Category: Science

How artificial oxytocin injection influences female health

This article is re-published from www.fitandtreat.com 

I read a lot about oxytocin effect on female health and overall feeling of wellbeing during my nutrition, mental health and neuroscience courses. Multiple research findings were pretty fascinating and looked like a solution for all specific “girly” problems. Statistically, the majority of us (especially single working ladies) lacks this miracle hormone that’s why we constantly feel stressed, depressed, gain weight, experience anxiety attacks, sleep deprivation, digestion problems, irregular or painful periods, moodiness and so on. On the other hand, it’s not easy to find the desired partner and build bonding relationships to regulate the natural release of oxytocin. So, I made my research, found oxytocin in a form of nasal spray and decided to test the chemical on myself. 

Here is the report. 

I got delivered nasal oxytocin spray yesterday. I always try all supplements on myself before I recommend it to my clients. So took it. Results are incredible. But before I share let me tell a couple of words about oxytocin itself:

1) it’s a hormone of bonding (usually our body produces it naturally when we cuddle with the loved ones). Female body also produces oxytocin during breastfeeding.

2) women are more sensitive to oxytocin than men (men produce vasopressin – male bonding hormone similar to oxytocin)

3) oxytocin neutralizes cortisol (the hormone of stress which has catabolic and inflammatory properties as well as provokes water retention, immune system suppression, and increases anxiety). Cortisol reduction helps women feeling more relaxed and satisfied, however, according to multiple studies, it reduces critical reasoning and motivation.

So! What did I feel?

1 hour after the injection: relaxation. My verbal functions and mental sharpness are slightly suppressed but I’m still fine and focused.

2 hours after the injection: I created an affordable package of my services and posted it on my web-site. (I’m not going to earn selling it but I will have more exposure and more opportunities to sell complimentary services, therefore, such as PT sessions). So I’m calm and relaxed but still alert and pretty logical, however, less hungry to profits.

3 hours after the injection: I went to bed because I felt like fall asleep. Usually, I work until I’m done. So, the obsessive motivation for success is gone. The feeling of my personal comfort and wellbeing turned into my top priority. Moreover, my verbal functions are suppressed even more. I don’t feel like to talk at all.

8 hours after the injection: still very relaxed, soft, tolerant. No obsessive motivation to hit the gym straight after getting up.

10 hours after the injection: spent an hour doing facial massage and beauty treatments with no anxiety to be late or lose time doing “unnecessary things”. Caught myself on clear understanding that

– I don’t really care to move back to Russia if in one year time my U.K. business (both of them) is not going to generate enough income to cover their high costs, salaries and my personal expenses (so pretty logical thought isn’t it?)

– I don’t care what anyone will think about it

– My comfort is my first priority

– I’m endlessly calm and relaxed

– I’m not going to work 12 hours a day anymore

– I love and value myself as I am and I’m completely fine with the way I move, look, sound, and so on. (Women will understand the feeling as we always never feel satisfied.)

Bodily effect:

– I have no water retention even if I’m on the first day of my period

– I have no psychological tension

– I have no muscles inflammation and moodiness

– I’m really fine with everything that’s going on.

Conclusion:

1. It works

2. It has positive impact on the body

3. If reduces cortisol as well as “fight or flight” motivational effect (be careful here if you have high-level risk-taking job)

4. It slightly reduces analytical functions and critical reasoning during the first few hours after the injection but both come back in 10 hours. The overall feeling of wellbeing is improved. However, motivation and drive for achievements are shrunk.

 

Your peers affect your IQ

If you want to get brighter, only mix with the brightest, or suffer the consequences

That’s according to Professor James Flynn, who was once considered controversial because of his research which suggested that people were getting more intelligent each generation – the Flynn Effect.

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In his new book “Does your family make you smarter” he proposes that intelligence, rather than plateauing at 18 years of age, can increase throughout adulthood, providing you have a stimulating lifestyle.

Households where people talk, challenge, joke  and share cultural pastimes can boost the IQ of family members by several points. And workplaces that impose intellectual challenges on staff can over time raise their individual intelligence.

The opposite is also true. People who share a home or workplace with dullards for any length of time risk seeing their IQ enter a sharp decline because of lack of stimulation.

Flynn also says

Intelligence has always been thought to be static … the new evidence shows that this is wrong. The brain seems to be rather like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it gets. That means you can upgrade your intelligence during your lifetime

He suggests the best way to improve your IQ is to marry someone smarter than you, find an intellectually stimulating job, and hang out with bright friends.

 

Up to now we’ve believed that intelligence is controlled by genes influenced by our nutrition and environment up to age 18 when it stabilises.

Flynn’s research took 65 years of IQ tests from the US and correlating the  results with the age of the people creating IQ age tables. From these he draws two conclusions. The cognitive quality of a family alters the IQ of all members but especially children i.e. it can lift them or hold them back.

For example a bright child of 10 with siblings of average intelligence will suffer on average a 5-10 point IQ disadvantage compared to a similar child with equally bright brothers and sisters.  A child with a lower IQ can gain 6-8 points by having brighter siblings and educational support…

He also believes, based on this research, that although genetics and early life experience determine about 80% of intelligence the rest is strongly linked to our lifestyle as adults.

As you leave childhood behind the legacy of your family diminishes but the game is not over. A large proportion of your cognitive quality is now in your own hands. You can change it yourself and your IQ can vary through life according to your own efforts… Going through life feeling your childhood is holding you back is misunderstanding how much power you have to improve yourself

says Flynn.

In 2011 researchers at the University of Pennsylvania said that they found that high IQ scores are a result of high intelligence plus motivation whereas low IQ scores could be because of the lack of either intelligence or motivation (published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

 

Research in Scotland found that people with mentally stimulating jobs suffered less cognitive decline as they got older.

And recently researchers at the University of Texas found that busy over-50s had higher cognitive scores than younger people.

Experts in emotional intelligence have long held that EI, unlike IQ, continues to develop into adulthood. Now it seems we have the capacity to develop both our cognitive and socio-emotional skills.

Source:

http://bizpsycho.com/2016/06/01/if-you-want-to-get-brighter-only-mix-with-the-brightest-or-suffer-the-consequences/

What protein is the best for your health

There is a wide range of protein powders currently. The protein content, quality and value of ingredients used can vary enormously, as can the digestibility and absorption qualities of the supplement. Different types of protein also serve different needs. The array of products found on shop shelves can be bewildering, so here is a quick review with some guidance on what you should be taking.

Read also How much protein should be eaten, How to keep fit over 30, Diets and exit strategies , Why diets don’t work and what you can do about it

1.) Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC)

WPC is the most common source of protein you can find in shops. The protein content of such products usually varies between 70-80%. Some experts believe that WPC is a good option for non-professional fitness practitioners, and for those who are simply looking to increase their protein intake. As a qualified nutritionist and an expert in fitness and bodybuilding I would consider WPC as a suitable option even for advanced users. It can be mixed with carbohydrates in a post-workout shake to boost recovery, and 80% protein content is usually sufficient for most needs.

Recommendation: take it after weight training or mix it in your morning oats after fasted cardio for quick recovery and a metabolic boost. Ask your nutritional adviser to calculate the optimal intake for your needs.

2.) Whey Protein Isolates (WPI)

At between 90-100%, WPI protein content is higher than WPC. This means that the product itself is cleaner, and is of a higher quality. WPI has great absorption and digestibility due to its chemical form; it enters the bloodstream almost immediately following consumption, which is why it’s perfect for a post-workout shake. You can also use WPI if you are on a ketogenic diet (i.e. a no carbs diet), as it’s an absolutely pure source of protein that won’t impact the production of keton bodies (the primary source of energy when you’re on a zero carbs diet).

Recommendation: Do not follow a ketogenic diet on your own without qualified and experienced nutritionist supervision. It could cause hypoglycemia and other health problems.

3.) Hydrolysate Protein (HP)

Experts consider HP as the highest quality protein because of its chemical properties and absorption qualities. However, pure HP is not often found on shop shelves, but is usually found mixed in with other kinds of protein such as WPC and WPI. Manufacturers mix sources for two principal reasons:

  • To decrease the production price without any significant compromise in terms of quality;
  • To provide your body with proteins with various speeds of digestibility, in order for the body to retain its protein supply for a longer duration.

4.) Casein Protein

Casein is a slow-digesting protein. There is a completely different mode of thinking behind casein supplements than with other types of rapid-absorption protein powders. Depending on one’s metabolism, the body needs up to 5-7 hours to fully digest casein; this is why it is perfect as either a meal replacement or a bedtime snack.

Recommendation: Do not take casein after fitness activities as it will only enter the blood stream a few hours later, leaving your body starved of vital nutrients. You can take casein as a bedtime snack by mixing it with a small amount of water. Due to casein chemical properties such a mix will create a mousse-like texture, and could be taken as a desert.

5.) Soy/Pea/Rise/Hump Protein

All plant-based proteins can be taken to increase protein dietary content. They are suitable for vegans, and can potentially be a great way of fortifying their constitution with essential amino acids. However, keep in mind that all vegetable proteins have an incomplete profile of amino acids. According to Gastellu and his colleagues at the International Sport and Science Association, plant-based proteins should ideally be mixed with other sources such as WPC, WPI or HP (which are also suitable for vegans in the majority of cases) in order to provide the body with all the necessary building-blocks for its recovery and maintenance.

Tatiana Dmitrieva,

(OpenMindPortal, OMCommunications, Fit&Treat founder, ISSA Qualified nutritionist, double European vice bikini-fitness champion)

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Reference list

Sex vs Exercise

Somewhere near the top of every single one of the the roughly forty-kajillion internet listicles dedicated to the “surprising,” “hidden,” and “unexpected”health benefits of sex is the not-all-that-surprising-sounding factoid that bumping fuzzies basically doubles as exercise. In reality, however, there has been very little research done to support this claim.

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The few studies that have investigated the physicality of sex have typically looked at things like heart rate and blood pressure – important but arguably basic physiological measurements. They’ve also been conducted primarily in laboratory settings – which, sure, probably falls into some specific category of kink, but for most people is probably a less-than-ideal environment for sexy time. It’s not difficult to imagine, for example, how the wires from an echocardiogram, or the bulk of an oxygen-monitoring facemask, might interfere with one’s (doubtless considerable) sexual talents, thereby confounding any attempt at accurate physiological measurement.
 The point being that these methodological limitations highlight a gap in the existing body of scientific knowledge raises an important question about how physically strenuous sex really is. How much energy does a young, healthy couple actually expend getting physical between the sheets? Are we talking a pastrami sandwich’s worth of calories, or a handful of kale’s? And to what extent does sex really count as exercise?
…Researchers led by Université du Québec à Montréal kinanthropologist Antony Karelis… The goal: measure the free-living energy expenditure (in calories) during sexual activity, in the absence of drugs, alcohol, or ED medications. (Study participants were also asked to forego any and all paraphilic sexual activities – i.e. nothing deemed too freaky by… well… society, we guess.) The final figures are as follows:

Mean energy expenditure during sexual activity (men)

101 kCal (the same as 101 dietary Calories), or 4.2 kCal/min

Mean energy expenditure during sexual activity (women)

69.1 kCal, or 3.1 kCal/min

So the overall average comes out to roughly 85 kCal (3.6 kCal/min) – about the same number of dietary calories in your standard chicken egg…

 

Robbie Gonzalez

Source

http://io9.gizmodo.com/seriously-though-does-sex-count-as-exercise-1452095982

 

The Stress of Uncertainty is the worst

New research suggests that stress from fear of the unknown can be greater than the stress associated with knowledge of an outcome, even when the outcome is painful.


In the study conducted by University College London, the fear of getting a painful electric shock led to significantly more stress than knowing that you will definitely be shocked.

The research, published in Nature Communications, found that situations in which subjects had a 50 percent chance of receiving a shock were the most stressful while zero percent and 100 percent chances were the least stressful.

Our experiment allows us to draw conclusions about the effect of uncertainty on stress. It turns out that it’s much worse not knowing you are going to get a shock than knowing you definitely will or won’t. We saw exactly the same effects in our physiological measures — people sweat more and their pupils get bigger when they are more uncertain

conclude researches.

This is the first time that the effect of uncertainty on stress has been quantified, but the concept is likely to be familiar to many people.

When applying for a job, you’ll probably feel more relaxed if you think it’s a long shot or if you’re confident that it’s in the bag,

said co-author Dr. Robb Rutledge.

The most stressful scenario is when you really don’t know. It’s the uncertainty that makes us anxious. The same is likely to apply in many familiar situations, whether it’s waiting for medical results or information on train delays.

Nevertheless, stress is not always negative and counterproductive. The study also found a potential benefit. People whose stress responses spiked the most at periods of greatest uncertainty were better at judging whether or not individual rocks would have snakes under them.

From an evolutionary perspective, our finding that stress responses are tuned to environmental uncertainty suggests that it may have offered some survival benefits

said senior author Dr. Sven Bestmann.”

Sources:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2016/03/30/stress-from-uncertainty-may-override-actual-event/101113.html

https://rennickeassociates.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/the-stress-of-uncertainty/

 

Cardio improves memory

I’m sure you know your brain works better following exercise?

A team of researchers in Ireland made this discovery through a relatively simple experiment. They asked a group of students to watch a rapid lineup of photos.

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Each photo included a name and face of a stranger. Then, after a brief break, the students tried to recall the names of the faces that had moved across the computer screen. After this initial test, half of the students were asked to ride a stationary bicycle at a strenuous pace until they reached exhaustion. The other half of the students sat quietly for 30 minutes. Then both groups took the test again to see how many names they could recall.

The group of students who exercised performed much better on the memory test than they had on their first attempt. The group who simply sat in another room did not improve. As part of this experiment, the scientists also collected blood samples, through which they discovered a biological explanation for the increase in recall among the students who exercised. Immediately after the strenuous activity, students in the exercise group had much higher levels of a protein known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which promotes the health of nerve cells.

So make some time daily, weekly for that walk, work-out, run, hike etc.

Source:

http://khalilaleker.com/2016/05/18/your-brain-and-exercise/

How LSD Breaks Down Your Reality Tunnels and the Science Behind Psychedelic Ego Death

LSD and other psychedelics have an uncanny ability to dissolve reality tunnels and facilitate psychedelic ego death, which can be highly beneficial.

LSD and other psychedelics are powerful medicine for the mind, and goodness knows the Western psyche has a deep sickness embedded within it. Our health and the wellbeing of the environment continue to suffer from preventable causes such as stress, over consumption, and resource depletion, all underpinned by the narrative that this is “normal” and that visions of a better, healthier way are unrealistic. We’re largely addicted to fast food, fossil fuels, and entertainment, yet at the same time, share a deep and murky sense of unease that perhaps this way of life is neither sustainable or fulfilling. This is the world created by the ego —the sense of personal and social identity that is propped up by long stories of justification — and it is the favorite target of psychedelics like LSD, which love to shatter realities and let you know, in cathartic and sometimes terrifying ways, that everything you know is wrong. And this can be a very good thing, if you’re ready to hear the message.

 What Are Reality Tunnels?

Psychedelic advocate Timothy Leary described this ego-generated perception of self and the world as a “reality tunnel.” As one of LSD’s earliest and most committed adopters, he was among the first to have his own reality tunnel ripped apart by psychedelics, revealing its existence much like a fish comprehending water for the first time after being pulled out of it. It’s no surprise that Leary and subsequent psychonaut philosophers like Robert Anton Wilson honed in on the concept of reality tunnels as essential to understanding the value of psychedelics, because it dovetailed perfectly with other new understandings that were coming to the fore in the 20th century such as yoga, radical changes in arts and music, dissatisfaction with conventional culture, and mistrust of corporate and government power.


Psychedelics like LSD dissolved these propped-up realities and made it clear that life and our perception of it has infinitely more potential than commonly thought, revelations that were supported by millennia-old Eastern philosophy and evidenced in the incredible force behind the cultural revolution of the 60s.

Leary’s message and the explosion of psychedelics in the 1960s affected Western culture much like an LSD trip would affect someone not ready to take it. Things got kind of weird and scary, and with one foot over the threshold of our reality tunnel, we decided as a society to take two fearful steps back and shut the door, convincing ourselves that what we briefly witnessed was dangerous nonsense. But times are changing, and the abyss is beckoning us to move towards it once again, this time more slowly and carefully. Today, we are ready to take the dose with the right set, setting, and intention.

The Science of Psychedelic Ego Death


Fast forward to the 21st century, and today we have new scientific understandings of what psychedelics are and how they influence our brain and psyche. Plunging off the diving board out of your reality tunnel with LSD just because you can is rightfully considered reckless by today’s psychedelic advocates, and instead we are honing in on the therapeutic applications of this medicine and understanding how exactly it’s neurological magic works. While the approach has become more careful and nuanced, the goal remains essentially the same- to harness the incredible power of psychedelics and integrate the lessons they have to teach us in a lasting way.
A recent groundbreaking study on LSD by Imperial College London and the Beckley Foundation is a shining example. Using advanced brain imaging techniques, they were able to see which parts of the brain became active under the influence of LSD, allowing researchers to better understand the psychedelic experience. Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris who lead the experiment explained:

Normally our brain consists of independent networks that perform separate specialised functions, such as vision, movement and hearing — as well as more complex things like attention. However, under LSD the separateness of these networks breaks down and instead you see a more integrated or unified brain.

A unified brain is more free to make associations that are not commonly made, like how the foods we choose to consume effect geopolitics, or how a recurring conflict you have with your spouse stems from a childhood trauma. These unveilings allow subconscious unease to be brought to light and released, and they make way for the larger ultimate realization that we are not bound to any of our egoic thought-patterns other than by our habitual reinforcement of them. The reality tunnel we live in is malleable, and we are free to choose at any time to change its shape and scope. Psychedelics can be properly understood as a medicine to assist in this process, with the ability to target very harmful thought patterns such as those that underlie PTSD and addiction.

Dr. Harris also went on to describe the relationship between LSD and ego death:

Our results suggest that this effect underlies the profound altered state of consciousness that people often describe during an LSD experience. It is also related to what people sometimes call ‘ego-dissolution’, which means the normal sense of self is broken down and replaced by a sense of reconnection with themselves, others and the natural world. This experience is sometimes framed in a religious or spiritual way — and seems to be associated with improvements in well-being after the drug’s effects have subsided.

At the End of the Tunnel
Leary would certainly be happy to see this research being done, and one would hope, embrace the present-day resurgence of interest in psychedelics with science and therapy at its head rather than overt cultural revolution. What is clear is that he was right about LSD’s ability to break down reality tunnels and the immense benefits that can come from such an act. Slowly but surely, this work for the advancement of psychedelic studies that Leary and all psychedelic researchers and advocates are part of is expanding and altering the course of our shared reality tunnel, and that is a very good thing.

Psychotherapists and other experts are harnessing the transcendent power of psychedelics to treat mood disorders…


Source: How LSD Breaks Down Your Reality Tunnels and the Science Behind Psychedelic Ego Death

What kind of habit keeps you exercising?

It’s not always easy to convince yourself to exercise after a long day of work. (Ok, it’s never easy.) But people who consistently manage to do it may be using a simple trick—whether they realize it or not—according to a new study published in the journal Health Psychology.



The most consistent exercisers, researchers found, were those who made exercise into a specific type of habit—one triggered by a cue, like hearing your morning alarm and going to the gym without even thinking about it, or getting stressed and immediately deciding to exercise. 

It’s not something you have to deliberate about; you don’t have to consider the pros and cons of going to the gym after work,

explains L. Alison Phillips, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State University and one of the study’s authors. Instead, it’s an automatic decision instigated by your own internal or environmental cue.
The researchers wanted to see whether this type of habit, known as an instigation habit, was better than another type of habit at predicting who stuck with a month of exercise. At the beginning and end of the monthlong study, they asked 123 university students and faculty questions that assessed how often they exercised and how strong their exercise habits were—whether they did it without thinking, for example. From these questions, they gleaned whether a person has a strong instigation habit—one where a cue triggers the instantaneous decision to exercise—and whether a person has a strong execution habit—that is, knowing exactly what kind of exercise they’ll do once you get to the gym, or being able to go through the motions of an exercise routine while being mentally checked out.

The only factor that predicted how often a person exercised over the long-term, they found, was the strength of their instigation habit. It got stronger with time, too. 

When people started exercising more frequently over the month and became more active, I saw that their instigation habit strength increased with that frequency, but execution habit didn’t really change in relation to frequency at all…

Mandy Oaklander | July 9, 2015 | Time

https://pragmasynesi.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/what-kind-of-habit-keeps-you-exercising/

How to make your brain work better

7 activities your brain has to enjoy every day

Neuroscientists believe that the net effect of spending eight hours a day in the office performing repetitive tasks, a further two hours commuting, and the rest of the day scrolling through social media or watching TV, is an impairment of our normal brain functions. In short, we are being transformed into easily manipulated, apathetic zombies.

 7 types of brain activities

A daily routine, similar to the one above, has been scientifically proven to kill creativity. This occurs as a result of a rapid drop in our level of consciousness in such conditions. Read: Levels of consciousness vs happiness. Lacking the opportunity to really focus on a new task and the possibility of stretching itself to solve problems, the brain slips into so-called ‘down time’ or ‘sleep walker’ mode. The brain’s capacity to be proactive disappears quickly in such conditions, and it simply becomes lazy.

This is comparable to the process which occurs when we stop doing physical exercise, and the body consequently swiftly enters a more sedentary mode. Similarly, the brain loses focus and slumps into a semi-awake state.

An alternative scenario sees the brain engaging in 12 hours of extreme activity, permanently focusing on a variety of new tasks, learning on the go, and engaging in intensive decision making. It is constantly working at its peak. While this situation appears preferable, our brain is not designed for such extremes either. After a while it will simply stop functioning properly, due to information overload – another common feature of modern life. Read How to cope with information overload.

What happens next? The overly-active brain loses its ability to process new information, and again automatically switches to down-time mode. The recharging period could be long. Chronic information overload also causes fatigue, lack of creativity and depression.

According to David Rock, director of the Neuroleadership Institute and the author of bestseller Your Brain at Work, the human brain needs to experience 7 types of activities in order to function properly and we must have all of these every day.

If you want a plant to grow, it needs the right amount of water and nutrients,” says Rock. “It’s obvious when you leave one of those out. With the brain, it’s a less obvious. The right dietary elements are only one part of this.… The basic balanced diet that you probably already know is a foundation, but there are other types of inputs that your brain needs that people tend to ignore. And these are essentially exercising different types of circuits in the brain, allowing other circuits to rest and recover.

The ideal ratio of each of the 7 types varies from person to person, but it is important to have them all and separate them from one another. For example, don’t try to catch-up with friends or work during your down-time or time-in. In order to be more productive, creative and to feel happy and satisfied, we have to differentiate and clearly understand what kind of activity we are engaging in at a particular moment, allowing our brain to benefit from it. Likewise, don’t check your social media during your focus time.

  1. Focus time

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This is our productive time when we get things done. Our brain is highly active and exercised by problem-solving and intellectual challenges.

It’s helpful for creating deep circuits,” says Rock “and it’s a healthful and helpful process.

Without focus-time the brain becomes idle, resulting in mental sluggishness. It is very important to force it to focus, even if there’s no immediate need for it to do so. Let’s say you are on a two week holiday, and plan to spend your time doing nothing. That sounds great, but not for your brain. Give it the chance to focus for at least a few hours a day just to “keep it fit”. Learning a new language, reading a challenging book or doing any problem-solving tasks is very beneficial.

  1. Connecting time

 img_6977We are all social animals to some extent. We need to be connected and belong to a group, and our brain has the same need.

Being isolated socially is twice as dangerous to yourself as smoking. If you’re just working and not maintaining a social life, you’re probably impacting your health and well-being, not just your mental performance…

says Rock.

 I moved to different countries at various times in my life, starting again from scratch. Each time I experienced a terrible lack of connection to people at the beginning. I didn’t have friends in these new locations, and sometimes could not even call the places I lived in ‘home’. What did I do? I visited local gyms or dance classes. Even without deeper interpersonal interactions, our brain can be satisfied through merely talking to other people… So give it a chance to be connected: Go out, help someone, start doing something with other people, and it will bring plenty of positive things into your life.

  1. Down time 

 Chinese rice teerraces 2Down time is unrelated to problem-solving or to achieving your goals. It could be achieved by reading an interesting novel (don’t confuse this with reading professional literature – this is something to be done in your focus time), cleaning your home, cooking, or just sitting on a park bench, enjoying nature. Down time allows the brain to rest and recover.

You’re allowing space for your unconscious connections to come to the surface, to solve complex problems,

believe Rock.

Down time is vital for healthy brain functioning. However, it should be limited. It is always very tempting to dwell in such a mode all the time. As I mentioned earlier, when adopted for prolonged periods, down-time makes our brain lazy and impairs its functioning. Instead, take a 15-30 minute break every 2-4 hours of your active time. It will be refresh you and help you to unwind, but do not regress into this mode for hours or days.

  1. Time in

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Time in allows your brain to, in a sense, reorganize itself through reflection,

says Rock.

It’s different from down time, which is very inactive. With time in, you’re thinking about your thinking, you’re mindful and connecting your brain in deeper ways. It’s the kind of practice that allows you to reflect on your thoughts.

Yoga, meditation, psychoanalysis sessions, various spiritual practices such as tantric breathing, and many other techniques could help you to reach this mode. It is a state of being which enables you to capture your true feelings, analyse your experiences, and stimulate new ideas. Time in is one of the healthiest things you can do. Balancing yourself as a person will also improve you from a professional point of view as well. People lacking time for internal deep reflecting finally reach a state in which they are disconnected from what they want, what they need, and what really makes them happy.

Speaking about real time-in Rock noticed:

The number (of such hours) continues to decrease as I ask people. It’s not 20 or 10 or even 5 hours. For a lot of people, it’s a couple of hours a week, if that.

The culprit, he thinks, is our extremely fast lifestyle, overloaded as it is with tasks and information. The solution:

Find the ideal window in your week when you can carve out focus time — to do what I call level three thinking, deeper problem solving and writing and creative work.

It is a time slot which differs from person to person, but Rock says that the best time is generally early in the day, and early in the week — Monday, Tuesday, maybe Wednesday morning.

  1. Play Time

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This is all about novelty, the unexpected and fun, allowing new novel connections to form,

says Rock.

This could be absolutely anything that makes you laugh or experience relaxed and positive emotions. Comedy shows, shopping with friends, drinks or dinner out, playing games and any number of other options can be included in this category. Doing something “just for fun” at least once a day, enormously increases productivity and creativity.

  1. Physical Time

 running feet mezunoYour brain benefits tremendously from physical activity, particularly aerobic activity. A recent study showed people were 23% more effective on days they exercised,

says Rock.

“When we exercise, we’re oxygenating the brain and helping to flush out toxins, but we’re also activating regions of the brain intensely that don’t otherwise get activated, and this allows other functions to rest and helps with the overall coherence of the brain. There’s increasing evidence that thinking is very closely connected to movement, and it seems you can improve the quality of thinking by improving your effectiveness at physical activities, and it’s not just an aerobic benefit.”

So make a habit of having physical time every day. If you have no chance to get to the gym, just walk home.

  1. Sleep time

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This is the time when our brain activates its special recovery mode to put all the things it has absorbed over the course of the day together.

The sleep situation in our society has become a terrifying problem,

explained Dr. Jessica Payne, head of the Sleep, Stress, and Memory Lab at Notre Dame, and advisory board member for the Neuroleadership Institute.

 If you’re not getting enough sleep before work, research shows you might as well be working drunk,

she adds.

This is not just a metaphor. According to Dr. Charles Czeisler from Harvard Medical School, a week of sleeping four or five hours a night induces impairment equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.1%.

The advice? Get enough rest and try to enjoy all 7 types of mental activities every single day!

Tatiana Dmitrieva

Stress, evolution and cancer

Interesting theory — stress speeds up evolution. Evolution of all possible cells. 

Full article: Does Stress Speed Up Evolution?

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Implication for cancer: the group of scientists from Princeton University admitted that

the current aggressive approach to cancer treatment has largely failed.

According to a molecular biologist Susan M. Rosenberg and colleagues like Robert H. Austin, a physicist at Princeton University, organisms have evolved mechanisms that enable them to drive their own evolution in times of stress. Environmental pressure can boost mutation rates rapidly, even in cells that are not dividing, enabling them to adapt more quickly to new conditions.

Organisms under stress have a higher mutation rate…

believe researchers.

…Austin says his experiments suggest that

putting too much stress on cancer cells by hitting them with high doses of cancer drugs could accelerate their evolution to develop drug resistance

Instead, he is culturing cancer cells on his death galaxy to find the right low-dosing and timing of cancer drugs that keep the cancer cells from spreading without killing them—hopefully delaying the evolution of resistance as long as possible.

At least in an ovarian cancer model in mice, the approach seems to work. In 2009, Robert Gatenby, a radiologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and his colleagues reported that interrupting, or down-adjusting, therapy as long as the tumor volume didn’t increase prolonged survival in these mice compared with the standard aggressive regimen.

If you give them standard high-dose therapy, the tumor can almost completely go away and then come back very rapidly and be resistant,

Gatenby says.

If you use an adaptive approach, we can consistently get control of the tumor.

Gatenby is now testing the approach in a 40-patient open clinical trial in patients with late-stage prostate cancer….

https://pragmasynesi.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/stress-evolution-and-cancer/

http://nautil.us/issue/34/adaptation/does-stress-speed-up-evolution