Researchers in New Zealand say though exercise is known to be one of the essential components which improve and enhance the quality of life, it is unfortunately underused. A new study by researchers from the University of Otago says physical exercise is a valuable tool for effectively improving the quality of life with regard to
Full Post: Exercise on doctors orders!
Some individuals would rather receive clear negative information than deal with ambiguity or uncertainty, according to new research out of the University of Toronto.
In a new study published in Psychological Science, U of T researchers examined whether people reacted more strongly to negative or to uncertain feedback. Participants’ brain activity was measured as they completed a series of tasks and were given clear positive, clear negative or ambiguous feedback.
Study authors Jacob Hirsh and Michael Inzlicht looked at the response of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain area associated with error-monitoring and conflict-related anxiety. They found that individuals with high levels of neuroticism, a personality trait related to negative emotion and anxiety, showed stronger responses in this brain region when they were given uncertain feedback, compared to when they were given unambiguous negative feedback.
“Uncertainty can be very stressful,” says Hirsh, a PhD student and lead author on the paper. “What this study shows is that neurotic individuals are actually more comfortable with clear negative information than they are with uncertainty - even when the outcome of that uncertainty could be positive. In other words, people who are high in neuroticism appear to prefer the devil they know over the devil they don’t know.”
http://www.utoronto.ca/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Posts:
A network of emotion-regulating brain regions implicated in the pathological worry that can grip patients with anxiety disorders may also be useful for predicting the benefits of treatment. A new study appearing online Jan. 2 reports that high levels of brain activity in an emotional center called the amygdala reflect patients’ hypersensitivity to anticipation of
Full Post: Expectant brains help predict anxiety treatment success
It turns out there’s a scientific reason why older people tend to see the past through rose-coloured glasses. A University of Alberta medical researcher, in collaboration with colleagues at Duke University, identified brain activity that causes older adults to remember fewer negative events than their younger counterparts. “Seniors actually use their brain differently than younger
Full Post: Why seniors forget negative events
It is a well-known fact in drug trials that individuals can respond just as well to placebos, sugar pills, as to the active drug. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain why only certain people get better from placebos. A team of researchers from Uppsala University and Gothenburg University have now found gene
Full Post: Discovery of gene variants that impact the placebo effect
A new study shows that people who are socially active and not easily stressed may be less likely to develop dementia. The research is published in the January 20, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study involves 506 older people who did not have dementia when
Full Post: People who are socially active have lower risk for dementia
A marked increase in the effects of warfarin with bleeding has been seen in a small number of patients when concurrently treated with erythromycin, but most patients are unlikely to develop a clinically important interaction. This interaction has also been seen in a patient on nicoumalone (acenocoumarol). A case report describes an elderly woman on warfarin,
Full Post: Anticoagulants and Erythromycin --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
