ScienceDaily: Living Well News

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• Dwelling on stressful events can increase inflammation in the body, study finds
• Overheard phone calls more memorable, rated more distracting than other background talking
• Video game 'exercise' for an hour a day may enhance certain cognitive skills
• No attention-boosting drugs for healthy kids, doctors urge
• Symbols, such as traffic lights, on menus effective in educating diners
• How children can meet recommended activity goals
• Events in the future seem closer than those in the past
• Punishment can enhance performance, academics find
• Using hansfree kit or sending texts behind the wheel is as dangerous as being twice over legal alcohol limit, study suggests
• New approaches for controlling pesticide exposure in children
• Americans and religion increasingly parting ways
• Predictive Analysis: New generation of computational intelligence systems
• No good evidence that mouthguards and helmets ward off concussion

Dwelling on stressful events can increase inflammation in the body, study finds Posted: 13 Mar 2013 03:22 PM PDT Dwelling on negative events can increase levels of inflammation in the body, a new study finds. Researchers discovered that when study participants were asked to ruminate on a stressful incident, their levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of tissue inflammation, rose.

Overheard phone calls more memorable, rated more distracting than other background talking Posted: 13 Mar 2013 03:21 PM PDT A one-sided cellphone conversation in the background is likely to be much more distracting than overhearing a conversation between two people, according to new research.

Video game 'exercise' for an hour a day may enhance certain cognitive skills Posted: 13 Mar 2013 03:21 PM PDT Playing video games for an hour each day can improve subsequent performance on cognitive tasks that use similar mental processes to those involved in the game, according to new research.

No attention-boosting drugs for healthy kids, doctors urge Posted: 13 Mar 2013 03:20 PM PDT The practice of prescribing drugs to boost cognitive function, or memory and thinking abilities, in healthy children and teens is misguided, according to a new statement by the American Academy of Neurology.

Symbols, such as traffic lights, on menus effective in educating diners Posted: 13 Mar 2013 01:09 PM PDT The combination of a symbol and a numeric calorie count on a menu is the most effective way to influence patrons to select lower-calorie items.

How children can meet recommended activity goals Posted: 13 Mar 2013 10:19 AM PDT Despite overwhelming evidence about the benefits of physical activity for children, most American youngsters are not meeting the federal recommendation of 60 minutes a day. A new study has identified specific ways -- and estimated minutes for each approach -- that can help children achieve the recommended daily physical activity goal.

Events in the future seem closer than those in the past Posted: 13 Mar 2013 09:33 AM PDT Time flies, marches on, and flows like a river -- our descriptions of time are closely linked to our experiences of moving through space. Now, new research suggests that the illusions that influence how we perceive movement through space also influence our perception of time. The findings provide evidence that our experiences of space and time have even more in common than previously thought.

Punishment can enhance performance, academics find Posted: 13 Mar 2013 09:33 AM PDT The stick can work just as well as the carrot in improving our performance, a team of academics has found.

Using hansfree kit or sending texts behind the wheel is as dangerous as being twice over legal alcohol limit, study suggests Posted: 13 Mar 2013 09:33 AM PDT Scientists have compared the effects of mobile phone use while driving with the effects of alcohol using a simulation. Their experiment demonstrates that using a handsfree kit or sending text messages is the same as being above the legal alcohol limit.

New approaches for controlling pesticide exposure in children Posted: 13 Mar 2013 08:24 AM PDT New research on household pesticide contamination emphasizes the need for less reliance on pesticides and more emphasis on neatness, blocking cracks where insects can enter and other so-called "integrated pest management" (IPM) measures, scientists have concluded.

Americans and religion increasingly parting ways Posted: 13 Mar 2013 07:04 AM PDT Religious affiliation in the United States is at its lowest point since it began to be tracked in the 1930s, according to analysis of newly released survey data. Last year, one in five Americans claimed they had no religious preference, more than double the number reported in 1990.

Predictive Analysis: New generation of computational intelligence systems Posted: 13 Mar 2013 06:55 AM PDT Large parts of our lives are now being monitored and analysed by computers. Log on to Amazon and intelligent data analysis software can recommend a selection of books you might like to read. Far from being a sinister intrusion into people's privacy, the purpose of these systems is to improve our lives, experts say.

No good evidence that mouthguards and helmets ward off concussion Posted: 11 Mar 2013 05:11 PM PDT Mouthguards and helmets can help ward off other serious head and facial injuries, but there is no good evidence that they can help prevent concussion, and paradoxically, they may even encourage players to take greater risks.

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