ScienceDaily: Living Well News

---

• Red brain, blue brain: Republicans and Democrats process risk differently, research finds
• Long, low intensity exercise may have more health benefits relative to short, intense workouts
• GPA may be contagious in high-school social networks
• Facial structure may predict endorsement of racial prejudice
• Happily married couples consider themselves healthier, expert says
• Taste preferences impact health, new study finds
• Food and beverages not likely to make breast-fed babies fussy
• Flu outbreaks modeled by new study of classroom schedules
• We're emotionally distant and that's just fine by me: Closer relationships aren't necessarily better relationships
• Lovers' hearts beat in sync
• Neural basis for benefits of meditation
• How unconscious processing improves decision-making
• Vitamin C is beneficial against the common cold, review suggests
• Why some people don't learn well: EEG shows insufficient processing of information to be learned

Red brain, blue brain: Republicans and Democrats process risk differently, research finds Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST A team of political scientists and neuroscientists has shown that liberals and conservatives use different parts of the brain when they make risky decisions, and these regions can be used to predict which political party a person prefers. The new study suggests that while genetics or parental influence may play a significant role, being a Republican or Democrat changes how the brain functions.

Long, low intensity exercise may have more health benefits relative to short, intense workouts Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST Standing and walking for longer stretches improves insulin sensitivity and blood lipid levels more than an hour of intense exercise each day does, but only if the calories spent in both forms of exercise are similar, according to a new study from the Netherlands.

GPA may be contagious in high-school social networks Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST High school students whose friends' average grade point average (GPA) is greater than their own have a tendency to increase their own GPA over the course of a year, according to new research.

Facial structure may predict endorsement of racial prejudice Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:24 PM PST The structure of a man's face may indicate his tendency to express racially prejudiced beliefs, according to new research.

Happily married couples consider themselves healthier, expert says Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:24 PM PST An expert says that people who have happy marriages are more likely to rate their health as better as they age; aging adults whose physical health is declining could especially benefit from improving their marriages.

Taste preferences impact health, new study finds Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:21 PM PST Individuals who have a high preference for sweets and a high aversion to bitter flavors may be at an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed how two tasting profiles, sweet likers (SL) and supertasters (ST), interact and affect dietary intake and health, particularly metabolic syndrome.

Food and beverages not likely to make breast-fed babies fussy Posted: 13 Feb 2013 08:45 AM PST Many new moms fear that eating the wrong foods while breast-feeding will make their baby fussy. However, no sound scientific evidence exists to support claims that certain foods or beverages lead to fussiness in infants, according to a registered dietitian.

Flu outbreaks modeled by new study of classroom schedules Posted: 13 Feb 2013 07:50 AM PST Classroom rosters combined with human-networking theory may give a clearer picture of just how infectious diseases such as influenza can spread through a closed group of people, and even through populations at large. Using high-school schedule data for a community of students, teachers, and staff, scientists have developed a low-cost but effective method to determine how to focus disease-control strategies based on which individuals are most likely to spread the infection.

We're emotionally distant and that's just fine by me: Closer relationships aren't necessarily better relationships Posted: 13 Feb 2013 07:50 AM PST When it comes to having a lasting and fulfilling relationship, common wisdom says that feeling close to your romantic partner is paramount. But a new study finds that it's not how close you feel that matters most, it's whether you are as close as you want to be, even if that's really not close at all.

Lovers' hearts beat in sync Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:32 AM PST When modern-day crooner Trey Songz sings, "Cause girl, my heart beats for you," in his romantic ballad, "Flatline," his lyrics could be telling a tale that's as much physiological as it is emotional, according to a new study that found lovers' hearts indeed beat for each other, or at least at the same rate.

Neural basis for benefits of meditation Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:23 AM PST Mindfulness meditation training in awareness of present moment experience, such as body and breath sensations, prevents depression and reduces distress in chronic pain. Scientists have now proposed a neurophysiological framework to explain these clinical benefits.

How unconscious processing improves decision-making Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:23 AM PST When faced with a difficult decision, it is often suggested to "sleep on it" or take a break from thinking about the decision to gain clarity. But new brain imaging research finds that the brain regions responsible for making decisions continue to be active even when the conscious brain is distracted with a different task. The research shows the brain unconsciously processes decision information in ways that lead to improved decision-making.

Vitamin C is beneficial against the common cold, review suggests Posted: 13 Feb 2013 05:23 AM PST According to an updated review on vitamin C and the common cold, vitamin C seems to be particularly beneficial for people under heavy physical stress. In five randomized trials of participants with heavy short-term physical stress, vitamin C halved the incidence of the common cold. Three of the trials studied marathon runners, one studied Swiss school children in a skiing camp and one studied Canadian soldiers during a winter exercise. Furthermore, in a recent randomized trial carried out with adolescent competitive swimmers, vitamin C halved the duration of colds in males, although the vitamin had no effect on females.

Why some people don't learn well: EEG shows insufficient processing of information to be learned Posted: 13 Feb 2013 05:23 AM PST The reason why some people are worse at learning than others has been revealed. Researchers have discovered that the main problem is not that learning processes are inefficient per se, but that the brain insufficiently processes the information to be learned.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Living Well News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610