Love, Drugs Work Similarly In The Brain, Researchers Say

Love is truly an addiction if you look at how it works in the brain, scientists say. Those who study the neurobiology of social bonding in humans and in some animals say those areas of attachment and affection share many of the same areas of the brain and the same chemical messengers as drug addiction.

 

Your Brain In Love

 The chemical messenger oxytocin, for instance, is   involved in the birth process and lactation in women and causes the mother to develop a strong attachment to the  baby.

 Also for instance, withdrawal is a major problem for treating addiction and is involved in the release of stress hormones, he said. People who lose partners go through similar things in their brains and could be treated in similar ways.

- Team Shirsa

Diet Sodas: Change Your Brain And Your Waistline!!!

Diet sodas may not be helping you lose weight , in fact, these and other artificially sweetened foods may sabotage your diet by confusing and rewiring your brain’s reward centers. This study from the journal Physiology & Behavior is yet another example of how lifestyle choices can alter your brain—negatively or positively.

Scanning diet soda drinkers' brains

The University of San Diego study followed 24 young adults: half the group drank at least one serving of diet soda every day, while the other half avoided the artificially sweetened drinks. These adults were then hooked up to brain scanning equipment while scientists fed them water alternately flavored by natural and artificial sweeteners—then the researchers sat back and watched what unfolded in the brain.

The results, according to University of California San Diego researchers Green and Murphy, were pronounced: “[Diet soda drinkers] who consumed a greater number of diet sodas had reduced caudate head activation. These findings may provide some insight into the link between diet soda consumption and obesity.”

You Will Never Diagnose it, Untill Your Brain Gets Damaged!!!

Brain Healthy Lifestyle

Misplace your glasses or occasionally forget a friend’s name? These common memory lapses are normal – not signs of Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia that robs one of cognitive skills and independence. However, we now know Alzheimer’s starts in the brain decades before behavioral symptoms appear. But there are many ways to protect brain health. Read on for their expert tips...
We think of Alzheimer’s disease as an older person’s illness, but experts say critical proteins begin to break down as early as middle age. 

“Long before you really start to notice you’re more forgetful or having trouble learning new things, your brain is experiencing changes that lead to the plaques and tangles that typically occur in Alzheimer’s,” says Daniel G. Amen, M.D., a psychiatrist and author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Body.

Plaques are clumpy deposits of proteins that develop between brain cells in Alzheimer’s patients. They can block the brain from sending important messages. When nerve fibers that nourish the brain become twisted, they’re called tangles, another symptom of Alzheimer’s disease.

Because you’re not likely to get diagnosed early when this damage is just starting, adopt a healthy brain lifestyle through Shirsa now to stop symptoms before they start.

- Team Shirsa

How Much You Know About Alzhemier???

Questions on Alzheimer

More than 5 million Indian have Alzheimer’s disease, and that   number could climb to 16 million by 2050. Women face a higher risk of developing it than men, and are also more likely to become caregivers.

Take this quiz to see how much you know about Alzheimer’s. Solution are below only but try to answer the questions first.

1.At what age can early-onset Alzheimer’s occur?

In your 30's
In your 40's
In your 50's

2.You’re more likely to develop Alzheimer’s if which relative had it, according to a recent study?

Your father
Your mother
Your brother

3.Which health issue has been associated with a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s?

A broken arm
A head Injury
Tonsillitis

4.You follow a healthy diet and exercise frequently to help ward off Alzheimer’s. What else can play a preventive role?

Avoiding tobacco
Eliminating caffeine
Playing golf

5.Problems with which of these bodily organs have been associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s?

The heart
The liver
The kidneys

Turn Off Your Television Now!!!!!!!!!!!

watching television

An Australian study recently released a shocking finding: every hour of television a person watches shortens their life by an average of 22 minutes. 

Looking at the behavior of 11,000 participants, the Queensland scientists found that people who watched around 6 hours of TV each day lived an average of almost 5 years less than people who never watched TV. 

This research corroborates another recent study from Harvard. The Harvard team found that TV watchers are at a significantly greater risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and early death than people who don’t watch TV.

Perhaps the most sobering statistic cited by the Australian team: if TV didn’t exist, the average life expectancy for women would be 1.5 years longer for women and 1.8 years longer for men.

Before you throw your TV out, consider this aspect of the finding: it’s probably not the TV itself that’s causing the problem- it’s the fact that because you’re watching TV, you’re not doing other, more active things. 

The researchers in both studies agree that watching a lot of TV is strongly correlated with reduced physical activity and poor eating habits. So if the only TV you watch is at the gym while you’re on a treadmill, this finding may not apply to you.

Not sure what to do now that your TV is off? Visit our Shirsa.me to learn quick brain fitness tips and to learn more about how to choose daily activities that boost your brain instead of draining it.

- Team Shirsa

Brain fog during Manopause

Millions of women in their 40s and 50s won’t be surprised to learn that the memory problems commonly referred to as brain fog are real.   Results of a recent study conducted by scientists from the University of Illinois and the University of Rochester Medical Center validate brain fog and offer explanations as to what is happening when women enter menopause.

Brain fog

The study followed 75 women between the ages of 40 and 60 who were approaching or entering into menopause.   Testing included patient interviews and cognitive testing.  Results demonstrated that almost half of all women who go through menopause have measurable changes in their brains performance.  Often the biggest frustration and measured difference is the reduced ability to concentrate when learning and retaining new information.

Do you have a photographic memory?

Eidetic imagery, more commonly known as  photographic memory, has long been the subject of curiosity and debate among us and especially for scientist.

People with photographic memories explain that they can still “see” a picture even after it is removed from sight. They often use present tense when answering questions about the missing picture and can recall in extraordinary detail what it contained because they are actually still viewing the picture on a blank canvas in their mind.

The majority of people identified as possessing a photographic memory are children. Scientists estimate the ability occurs in 2 percent to 10 percent of young children. Boys and girls are equally likely to have a photographic memory. With very few exceptions, however, researchers have shown that almost no adults seem to have the ability to form photographic images.

So why don’t adults demonstrate photographic memory? Experts believe that talking (either out loud or in your mind) while viewing an original image interferes with the mind’s ability to photograph the image. Because adults are much more likely to try and encode the picture, both visually and verbally the image is not stored as a photographic image.

Stephen Wiltshire is one of a rare few documented adults with photographic memory capabilities.  He is capable of drawing the entire skyline of a city after a helicopter ride. Stephen is autistic and communicates through his art. 

So friends tell me, whether you have photoggraphic memory?  

- Team Shirsa