Mindfully Healing

This Alzheimer’s early warning sign could provide a way of warding off the neurodegenerative disease. Poor sleep could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s in people who are otherwise healthy, new research finds. Scientists have found links between certain biological markers of Alzheimer’s and sleep disturbances. Dr Barbara B. Bendlin, who led the study, said: “Previous evidence has shown that sleep may influence the development or progression of Alzheimer’s disease in various ways. For example, disrupted sleep or lack of sleep may lead to amyloid plaque buildup because the brain’s

From Texas to Tehran and from Dakar to Beijing, the results were the same. Women who are almost underweight are most attractive to men, a recent study finds. Dr Lobke Vaanholt, one of the study’s authors, said: “Although most people will not be surprised that extreme thinness was perceived as the most attractive body type, since this prevails so heavily in media, culture and fashion, the important advance is that now we have an evolutionary understanding of why this is the case.” For the research, people in 10 different countries

The eye movements that indicate whether someone is thinking of you as a friend or potential lover. People’s eyes scan our bodies differently depending on whether they want to date us or just be friends, new research finds. The study tracked the eye movements of 105 heterosexual young people as they looked at photos of strangers. Both men and women looked more at the head and chest of a person they were considering dating, the study found. In comparison, they looked more at someone’s legs and feet when they were

The study found links between signatures and the darker parts of narcissism, such as authoritativeness and exploitativeness. People with bigger signatures are more likely to be narcissists, new research finds. The conclusion comes from a study of the signatures of 500 chief financial officers. They found that the CFOs with the largest signatures were more likely to bend the truth. In this case by misreporting the company’s earnings or relaxing internal controls. Dr Charles Ham, one of the study’s authors, said: “In an ideal setting, you would be in direct

There will be a test, so I hope you are paying attention. When a person starts to blink more rapidly, it suggests their mind is wandering, research finds. Blinking sets up a tiny barrier against the outside world, allowing the brain to focus on something different. The researchers were inspired by neuroscientific findings that parts of the brain are less active when the mind wanders. Dr Daniel Smilek, the study’s first author, said: “And we thought, OK, if that’s the case, maybe we’d see that the body would start to

Depression symptoms were reduced in almost half the people given the injection. A single botox injection has been found to substantially improve depressive symptoms, research finds. Botox is typically used to decrease the appearance of wrinkles in the face. But, researchers have found that it can also help to treat the symptoms of depression. Professor Norman E. Rosenthal, who led the study, said: “This research is groundbreaking because it offers those who suffer from depression and their doctors an entirely new approach to treating the condition — one that doesn’t

Why early life stress causes depression. Early life stress decreases the adult ability to feel enthusiasm and experience pleasure. This is one of the reasons that experiencing stress early in life is a major risk factor for depression. Studies show that neglected or abused children are almost twice as likely to experience depression later in life. One of the causes is thought to be how neglect and abuse affects the way the brain processes reward. Dr. Jamie Hanson, the study’s first author, explained: “Our analyses revealed that over a two-year

Three-quarters of people can tell your mating preferences just from looking at your face. People read a surprising amount into our faces, just from one glance. Men who have large noses, square jaws and small eyes, are apparently telling the world they prefer short-term relationships, research finds. Women with larger lips and wide eyes are sending the same short-term relationship signal — whether they like it or not. The conclusions come from a study in which people were shown faces and asked to guess their attitudes to: Short-term relationships, one-night

Massive study of 100,000 people finds evidence for long-suspected danger of anxiety and sleeping drugs. Like many drugs, those prescribed for anxiety disorders, like diazepam and temazepam, have a number of known side-effects like daytime sleepiness, falls, an increased risk of dementia — and they are also addictive. Now, though, a new study has found evidence for a long-suspected danger of these drugs as well as common sleeping pills: an increased risk of death. The large study, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at data from over 100,000 patients

Surprising signs of intelligence include a tendency towards mental illness, being prone to worry, sleeping late and more… 1. Mental illness Disorders of mood could be the price some people pay for high intelligence, recent research finds. Psychologists have found that higher childhood IQ is linked to features of bipolar disorder in young adulthood. The research adds fuel to the debate over the connection between intelligence, creativity and mental health issues. Other studies now suggest a link between intelligence and mental illness that may go back into our evolutionary past.