Why You’re More Likely to Remember A Facebook Status Than a Face

2013-01-18

Remember a year ago, when the cousin of your college roommate posted a Facebook status that she got engaged? Sure you do. In fact, according to a recent study, you remember that Facebook status more than a line from a book or a stranger’s face.

Even if the quips are from complete strangers, new research published in the journal Memory & Cognition found these Facebook posts are about one and a half times more memorable than sentences in books and two and a half times more memorable than faces.

To understand how we process information absorbed from social media, researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and the University of Scranton asked 280 undergraduates to read 100 sentences pulled from Facebook pages, 100 sentences extracted from books — none of which were more than 25 words long — and a series of pictures of human faces. The participants were then prompted with the same phrases and pictures and asked to recall which ones they had seen previously. Which were more memorable? The students remembered more of the Facebook posts than either the reading passages or the faces.

And because the scientists removed extraneous punctuation, leaving only words, the sharper recall wasn’t due to smiley emoticons, writing in all caps or those ubiquitous multiple explanation points to “I’m having the BEST day EVER!!!!!” that pepper Facebook writings.

Instead, the researchers speculate that Facebook posts’ unforgetableness could be related to their coherency and “gossipy” tone. It’s easier to recall a chatty or witty post about the antics of someone’s cat, for example, than it is to remember a line from Great Expectations. To test this, the research team repeated the experiment using news headlines from CNN, lines from CNN stories about either breaking news or entertainment, and reader comments. The headlines were recalled better than random sentences from the stories, and entertainment headlines were more memorable than those from news stories.

But of all the bits of text, what the participants remembered the most were the readers’ comments, suggesting that our brains are more likely to recall patterns of speech that fall in line with our spontaneous thought processes.

“Not only is the Facebook memory effect strong, but we replicated the effect each time,” says study author Laura Mickes, a visiting scholar at UCSD and senior research fellow at the University of Warwick. “One would not expect posts written casually to be remembered better than words penned by professional authors and edited by professional editors, but that is exactly what we found, repeatedly.”

The authors suggest that causally written and unedited posts are more “mind-ready,” meaning that natural wording sticks in our mind because it’s how we speak day-to-day. The authors write:

It seems that, with the growth of blogging, text messaging, and the like, written language has moved closer to natural speech, with less editing and contemplation than was needed not only when writing was done by monks with goose-feather quills or by Gutenberg with moveable type, but even when it is done by authors sitting patiently at their own keyboards.

“This is surprising, and gives us a glimpse into how memory works and has implications for how we learn, advertise and generally communicate,” says Mickes.

Does that mean the written word is becoming more colloquial? The research wasn’t designed to answer that question, but the findings hint that some shift in how we write is certainly occurring in our online communications. And the results certainly show that everything we post on social media may live longer in the memory banks of our “friends” than we’d like.

Emotional Eating: The Toughest Part of Weight Loss

2013-01-16

Diet and exercise — sure, they can help you lose weight. But most people need to consider a third component to keep unwanted pounds from coming back: emotional eating. While we’ve all reached for the carton of ice cream or box of chocolate cookies when we’re blue, we don’t always know what emotional undercurrents are driving the urge to stand in front of the fridge, make poor food choices, or eat when we’re not hungry.

“From the time we’re little, we’re placated with food. If we’re upset about something that happened at school, we get a treat. If we trip and fall, we get a treat. We get into the mode of eating more food than we need to placate ourselves emotionally,” says Tracy Olgeaty Gensler, MS, RD, a nutritionist for The Best Life Diet. “Many times, people will say, ‘I feel empty inside and can’t explain it.’”

What’s Eating You?
Overeating may be a sign that something is missing in your life. When you discover what that is, you can start to make the changes that will help you lose weight and make positive, long-lasting improvements in your life. Here are some ideas for getting to that place.

Spell out happiness. Write down everything you consider part of a fulfilled life, such as family, good health, spirituality, watching sports, a job you love and financial security. Think about your childhood, the early days of your marriage, and present day as you draw up your list of things that you consider important to happiness and fulfillment. In The Best Life Diet, author Bob Greene calls this exercise the Circle of Life. Don’t try to write down everything in one sitting. Take time to reflect and really give the list some thought, says Olgeaty Gensler.

Look at the equation. When you’re all done, place a plus or minus sign next to everything on your list. A plus sign means you’re generally satisfied with this item, while a minus sign means you’re dissatisfied or it’s missing from your life. For example, you may be satisfied with your marriage but unhappy with the amount of sleep you get or with how little time you have for friends.

Focus on the minuses. Pay close attention to these areas — they are places in your life where something important is missing, according to Olgeaty Gensler. “These are areas where you may be looking to fulfill yourself emotionally with food,” she says. Identifying the minuses helps you get to the bottom of your emotional eating and allows you to be freer to focus on finding nonfood solutions.

Reap the benefits. Writing this list also helps you get organized and gives you permission to put yourself first for a change. It’s easy to come up with excuses for why we don’t have time for ourselves, and it’s more difficult to confront the things that are missing from our busy lives. But the payoff is huge.

“When you put yourself first, you become a better person, a better spouse, a better parent. You feel more energy and less deprived. You can be so much more productive when you take care of your needs,” says Olgeaty Gensler.

Your smartphone may be powering down your relationship

an Kerner, a sexuality counselor and New York Times best-selling author, writes about sex and relationships for CNN Health. Read more from him on his website, GoodInBed.

Are you spending more time with your smartphone than with your partner — even during romantic dates?

Technology allows us to be constantly connected to the world, but it can also make us even more disconnected from each other.

In fact, two recent studies show that cell phones can have a negative impact on close relationships.

Researchers from the University of Essex found that people who engaged in personal discussions when a cell phone was nearby — even if neither was actually using it — reported lower relationship quality and less trust for their partner. They also felt their partner was less empathetic to their concerns.

Other studies suggest that cell phones can distract our attention from the present moment. And that’s a problem, considering the results of the Mobile Mindset Study, a recent survey that found three out of five U.S. smartphone users don’t go more than hour without checking their gadgets.

Taken a few steps further, smartphones, tablets, and laptops — and the social media they often support — have the potential to tear couples apart.

Internet infidelity: Is it time to snoop?

I’ve talked before in this column about the capability of Facebook and other social media to threaten relationships: They provide a sense of instant gratification that stimulates our brain’s reward centers, offering quick hits of novelty that can be downright addictive.

Plus, they allow us to connect with friends, co-workers, and even former flames, fostering an immediate and intense sense of intimacy that can lead us to romanticize these connections. At best, you’re giving your energy to these digital distractions, not your partner. At worst, you could be setting the stage for emotional infidelity.

Of course, it’s unrealistic to ditch your smartphone altogether, especially if you also need it for work. But there are things you can do to use it wisely — and even help improve your relationship. Here are three tips for making technology work for you and your partner:
Ian Kerner
Ian Kerner

Set it aside. It should go without saying that cell phones are best kept out of sight and out of mind when you’re on a date. Turn it off and place it in your bag or pocket for the duration — the world won’t end if you can’t check your e-mail for an hour or two.

I also recommend shutting down phones, tablets and laptops at night, or at least charging them in a room other than your bedroom. Not only can they interfere with your ability to relax and unwind, but their distracting presence can also put a real crimp in intimacy.

Rethink social media. We’ve talked about the possible perils of connecting with your exes online. But I typically advise that you don’t “friend” your partner, either. As Facebook friends, you have access to the most mundane parts of your significant other’s day, from what he ate for lunch, to what new movies she wants to see. Talk about removing any sense of mystery!

If you do want to connect online as well as off, consider joining a digital service that helps foster togetherness. Best described as intimate online spaces for just you and your partner, programs like Between or TwoCup offer a place to share private memories, messages, and photos — away from the prying eyes of others.

Make a sexy connection. Technology isn’t all bad: It can actually bring you closer together — and even add some spice to foreplay.

Use your smartphone to send your partner a sexy e-mail, voicemail message, or “sext” describing a fantasy or your plans with him or her for the evening. Engage in a little Skype or FaceTime flirtation, especially if one of you is out of town. Just a word of caution: Be sure to use personal, not company accounts.

Smartphones and other gadgets can clearly have a negative impact on your relationship — but they don’t have to. By learning to use them wisely, you can start to feel more connected to your partner than ever.

Diet drinks’ ‘link to depression’ questioned

2013-01-09

Experts are questioning whether diet drinks could raise depression risk, after a large study has found a link.

The US research in more than 250,000 people found depression was more common among frequent consumers of artificially sweetened beverages.

The work, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting, did not look at the cause for this link.

Drinking coffee was linked with a lower risk of depression.

People who drank four cups a day were 10% less likely to be diagnosed with depression during the 10-year study period than those who drank no coffee.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

Sweeteners have been very widely tested and reviewed for safety and the ones on the market have an excellent safety track record”

Gaynor Bussell British Dietetic Association

But those who drank four cans or glasses of diet fizzy drinks or artificially sweetened juice a day increased their risk of depression by about a third.

Lead researcher Dr Honglei Chen, of the National Institutes of Health in North Carolina, said: “Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk.”

But he said more studies were needed to explore this.
No proof

There are many other factors that may be involved.

And the findings – in people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s and living in the US – might not apply to other populations.

The safety of sweeteners, like aspartame, has been extensively tested by scientists and is assured by regulators.

Gaynor Bussell, of the British Dietetic Association, said: “Sweeteners used to be called ‘artificial’ sweeteners and unfortunately the term ‘artificial’ has evoked suspicion. As a result, sweeteners have been very widely tested and reviewed for safety and the ones on the market have an excellent safety track record.

Sweeteners

Sweeteners are used in a wide range of manufactured sugar-free, reduced sugar and low calorie foods and drinks
These include aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium (K), cyclamate and sucralose
They are virtually free of calories and do not affect blood glucose levels
There are regulations about how much sweetener can be used in foods and “Acceptable Daily Limits”

“However, the studies on them continue and this one has thrown up a possibly link – not a cause and effect – with depression.”

She said the study was a “one-off” and did not mean that sweeteners caused depression.

“For a start, people who suffer from depression may latch on to the idea that it is their sweetened beverages that caused it and so add a bias to their reporting of past intake, especially as ‘soda’ in the US is demonised even more than in the UK. Also, it may be that drinking ‘diet’ drinks is a marker for obesity or diabetes which in themselves can cause depression.

“Non-calorific sweeteners can play a useful role in the diets of those trying to lose weight and diabetics and it is certainly not advocated that people should replace their diet sodas with more coffee.”

Beth Murphy, at the mental health charity Mind, said: “We would urge anyone who is affected by depression to follow the advice of their GP or other medical professional in regards to their treatment.”

Ketamine: Leading the Way Toward Fast-Acting Antidepressants

It’s an anesthetic popular with veterinarians, but the latest studies show ketamine also shows promise as a potential antidepressant.

Ketamine produces hallucinations, out-of-body feelings, disorientation and even amnesia that can last a few hours, which has made it not just a staple in veterinary clinics but occasionally in nightclubs as well, as a recreational drug.

In a research review published last October in the journal Science, however, researchers called the growing connection between ketamine and depression “the most important advance in the field” in the depression field over the past 50 years. And now scientists report on two formulations of drugs with ketamine’s benefits, but without its consciousness-altering risks, that could advance the drug even further toward a possible treatment for depression.

Prozac and other methods of stabilizing mood, including talk therapy, take weeks, not hours, to show benefits. A rapid-acting antidepressant like one based on ketamine could potentially be lifesaving for those with depression, since those waiting for treatment to take effect are often at high risk of suicide.

In late November, the first randomized controlled trial of a ketamine-like drug, AZD6765 (made by AstraZeneca), was published in Biological Psychiatry. The study, which was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, included 22 participants with depression who had failed to respond to other treatments. Those randomly assigned to the ketamine compound showed a 32% improvement in mood, typically within an hour, compared with only 15% of those assigned to placebo. Overall, 18% of patients reached full remission, lasting two days, on the drug, in contrast with 10% of those taking placebo.

But while the drug had no significant side effects, the ketamine mimic was not nearly as effective as ketamine itself. “The antidepressant effects of AZD6765 were not as robust or sustained as those observed in our previous study of ketamine,” the authors write. With ketamine, 71% of patients had a significant positive response within a day of taking the drug — more than double that seen with the new medication — and the effects lasted for a week, not just two days.

Despite its weaker performance, AZD6765 does have an advantage over the original — it does not seem to impair consciousness, so it could still prove to be a useful medication. “Future studies with this compound are warranted on the basis of the positive antidepressant signal here, particularly those exploring efficacy and tolerability associated with higher or repeated doses,” the study concludes.

Preliminary data on another ketamine-like antidepressant, GLYX-13, was also presented at the December meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. A safety test on 116 people with treatment-resistant depression found that the drug did not impair consciousness, had minimal side effects and did significantly reduce depression symptoms for up to two weeks.

However, because this trial was designed to test the agent’s safety, its effects were not compared with those of a placebo.

But with the emerging evidence suggesting a connection between ketamine and improved mood and with both of the ketamine-like compounds still under study, some clinicians are starting to offer ketamine to patients whose depression is not responding to other approaches. Since it is FDA-approved for use as an anesthetic, doctors can provide the drug off-label to patients, as long as they inform users that the medication has not been tested for use as an antidepressant.

Others, like Dr. James Murrough, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, are conducting clinical trials of ketamine as a treatment for depression but are reluctant to offer the drug outside of research. “I’m excited because it has potential, but it’s not quite ready yet,” Murrough says. If the studies do support the safety and effectiveness of ketamine or ketamine-like agents for treating depression, however, these drugs could become an important part of the psychiatric arsenal in addressing symptoms of mood disorders quickly — before they lead to more serious symptoms like suicide.

Understanding Why Music Moves Us

2013-01-01

They say that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. But why don’t we dance to paintings— or for that matter, buildings— anyway? The latest research hints at why.

According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, music and dance share a parallel expression of emotion. The new research suggests that the two disciplines can express a mood together, with complementary methods of generating the dynamics of feeling.

The intuitive link between our feelings and movements is so strong that even the word “emotion” includes the word “motion.” And across cultures, the three-way connection between music, motion and feelings is maintained, such that being “moved” by either feelings or music is not just a concept of English-speaking people.

MORE: How an Appreciation for the Arts May Boost Stroke Recovery

To better understand the roots of this deep connection, researchers at Dartmouth created a computer program that could produce either music or movement. Slider bars— similar to those on a mixing board— were created to control either the motion of an animated ball or the single notes of a piano, but not both at the same time.

Participants in the study included two very dissimilar groups: 50 college students in the U.S., and 87 villagers living in L’ak, a remote area of Cambodia, which is populated by the Kreung people. In this tribal group, music and dance mainly appear in ceremonies like weddings, funerals and animal sacrifices. The Kreung village is so isolated that members had never had any experiences with computers prior to the experiment.

In both the U.S. and Cambodian groups, participants were split into two groups for the experiment. All of them had to use the computer program to represent five different emotions: angry, happy, peaceful, sad and scared. But one group used the program in which the ball represented the emotion in movement, while the other used the program to play music to represent the feeling.

The program the scientists created allowed the participants to depict different aspects of the emotions. One slider bar, for example, controlled “rate,” which regulated how often notes or ball bounces occurred, better known to music lovers and dancers as beats per minute. Another handled “jitter” or the space between the notes or bounces. A third slider controlled the direction of either the music or the ball— whether the pitch or the ball moved up or down. The fourth handled the ratio of large to small movements: i.e., whether the pitch moved up quickly or slowly or the ball took large or small bounces. The final slider managed whether the music was consonant or dissonant or whether the ball moved smoothly or irregularly.

MORE: How Group Drumming May Improve Low-Income Student Behavior

“The study is bold, challenging and interesting,” says Mark Changizi, an independent neuroscientist at the 2Ai Institute, who was not associated with the research but also studies the relationship between music and movement.

The authors write, “The critical question was whether subjects who used music to express an emotion set the slider bars to the same positions as subjects who expressed the same emotion with the moving ball.”

And to a large extent, that was what the researchers found. In the American group, each parameter was used in a similar way to create an image of an emotion, regardless of whether the output was music or motion. “These results strongly suggest the presence of a common structure,” the authors write.

Changizi’s research produced similar findings, although he used a different way of mapping music to movement, explored in his book, Harnessed. “I make the case that music has culturally evolved to sound like evocative human movement and behavior,” Changizi says, “By working out the ‘fingerprint’ of sounds people make when they move, I show that the same peculiar fingerprint is found in the structure of music.”

But is this unique to Western music? Other cultures may represent emotions differently in their music and their movements— or they may have parallel, but different expressions for emotion in music v. dance.

The study of U.S. and Cambodian participants suggests that different cultures may share parallel ways of expressing emotions in music and movement. Combining the data for music and movement together, the Kreung results for each emotion were more similar to the American results for the same emotion than they were to the other feelings, with one exception.

That exception was “angry.” The Kreung idea of “angry” music was closer to the American idea of “scared” music than it was to American rage music. But given the overlap in situations that elicit anger and fear, however, that trend is not entirely surprising.

Overall, the study authors conclude, “[T]he dynamic features of emotion expression are cross-culturally universal, at least for the five emotions tested here… these expressions have similar dynamic contours in both music and movement.”

So what does this tell us about what music and dance are “for”? Changizi notes that painting and sculpture can evoke emotion, but not the contagious type that tends to unify a group. “The visual arts may well evoke great feeling in us,” he says, describing how we may smile or even be moved to tears by a painting. “But [they don’t] make us really move, not like music can. Nearly all music may sound like someone moving about us, but dance music in particular probably sounds like someone engaging in a much more infectious behavior, one that in real life we might join.”

The study’s authors suggest that music may have evolutionary functions that aid survival, from “the soothing power of lullabies and the stimulating, synchronizing force of military marching rhythms” that can bind parents and children or entire nations together. The power of music may indeed be in its ability to move us, both literally and figuratively.