Tag: Neuron

Behavior Is Contagious – Especially With Fibromyalgia

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People with fibromyalgia face many obstacles.

We live with fatigue, brain fog, chronic pain and other symptoms. We work to find ways to manage this syndrome. We seek coping mechanisms. Many fibro patients have overlook the importance of who and what we surround ourselves with.

  • This can have a dramatic affect on how we cope.

Conserving energy is an important part to coping with “Fibro Fatigue”. It takes far more energy to deal with negative people. Energy when you don’t have any left to expend.

Let’s look at who we surround ourselves with and the effects on our lives.

People You Should Remove from Your Life

  1. You have to cut the “downers” the negative people
  2. You have to cut out the “distractors”
  3. You have to get rid of “people who play the victim”
  4. You have to stay away from “know-it-alls”
  5. You have to dump the “drama queens/kings”

Neuroscience 101
Good and Bad Behavior Is Contagious

One study found that emotions circulate through interpersonal relationships just like the flu virus.

These patterns can actually be tracked statistically just like the flu virus.

  • Each positive person you surround yourself with increases your chances of being positive by eleven percent.
  • Each negative person you let into your life more than doubles your chances of being negative.

Understanding Why This Happens

A mirror neuron is a cell in your brain that fires both when you act and when you observe another person acting.  Interacting with other people engages your mirror neuron system. 

This brain mechanism causes you to copy other people whether you want to or not. If you spend enough time with anyone, no matter who it is, you will start to mimic their behavior.

This means you need to start cutting negative people out of your life right now.

Here is a short 2 minute video
explaining mirror neurons

Here are five types of people
to start avoiding now!

# 1 The “Downer”

Some people can walk into a room and light it up. Other people walk into a room and kill it.

  • Downers Are Those That Kill Positive Energy

They are those people who seem to have a dark cloud following them wherever they go. These people are unlucky, negative and always depressed.

Don’t feel bad for these people. Odds are:

They like being miserable
WHY?
They like the attention it gives them

You must drop unhappy people from your life. Why?

Because your happiness and your physical health depends on it. Research shows that being exposed to negative people pulls away neurons in your hippocampus. This is the part of your brain that is responsible for problem solving. This means that negative people literally rot your brain

Stop hanging out with people who suck away your energy

#2 Avoid Distracting People

Distractors come in a variety of flavors

  • There are those annoying people who drive you nuts.
  • People who make you focus on them instead of focusing on yourself and your mission.

Distractors are also those people that are truly amazing or really hot or incredibly brilliant.]

  • Those people who catch your eye for one reason or another.
  • Distractors make you forget about your goals and everything that you’ve set out to do in life.

A lot of promising futures
have been sacrificed to these distractors.

Some people drop out of school or quit a job they love, just to be closer to a distracting person. This allows them stay in that distracting relationship.

Others get hooked on celebrity gossip or get rich quick schemes

  • Everything that glitters is not always gold.
  • Most shiny things are just distractions and this can include people.

Don’t let any person make you forget that you are amazing – and that you have something amazing to offer the world.

#3 Stay Away from People Who Play the Victim

Don’t know how to identify a victim?

Here’s what you look for:

  • Look for people who preach self-sacrifice
  • Look for people who try to make you feel guilty for your strengths
  • Look for people who try to make you feel guilty for your accomplishments
  • Look for people who try to make you feel bad just because they are feeling bad

Victims are:

  • Masters of positioning themselves on the moral high ground
  • Using obligation to manipulate you into doing what they want you to do.
  • People who like to make you feel responsible for their happiness.

No one is responsible for someone else’s happiness

#4 Stay away from know-it-alls

Know-it-alls are those people who will never let you live down past mistakes. They bring you down by using  the psychological phenomenons of “Imposter Syndrome” and “Negativity Bias.”

Imposter Syndrome is describe as the inability to internalize your own accomplishments. It’s that voice in your head that creeps up every now and then telling you that you’re a phony and it’s only a matter of time until people find out.

Negativity Bias on the other hand refers to your brains preference for negative information over positive information.

  • Never allow anyone to make you feel bad about yourself.
  • Don’t let some” Know-it-All” use these techniques against you.
  • Focus on where you are now. Not on your past mistakes.

#5 Refuse to be around drama queens.

Drama queens/kings are those people who love conflict. They are addicted to drama and to winning arguments no matter the cost. Even if there’s nothing to be won. Drama queens love drama for the sake of drama.

  • They don’t want to win or find a solution they just want the drama.
  • Their minds are simple and their lives are boring.
  • The only way they can fill a sense of purpose in life is by creating drama.
  • Don’t let these people suck you into their drama.

Any time you spend trying to correct or even understand a drama queen is a waste of time. You are better off ignoring these people period.

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Factors that Contribute to Memory Loss

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Here are some factors that contribute to memory loss:

• Age According to FamilyDoctor.org, we actually begin to lose brain cells as young as our 20’s, the same time our bodies begin to make less of the chemicals the remaining brain cells need to work, affecting our memory as we age.

• Hormones As if that’s not bad enough, a study done by McGill University found that decreasing estrogen levels also do a number on our working memory, which can explain why many women complain of “mommy” or “menopause” brain.

• Sleep Without adequate sleep, your brain has a harder time absorbing and recalling new information, according to WebMD. But sleep does more than help sharpen the mind. Studies show that sleep (or lack therof) affects physical reflexes, fine motor skills and judgment, too. One studyshowed that participants who were sleep-deprived were more likely to think they were right when they were actually wrong. (Not that any of us would do that.)

• Stress The need to get it all done and perfectly is enough to send anyone over the edge. Think you’re a great multitasker? According to a Huffington Post article, a recent study says you’re wrong. (Maybe you just think you’re right because you’re sleep deprived.) In fact, the study found that the better a person thinks they are at multitasking, the worse they actually are. “The people who multitask the most tend to be impulsive, sensation-seeking, overconfident of their multitasking abilities, and they tend to be less capable of multitasking,” said study researcher and psychology professor David Strayer.

But what if overextending ourselves isn’t really the issue. How do we know the difference between a common occurrence and something more serious like dementia?

brain-circulation-110818-02Could I Have Early-Onset Alzheimer’s?

According to FamilyDoctor.org, memory loss can become a more serious problem as it affects your daily living. If you find that any of the following apply to you, it’s best to consult your doctor.

  • No longer remember how to do things you’ve done many times before (losing your way to work even though you’ve taken the same route over and over, not being able to follow directions in a recipe…)
  • Changes in mood and personality
  • Memory loss tends to increase over time (from several months to years)

What are some things we can do to thwart memory loss and keep our minds sharp? Some foods and food-based multivitamins are said to be helpful in boosting memory and sharpness.

  • Allspice (promotes memory)
  • Avocado (remembering details)
  • Flax (assimilation of information and memory improvement)
  • Papaya (memory retention)
  • Rosemary (forgetfulness)

working-memory-2

There are also other lifestyle tweaks that can go a long way in keeping your mind sharp.

• Find a system For some, writing things down is enough to keep them on track. For me, I’ve channeled my inner-nerd, creating spreadsheets for everything from homework, paying bills, grocery lists and work assignments (Now, if I could only remember to open them…).

• Use it or lose it Like muscles, your brain needs to be exercised in order to stay sharp. Consider skipping an hour of those mindless online games and use the same time to learn a new skill, start a hobby, read a book or even challenge the kids to a game of Scrabble.

• Get healthy It’s not exactly breaking news that healthy diet, regular exercise and clean living is said to keep you on your game. While you’re at it, decrease or cut out the mind-zapping alcohol.

• Maintain a sense of humor While memory loss can be extremely difficult, don’t sweat the small stuff. Remember, we’re all getting older, don’t take it so seriously.

For additional information on the topic of memory below is a Mind Map:

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10 Diseases We’ll Cure in the Next 20 Years

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nas·cent/ˈnāsənt/
Adjective:
Just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential; not yet fully developed.

Three nascent sciences, gene therapy, stem cell use and nanotechnology, will come of age in the next 20 years.

Each of these sciences are in their own right pregnant with the seeds of revolutionary change, and when combined they hold the promise of curing nearly every thinkable illness. Whereas these treatments are experimental and expensive today, 20 years from now, they will be common and affordable.It’s difficult to say exactly how these technologies will converge, but combinations of any or all of these could become panaceas before long.

Stem Cells

Stem cells are like blank slates. They’re cells that don’t yet have an identity, a role. But we can assign roles to stem cells, and tell them whether to become a skin cell, a brain cell or a part of any organ we want. Granted, we’re only beginning to learn how to do this, but we’ve already grown functioning livers, bladders, ears, and lungs in laboratories by dripping little drops of stem cells onto molds. So stem cells can be used to repair damages in organs and tissue, or to simply replace faltering organs altogether. They will soon obviate the need for organ donors. We’ll instead have organ factories that make hearts, eyes, kidneys; you name it, on demand and off the shelf. Read about one man who was cured of AIDS using stem cells

Nanotechnology

Ray Kurzweil has said that computers that used to take up a whole room in the sixties, now fit in his pocket, and that these same computing powers will fit inside a blood cell within a generation. When processors are so small that they can be injected into your blood stream, you can send in billions of them to repair and regenerate tissue as it degenerates, enabling a continuous rejuvenation of all organs. If a malignant tumor is discovered somewhere in your body, a billion strong army of well trained nanobots could be deployed to defeat it. Nanotech will also enable the implantation of microchips in our brains, where they have already cured depression and anxiety disorders in test patients.

Gene Therapy

And then, of course, there is gene manipulation, which can take both a proactive and a preventative nature. Through accurate alterations in a fetus’ or baby’s genetic makeup, hereditary diseases would be precluded from ever causing any trouble in the first place. If, upon analyzing your child’s DNA, your doctor finds it predisposed to Down’s syndrome, bipolar disorder, or ADHD for instance, he will have the ability to change or fix the relevant chromosomes. One man was cured of a blood disease through gene therapy.

Which diseases will we cure?

Diseases that in 20 years will either be eliminated or that people will be able to live with via treatments:

  1. Most cancers
  2. Alzheimer’s
  3. Parkinson’s
  4. Blindness
  5. Multiple Sclerosis
  6. Alcoholism/Addiction
  7. Depression
  8. Anxiety disorders
  9. Heart disease
  10. Arthritis

This list is by no means exhaustive, and when looking back in 2030, it could be much, much longer.

Obstacles

Social Darwinists, religious fundamentalists and other skeptics towards game changing science will do their part to decelerate this progress, as they did with in-vitro fertilization (which continues to give the joy of parenthood to millions), gene modified crops (which continues make food increasingly affordable to the hungry masses without the prophesized side effects) and on countless other accounts.

But in the end, reason and compassion will prevail, as it always does in time.

Disease eradication goes hand in hand with prosperity. Many poverty stricken populations, notably in sub-Saharan Africa, suffer needless deaths from Malaria, AIDS and Polio. Those are all perfectly treatable diseases (indeed most HIV positive patients from the industrialized world are now able to live full lives), yet, without the most important prerequisite for medical progress – wealth – many Africans remain defenseless in the face of for instance Malaria. They can’t afford to keep their cattle in barns, they have no houses with sealed windows behind which to hide at dusk and dawn, and they can’t afford treatment once infected. Africa will be the last continent to reach economic prosperity, and subsequently the last to enjoy the health benefits that accompany affluence.

But that day too will come – in our lifetime.

 

EDITORS NOTE: As a futurist, I make predictions of what I think will happen based on my research. These are predictions I hope I will live to see. There is a good chance that these treatments will extend my life long enough to allow me to see my predictions come true!

 

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“My Name is Lisa”

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The best part of my job is sometimes the saddest. Sometimes when you find a gem it’s beauty is momentarily obscured by the rubble that surrounds it. I found this short film and was deeply moved. I offer it as an example of fine work on an extremely difficult subject.

“My Name is Lisa” is a short film about Alzheimer’s Disease, which is one of many serious and devastating diseases still without a cure. Alzheimer’s causes gradual memory loss.

This film was made for YouTube’s Project: Direct and it took 3RD PRIZE in the International short film competition

“My Name is Lisa” is a short film from SheltonFilms.com

My Name is Lisa

is the:

BEST SHORT FILM OF 2007 – YouTube
3RD PRIZE WINNER of PROJECT: DIRECT
SEMI-FINALIST IN NOW FILM FESTIVAL

Just like the rest of our bodies, our brains change as we age. Most of us notice some slowed thinking and occasional problems remembering certain things. However, serious memory loss, confusion and other major changes in the way our minds work are not a normal part of ageing. They may be a sign that brain cells are failing.

The brain has 100 billion nerve cells (neurons). Each nerve cell communicates with many others to form networks. nerve cell networks have special jobs. Some are involved in thinking, learning and remembering. Others help us see, hear and smell. Still others tell our muscles when to move.

To do their work, brain cells operate like tiny factories. They take in supplies, generate energy, construct equipment and get rid of waste. Cells also process and store information. Keeping everything running requires coordination as well as large amounts of fuel and oxygen.

In Alzheimer’s disease, parts of the cell’s factory stop running well. Scientists are not sure exactly where the trouble starts. But just like a real factory, backups and breakdowns in one system cause problems in other areas. As damage spreads, cells lose their ability to do their jobs well. Eventually, they die.


For more information on Alzheimer’s Disease please visit http://www.ALZ.org

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