Good Mood Improves Memory and Decision Making (VIDEO)

General Posted by anthony Date April 22, 2013

[embed_youtube”420″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/XlRaOO28qmo”]

Milk and Yogurt Better for Bone Health Than Cream

General Posted by anthony Date April 22, 2013

Cream is not as effective as milk or yogurt in promoting bone health and combating osteoporosis.
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In the Framingham Offspring Study, 3,212 participants completed a food frequency questionnaire and were followed for hip fracture for 12 years. 2,506 participants had scans to see if they had decreased bone mineral density. The age range was from 26 to 85, with the mean age of 55 years.

Low bone-density puts the elderly at an increased risk for osteoporosis and fractures of the hip, spine and waist. Around one-fourth of those who have a broken hip die within the following year.

While all dairy products have nutrients important for bone health, cream and its cousins such as ice cream are not as effective, said Shivani Sahni, Ph.D., of the Musculoskeletal Research Team at the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife.

Those who had 2å_ to 3 servings a day of milk and yogurt had higher bone mineral density in their hips, although not in the spine.
The authors suggest choosing low-fat milk or yogurt in order to boost levels of protein, calcium and vitamin D.

So not all dairy products are equally beneficial for the skeleton. Now you know.

94 and 95 Year Old Compete in 100 Meter Dash

General Posted by anthony Date April 19, 2013

A 100-meter dash between 94-year-old Emiel Pauwels of Belgium and 95-year-old Ilmari Koppinen of Finland, competing at an athletic meet for veterans in San Sebastian, Spain. Though Pauwels got off to a slower start ÛÓ Belgian media noted that “Emiel Pauwels has never been a strong starter, and at 94, that will not change” ÛÓ he found another gear and triumped over Koppinen, hand raised in

Good Mood Improves Memory and Decision Making

General Posted by anthony Date April 19, 2013

Older adults can improve their decision making and working memory simply by improving their mood.

Researchers found that easy mood-boosters — like giving people a small bag of candy — helped seniors do significantly better on tests of decision-making and working memory.

Ellen Peters

ÛÏThere has been lots of research showing that younger adults are more creative and cognitively flexible when they are in a good mood. But because of the cognitive declines that come with aging, we werenÛªt sure that a good mood would be able to help older adults,Û said Ellen Peters, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
The study was done with Stephanie Carpenter of the University of Michigan; David VÌ_stfjÌ_ll of LinkÌ¦ping University in Sweden; and the late Alice Isen, of Cornell University. It appears in the current issue of the journal Cognition and Emotion.
The study involved 46 adults aged 63 to 85. Half of them were put into a good mood by receiving a thank-you card and two small bags of candy, tied with a red ribbon, when they arrived at the lab for the experiment. The other ÛÏneutral moodÛ participants did not receive a card or candy.

The participants completed the study on a computer. Those who were induced into the positive mood had a background screen that was designed to help keep them feeling positive — it featured smiling suns on a sky-blue background. The neutral-mood participants had a similar background, but with neutral round images with no face.

In the decision-making task, the findings were clear: older adults who were put into a good mood chose significantly better than those who were in the neutral mood.

Later in the experiment, the researchers tested working memory — how much information people can hold in their mind at any one time. Researchers read aloud a group of intermixed letters and numbers and participants were to repeat the group back in numeric and then alphabetic order. Results showed that the older adults who were induced into a good mood scored better on this test of working memory.

I think the operative word here is “induced.” We can’t always induce people into a good mood. So how do you go about helping people to improve their mood overall? Well maybe you start by showing them studies like this one!