Archive for Thinking
Brain Sardines and Cognition – Think Smarter with a Little Help from the Sea
By · June 2, 2009 · Comments
Conversations about brain and behavior in a leadership context are often about great thinking, and focusing on what you can control, not what you can’t. This is also known as self determination, which strengthens your thinking because it puts you in control of your destiny, as opposed to just responding to what is going on around you.
Another great way to strengthen your thinking is with sardines.I have been following the study of inflammation since my laboratory days in the early eighties and a great deal has been learned since then. Inflammation is often not only localized but can also be systemic, when it has effects in many organs and body systems. Inflammation can lead to arthritis when it is in a joint, heart disease when it is cardiac, and memory loss when it is inflammation of the brain.
Inflammation is your body’s way of saying something is not optimal. There can be a physical injury, a bacterial invasion, a chemical intrusion or a simple foreign lesion. This was the case with a sliver in the sole of my foot a few days ago. I had an instant limp and within hours a puffy protective mechanism appeared.
Inflammation: perilous or protector? Both it seems, supportive when moderate, but dangerous when extreme. We now know a simple low dose aspirin every day for inflammation prevents joint pain, heart disease and even breast cancer.
What do aspirin and sardines have in common? Both reduce inflammation. Omega 3’s, extracted from sardines, salmon and mackerel deliver anti-inflammatory effects for joint mobility, cardiac health, cancer prevention, and even positive mood, according to clinical studies. We can now add cognitive function and improved memory to this list.
The brain benefits of omega 3’s include emotional well being, cognitive clarity and a reversal of some of the effects of neurodevelopment disorders such as dyslexia, cognitive deficiency and anxiety. This is good news!
An daily omega 3 capsule will help you think better. We know conscious thinking has powerful outcomes for self determination, and smart approaches, and now we can support the strategy with sardines.
Have you discovered TED yet?
By · May 25, 2009 · CommentsHere is a piece of brilliance.
When you discover something profound, the overwhelming reaction is to want to share, not to hoard, in the spirit of collaboration, and not competition, and TED does exactly that. It is a non-profit organization that stands for technology, education and design and is all about ‘Ideas worth spreading’.
TED is devoted to giving millions of knowledge-seekers around the globe direct access to the world’s greatest thinkers and teachers through a forum, and for creative thinkers it can be described as a burst of ideas. Today’s opportunities for utilizing technology are mind boggling and having TED sift through the most brilliant for us is a great gift to the world from Chris Anderson.
This video is about the sixth sense, an MIT student’s mind boggling device for information access everywhere, every way, every how. Take a look at the video above or http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html
This is leadership at its most brilliant. The minds on the globe are remarkable, and viewing brilliance is call to action.
What is Right, not What is Wrong
By · November 4, 2008 · Comments
Many of us have been expressing a long collective sigh of relief in recent years, because in the world of psychology, the focus has finally shifted from what is wrong in personal behavior, to what is right.
Like many others who first embarked on the study of psychology decades ago, I was drawn to the question of why people do what they do. As a student, I felt that the human mind was worth investigating because it initiated everything that we as humans impact in the world. The choices we make, and our responses and endeavors all seemed to arise out of established personal thinking patterns.
How the mind works, and how individuals respond differently to the same experiences, as well as lessons learned moving forward, and best practices based on solid data, seemed to be worthy of investigation.
What students found, however, was a field still in its infancy, where abnormal psychology reigned, and there was an overwhelming focus on extremes in behavior, and a cataloging system to differentiate among them. I learned quickly that the understanding of normal human behavior was a young discipline and that much work remained to be done.
And it has. While abnormal psychology focuses on what goes wrong with people; mental disease, depression and issues related to aggression, the tables have turned. Psychology now also systematically focuses on human strengths, the things that go right for people.
An entirely new discipline has developed in recent years, referred to as positive psychology. This is not so much about positive thinking, although it plays a role, but is about the psychology of a healthy population. This approach now better balances how clinical psychologists have focused on less unhappiness. There is now greater emphasis on satisfaction and quality of life, and building on what is working, rather than focusing on what is not.
Human strengths include creativity and curiosity, courage and kindness; valued characteristics that can be measured and increased. The building a scientific discipline on normal psychology, in addition to the longstanding study of abnormal psychology has been a welcome breakthrough. The flourishing of the field of positive psychology was worth waiting for, and is enormously satisfying.
With appreciation,
Maria Berdusco
