  Headlines, headlines, headlines!  All about 23 years trapped.  Is this the headline?

His case was diagnosed correctly in 2006, ending the 23 year wait from a car crash in 1983.   Not November 2009 but 2006.  Why did the media flurry blow up on 23 Nov 2009 with around 500 news articles worldwide?

Houben’s case was reported in the journal BMC Neurology in July 2009, though he was not named in it.  The report investigated misdiagnosis of vegetative states.  Previous studies had found up to 43% of patients were misdiagnosed when ‘clinical consensus’ was used. 

The July 2009 study found that this rate of misdiagnosis had not changed in the last 15 years, and showed that a different approach, the JFK Coma Recovery Scale – Revised (CRS – R) was more accurate.

The July 2009 study was reported by a group of people including Professor Steven Laureys, a specialist in this area.  According to the New York Daily News, Laureys put Houben through a PET scan, to discover that although paralysed, Houben’s brain activity was close to normal. 

From there, Houben communicated first by pushing with his foot to indicate a simple yes or no.

The story seems to have taken off after Der Spiegel published an interview with Houben over the weekend, with the rest of the world picking on the 23 years angle.  In reality, the use of outdated diagnostics when a better method is available means the 40% error rate continues.

By pure coincidence, a BBC Horizon programme in Oct 2009, The Secret You, had a slot featuring Dr Adrian Owen of the Medical Research Council, who is working in the same area i.e. using brain scans in patients who appear to be in a vegetative state to see if their brain is still responding.

The question that intrigued us with Houben was still why?  PET scans weren’t new in 2006.  Referring again to the New York Daily News, the answer appears to be Houben’s mother, Fina Houben.

She had refused to accept that her son was comatose or vegetative, and had taken him 5 times to the US for tests.  After this she searched for another expert, found Steven Laureys, Rom Houben became part of the study, and a PET scan followed.

So Team McCallum congratulates Fina Houben for continuing to believe.

3200209    ระบบประสาทมนุษย์และหน้าที่    Human Brain and Function

พัฒนาการ กายวิภาค และหน้าที่ของระบบประสาทส่วนกลางและประสาทออโตโนมิก วิถีประสาทและกลไกของการรับความรู้สึกทางกาย การรับความรู้สึกพิเศษและการสั่งงาน การทำงานของเส้นประสาทสมอง การรับรู้และการตอบสนองทั้งในสภาวะปกติและเมื่อมีพยาธิสภาพ

(Development, anatomy and function of the central and autonomic nervous system, pathways and mechanism of somatic sensation, special sensation and motor system, function of cranial nerves; perception and response in normal and pathological conditions.)

(3200209 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

Apropos of what we’ll be discussing for much of next week, this episode of PBS’ Nature series discusses the relationship between humans and our classic domesticated pets – cats and dogs. Through expert interviews, a visit to a Humane Society shelter, and owner-bios reminiscent of the famous couple scenes from When Harry Met Sally, the show seeks to explain – or at least explore – the bonds between pets and their humans.

It’s easy to get indignant about humans domestication of certain animals – we’re asserting our dominance! we’re pretending we rule the globe! we’re stripping them of their natural wild natures! – it’s also important to remember that we evolved alongside our domesticated animals, both pet and pastoral, and through this coevolution we all have become different creatures. Marc Bekoff, a former Guggenheim fellow and Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Boulder who is interviewed extensively in the episode, explains that these bonds of coevolution are strengthened by the presence of mirror neurons in both humans and common pets – that is, dogs and cats. Mirror neurons are what enable us to feel the emotions of another creature, be they of our species or another. As Bekoff puts it, they are “the neural basis for empathy…[required] for the formulation and maintenance of social bonds.” In other words, that prize human emotion – the one that leads to self-awareness, to social structure, to emotional relationships – is, in fact, not human at all.

Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t point out the often elitist – or at least excessively moral – human paradigm that we, as a species, tend to impose on the rest of the planet’s animals. And it’s important to note that these animals are not human – they are close to us, but they are not, and never will be the same as us. As one of the dog owners interviewed in the opening sequence says, “they’re another tribe…and what I really love about dogs and cats is that they’re not like us.”

So watch the documentary. Though be warned, it might bring you to tears –I know it did me – the kind of hot, messy, gut-wrenching tears that we seem to save for the inevitable goodbyes to our pets.

Ever heard the old cliche, “Knowledge is Power?” While the saying is tired, the advice is not. The life cycle of knowledge provides us with invaluable life tools manifested in what I have divided into three stages: getting it, using it, and passing it on. Each stage provides us with hidden benefits that reach far beyond the surface value of learning a subject.

Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge. Learning empowers us with critical thinking skills necessary in all decision-making, big or small. Learning requires taking an active role in your development of a broad and in-depth body of knowledge. Go beyond life’s lessons and educate yourself. Never stop learning; go back to school and finish that degree, check out graduate school, or join a local professional organization that offers development training. Take a cooking class or learn a new language. On a budget with your time or money? Read a book or white paper. Interview people who inspire you or ask your elderly neighbor about their youth. Opportunities to learn abound. Remember, your brain is a muscle that must be exercised! Use it or lose it.

Knowledge gives us the tools to make sense of our experiences and to think logically. The more we know, the better equipped we are to weigh out the possibilities in front of us, and with that comes confidence in decision-making. Knowledge keeps us relevant and helps us communicate with different people. Diversity prevails in this post-modern world, placing importance on learning a wide range subjects. Seek out new and interesting opportunities. If anything intimidates you, you should try it once. We fear that which we do not know. Plunge and explore the unknown.

Knowledge kept is knowledge incomplete. The life cycle of knowledge is incomplete if it remains in the mind of the knower. Pass on what you learn! There is no world limitation on the amount of knowledge to go around. Don’t try to give yourself the upper hand and hoard what you know. Let others benefit from your experience and inspire them to explore the world. The greatest personal growth is often experienced when assisting in the growth of another. Engaging in the exchange of knowledge opens us to learning more.

Learning gives us the power of critical thinking. Knowledge gives us the power to see and seize opportunity. The selfless sharing of knowledge is the highest form of growth. For these reasons and more, never stop seeking, using, and passing knowledge.

Tweet This!