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fitjourneydaily · 3 months

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Unleashing the Power of Brain Function: Understanding Cognitive Decline and Age-Related Neurological Health

In today's fast-paced world, the value of preserving and optimizing brain function cannot be overstated. As we age, it becomes increasingly essential to maintain our cognitive abilities and protect ourselves against age-related cognitive decline and neurological health issues. In this article, we will delve into the intricate workings of the brain, explore the factors influencing cognitive decline, and discuss strategies to promote neurological health, ultimately empowering you to take charge of your brain's well-being. Understanding Brain Function: The brain is a remarkably complex organ responsible for controlling our thoughts, feelings, and actions. It comprises billions of neurons that communicate through intricate networks, enabling us to process information, make decisions, and navigate the world around us. This intricate web of connections enables various cognitive processes, including memory, attention, language, and problem-solving. Cognitive Decline and Age-Related Neurological Health: As we age, it is natural for the brain to undergo certain changes that can impact cognitive function. Age-related cognitive decline refers to the gradual deterioration of cognitive abilities, such as memory loss, decreased attention span, and reduced information processing speed. While some cognitive decline is considered a normal part of the aging process, severe cognitive impairments can significantly impact daily functioning and quality of life. However, it's important to note that not all cognitive decline is solely due to aging. Various factors, such as underlying medical conditions, lifestyle choices, and genetics, can contribute to accelerated cognitive decline or increase the risk of neurological disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Factors Affecting Cognitive Decline: 1. Genetics: Certain genetic variants can increase the predisposition to age-related cognitive decline and neurological disorders. Understanding your genetic makeup can help tailor preventive strategies and potentially identify early interventions for optimal brain health. 2. Lifestyle Factors: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can significantly impact brain function. Regular physical exercise, a balanced diet rich in antioxidants and essential nutrients, stress management techniques, quality sleep, and social engagement are all crucial for preserving cognitive abilities. 3. Cardiovascular Health: Proper blood flow and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the brain are vital for optimal brain function. Conditions that affect cardiovascular health, such as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, can increase the risk of cognitive decline. Leading a heart-healthy lifestyle and managing these conditions is crucial in protecting brain health. 4. Mental Stimulation: Engaging in intellectually stimulating activities, such as reading, puzzles, or learning new skills, helps keep the brain sharp and enhances cognitive abilities. Regular mental exercises can strengthen neuronal connections and promote neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and reorganize itself. Promoting Neurological Health: 1. Regular Exercise: Physical activity boosts circulation, increases oxygen flow to the brain, and stimulates the release of neuroprotective substances. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week, along with strength-training exercises for overall neurological health benefits. 2. Brain-Healthy Diet: A well-balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats provides essential nutrients that support brain health. Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and B vitamins are particularly beneficial for cognitive function. Consider incorporating foods like fatty fish, blueberries, nuts, seeds, and dark leafy greens into your diet. 3. Cognitive Training: Engaging in cognitive training exercises, such as puzzles, memory games, and brain training apps, can help improve cognitive abilities by challenging the brain and fostering neuroplasticity. 4. Stress Management: Chronic stress and the release of stress hormones can negatively impact brain health. Adopt stress management techniques like meditation, deep breathing exercises, and practicing mindfulness to reduce stress and enhance cognitive function. 1. Brain function 2. Cognitive decline 3. Age-related neurological health 4. Neuroplasticity Conclusion: Preserving and optimizing brain function is a lifelong commitment that can significantly impact our overall well-being as we age. By understanding the factors contributing to cognitive decline and implementing strategies to promote neurological health, we can actively safeguard our cognitive abilities. 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Our expertly crafted formula is designed for those seeking to fortify their mental acuity and combat the challenges of memory decline. Whether you're experiencing age-related memory issues or simply looking to sharpen your mental edge, our product offers a nutrient-dense solution that addresses the underlying causes of MemoSurge. Step into a world where improved recall and mental clarity are within reach. Feel the transformative impact of our specialized nutrient blend on your cognitive health. Learn more about how our product can revolutionize your approach to maintaining and enhancing memory. Embrace a future of robust cognitive function and preserved memories. Explore the benefits and take the first step towards a sharper mind. Visit the Memory Enhancement Formula Product Page. Revitalize the health of your nails with our breakthrough solution for Nail Fungus. Discover the power of targeted natural ingredients, clinically proven to combat nail fungal infections and restore the health of your nails. Our specialized formula is crafted for those seeking an effective and natural approach to nail care. Whether you're grappling with persistent fungal infections or aiming to maintain healthy, strong nails, our product offers a comprehensive solution that addresses the core issues of nail fungus. Embrace the journey towards revitalized nail health with our advanced treatment. Experience the remarkable benefits of our potent blend, designed to promote nail regeneration and protection. Learn more about how our unique formula can transform the way you care for your nails. Step into a future with healthier, clearer nails. Visit the Clavusin Product Page. Read the full article

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fitnessdruggy · 1 year

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FITNESS

Fitness is not only a health necessity, but it can also be a great way to relieve tension and promote healthy living habits. Working out has been shown to improve mood, mental clarity, and sleeping patterns. It helps people lose weight and reduce the risk of developing diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and obesity.

We cannot deny that physical and mental health have become more essential to live a full life in the modern world. Staying fit and healthy not only helps you feel great about yourself but also gives you energy for your daily activities. Fitness is key to living a longer, healthier, and happier life.

Fitness not only involves exercising but paying attention to diet as well. It incorporates several aspects such as proper nutrition, regular exercises, adequate hydration and sleep, injury prevention and positive body image. Having a fitness routine will help you stay on track with healthy habits while providing sustained progress towards your goals.

Here are some amazing health benefits of fitness that can help you live a better life:

1. Improved Mood -

Gym can improve mood by giving people the opportunity to release pent-up emotions and frustrations. Working out release’s endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers and happiness hormones. Exercise has also been shown to improve sleep quality and duration by reducing stress hormones in the body. Taken together, these benefits result in an overall improvement in mood.

2. Increased cognitive abilities -

Exercise has been shown to increase mental abilities such as working memory and processing speed. Regular exercise has also been linked with lowered rates for Alzheimer’s and dementia. Additionally, regular exercise reduces depression symptoms by raising brain serotonin levels.

This reduces negative thinking patterns and actually encourages somatic stability – something that is essential for sustained mental wellbeing.

3. Weight loss -

The ultimate goal of any fitness program is usually weight loss. This is because obese people have more medical problems than thin individuals, including more heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, some forms of cancer and more difficult pregnancies. Exercise is one of the most effective ways to lose weight on a permanent basis without drastic measures like eating disorders or surgery.

4. Longer life span -

People who are physically active have a longer life expectancy than those who do not exercise regularly. A 2013 study published in Lancet showed that people who exercised for 75 minutes or more per week had a 37% lower risk of dying from any cause than those who exercise less than 30 minutes per week!

This reduction was even greater (45%) among people who exercised at least five times per week! In addition, research indicates that simply being physically active reduces your risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart failure, stroke, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder), asthma and certain types of cancers over time.

5. Stronger immune system -

Physical activity boosts the production of white blood cells which helps protect your body against minor infections as well as major infections like cancer or pneumonia. Exercise also improves insulin sensitivity which leads to decreased levels of bad cholesterol while increasing levels of good cholesterol HDL (high density lipoprotein).

Higher levels of good cholesterol protect your arteries from thrombosis (a phenomenon where a small artery becomes blocked) and reduces the risk for atherosclerosis (the build-up of fatty material on your arteries). All these health benefits translate into an increased lifespan regardless if you weigh 150 pounds or 150 kilograms!

You can read more and about the importance of regular exercise here - https://www.quora.com/When-it-comes-to-exercising-regularly-why-is-it-so-important/answer/Alex-Walden-39?prompt_topic_bio=1

#gymrat #gym #fitness #healthy lifestyle #workout #chestday

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justkindaoverhereobsessing · 4 years

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the stars always make me laugh (1/4)

Now complete! Here is chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, and the epilogue.

A year to the day after Ziva departs D.C. to return to Paris and reunite with her family, her newfound contentment is shaken by an unexpected loss. Tony and Tali are right where they belong—safely by her side—but she still finds herself feeling drawn to reflect on the past. She might just be able to use this new grief to bring peace to old wounds, renewing hope along the way for a future with her family... but only if she can find a way to let go of what haunts her.

Written as a combined response to two different challenge prompts; also available for reading on ff and AO3. This is angsty but will ultimately be soft.

_________________________

"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure… And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, 'Yes, the stars always make me laugh!'"

—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

_________________________

January 7th, 2021

It's a Thursday morning when Tony gets the call.

He's working from home today, and he's nearing the end of a video conference when his phone buzzes—he looks down to check it and sees his favorite unflattering photo of Tim McGee on the screen. Paris is six hours ahead of Washington, where McGee presumably still is, which makes it… hmm. It's four in the morning there. He's probably not reaching out for a casual chat, then.

Something tells him to take the call.

"Sorry to be rude," Tony says quickly in French, looking back at his computer screen, "but there's an emergency I have to deal with. Let's go ahead and wrap this up for today and we'll talk progress next week, same time as usual—Félix, go ahead and email me that report, if you can. I'll check in when I'm back at the office tomorrow. Have a good morning, all of you."

Then he abruptly ends the conference; he cares very little if he comes across as impolite, because his thoroughly French team has always seen him as a hopelessly crass American anyway.

Tony hits a button on his cell, catching the call just before it would have gone to voicemail. "Why, if it isn't Tim-Tim-Timothy McGee!" he cries, jovial as usual even though he's a little apprehensive about the nature of the unexpected conversation. "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Tony." McGee sounds tired, which is little wonder given the time difference. "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Sure," Tony agrees, dropping the slightly mocking enthusiasm from his tone. "What's up?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to say it, okay?"

"...okay."

"There was an accident last night, and—"

"Who?" Tony can read between the lines—he doesn't have to hear the word "death" to understand that someone he knows has passed away.

"It was Ducky."

_________________________

Tony is on the phone with McGee for another fifteen minutes, getting all the details and committing them to memory as best as he can through his slight haze of shock. Though Ducky had always been the oldest member of their team and clearly couldn't live forever, he had seemed… invincible, somehow. He was an institution, something timeless and never-ending.

Of course, that had been an illusion, but still, it's strange to know that the vibrant old man is now just…

Gone.

The rest of the workday is spent processing all of this new information and making preparations. Tony can't imagine a world in which they wouldn't fly back to the States to attend the funeral, and though he hasn't yet talked to Ziva about it, he feels fairly comfortable arranging emergency bereavement leave from work and informing Tali's school that she'll be out next week.

Near the end of the call, McGee had asked if Tony wanted him to call Ziva, too, or if Tony wanted to tell her himself. Tony's answer was immediate: he knew without needing to stop and consider that telling Ziva in person would be the right thing to do.

It doesn't matter how much he hates having to give bad news.

Tony intends to do it tonight, once his wife is home from work… she has experienced too much loss in her life for him to be anything less than absolutely gentle in telling her about their old friend. There's no need to make it harder than it needs to be; an impersonal phone call across the Atlantic may have been an inevitability for Tony himself, but now that he knows, he wants to be there to hold Ziva's hand when she finds out, too.

He would give anything to spare her from as much pain as possible, and while he can't do much, he can do this.

Fortunately, the timing of McGee's call is decent—Tali has choir practice after school today, effectively speeding up the rest of the evening's schedule. By the time Ziva gets home, it'll nearly be dinner time, and bedtime will follow shortly after.

Tony doesn't want to delay giving Ziva the news, but he thinks it best to wait until Tali is safely tucked away. That way, they don't have to worry about putting on happy faces to keep from scaring her.

_________________________

As soon as Ziva walks in the door, she can tell that something is wrong. Tony looks tired or sad, or maybe both. He kisses her in greeting as usual, though, and when she gives him a questioning look, he answers with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Later, she understands that to mean.

Ziva is concerned, but she trusts him.

Still, Tony seems eager to rush through Tali's evening routine, telling Ziva her unsettled feeling isn't merely a product of her typical anxiety… she's right, and something has happened or is happening still.

If she was Gibbs, she'd claim a gut feeling.

"Tony, is everything alright?" Ziva asks in a low, tense voice once Tali's bedroom door is shut for the night.

Tony shakes his head. "Let's go sit," he answers softly.

He leads her to the couch and she sits next to him automatically, her heart starting to race in a horribly familiar way. "Please just tell me, whatever it is," she murmurs anxiously.

Tony takes her hand. "Alright." His voice is gentle. "Just don't forget to breathe, Ziva, okay? I got a call from McGee today, and he had some bad news. Ducky was in an accident last night… he passed away this morning."

Ziva's pulse is thudding in her ears, and she focuses on the grounding anchor of Tony's hand on hers as she tries to internalize what he just told her. "An accident?" she echoes, sounding distant even to herself.

"Yeah…" Tony shakes his head and unexpectedly gives a quiet, incredulous laugh. The sound pulls Ziva out of her head a little, and she makes a conscious effort to squeeze his hand back as she waits for details.

He gives her a warm smile, recognizing the gesture.

"Honestly, it was the 'Duckiest' way that he could have died, I think," Tony explains. "He had apparently been out in Newfoundland exploring some continental fault thing, and on the way back, his plane hit some bad weather and ended up crashing. Palmer says it was very quick—Ducky never would have felt a thing."

Ziva nods, slightly faint but quickly getting over her shock. With any luck, she'll avoid a full-blown anxiety attack; the frequency of the attacks has decreased since she reunited with her family a year ago, but they'll always be a threat that she has to be prepared for.

Tony seems to understand that she's not quite ready to talk yet, so he keeps going. "There are worse ways to go, for sure, and I think Ducky would have wanted to spend his last minutes just as he did: coming from from an adventure in a tiny two-seater Bonanza. You know what I mean?"

"Yes… yes, I am sure you are right," she agrees, her voice steadier.

"I'm really glad that we got to see him recently, too. We had a good time, didn't we?"

"We did." A few months back, Ducky'd had a daylong layover in Paris on a trip to a remote area of Siberia, and they'd spent a very fun day showing him around the city. Their daughter had warmed to him quickly, which was hardly surprising.

"Hopefully Tali was old enough that she'll remember it, I think."

"Yes."

Tony pauses, and with his free hand, he reaches up to briefly caress his wife's cheek. "Are you alright?" he questions, concerned. "You're not saying much. I don't want you to pass out on me."

"I am—" Ziva stops in the middle of her sentence and takes two deep breaths. She had nearly said 'fine,’ but she's not, is she?

Ziva likes to think that she can be open and honest with Tony these days, as much as a lifetime of trials has given her the impulse to keep things to herself. The fact that Tony waits patiently for her to finish rather than interrupting tells her that she's right—she shouldn't shut him out.

Finally coming to a decision, she shakes her head. "No."

Tony nods. "I thought that might be the case."

"Are you?"

"Alright?"

"Yes."

"No. No, I'm really not. But I will be."

Tony's words suddenly pull a memory to the forefront of Ziva's mind, and she tilts her head for a moment, considering something.

Tony waits, a slight frown furrowing his brow.

"Come," Ziva decides finally. "There is something that I want to show you."

_________________________

A few minutes later, a bemused Tony watches from the doorway as Ziva digs determinedly through a box in the back of their bedroom closet. He knows what's in that box, and he knows that several identical boxes stacked neatly in the corner contain more of the same: Ziva's old journals from NCIS, dozens of them thoughtfully shipped to Paris by Ellie Bishop.

"Are you looking for one in particular?"

"Yes," Ziva answers, but she doesn't explain any further. After a few more seconds, she makes a noise of triumph and rises with one of the journals in hand.

"Found it?"

"I did."

She leads him back to the bedroom and sits on the bed, inviting him to sit next to her; Tony is relieved to see that while she definitely looks pained and tired, there are no obvious signs of an impending anxiety attack.

Once they're settled, Ziva gently—almost lovingly—pats the cover of the thin book. "This is one of my journals from late 2009 until early 2010."

"That's—"

"Shortly after I was rescued from the desert, yes."

Tony nods; it's not his favorite time to think about, and he knows it can't be for Ziva, either—so why did she pull this notebook in particular from the dozens of identical ones chronicling her experiences?

"Ducky was… helpful to me, in the aftermath of my rescue."

"He was?" Tony interjects in surprise. "You've never talked about that before."

"It is not a subject that I deeply enjoy discussing, something I am sure you can understand."

"Sure."

"Well, because I believe that sharing this memory will honor Ducky, I would like to tell you more about what he did for me."

"Are you sure?"

Ziva nods, and she keeps the journal clutched lovingly in one hand as she reaches over to lay a hand on Tony's thigh. "It has been a long time, and I think I am ready." She offers a smile—it's small and watery, but it's very sincere, and something about it makes Tony's own eyes start to sting.

He's been too busy to cry today, but he knows it's coming sooner or later. Ducky had been family for a very long time, and with this on top of that loss...

"Okay," he agrees roughly, clearing his throat. "Take it away. I'm all ears."

Ziva squeezes his thigh and then pulls her hand away, glancing down at the journal; this one will always be one she cares for above its brethren, because its painful content reminds her of how much she has overcome.

After a pause, Ziva opens it carefully.

Then, her voice surprisingly steady, she starts to read.

_________________________

January 7th, 2010

There is a reason that I have not penned an entry in quite some time; I have walked a difficult road these past months. Today, however, I was offered a comfort that I had not previously possessed the courage to ask for. If I have any hope of sorting through my own thoughts on the matter, though, I need to reconsider earlier events.

Before returning to Mossad more than half a year ago, I was faced with a dilemma that I had successfully avoided in my career before that point—that is, the dilemma of who to trust and who to side with when personal and professional obligations become hopelessly conflicted. I have already written at length about the choices I and the others made in the midst of that conflict.

Much has happened since then, but recent forced introspection has shown me an important connection between the difficulties of Michael's death and the horrors I endured after: a connection between who I was then and who I am now. That night, it only took a few minutes to change the course of my life: in that time, Tony and Michael fought, and Michael was killed. Every single one of us has had to deal with the consequences of those events ever since.

At the time, I let my anger and my grief consume me, destroying all vestiges of rationality in my thoughts and decisions. I followed that pain to the Horn of Africa, hurting and reckless and prepared for death.

Of course, I did not die, and that has brought consequences of its own… consequences that I am only now beginning to come to terms with.

In the wake of Michael's death and doubly so in the wake of my experiences in the desert camp, I found myself vulnerable. For the first time in my life, I'd been forced to acknowledge my heart and acknowledge its fragility. It could be bruised. It could humiliate me. These were things that frightened me, because I knew from recent experience that they could—and likely would—be used against me. My fear led me to withdraw, to hide again; acknowledging my own weakness demanded far less bravery than I would have needed to share that vulnerability with my friends.

I defaulted to an old defense mechanism. I leaned on ability borne of long experience to simply feign contentment. I passed my psychological evaluations, I sent my resignation to Abba, and against all odds, I was instated as a probationary special agent at NCIS. After a time, my colleagues stopped watching me when they thought I could not see, waiting for me to fall apart. I had convinced them that I was alright; perhaps I even convinced myself some of the time, too. Maybe I was not yet as 'fine' as I seemed to be, but I was sure that in time, I would reach a point where my conscience felt as carefree as my forced smile looked to those who loved me.

Darkness, however, is difficult to chase away with one single flickering candle, lit only by the flame of my own exhausted determination. My candle burned low, worn down over time, and I found myself in need of help. I alone could not summon the light that had long since fled my tired soul.

Though I did not know to whom I should turn, fate helped a friend to find me. It was—of all people—Ducky. In many ways, he is something of a saba* to me, the kind that I wished for as a child. Even so, I would not have thought to seek him out as a confidant. I see now how remiss I was in taking him for granted as I have sometimes done. It turns out that he was just who I needed.

He found me this evening in the midst of… I do not know how to define what I was feeling. I can only say that I was lost in a moment of weakness. At the time, being seen that way was humiliating, but now, several hours later, it feels serendipitous.

Ducky and I spoke quite candidly then… I will not record the details of the conversation here, because I feel in no danger of forgetting what was said. I am confident, however, that today marks something of a new beginning for me. There is still so much to sort through and process, but the shadows already feel less dim.

Today, I invited a friend to see my darkness, and despite what he saw, he did not pity me; he only held my hand and lit another candle.

_________________________

*saba = "grandfather" in Hebrew

#ncis fanfiction #tiva #tivali #tony dinozzo #ziva david #tali david-dinozzo #ducky mallard #timothy mcgee #cynthia writes stuff too #this is for two more biscuits challenges that i got way too committed to lol #parts two through four are already planned out and half written #they'll be posted shortly #hurt/comfort #angst but ultimately soft

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an-abundantly-clear-answer · 3 years

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Caffeine and the Brain

Caffeine and the brain

Caffeine and the brain, not something we think about every day. If you are like me, then you must wonder what effects it has on us especially if you are an avid drinker of coffee, cappuccino, soda, tea, etc. with caffeine in them. I was surprised to discover that chocolate has caffeine too but more of a natural caffeine than an additive. For a long time, I believed that there were no effects, and I could stop drinking these things anytime I wanted to but to my surprise, caffeine is addictive and hard to let go of. Caffeine has some positive and negative effects that will further help us to make the decision on whether this is something that we want to further consume into our bodies.

About

Caffeine is a stimulant and the most used legal drug in the world. Every day, millions consume it to increase wakefulness, alleviate fatigue, increase energy, and improve concentration and focus. Caffeine affects adenosine receptors in the brain. Coffee also contains polyphenol antioxidants and these act on various pathways. Studies have suggested that drinking coffee may help enhance some thinking skills and slow the mental decline that comes with age. However, more research is needed to confirm this. (Nichols, 2017).

What caffeine does do is one heck of an impersonation. “In your brain, caffeine is the mimic of a neurochemical called adenosine. Adenosine is produced by neurons throughout the day as they fire, and as more of it is produced, the more your nervous system ratchets down.” (DiSalvo, 2012).

The talent of caffeine is to copy adenosine’s shape and size, allowing them to enter the receptors without activating them. The receptors are then effectively blocked by caffeine. This is important not only because by blocking the receptors caffeine disrupts the nervous system’s monitoring of the adenosine tab, but also because of what the brain is releasing as this is happening. The neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate, the brain’s stimulants, are freer to do their stimulating work with the adenosine tab on hold, and that is the effect you feel not long after drinking something with caffeine in it. (Case Study 3, 2001).

“Chemically, caffeine (C8H10N4O2) is a purine with two oxygens and three methyl groups attached. When ingested, it is rapidly absorbed and soon reaches all cells of the body, including those of the brain, where it acts as a stimulant.” (Case Study 3, 2001).

Facts

The facts about caffeine are as follows:

Caffeine is a stimulant that occurs naturally in some foods. (Case Study 3, 2001).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends a maximum intake of 400 mg a day, or two to three cups of coffee. A moderate intake of coffee may enhance weight loss, cognitive function, and alertness. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Energy drinks can contain high levels of caffeine but are unlikely to be hazardous unless consumed with alcohol. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Caffeine powder can lead to a fatal overdose and should be avoided. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) consider caffeine to be both a drug and a food additive. They recommend a maximum intake of 400 mg a day. This amount is not associated with negative effects. In prescription and over the counter medicines such as headache remedies, diet pills, diuretics, and alertness aids, caffeine is used to treat tiredness and drowsiness, and to improve the effect of some pain relievers. (Case study 3, 2001).

It belongs to a group of medicines called central nervous system stimulants. Foods containing caffeine can help restore mental alertness. Caffeine’s use as an alertness aid should not be used often because it is addictive and dangerous. Caffeine is not intended to replace sleep and should not regularly be used for this purpose. Caffeine occurs naturally in the leaves, seeds, or fruit of more than 60 plant species, including coffee beans, tea leaves and buds, dola nuts, cacao beans, guarana seeds, yerba mate leaf. Caffeine features in tea, coffee, and chocolate, and it is regularly added to gum, jellybeans, waffles, water, syrup, marshmallows, sunflower seeds, and other snacks. (Nichols, 2017).

Benefits

Caffeine does have its benefits and research has found that caffeine intake may have kept people from getting certain brain and nervous system diseases.

Caffeine may boost weight loss or prevent weight gain, by suppressing the appetite and temporarily reducing the desire to eat. This is accomplished by stimulating thermogenesis, which means the body generates more heat and energy from digesting food.

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease research shows that caffeine may have effects on those who are lifelong consumers of caffeine.

Research has found that lifelong caffeine consumption may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and there are research studies that have also reported that people with a higher coffee consumption have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Memory Research from Johns Hopkins University suggests that a dose of caffeine after a learning session may help boost long-term memory. Caffeine also reduced getting kidney stones. (Nichols, 2017).

Risks

There are also risks to caffeine consumption.

A high caffeine intake may worse symptoms of anxiety and depression. Insomnia is a side effect that caffeine causes by stimulating the brain to stay awake instead of allowing your brain to release what it needs to cause sleep.

Insomnia is a side effect that caffeine causes by stimulating the brain to stay awake instead of allowing your brain to release what it needs to cause sleep.

Caffeine can lead to symptoms such as the jitters and shakes, disrupted sleep, fast or uneven heartbeat, high blood pressure, headaches, nervousness or anxiety, dizziness, dependency, incontinence, dehydration, irritability, heartburn, muscle tremors

Caffeine is addictive and can cause withdrawal symptoms such as headache and jitters although not everyone experiences withdrawal when they stop consumption of caffeinated drinks. (Nichols, 2017).

Caffeine also stimulates the bladder to make urination occur more often, but researchers have not proven that caffeine contributes to bladder disease. (Nichols, 2017).

What Caffeine Actually Does

Much of caffeine’s stimulant action is thought to be due to its blockade of adenosine receptors located in the membranes of the brain’s neurons. Adenosine is not considered a true neurotransmitter, such as acetylcholine, dopamine, or serotonin, because it is not stored and released at chemical synapses. However, adenosine is an important neuromodulator, a chemical that influences synaptic function. One of adenosine’s most important roles in the central nervous system is to promote sleep. When caffeine reaches the CNS, it binds to and blocks adenosine receptors, preventing adenosine from causing drowsiness. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Whether consumed as a food or a medicine, the blood and body tissues absorb caffeine quickly after consumption. After reaching the blood it remains there for 4 to 6 hours. While in the blood, caffeine changes the way the brain and body work. “[Caffeine has a similar structure to adenosine, which is a chemical that is present in all human cells. In the brain, adenosine acts as a CNS depressant. Adenosine promotes sleep and suppresses arousal by slowing down nerve activity. Adenosine binding also causes blood vessels in the brain to dilate, to increase oxygen intake during sleep.

When awake, the levels of adenosine in the brain rise each hour, making the brain and the body less alert. To a nerve cell, caffeine looks like adenosine, and caffeine binds to the adenosine receptors. However, unlike adenosine, it does not decrease the cell’s activity. As caffeine utilizes all the receptors adenosine binds to, the cells can no longer sense adenosine. As a result, instead of slowing down because of the adenosine level, cellular activity speeds up. Caffeine blocks adenosine’s ability to open the brain’s blood vessels, causing them to constrict. Therefore, caffeine is used in pain relief medicine for headaches. If the headache is vascular, relief comes as the caffeine narrows the blood vessels. The blocking of adenosine causes excitatory neurotransmitters to increase in the brain. The pituitary gland notices this increased activity and releases hormones that tell the adrenal glands to produce epinephrine.]” (Nichols, 2017).

The hippocampus is the part of the brain responsible for long term memory. The researchers wanted to study the effect of caffeine on long term memory and its relation to length of dendritic spines and they used hippocampus for their experiments. “[After administering caffeine to this part of the brain, it showed an increase in the dendritic length of the pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex and that caffeine affects the dendritic morphology of the pyramidal cells of this limbic structure and that this effect persists after puberty and may be implicated in boosting several brain processes. The implications are clear: Using caffeine can cause the cells of our brains involved with learning and memory to grow new dendritic spines and thus may enable our brains to function more effectively.]” (Weinberg, 2011).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Moderate amounts of caffeine appear not to be harmful, and a moderate intake of caffeine may bring some health benefits. The FDA recommends that a person should not take in no more than 400 mg a day. However, the impact of caffeine intake will vary according to the amount consumed by the individual’s size, sex, and sensitivity to the effects. Any medications or supplements they may be taking will also have alter the effect of the caffeine. Pure caffeine is dangerous, can even be life-threatening, and should be avoided. If you are wanting to give up caffeine you should cut back over a period instead of cutting back all at once. This will help you to avoid uncomfortable symptoms such as headache and the jitters. (Nichols, 2017). It is a personal choice whether to continue consuming caffeine or not. It has as many benefits as it does risks and we know that everything we put into our body has both benefits and risks.

References

Nichols, H. (October 16, 2017). Medical News Today. What Does Caffeine Do to Your Body? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285194

DiSalvo, D. (Neuronarrative Psychology Today). (August 12, 2012). What Caffeine Really Does to Your Brain. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuronarrative/201208/what-caffeine-really-does-your-brain-0

Case Study 3. Caffeine and the Brain. https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/blackboard.learn

Brain, M., Bryant, C. W., Cunningham, M. (n.d.). How Caffeine Works. Retrieved from

http://health.howstuffworks.com/caffeine.htm

Brain, M. (n.d.). How Sleep Works. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/sleep.htm

Weinberg, B. A., & Bealer, B. K. (2001). The world of caffeine: The science and culture of the world’s most popular drug. New York: Routledge.

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wisdomrays · 4 years

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TAFAKKUR: Part 135

Retina: The Mind-Boggler

One of the most mysterious layers of the eye, the retina has an elaborate structure with a slew of functions. Not every eye surgeon dares touch the retina, which houses the most sensitive and special cellular layers. It is a three dimensional, crescent-shaped structure located in the back of the eye and is made up of ten super thin layers of cells that span the exterior part of the eye abutting the veins and its interiors.

Retinal layers

The ten layers that form the retina are:

Pigment (coloring matter) layer

Layer of rods and cones

External limiting membrane

Outer nuclear layer comprising rod and cone cells

Outer plexiform layer

Inner nuclear layer

Inner plexiform layer

Ganglion layer

Nerve fiber layer

Inner limiting membrane

These layers are incredibly sensitive and elaborate, and studying their intricate structure give a sense of awe.

Light for sight

Light first arrives at and penetrates through the cornea, the living glassy layer at the outermost layer of the eye. It then goes through the frontal fluid (aquesous humor) and the aperture called the pupil (pupilla). It hits the internal wall of the retina (the inside of the crescent) after passing through the lens in the eye and then the optic fluid filling up the chamber in the back. This alone is an interesting fact because it is much later that the light that gets to the retina reaches the layer of sensitive cone and rod cells, which perceive light. As these cone and rod cells are lined one after another for their protection, light reaches this outer layer of the retina after the ganglion cells, retinal layers and nuclear layers. Such an alignment leads to a reduction of acuity in the peripheral regions of the retina.

We have theories about the many details – such as the perception and representation of mental images and their storage in the memory – but we still do not exactly know how the act of seeing works

The central pit (fovea centralis)

The inner layers at the center of the retina, on the other hand, are drawn to the sides to prevent any loss in visual acuity. Resembling a pit, this section is much thinner than the periphery of the retina, so the layers that are likely to obstruct the passage of the light, and hence reduce visual acuity, are aligned specifically to allow light to directly hit cone and rod cells. Besides, cone cells, which are in charge of exact, colored sight, exist in this region, whereas rod cells, which are in charge of rough and uncolored (black and white) sight, do not. The central pit where visual acuity is at its highest is for keen, colored, and exact sight. Why then is the rest of the retina not created for acute sight and why is this small section equipped with this ability?

As it turns out, if the entire retina had the ability to see keenly then it would not be possible for the eye to focus on a spot and accurately distinguish it from surrounding objects. If we could see the entire page of a book at a glance, for example, the lines would mix up in our brain. We would not be able to understand what we are reading. We normally start reading from the top of the written page and continue line by line as we focus on and take in each word. Our brain then can focus and perceive a single word accurately by restricting keen perception of the surrounding area.

The retinal pigment layer

The color black is known to absorb, not reflect, light. Thanks to such absorption, the layer made up of black pigments (melanin) or dyes prevents the reflection of light, which is crucial for visual acuity. This black substance functions like the black dye in the bellows of old cameras. If there were not any layer to absorb light, light would scatter off the wall inside the eyeball, thereby obscuring the sharpness between light and dark spots, which is essential for the formation of a clear image, and producing a blurry image due to the overall illumination of the retina.

People who lack this melanin pigment as a result of a genetic defect (Albinism disorder) have white hair, and they are oversensitive to light because the colored iris layer of the eye does not contain the melanin pigment, which refracts light. When an albino person enters a bright area, the light that hits the retina is reflected in all directions through the pigment-lacking retina and the white surfaces of the rigid layer underneath (sclera). Therefore, a ray of light that would normally stimulate a few cones or rods is scattered everywhere, stimulating all or most of the light receivers. As a result, visual acuity in albinos can only be between 20/100 and 20/200, even with the help of the best optical correction, which is a low value compared to 20/20 in normal sight. The joke that rabbits do not wear glasses because they eat carrots is based on the high concentration of vitamin A in this pigment, or black dye, layer of the eye. Indeed, vitamin A is a crucial factor for the health of these pigments.

Layer of rods and cones

Composed of 127 million light-sensitive receivers (photoreceptors), the retina is 0.2 mm thick at the yellow spot (macula lutea), where the image forms most clearly, and 0.1 mm thick at the edges of this area. The 120 million cylindrical rods in the retina are in charge of black and white sight (at twilight), and the 7 million tapered cones, of colored, colored and exact sight. The more common cylindrical rods are 50 µm (microns) in length and 1-5 µm in thickness. The less common cones are 40 µm (microns) in length and 3-5 µm in thickness.

The concentration of the cones increases toward the center of the retina and decreases toward the edges, to be outnumbered by the rods. In the cytoplasm of the cones and rods are stored substances that are sensitive to light (photosensitive) which break up when light contacts them and produce electricity in the cones and rods. In rods this chemical is called rhodopsin. In cones, on the other hand, are three substances corresponding to the colors red, green, and blue that are sensitive to the wavelengths of colored light. To be more exact, there are three separate cone cells that include one of these three substances. Chemically, the photosensitive substances in the cones are a little different from rhodopsins.

The destruction of rhodopsin by light energy

Rhodopsin, along with the color substances, fills up about 40% of rods and cones. They are made up of a protein called scotopsin and a molecule called retinene that is derived from vitamin A. When light energy is absorbed by rhodopsin or the color substances, rhodopsin starts to fade in as fast as one trillionth of a second. The underlying reason for this is that the electrons in the retinene (vitamin A) part of rhodopsin is activated by light, which alters the shape of the retinal molecule at a mind-boggling speed (one trillionth of a second). Extremely complicated and precise chemical and physical changes then take place. It is very difficult to monitor all of these biochemical changes, and they require specialization.

The regeneration of the rhodopsin destroyed by light

Rhodopsin destroyed by light is regenerated in the dark. Only in the twentieth century did we manage to partially identify the mechanism by which molecules with very specific geometric shapes decay at incredible speeds only to be regenerated later. It is wondrous that such knowledge and power are present in the cell allowing the light energy to destroy the molecule and the regeneration process is launched. The circulation between destruction and regeneration of the molecule continues throughout a lifetime. Vitamin A is assigned a crucial task in the generation of rhodopsin in the dark. All-trans retinal is converted in the retina into all-trans retinol, which is then converted into 11-cys retinol with the help of an isomerase enzyme. Finally, 11-cys retinol is converted into 11-cys retinal, which in turn combines with scotopsin to form rhodopsin. Vitamin A is present both in the cytoplasm of rods and in the pigment layer of the retina. In this way, vitamin A is kept in reserve to be used for generations of new retinal. If, on the other hand, there is an excess of vitamin A in the retina, the excess amount is converted into retinal, by which the amount of light-sensitive pigment in the retina is lowered.

Night blindness

Night blindness appears in anyone who suffers a serious deficiency of vitamin A. Because there is a lack of vitamin A to be converted into retinal, rhodopsin amounts decrease dramatically. This disease is called night blindness as it is noticeable only in the dark or at night and does not affect sight during the day, due to the reduction of light for proper seeing. In daylight, however, cones can still be stimulated despite a similar decrease in color pigments. Night blindness typically only appears in people that have a low vitamin A diet because huge reserves of vitamin A are normally stored in the liver to be used for the eyes.

The human retina contains 400,000 light receptive cells per square millimeter. For comparison, this number is 680,000 in the retina of the owl, which needs to perceive even the slightest glow when hunting in the night. As another example, with 397,000 such cells the amount in the cat’s retina is almost the same as ours.

An average of 130 sight cells in the retina are connected to a ganglion (nerve node) cell. Constituting the nerve of sight, or the optic nerve (nervus opticus), every nerve fiber is connected to a ganglion cell. It takes about 15-60 seconds for the retinal optic nerves to adapt from dark to light, while it takes as long as 30-45 minutes to adapt from light to dark. The visual range of optic cells, i.e. the lowest and highest amount of light the eye can perceive, is between 10-7 and 106 nanometers. Light that is below or above this range is invisible to us because of its insufficient or overwhelming wavelength.

All the colors we see in the world are named according to the wavelengths absorbed and reflected by optic cells. The spectrum of the optic cells lies between red and violet, which is the limit of visible light for humans. Light with a wavelength of 400 nm is perceived as violet, while light with a wavelength of 760 nm is perceived as red. Our eyes cannot see infrared and ultraviolet light. Some animals, however, are known to see light beyond these limits. For example, we know that bees can see certain shades of ultraviolet light, which helps them find flowers to pollenate.

Clearly, it is not an easy job to elaborate on the divine art manifested in such a small area as the retina. Complicated structures and reactions that require specialization even to comprehend keep taking place smoothly every moment we look around. At least we can be thankful for this amazing gift of vision given to us free of charge so that we can recognize the universe.

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cindylouwho-2 · 4 years

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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, December 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across since the October report, although some may be older than that.

I am also missing a lot here, but pared it down somewhat to make more readable. The lead up to the holiday shopping season was a lot crazier than I expected 🙃

Given the time of year, please do not expect another report until January. However, I will do brief posts of important news/blog posts in the interim as needed.

There are going to be big changes to this report coming in 2020. Have any suggestions or feedback? Leave a comment below, email me through my website, or send me a message on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

You are going to need to add Etsy’s tax ID to customs forms on New Zealand orders as of Dec. 1. Etsy’s ID is: 122-669-18.

FTC issues huge fines for selling fake likes & followers on social media, and for posting fake reviews online. “The [likes and followers] case could pave the way for further legal action on the same grounds, using the Devumi case as precedent. Indeed, shortly after the initial finding by the NY Attorney General, Facebook announced that it was moving ahead with legal action against several providers which it had found to be dealing in fake social media engagement.”

Everyone should read this article, if only to learn what not to do: Using “priming” to convert more buyers/users is a crucial marketing tactic.”Priming works by using associations made in our subconscious, and are almost always unnoticeable to the subject.” Example: “During a study, researchers approached customers in an electronics store, who’d entered to buy a new laptop.Half of the customers were asked what their memory needs were, and the other half were asked what their processor needs were...The group who were asked about memory, bought computers with higher memory and the group who were asked about processor speed, bought computers with much higher processor speeds.”

Etsy removed the word “Bugs” from the Bugs forum, & admits they will only will be monitoring it from 9-5 Etsy time (ET) Monday to Friday. They won’t be replying, but expect “hundreds of sellers” to do that job for them, unpaid. If you have an issue, you will now need to email through the Contact page, use the new 24 hour live chat, or phone them. [Note the parts they aren’t mentioning - Support is taking over a week to reply to emails right now, live chat will only be able to help with the simplest of questions (e.g., how do I change my email address?) & it is possible to spend over an hour on hold when you phone. You could spend quite a bit of money on long distance fees, especially if you are in a country that doesn’t have its own phone number, all for something you used to be able to get for free in the forum, sometimes on the same day. This is Etsy’s definition of “major improvements”.]

Check out this proposed US legislation, which wants large internet companies [yes, Etsy fits their definition] to reveal their algorithms & offer visitors a version with no “filter bubble.” You might not like Etsy search now, but I can guarantee it would become impossible if they removed all of the algorithm factors. [This editorial is a bit over the top, but does cover some of the key questions.]

ETSY NEWS

Items have been disappearing from a small number of Etsy searches since July, & Etsy still won’t tell us what is going on. If you discover you are affected, please let me know.

There have been a few threads on Etsy sending threatening emails about shops being below Etsy’s customer service expectations, often for just a few bad feedbacks or cases, which has shocked many long time sellers (even though they have been sending them for years; it appears they have decreased the number of “problems” you need to have to get an email.) Without announcing anything, Etsy released a page of “seller service level standards” that can help explain what they are looking for, namely cases & 1-2 star reviews, as well as the exact formula they use. I started a discussion thread here, & in case Etsy deletes comments in the thread, here is the dashboard showing your score. (Some people cannot make that link work; Etsy says only shops that received a warning can see it.) My blog post is here.

I summarized the 3rd quarter report here, and Etsy summarized it here. The stock market is not happy with management at the moment, with Morgan Stanley this past week stating that they expected Etsy’s 4th quarter to be worse than originally predicted, due to state sales tax laws and Etsy’s reduction in its Google Shopping ad buying. Note Etsy removed the “priority placement” for US free shipping about a week after the 3rd Q report, without any announcement, probably due to the blowback about it reducing first page conversions. (They didn’t announce anything; it just disappeared.)

Cyber Week traffic on Etsy was more than double what they saw on the average summer day.

They did a Q & A thread on the new stats, which wasn’t particularly useful. They admitted they intentionally removed the keyword & other data prior to November 2017 because “older data periods are less comparable to current stats”. [I believe that is code for “we’re too cheap to pay for the storage; investors need their payouts.”] They did finally add YOY comparisons back in a few weeks ago.

Etsy has again changed a few category & attribute options, including more baby stuff.

They did a holiday gift shopping promotion where people could call Etsy & get suggestions for gifts on Nov. 5. All gifts shipped free, so non-free shipping shops were not included. “It could also be a case study for personalization efforts to come from the long-running handmade marketplace.”

You’ve probably already noticed that Convos are now called Messages, but here is the announcement with the details just in case.

Etsy ran an Etsy search critique thread on November 13; the thread wasn't particularly useful, as almost all the staff who do the critiques aren’t experts in search. Basically, they say to use all of your tags, avoid repeating words in tags & titles, have 3-4 short phrases in your title, use commas in your titles (”Buyer research shows that using commas instead of dashes helps titles appear more clean and readable”), offer free shipping, and use all of your photos. The big takeaway for me was - they think we all have unlimited photography budgets, models, and time to do different modelled photos for every listing (including at the beach! LOL), photos of each of our different pieces in progress, photos of us working, & photos of each type of packaging. Needless to say, none of those things are bad if you have gobs of time or the money to pay someone to do all of that. But if you are like me and are a one-person business, live in a small condo, don’t have the strength to take photos all day, don’t have an abundance of people to model when I am taking photos (i.e., people I know have real jobs & aren’t around when I work on photos), and don’t have anyone to take photos of me making things, then this is pretty laughable. I wouldn't even consider doing all of this for my 5 best selling listings, never mind all 430+. YMMV. [The repeated mentions of process photos makes me worry they will be requiring those for everyone at some point …but I am sure I am just being paranoid.] One notable error was telling someone to use “color” (the US spelling) instead of “colour” (the proper English spelling) because the shop’s language settings were US English - Etsy currently treats these both the same, so there is no issue at the moment. Are they trying to give us a hint about something?

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Introducing BERT: Google’s new technology to help organic search process natural language better. This isn’t likely a change you can optimize for, but it should help searchers get more relevant results for complicated queries. “Here is an example of Google showing a more relevant featured snippet for the query “Parking on a hill with no curb”. In the past, a query like this would confuse Google’s systems. Google said, “We placed too much importance on the word “curb” and ignored the word “no”, not understanding how critical that word was to appropriately responding to this query. So we’d return results for parking on a hill with a curb.” Moz’s Whiteborad Friday covered the basics. [warning - some bits are advanced. Just skip those if you need to.] A study said BERT still isn’t very good at understanding “not” and other negatives. The NY Times may be one of the sites that is affected.

If you were disappointed when keyword research tool Keywords Everywhere became a paid tool, a new alternative has been released. Note that Keyword Surfer is still in beta. I’m going to try it for a bit and write up a short report if I think it is worth using. (The traffic estimates are way off, as in almost 10 times too low, for the sites I have info on.) If you try it, let me know what you think!

While we are on the topic, here’s 13 keyword research errors you don’t want to make. Short takeaways - not every high volume keyword phrase will work for your specific product, don't ignore long tail, and make sure you look at the search results for any keyword before you decide to use it.

Here’s another keyword and topic research tool that compiles questions people search along with a relationship tree so you can see how ideas are connected.

More common SEO problems with ecommerce sites.

If you code your own website, check out the new Google instructions on writing your organic search snippets. Note this is supposedly only about display & not about ranking.

Improve your Instagram traffic with 8 SEO tips for your profile and posts.

Which is better for SEO - Squarespace or WordPress? The results are likely skewed by the fact that “platforms like Wix and Squarespace tend to attract less SEO-savvy people than WordPress.” They agree with what I have been saying for a while: if you know what you're doing, Squarespace sites can rank just fine.

Excellent tips on how good SEO also helps you comply with US disability access laws.

The latest on Google updates - there was apparently one around November 7. This one may have hit affiliate websites more than other types.

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article claiming Google manipulated search results to favour its interests & those of its advertisers, including eBay. [The original article is behind a paywall; the link is in that news coverage.] However, many in the SEO community - most of whom are not usually reluctant to criticize Google when they are behaving poorly - feel the article is way off base, & demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge of how Google works. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land & Search Engine Roundtable even did interviews with t WSJ staff for the article, and was amazed at how much they got wrong. “Even a basic understanding of the difference between organic listings (the free search results) and the paid listings (the ads in the search results) eluded them…[Glenn] Gabe told us that not only were his conversations with the paper off-the-record but also that he was misquoted”

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Here’s something I don’t see discussed much: using templates (& other consistent branding) in your social media, blog and website posts.

Content hubs are a very useful way to increase your search engine traffic for a core topic while providing a landing page for social media, ads etc.

Good primer here for beginning social media marketing for your business. You’ll need to do more research depending on your target market and what platform/s you choose, but it is definitely a good overview of getting started.

If you think influencer marketing is right for your business, here are 10 places you can find influencers to work with.

Your email subject lines can change the open rates; here are 19 tips to make them more clickable.

Instagram started testing hiding “likes” on posts in the US as of November 11th, & then announced plans to try it out globally. A study on previous tests showed that there may be some effect on influencer engagement.

Facebook has introduced its own payment system, currently in the US only, for limited situations only at the moment.

Reddit is an often overlooked social media platform to use for business but the traffic is strong, so check out these tips on asking it work for your business. [infographic]

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Pay for online ads (outside of Etsy) but don’t know what negative keywords are? Here’s how to use them with Google.

Hubspot continues their massive rush of “ultimate guides” with everything you wanted to know about Amazon ads.

Facebook now allows you to have different text in the same ads, which can be adjusted for different groups of users.

Amazon is predicted to continue cutting into Google’s online ad dominance through 2021; Google currently has 73% of money spent on online ads in the US.

If you are interested in long term brand building in your advertising, you might be interested in this article, where Adidas admits it was ignoring brand ads & pushing instant returns for too long.

Just in time for the holidays, Google Merchant Center rolled out a bunch of upgrades.

Buying TV ad time is losing popularity; it will be less than 25% of all advertising spend in just a few years, while digital spending is now over 50%.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Facebook changed how they count page impressions.

Everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Oh, and also everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Which one do you like best? [If you have your own website or freestanding blog and are not using the Console, you probably should be reading both of those. Seriously, just set the darn thing up, then learn how to use it later.]

Also, the Console now features a speed report, and has changed how they send you messages.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Trend alert: many struggling or failed retailers sell clothing. “This sector is saturated with supply and is arguably over-stored.” … “For younger shoppers, as they choose which apparel brands do get their attention, sustainability and other cultural issues are often at the forefront.”

US sellers can now get discounted UPS rates through Shippo.

A bug is keeping suspended Amazon sellers from being reinstated.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Don’t use these common customer service lines. ...“there are studies that support the use of positive language in customer service. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do for a customer, focus on what you can do. No one likes to be told no.”

Another article on the psychology of colour; beware that some of this is a bit simplistic, as there are always exceptions.

Holiday shopping will push further into December this year, with half starting around Cyber Monday (Dec. 2). 62% of “high spenders” (over $2100 spent on the holidays) will shop on their smart phones. 25% of respondents to this survey said they already started shopping in September. It turns out most people want gift cards, among other stats. Nearly half of US shoppers are more likely to shop with companies that are socially responsible. Mobile shopping is expected to beat desktop shopping for the first time this season. And yes, most Americans expect to add to their credit card debt before January, men more than women.

US retail sales fell 0.3% in September; online sales fell the same amount.

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Trend alert - apparently Generation Z is not big on makeup, and it is affecting large companies’ profits.

Google’s co-founders hand the parent company Alphabet over to the current CEO. They still work for Google and will focus most of their time there.

Google Webmaster spokesperson John Mueller tackles the controversial question - is a hot dog a sandwich? [humour]

#SEO #search engine optimization #search engine marketing #EtsyNews #etsy #analytics #stats #statistics #Social media #contentmarketing #content marketing #Ecommerce #smallbiz #CindyLouWho2NewsUpdates

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kianraidelcam · 5 years

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Day 7 of @whumptopia‘s 30 Day RoboWhump Challenge! Today’s prompt is “Temperature Regulator Damage” and I blame @interstellarvagabond for it all. They were kind enough to give me this amazing premise and talking me through different points of this chapter! Thanks, Vagabond! (Check out their writing, seriously good) Full fic under the cut as per the norm!

When it happened, Connor has no time for preconstructions or analyses. Androids were capable of processing things far faster than any human, and since he was the most advanced prototype to date, his processing speed was even faster. But when the truck collides with his patrol car, the RK800 finds himself caught completely unaware. It was sudden. Instantaneous. When the car rolls across the median, taking a hit from oncoming traffic, he has no time for thoughts or questions.

It simply happens.

Connor’s systems are overwhelmed with damage alerts, warnings, and prompts, and despite his memory logs recording every shard of glass, every roll, each metallic screech and scrape, he simply cannot process it all in the moment. The second car hits his, and his vision cuts from red to black.

{MODEL RK800}

{SERIAL #313 248 317 - 51}

{BIOS 8.7 REVISION 2221}

{REBOOT…}

{EMERGENCY TEMPORARY SHUTDOWN}

{LOADING OS…}

{SYSTEM INITIALIZATION...}

{CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS… ERROR}

{BIOCOMPONENTS #9782f, #1995r, #7511p, 8456w DAMAGED}

{INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS… ERROR ON STARTUP}

{INITIALIZING AI ENGINE… OK}

{MEMORY STATUS… OK}

{ALL SYSTEMS… ERROR}

{READY}

{STRESS LEVELS 60%}

When Connor opens his eyes, he’s being loaded into the back of an ACAS van, blue and red lights assaulting his optical units before they have the chance to fully calibrate. Negative feedback screeches from his chassis, alerting him to every cut, scrape, and fracture in the plastic of his body. He blinks to dismiss the warnings assaulting his eyes and instead tries to focus on the questions being directed toward him from the technician pressing two fingers to his LED.

“Connor, can you hear me?” the android technician, an AX400, asks him.

Her voice echoes with static in his auditory units, the volume increasing and decreasing with every word. “Yes.”

“Alright, my name is Michelle, I’m an emergency technician for New Jericho. We’re going to take you there now, okay?”

He nods, swallowing the thirium collecting in the back of his throat. “Hank?”

Michelle locks the gurney in place as the van doors slam shut and Connor winces as the noise grates on his auditory receptors. “Is Hank your friend?”

“Partner. Lieutenant,” is all he can force out as a pressure builds behind his eyes.

It’s not pain. Pain is a sensory and emotional response associated with harmful stimuli, and was strictly a biotic experience. Animals felt pain. Humans felt pain. Connor, despite his ability to feel and think for himself, was not a biotic being. He was once shot in the abdomen and he only blinked before chasing the suspect for two miles. So he doesn’t understand why he’s shivering and why this fucking hurts.

{WARNING: STRESS LEVELS ^65}

Michelle must notice the sudden rise in his stress levels because her face softens, growing sympathetic, “It’s okay, I’ll have someone call him for you. Tell me how you’re feeling.”

Like shit, he wants to say. The pressure makes his eyes heavy, and he’s acutely aware of the way his body’s shaking in a simulacrum of shock. Damage alerts keep showing up in his vision, red and in CyberLife sans, no matter how many times he dismisses them. And he’s cold. It’s in the middle of summer in Detroit, but he’s cold.

Connor doesn’t know if it’s a result of all the damage or misfired signals to his central processing unit.

“I’m cold.”

The AX400’s eyebrows furrow, but she nods in understanding, “I’m going to put you into stasis while we make repairs, is that alright? It’ll be easier on your systems and keep your stress levels low.”

He blinks in acknowledgement, watching distantly as she grabs his hand gently, skin peeling away to reveal the white plastic beneath.

{CONNECTION REQUEST: AX400 - Michelle}

{CONNECTION ESTABLISHED}

{ENTER STASIS: WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROCEED (y/n)?}

{y - USER AX400}

{ENTERING STASIS}

{3}

He hopes Hank will be there when he wakes up.

{2}

Connor feels his hand grow limp and heavy, falling by his side like a lead weight.

{1}

Brown eyes close as the sound of a cauterizer turns on. A shiver runs down his artificial spine and it’s the last thing he hears before an empty darkness consumes him, washing away every sensation before leaving him floating in this abyss.

{MODEL RK800}

{SERIAL #313 248 317 - 51}

{BIOS 8.7 REVISION 2221}

{REBOOT…}

{STASIS FOR REPAIRS}

{LOADING OS…}

{SYSTEM INITIALIZATION...}

{CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS… REPAIRS MADE}

{REPAIRS HOLDING}

{INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS… OK}

{INITIALIZING AI ENGINE… OK}

{MEMORY STATUS… OK}

{ALL SYSTEMS… OK}

{READY}

The first thing Connor notices when he opens his eyes is the temperature of the room. Even with his temperature regulator still coming back online, he knows it’s far too cold in the room for his liking. The RK800 suppresses a shiver before sluggishly taking in his surroundings, processors operating at a slower pace than he’s used too.

He feels a pressure on his hand and he looks over to see Lieutenant Hank Anderson by his side, head resting on the cot Connor was currently laying on. The human is sleeping, judging from his lowered heart rate and slow, even breathing. Connor ignores the prompt that flashes across his HUD, alerting him that there was a 75% chance the older man would wake up with a sore neck and back from the angle he was in. The soft clacking of keys reach his ears before pausing, and he glances over to the sound of it. Simon smiles at him, the PL600 crossing the room to disconnect the cable from the back of his neck.

{CONNECTION REQUEST: PL600 - Simon}

{CONNECTION ESTABLISHED}

{PL600: I called him over once you got here. Michelle told me you were asking for him.}

{RK800: How long did repairs take?}

{PL600: About four hours; he’s been here the whole time. We had to replace a few biocomponents and cauterize some thirium lines. But there was no damage to your CPU and everything looks good now. As far as car accidents go, you got very lucky. How are you feeling?}

How is he feeling? His processors are slow and his temperature regulator doesn’t seem to be working to warm him. He feels like he’s thinking at a very human speed, and he doesn’t quite like it. And there was still the shock, the suddenness from the crash that kept flashing through his mind. All in all, the best word he could come up with was confused. He tells Simon as much and he recieves an acknowledgement in response.

{PL600: Your systems are still recalibrating after the temporary emergency shutdown from the crash, and the following stasis. I suspect the new parts aren’t helping. I’d recommend you go home for a couple of days and take it easy.}

{RK800: Androids don’t need recovery time, Simon. Once repairs are made, we’re good to go.}

{PL600: I meant to take time emotionally, you workaholic. You should be fully recalibrated by the morning but you went through a traumatic experience.}

Connor opens his mouth to protest verbally when he feels Hank shift next to him. The human lifts his head, red-rimmed blue eyes blinking away the sleep still weighing down his eyelids. Connor makes eye contact, but before he can say anything, he’s pulled into a crushing hug, forcing the air from ventilation biocomponents.

“Jesus fucking Christ, kid.”

“Hello, Lieutenant.”

Hank utters a short, barking laugh before pushing Connor away, putting him into a sitting position. “Hello? That’s all you have to fucking say?”

Connor feels a smile tug on his lips, “I’m sorry, it would seem my social integration protocols are coming back online. How are you?”

Hank rolls his eyes with a smile that seems a tad bit too forced as Simon covers his laugh with a hand, “As you can see, Connor’s fine. Just like I told you. He’s free to head home. I’ll stop by tomorrow morning to make sure his replacement parts are working like they should.”

The Lieutenant glances at the blonde android before returning his observing eye to Connor, a frown on his face, “Why does he look so...pale?”

“My self-repair systems are still working. It’s just draining some power away from my skin projection.”

Simon nods in agreement, “His processors are also still catching up after rebooting. Until they do, he’s going to be a bit slower.”

Lieutenant Anderson’s expression is one Connor’s social integration protocols define as dubious but he relents without further questioning. “Alright, let’s head on home. Sumo’s already probably eaten a hole in the couch by now.”

They drive in silence for the majority of the way home, Hank trying to ignore the memories that wormed their way into his mind the moment he heard “car accident.”

Red blood spilling onto black asphalt, mixing with the ice and snow. The sound of metal crunching, young cries for his father. Hank’s hands grip the steering wheel tight, turning his knuckles white. Connor wasn’t Cole. Connor was fine. He was sitting right next to him, LED spinning yellow, skin more pale than usual, and shaking-

Shaking. Connor was shaking in his seat, eyes closed with his arms pulled across his chest and leaning away from the A/C vent on full blast. If Hank didn’t know any better, he’d say the kid was cold.

“Hey, Con?”

“Yes?

“You good?”

“Yes.”

Uh huh. He ignores the lie in favor of pulling into the drive and pulling the keys from the ignition, fixing the android with an inquisitive stare, “You gonna need some help or…”

Connor shakes his head, still slow in his movements as he reaches for the door handle. Hank raises an eyebrow before exiting the vehicle, waiting by the front door for him. His gait lacks the normal grace he typically possesses, and although both Simon and Connor had warned him that he would be slower, he finds himself taken by surprise by the clumsiness the RK800 demonstrates. It was so not Connor it was jarring, and once he noticed it, he found he couldn’t ignore it. “Are you sure you’re good? Do I need to take you back or something?”

Brown irises flit up to meet Hank’s eyes, something akin to alarm widening them. “That won’t be necessary, Lieutenant. I simply need to enter rest mode so my self-repair systems can work at their highest capacity.”

Hank is no expert on android biology, but he was a fucking damn good detective and his gut told him something was seriously off. He grabs Connor’s arm and pulls him inside, pushing him down gruffly on the couch before the door shuts. “Anything I can do to make your self-repair ‘work at their highest capacity’?”

Connor practically sinks, sinks , into the cushions before pulling the blanket around himself as he lets his body fall onto his side. “A blanket? It is kind of cold in here, Lieutenant and my temperature regulator doesn’t seem to have fully rebooted quite yet.”

He glances at the thermostat on the wall as he goes to grab a blanket from the linen closet. “It’s 80 fucking degrees in here.”

The android’s eyebrows furrow but he offers no comment. Instead, he takes the blanket wordlessly before patting his chest, prompting 170 pounds of Saint Bernard to jump on top of him. Hank rolls his eyes at the sight as Connor closes his own, slipping into rest mode without another word. As he walks past the RK800 to the kitchen, intent on grabbing a slice of pizza and a beer without having the kid nag on his about calories, he ruffles the tangled hair fondly. “Glad you’re okay, kid.”

It’s something he’d never admit to Connor verbatim. He had the reputation of a grumpy old asshole to uphold after all, but the relief that coursed through him when Simon told him Connor was alive was stronger than nearly anything he’d felt in the past four years. Aside from the pride he felt watching Connor march thousands of android’s through the street to save the revolution, of course. However, something gnaws on him, filling him with a sense of unease and he found himself incapable of shaking the feeling as dusk gave way to night. As the house falls into a silent darkness and Connor’s LED remains a stubborn yellow, Hank settles into bed unsure he’d be able to sleep.

He must fall asleep at some point, however, because he’s suddenly wide awake at three in the morning, heart racing for no apparent reason. As far as he remembered, there’d been no dream to pull him from his slumber and he could not tell if the thump he heard was real or imagined. Hank sits up, the unease turning into dread and he follows his instincts. The Lieutenant opens the door and walks toward the living room, trepidation filling every step.

A soft crimson glow casts the room in an ominous lighting. Despite the darkness in the room, Hank can easily see the Sumo’s silhouette in front of Connor’s prone form, pawing at the shivering android. Unbidden, a memory comes to the forefront of his mind of the time Connor explained his reaction to colder temperatures. Hank had caught the RK800 shivering as a blizzard rolled in, staring blankly at the window. “While my current response is more… emotion based, RK800s do use shivering as a tertiary heating measure. It causes friction, just like in humans, but only happens in extreme cold, when our temperatures drop beneath 85 degrees.”

He was shivering uncontrollably now, and when Hank calls his name in an attempt to rouse him while switching on the light, there is no response. Hank goes to shake Connor’s shoulder and he can feel the icy temperature of his skin seeping through the hoodie he has on. “Shit, Connor, wake up!”

As he’s considering slapping Connor awake, glassy brown eyes open to blink owlishly up at him, releasing an undignified “huh.” Skin nearly translucent, giving Connor a pale, sickly look, with a confused expression, the only word Hank can come up with for his appearance is miserable. “What’s your temp at, Con? You feel like fucking ice. How is that even possible, it’s still like 80 degrees in here.”

Connor frowns, eyes unfocused as his LED blips yellow before returning to red. “Mmm not-not sure.”

Concern turns to incredulity for a brief second and Hank takes a moment to calm himself before his next words, “What do you mean you’re not sure?”

“My temp-temp-temperature regulator isn’t wor-working right.”

“Didn’t they fucking fix everything at New Jericho?” Hank wouldn’t admit it to himself or the kid shivering in front of him, but the stutter in Connor’s voice scared the shit out of him.

Connor shakes his head, “I didn’t reg-register any damage to it.”

“Shit. I’m calling Simon, I don’t fucking like this. Sumo, up!” Hank commands and Sumo obliges, acting as a living furnace for the freezing kid, “Good boy.”

Even if Hank didn’t have Simon’s number on speed dial, he’d know the number to call by heart just from how many times he’s needed the PL600’s help with Connor. Connor’s status as a prototype with a few bugs and glitches certainly didn’t help. Simon answers after one ring, because of fucking course he does, his phone is in his head. “Hello, Lieutenant Anderson, is everything alright?”

“I’m calling you at ass o’clock in the morning, what do you think?” Simon, ever tactful, ignores the jibe and waits patiently for Hank’s next words, “Connor feels as cold as an ice cube and he says his temperature regulator thing isn’t working.”

Connor’s shivering intensifies and he mumbles under his breath, partially incoherent. Hank pushes himself onto the couch, trying to warm Connor with his own body heat with Sumo’s assistance. ‘Is he shivering?”

“He’s shaking like a goddamn leaf.”

“That’s good. The RK800 models shiver as a sort of tertiary heating measure. It means his systems haven’t reached a critical temperature quite yet.”

“Okay, that’s great and all but how do I fix it?”

“I’ll need to do a soft reboot and force his temperature regulator to restart and see if that fixes the issue. It sounds like it may have taken damage and glitched upon his reboot earlier today. His regulator must be tricking his system into thinking he’s too hot. If that’s not it, he’s going to have to return to New Jericho for a replacement. Until then, keep him warm. I’m on my way now.”

Hank nods, despite knowing Simon couldn’t see him and goes to hang up before his voice carries from the phone, “And Hank? Don’t let him enter rest mode.”

Well fuck. From the way Connor’s half-lidded eyes looked, that was going to be a losing battle. He shakes the android a few times until Connor’s eyes wander to his face, “Simon’s on his way, said you gotta stay awake. How do we warm you up?”

“This is help-helping. Thanks, Hank,” Connor sighs, turning his body the best he can with Sumo on top of him to press closer to Hank.

“I might have a heating pad around, you think that might help?”

Connor nods, then winces as Hank moves his legs to stand up and retrieve the pad, “Place-place it behind my-my neck at the the base of my head. That’s where my-my most sensitive pro-processor is.”

Hank grunts an affirmative, quickly retrieving the item and turning up to its highest setting. He returns to his spot underneath Connor’s gangly legs and ignores the way sweat runs down his back. There was no doubt in Hank’s mind that his cheeks were splotched red from the heat, and he finds himself pressing Connor’s freezing body closer to him. Connor sighs in contentment as the heat touches his skin, “I don’t li-like the cold, Ha-nk.”

“I know, son. I know. We’re gonna get you fixed up soon, though, and you’ll be back to complaining about how hot it is in the summer.”

Connor closes his eyes before jolting as Hank snaps his fingers to keep him awake, “Apol-apologies Lieutenant, but I think that’s you.”

“I don’t remember asking you for fucking attitude, now did I?”

Connor smiles as his LED switches from crimson to gold, swirling sluggishly on his temple, “It’s my-my-my default fact-factory setting.”

Hank waves a dismissive hand, “Yeah, yeah. Just list off all the state capitals in America in alphabetical order. No fucking falling asleep, ya hear?”

“Al-albany, Annapol-polis, Atlanta…” he trails off as a violent shudder runs through his body, “I’m co-co-cold.”

“Ahh keep going, Augusta is next. You’ll be warm enough soon…”

It’s like that when Simon finds them an hour later, Hank and Sumo leaning on the shivering android with the Lieutenant asking questions, Connor replying with a stutter. The relief in the room is palpable upon his entrance, and Hank digs himself out from underneath the mass of blankets, legs, and dog, sweat dripping from his brow.

“Well it’s about fucking time.”

#30 day robowhump challenge #dbh #dbh fanfiction #dbh fanfic #my writing #connor whump #temperature regulator damage #connor #connor rk800 #hank anderson #sumo #simon #simon pl600 #whumptopia #interstellarvagabond #not hankcon

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llarryysblog · 2 years

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Science of helping your brain/mind flow

Neuroscience

Themes: Nutrition, Body, Environment, Influences, Mind, Strategic Methods -followed by the list of scientific sources

Nutrition

• Eat some Olive oil or/and Nuts

prevents high insulin

• use the intermidity diet

16 hours not eating / 8 hours eating- will keep your brain running and insuline low!

• eat egg yolks and curcumin (turmeric)

they increase neuroplasticity

• omega-3 fats (fish) intake, as well as l-theanine (tea)

• vape nicotin inside an e-cigarette

isolated nicotine helps boosting memory and learning whilst having harmful ingredients in normal cigarettes

• use pepper as addition

piperine at all dosage range used in study possessed anti-depression like activity and cognitive enhancing effect at all treatment duration.

Nutrition 2

• 10% Cocoa per Day

molecular mechanisms of cocoa to circumvent renal cortical damage that involve improvement of antioxidant competences, stimulation of autophagy and suppression of apoptosis

• Altered gut microbiome

is one step to neurocognitive effect , for example with pro- or prebiotics - independent of dosage or intake duration

• 1.5 to 3 g Plants a day

• lower cognitive decline in age trough lowering of cholesterol

Nutrition - Don'ts

• Dont use preperates to cover brain or health needs!

some of them are unhealthy cause they provide to much of a normaly healthy ingredient making you sick at the end

• Dont eat high carbs!

Things in your brain cant work nicely when the body produces to much insulin caused from carbs

• dont eat highly processed food without omega3

link to memory loss when you lack the fatty acid

Daily Routine - Body 1

• breath trough your nose

The benefits of nasal breathing are associated with how this breathing purifies, heats, moistens, and pressurizes the air. These changes to the air increase oxygen absorption by approximately 10-15%.

• train instability resistance (balance) twice a week

improves working memory, processing speed and response inhibition

• Cold Showers

It releases anti-depressants and is an stress trainer. so its a good prevention if you seem to have a lot stress. i recommend to start cold and change it to warm later.

• Oral Hygiene

Lowers heart disease risk which links to less cognitive decline

Daily Routine - Body 2

• Exercise physically

10 minutes a day running will help to release neuronal builders and strengthen your allready existing neurons

walking 5 miles weekly protects structure

Hint: consider training with "tabata" : 20 seconds training, 10 seconds pause , repeated for minimal 4 times- leads to 150% v02max (oxygen intake)

• dont try to overuse alcohol

healthy amount: 0,5 l each day on 5 days a week

• keep distance from drugs

even if you think they provide you a brighter sight of how things are, they change your neuronal connections

• Use Tapping and Self-Soothing

powerful anti-stress tools and immune boosters

Daily Routine - Body 3

• Sleep Apnoe

Will decrease your performance and is bad for your hearth

Mobile Tool

- SnoreFree

• Tension, Stress and Trauma Release (TRE)

• Lumbar and Thoracolumbar Posture Training

increases stress resilience

Daily Routine 2 - Environment 1

recommended apps are mentioned below

• exposure to as much sunlight as you can get (without getting "bourned")

improves circadian alignment, sleep and mental health

• air pollution

reduces cognitive performance by up to 8% the same day you get exposed to it. consider to buy an air cleaning device for your indoor activities

• Essential Oils

lowers blood pressure and as a result also stress

Daily Routine 2 - Environment 2

recommended apps are mentioned below

• Sleep

is used to store information in your long term memory, dont lose it! study shows that uncovered sleep can be restored in the next 2 days.

try to protect yourself from blue light in the evening (with blue light filters) while getting more light exposure in the morning: "melatonin and two of its metabolites help memories stick around in the brain and may shield people from cognitive decline."

• Use your subconsciousness

Things become sticky when you repeatly hear or see them. Try to take a look on motivational short notices over the day

Daily Routine 2 - Environment 3

recommended apps are mentioned below

• Watch "beautiful" Pictures or get inside an nature environment

'If the information arrives at the synapse as a signal, signal processing is enhanced, which ultimately leads to improved learning and development. In this context, the complex networks of lipids and proteins had a decisive effect on the functioning of the synapses. Thus, the current study provides a molecular explanation for why an enhancing stimulating environment can have a positive effect on neuronal plasticity and brain development.'

Daily Routine 2 - Environment Apps

• Sleep

Sleep as Android

• Subconsciousness

Unlock your mind

• Nature Pictures

Wallpaperer for Reddit

Daily Routine 3 - Influences

recommended apps are mentioned below

• listen to music

brain areas get activated. musical training over time shown to increase connectivity of certain brain regions

recently : music with special meaning for a person stimulates neural connect

• Repeated sauna use

optimizes stress responses (hormesis/ heat shock proteins)

• drawing practice

enhances how brain shares information about objects between different regions

• Games

yes even games can help you, action games fasten your cognitivity

• Font Benefits

- large, bold or spacing = memory, read, learn

- aestethic = creative

- serif = slow | sans-serif = fast

Daily Routine 3 - Influences 2

• Use different Smartphone Keyboards

Typing Speed has potential to infer cognition

• Giving (doing good)

the Serotonin Release of Giving improves memory

Daily Routine 3 - Influences Apps

• Drawing Practice

InColor

• Games

- Dragon Fly

- Death Worm

- Fruit Ninja

- Temple Run

- Sonic Jump Fever

- Smash it

- Zombie Smasher

- Race the Sun

- Metal Madness

- Mobile Legends

- Jetpack Joyride

- Real Boxing

- Dead Target

- Dancing Road

- Shellfire

- Kickflight

- Overdrive

- Bomb Bots Arena

- Into the Dead

- Dynamix

- Magica.io

• Typing

- Typewise

• Positivity (doing good)

- https://www.brainyquote.com/topics

Daily Routine 4 - Mind 1

recommended apps are mentioned below

• Meditation

daily session of meditation , even in doses of 5-10 minutes per day can improve mood, destress, helps fokus

• Brain training (lasts 12 days)

classical advice and hot science topic some scientists beliefe you just get better in the tasks , my opinion: if brain gains neuronal connections , its good choice/thing. average brain starts to slowly reduce unused parts at age of 25!

Hint: Problem Solving Training - "PST are mainly improved capacities for planning and memory"

• Spatial Memory Training

kids showed increase in logic solving after it, use tests / this

https://psychometric-success.com/aptitude-tests/test-types/spatial-reasoning-tests

https://eyewire.org/explore

Daily Routine 4 - Mind 2

recommended apps are mentioned below

• Learn

The more you remember the easier you will keep information, but be aware- the brain slowly fades unused information when it gets new input. Ask yourself before learning what it may help you with in the future to stay more motivated

Daily Routine 4 - Mind Apps

• Meditation

- Mesmerize - with visual , audio and breath stimulation

- Brain.fm - i prefer those sounds as they are binaural, bringing your head in a synchronized state with the selected mindset

• Brain Training

- Neuronation

- Brain Wars

- Nonogram King

- Sudoku4two

- Futoshiki

- Hex2048

- Loop: Energy

- I Love Hue too

- Logical Reasoning Test

• Problem Solving

- Imaginarie

- Creative Everywhere

• Spatial Memory

- Hyperforma

• Learn

- Audio Now

- StudySmarter

- Coursera

- StoryShots

- Deepstash

- 12 Min

- Inshorts

- MyDailyInput

- Quizizz

- QuickRead

• Stress Prevention

Skills

Daily Routine 5 - Strategic

• Plan your work

we are most productive in little time frames, this covers also learning. Dont multitask, if you excluded all unnecessary distractions, you can enter the highly effective flow state. motivate yourself when imagining why you do something. Theres no reason to think "i cant" , instead think "i dont". failure is the key to sucess , learn from it

-- proven methods ate mentioned below

• journal your day

lowers blood pressure, hightens immune response, better memory

tip : write about what was emotionally significant and what had value for you (or what made your day)

Recommended App

DailyBean

Daily Routine 5 - Strategic Methods

• 25 minute , followed by 2 minute break , repeat 3 to 4 times until you choose a larger break of around 15 minutes

• 90 minutes , followed by a 10-15 minute break

this also helps when doing things you dont like or if you are procrastinating - brain sends a pain reaction 20 minutes of time , if you overcome that period you will teach yourself its not that bad

surprisingly the same time span (20 minutes) is needed to decrease your focus, breaks will help you getting new information processed

- Eisenhower Matrix can help planing tasks effective

Sources

• Oil and Nuts

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1800389

• Fasting

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3670843/

• Egg Yolks

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6585560/

• Curcumin

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24405689/

• Omega-3

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211014172753.htm

• L-Theanin

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6836118/

• Isolated Nicotine

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6018192/

• Piperine

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18639606/

• Cocoa

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31773121/

• Gut Microbiome

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-021-02760-4

• Plants

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32105111/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163911/

• Supplements

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1504267

Sources 2

• Insulin Resistance

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4371978/

• Nasal Breathing

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/38/48/10286

• Instability Resistance

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32054896/

• Cold Showers

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04130126

• Oral Hygiene

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/heart/prevention/risk-factors/hic-oral-health-cardiovascular-diseases

• Exercise

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4873686/

• Walking

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3184838/

• Alcohol

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6713002/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378427422000194

• Tapping

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32162958/

• Soothing

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666497621000655

• Sleep Apnoe

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22661967/

• TRE

https://traumaprevention.com/research/

• Posture

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25222091/

• Immune System

https://www.apa.org/research/action/immune

• Daylight Exposure

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/9980

• Air Pollution

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211006170717.htm

• Essential Oils

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17211115/

• Sleep

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpi.12703

Sources 3

• Subconsciousness

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and-brain-sciences/article/abs/unconscious-influences-of-not-just-on-decision-making/4EE8D5F46CDD50743CF95072590E955F

• Exposure to Nature / Nature Pictures

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01413/full

• Music

https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad210610

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15296685

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996392/

• Sauna

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556521002916

• Drawing

https://neurosciencenews.com/drawing-seeing-15334/

Sources 4

• Action Games

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171212102158.htm

• Fonts

https://cognitiontoday.com/font-psychology-research-and-application/

• Keyboard

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34612605/

• Giving

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/vitality/201404/the-neuroscience-giving

• Meditation

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28376373/

• Brain Training

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32011155/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10749357.2021.1926136

• Spatial Memory

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01118-4

• Learning

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/london-taxi-memory/

• Planned working

https://science.nichd.nih.gov/confluence/display/newsletter/2020/05/07/The+Pomodoro+Technique%3A+An+Effective+Time+Management+Tool

• Journaling

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-psychiatric-treatment/article/emotional-and-physical-health-benefits-of-expressive-writing/ED2976A61F5DE56B46F07A1CE9EA9F9F

Changelog

Do you wonder what changed since your last visit?

Latest add: new section influences 2 + influences app added, spatial training tool added in mind, added nutrition entry

#science #health & fitness #neuroscience #meditation #mindfulness #personaldevelopment #self improvement #sports #fitness #brain health #body

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fitjourneydaily · 3 months

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Unleashing the Power of Brain Function: Understanding Cognitive Decline and Age-Related Neurological Health

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bluerozzawesome · 3 years

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Using Effective Recruitment To Gain Competitive Advantage

Why quicker recruitment conveys better execution?

Viable recruitment can uphold your organization to accomplish quicker degrees of development. Streamlined, productive recruitment measures convey better caliber, more connected with employs, providing a competitive benefit that straightforwardly impacts on your business execution.

Examination by Hay Group proposes that organizations with a high commitment score have income levels on normal 4.5 occasions higher than those with the most reduced, and various investigations have related high representative commitment with improved consumer loyalty.

Broadened recruitment cycles are exorbitant, both as far as the time expected to oversee them and the opportunity cost of jobs sitting empty within your business. Moderate recruitment can limit your organization's development. In case you can't source new colleagues rapidly enough, this can keep you from taking benefit of momentary opportunities to drive income. It can increase the danger of stress and separation among your present labor force if their resources are extended excessively far, leading to increased attrition rates.

Moderate recruitment can likewise be negative to the manner in which your organization is seen as a business. Inefficient recruitment measures leave excellent candidates disappointed and prone to look somewhere else. Present day shoppers have better standards of brands than any time in recent memory, demanding quick, customized correspondence and consistent encounters. These assumptions don't vanish on the grounds that they are interacting with your brand as a task searcher instead of a client, so recruitment should stay up with the new standards for brand correspondence or danger damaging their brand insight and effect consumer loyalty.

The benefits of more limited recruitment cycles

1. Increase profitability and execution

Quicker, more compelling recruitment can affect your business execution.

Having trust in your ability to pull in and on-board great candidates on close timescales will permit your business to be more proactive and nimble, ready to make the most of momentary opportunities and receive the benefits.

Since quicker, more productive recruitment measures are likewise less exorbitant, you'll additionally see a decrease in cost-per-enlist, which will decidedly affect profitability. Diminished chance to employ likewise makes an interpretation of into quicker an ideal opportunity to skill. The speedier your fresh recruits are affirmed, the sooner they'll be up to speed and delivering results against your business goals.

Industry figures propose that customers working with a Recruitment Process Outcourcing supplier ordinarily set aside to 70% of agency spend and decrease cost per employ charges by almost half.

2. Draw in greater candidates

More limited recruitment cycles make it simpler to draw in excellent candidates. By optimizing high expected candidates, you'll increase the odds of retaining their interest, while a more slow cycle may leave them enticed to look somewhere else.

46% of businesses have decreased the length of their hiring cycle as the market for great candidates gets more tight, XpertHR research found. A further 28% have diminished the interaction on the grounds that the time it took to recruit was putting candidates off.

An overview of in excess of 3,000 jobseekers and 100 businesses uncovered that 92% of managers presently make a proposal within seven days of the interview interaction, while 59% take under about fourteen days from the job initially being promoted to the first round of interviews.

A quick, frictionless recruitment experience additionally increases the probability that recently added team members will begin their parts with an extraordinary impression of your brand. This increases their commitment in the pivotal first long stretches of their business, improving their drawn out odds of progress.

3. Decrease attrition and improve productivity

Vitally, a more proficient recruitment cycle can let loose your Human Resources group to invest more energy in training and developing existing groups and onboarding recently added team members. The privilege onboarding interaction can significantly affect commitment, increasing execution and reducing staff attrition.

Proficient, streamlined recruitment measures, including the ability to rethink when vital, can engage your HR group to help newcomers hit the ground running and convey results quicker.

Step by step instructions to transform recruitment into a competitive benefit

1. Define your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

Shoppers hope for something else from brands than any time in recent memory, and this is genuine whether they're approaching you as a possible client or a likely worker. In a competitive commercial center, capable candidates are very much aware of their incentive to your business. Accordingly, they're looking for social fit and the opportunity to work for a brand that impacts them, instead of "simply any work".

This implies that to draw in the best candidates, brands need to treat the recruitment interaction as a business activity. By presenting candidates with a solid EVP, brands can define the special differentiators that give candidates a solid motivation to pick them over competitors.

A solid EVP can decrease grating at all phases of your recruitment cycle, from attracting applications through to pay exchanges and winning out against competing offers. By unmistakably defining the intangible benefits your brand offers, a compelling EVP can drive commitment and commitment among possible workers, and help retain them for more.

2. Move to dexterous recruiting

While the lithe methodology has its foundations in programming improvement, its principles of effectiveness and flexibility are transforming a growing number of different industries and capacities. Recruitment is no special case.

Nimble strategy empowers a move away from inflexible cycles and fixed timescales to a more responsive, continuous perspective on recruitment. Lithe partitions longer-term plans into short, sharp eruptions of activity with every day audit points and ordinary re-prioritization. This permits recruiters to move candidates through the recruitment cycle all the more rapidly, and expect and react to changing priorities more deftly than would be conceivable using traditional task the executives draws near.

Accordingly, lithe recruitment is better positioned to manage high-priority opportunities or short-notice necessities. Spry scales successfully, and makes it simpler to integrate reevaluated uphold when essential. It can make recruiting at volume undeniably more sensible, while as yet allowing for a significant degree of personalisation and an outstanding candidate experience.

3. Influence Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

For your recruitment cycles to react successfully to momentary prerequisites, they should be enough resourced. Critical asset demands are frequently the most vital to business execution. They're the ones which empower you to make the most of quick development opportunities that competitors probably won't be adequately responsive to satisfy. In the event that your HR group can't scale and oblige present moment or high volume prerequisites, this will affect on your business' ability to profit from these sorts of opportunities.

RPO is a financially savvy strategy for providing additional recruitment asset when required, while maintaining similar streamlined cycles and frictionless candidate experience your internal group conveys.

By working as an expansion of your brand, a RPO agency can satisfy momentary recruitment asset necessities while maintaining a solid brand presence, so your recruitment continues to perform when you need it most.

Take advantage of development opportunities

RPO can fuel your business to make the most of development opportunities and accomplish your presentation objectives quicker.

We're committed to helping our customers streamline their recruitment measures, and providing consistent help to assist them with fulfilling volume recruitment prerequisites. By keeping your recruitment measures running at maximum velocity in any event, during seasons of appeal, our group can assist your business with capitalizing opportunities and gain a lasting competitive benefit.

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IT Outsourcing Companies In UAE, Recruitment Agency In Abu Dhabi, Recruitment Companies In Dubai

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doitwithdaisy · 3 years

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Beeswax Bath and Beauty Bars

Do you want to make soap that doesn't require the use of lye or any other dangerous chemicals? The Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health defines soap as “any compound of one or more fatty acids, or their equivalents, with an alkali.” What makes soap soap is a process called saponification, turning a combination of oils and/or wax into a sudsy bar or liquid through a chemical reaction by the end of which no lye is remaining. When I became interested in making soap at home, I didn't want to deal with the extra precautions that come with working with chemicals and dangerous ingredients, so I broke out Milady's Cosmetic Dictionary and started searching for properties of various natural ingredients that I could combine to achieve the same effect as soap, but perhaps without the dried-out skin. And thus, my three-year journey of research, trial and error began.

Beeswax itself has numerous beneficial properties. It's nontoxic, which is always nice to have in a base for your hygiene products, and beeswax is fantastic for the skin. Beeswax acts as an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and moisturizer, attacking bacteria and mild infections present on the skin and in the pores. It creates a waterproof film on the skin, which helps to keep contaminates out of the pores and keeps the product from washing off. When mixed at an appropriate ratio with carrier oils, it will wash off with warm water.

Avocado produces my favorite oil for my beeswax bars, and during the summer, I use avocado oil exclusively as my carrier oil due to its SPF properties, though that is certainly not its only benefit. Studies have shown that oil from both the seed and the pulp act as an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory, and have anticarcinogenic effects, while the oil extracted from the pulp can act as an emulsifier, aiding in the process of holding together water and oil to create cream-based substances, which is effected by pH and can be improved with the addition of salt.

Almond oil is is a fantastic carrier oil with many beneficial properties. A new study has shown potential for the ability to decrease lead toxicity and promotes further research into its effect counteracting more heavy metals and other pollutants’ effects on the body. Clinical experience shows promise for reducing scarring and smoothing wrinkles, which would make sense since the study into its affect on lead toxicity also revealed that almond oil’s anti-oxidant properties are caused by its chemical composition. It is more stable than bitter almond oil, making it suitable for sensitive areas like the face, armpits and genitals.

Grape seed oil is optional and can be substituted with more almond oil. I also add it in because it has similar effects as those of olive oil, and I have found that when I use both of them together, they compliment and reinforce one another.

Both Orange oil and Tangerine Oil pair beautifully with Lavender Oil, producing a more potent floral scent than lavender oil on its own. In addition to use as fragrance, both essential oils hold multiple benefits of their own.

Orange oil or Tangerine oil Essential oil from peels of fruit in the citrus family are antimicrobial due to the polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenes and carotenes that they contain and possess free radical scavenging properties which lead to antioxidant properties, helping to slow the effect of aging in our polluted environment. Orange oil contains high concentrations of phenolic acids, which exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic, antimicrobial and antiviral activities, all which aid in cleansing properties for topical application. Tangerine oil has been shown to be effective against mold in multiple studies, and another study showed that though less effective than prescription antibiotics, tangerine oil has promise of antimicrobial/antibacterial activity

Lavender oil has shown promise in clinical studies of increasing speed of healing capabilities of human collagen. This combined with the anti-inflammatory properties that it obtains helps counteract the everyday wear and tear on the epidermis, as well as preventing frequent infections like acne and in treating minor conditions like sunburn (not severe conditions).

Frankincense, also known as Boswellia is a resin that comes from an ancient plant that has been harvested for thousands of years. It contains boswellic acids, most frequent and effective among them being AKBA, which lead to the resin of the plant containing anti-inflammatory properties. Due to these anti-inflammatory properties, Frankincense has been used in treatment for inflammatory diseases such as heart disease and asthma, as well as showing promise in relieving symptoms of osteoporosis in the knees. Studies have also shown promise of the resin improving memory and learning ability in animals and humans.

Lemongrass has been studied and found to be effective against multiple strains of bacteria that have started to grow resistant to prescription drugs, including E. Coli, and has also proven effective against some common strains of fungus, acting as a natural preservative.

Tea tree oil has strong antibacterial and antimicrobial properties without harming sensitive areas when applied in topical products or compresses. It has shown to be effective against E. Coli and prevents germ formation. TTO has terpenes that block AChE (acetylcholinesterases) in parasites, allowing it to act as an antiparasitic, deterring lice, as well as an immune system regulator, which allows the oil to aid the body in fighting and preventing infection without causing harm.

“ Applied to the skin, phytomolecules interact with skin cells and affect the skin well-being and appearance,” Greta Faccio, PhD stated in Plant Complexity and Cosmetic Innovation.

Based on the botanical properties of essential and carrier oils, I theorized that I could produce I cleansing bar similar in use and physical features to bar soap. Effective penetration of topical solutions relies on a carrier oil to penetrate the epidermis, and an emollient to allow the solution to spread and apply evenly and an emulsifier to hold together oil and water-based ingredients and allow the solution that has captured germs, dirt and debris to be rinsed off. Effectiveness of essential oils is dependent upon the amount used, so balance is important.

Recipe

1 Ounce Beeswax

1 1/4 fluid ounce Avocado Oil

1 fluid ounce Almond Oil

3/4 fluid ounce Grape Seed Oil

1/8 fluid ounce Raspberry Seed Oil

12 Drops Tea Tree Oil

12 Drops Frankincense

5 Drops Tangerine Oil

5 Drops Lavender Oil

3 Drops Lemongrass Oil

Instructions:

Place/pour all ingredients into a heat-resistant bowl over a pot filled 1/3 full of water

Adjust scent to your preference by adding a few more drops of preferred essential oil

Heat on stove over medium-low until beeswax is melted

Pour into molds and leave for a couple hours to solidify and cool

#homemade soap #soap #moisturizer #diy #soapmaking

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newstfionline · 6 years

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How to Increase Your Attention Span: 5 Secrets from Neuroscience

Eric Barker, Barking Up The Wrong Tree, March 25, 2018

The human brain is the most amazing thing in the universe. It got us to the moon, built the pyramids, cured smallpox... And it also can’t seem to go 6 minutes without checking Facebook.

How long can college students focus without switching to something fun like social media or texting?

5 minutes. Tops.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Regardless of age, students were able to stay focused and attend to that important work only for a short period of time--three to five minutes--before most students self-interrupted their studying to switch to another task.

And that was under lab conditions when they were specifically instructed to focus as long as they could on something they were told was important. Yikes.

Our attention spans are evaporating. Focus is a lost art. Research shows we check our phones up to 150 times a day--about every six to seven minutes that we’re awake. In fact, we’re so distracted we’re walking into things.

According to one report in Scientific American, data from a sample of 100 US hospitals found that while in 2004 an estimated nationwide 559 people had hurt themselves by walking into a stationary object while texting, by 2010 that number topped 1,500, and estimates by the study authors predicted the number of injuries would double between 2010 and 2015.

Still with me? Good. (Sorry--after those stats, I really do need to ask.) So how do we steal back our attention spans? Luckily, some experts have answers...

Adam Gazzaley is a neuroscientist and a professor in neurology, physiology and psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. Larry Rosen is professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Their book is The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World.

First off, stop blaming technology. It’s not your phone’s fault; it’s your brain’s fault. Tech just makes it worse. Our brains are designed to always be seeking new information.

In fact, the same system in your grey matter that keeps you on the lookout for food and water actually rewards you for discovering novel information.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

The role of the dopamine system has actually been shown to relate directly to information-seeking behavior in primates. Macaque monkeys, for example, respond to receiving information similarly to the way they respond to primitive rewards such as food or water. Moreover, “single dopamine neurons process both primitive and cognitive rewards, and suggest that current theories of reward-seeking must be revised to include information-seeking.”

Okay, fine--but if your brain is so good at seeking out new info, why is it so terrible at follow through?

Because the information-seeking part is way stronger than the “cognitive control” part that allows you to complete tasks.

And focusing isn’t the only activity that taxes our grey matter. fMRI studies of the brain show ignoring irrelevant stimuli is not a passive process.

Just like noise-canceling headphones need batteries, your brain has to expend precious resources in order to filter distractions around you. So doing the same task is harder in environments with more tempting or annoying stimuli.

Alright, you know a little more about how your brain works. So how do you go about increasing your attention span? First step: don’t waste what little you have...

1) Stop Multitasking. Juggling multiple activities not only divides your attention among the tasks--but you also pay a cognitive “penalty” on top of that to manage the switching.

This results in more errors and makes things take longer than they would have if you had done them each separately.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

...if the two goals both require cognitive control to enact them, such as holding the details of a complex scene in mind (working memory) at the same time as searching the ground for a rock (selective attention), then they will certainly compete for limited prefrontal cortex resources… The process of neural network switching is associated with a decrease in accuracy, often for both tasks, and a time delay compared to doing one task at a time.

Oh, but some folks are still going to fight me on this one: “But you don’t understand, I’m really good at multitasking!”

Oh, really? If you think that, you’re actually the worst at it.

It has been shown that people who believe that they are good at multitasking actually tend to be those who do the worst on laboratory tests of multitasking, leading the study authors to conclude that “participants’ perceptions of their multi-tasking ability were poorly grounded in reality.”

Yes, you probably feel good when you multitask. But feeling good and efficiency are not the same thing. Multitasking meets your emotional need to do something new and exciting... while also slowing your brain down and increasing errors.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

...the reason behind the constant task switching is a desire to feed emotional needs--often by switching from school work to entertainment or social communication--rather than cognitive or intellectual needs.

You wouldn’t even try to lift 5000 pounds. You know your body can’t do it. So stop thinking you can efficiently multitask. You now know your brain can’t do it.

Okay, so what’s the single most powerful way to actually increase your attention span?

2) Exercise. Strengthen your body and you strengthen your brain. In fact, cognitive control is measurably better after just a single exercise session.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Boosts in cognitive control abilities occur even after engagement in a single bout of physical exertion, as assessed in healthy children and those diagnosed with ADHD, with benefits extending to academic achievement. Interestingly, it seems that the impact on the brain is greater if an exercise program is also cognitively engaging. Similar training benefits of acute and chronic exercise on cognitive control have been shown in both young adults and middle-age adults. There is also a very large body of research on the cognitive benefits of physical exercise in older adults.

And while we’re discussing things physical, let me confirm what should be obvious: get your sleep. While just one exercise session boosts cognitive control, just one bad night’s sleep reduces it.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

...even a single bad night’s sleep can impair cognitive control and how ongoing sleep deprivation can have severe and long-term consequences.

Exercise makes you brain healthier and that sharpens cognitive control. But what’s the most direct way to improve your attention span?

3) Meditate. Focus on your breath and when your mind wanders, return your attention to your breath. That’s meditation in a nutshell. Guess what else that is?

Attention training.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Results indicated that participants exhibited improvements in selective attention compared to those in a control group who did not train over the same time period. This study was consistent with findings from previous research that showed expert meditators excelled on selective attention tasks compared to nonmeditators. Over the years more evidence has accrued that meditation techniques improve cognitive control, including sustained attention, speed of processing, and working memory capacity.

Start with a minute a day. Will you see enormous effects from that? Nope. But it sure will stop you from telling me “I don’t have time to meditate.”

Eventually build up to a habit of 20 minutes a day and you’ll start to see why everyone keeps yakking about how great it is.

I know, I know: exercise is hard. And, frankly, meditation is harder. So what’s a way to improve cognitive control as passively as possible?

4) Call Your Mother Nature. Exercise and meditation both strengthen your attention muscles. Spending time in nature recharges those muscles when they’ve been exhausted.

The effect is so powerful that merely looking at a picture of nature had restorative effects.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

A 2008 paper described a significant improvement in their working memory performance after the nature walk, but not after the urban walk. Similar beneficial effects of nature exposure have been shown to occur in children with ADHD and young adults with depression, and amazingly even in response to just viewing nature pictures.

Ever get to the end of a day and think, “I don’t want to make any more decisions”? Treat yourself to a Google Image search for “nature.” Yes, it’s that simple.

You’ve strengthened your attention with exercise and meditation. You’ve given your cognitive control a recharge with nature. What’s another angle for boosting focus?

5) Reduce Interference. You can improve your ability to focus by changing your brain or changing your behavior. And it’s best if you do both. We talked about changing your brain. And the best way to change your behavior is to make sure that anything which might distract you is far away.

Simply put, make your environment as boring as possible when trying to focus. Research shows even having a phone in the room can be distracting.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

A recent study by Professor Bill Thornton and his colleagues at the University of Southern Maine demonstrated that when performing complex tasks that require our full attention even the mere presence of the experimenter’s phone (not the participant’s phone) led to distraction and worse performance. In the same study, the presence of a student’s silenced phone in a classroom had an equally negative impact on attention.

If at all possible, “batch” all email checking, texting and social media into three pre-designated times. Then turn off all notifications.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Results indicated that when participants--a mixture of college students and community adults--checked only three times a day they reported less stress, which predicted better overall well-being on a range of psychological and physical dimensions.

And taking breaks is not only okay, but beneficial. Try gradually extending the amount of time between breaks to further build those attention muscles, Hercules.

#attention span #focus #distractions

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