Mindfully Healing

Although few people know this depression symptom, it’s frequently reported by sufferers. People experiencing mood disorders like depression often say their thinking has become ‘fuzzy’. Now a large study has shown that the effect is real. Published in the journal Brain, the study tested the concentration of 612 women, two-thirds of whom had been clinically depressed or had bipolar disorder (Ryan et al., 2015). The results showed that women with mood disorders did worse on the test. Almost all those who performed in the bottom 5% had mood disorders. Brain

New brain cells in the hippocampus — an area critical for memory — were reduced by 40%. Even moderate alcohol intake could reduce the brain’s ability to produce new cells by 40%, research suggests. Regularly having as little as 3 to 4 alcoholic drinks could reduce the structural integrity of the adult brain. Ms Megan Anderson, the study’s first author, said: “Moderate drinking can become binge drinking without the person realizing it. In the short term there may not be any noticeable motor skills or overall functioning problems, but in

There is something about the voice which is effective in communicating status. Lowering the pitch of your voice in the first few seconds of an interaction can help you influence others, new research finds. Those who lowered their voice were also seen as more prestigious and admirable by their peers in the study. Dr Joey Cheng, the study’s first author, said: “What excites me about this research is that we now know a little bit more about how humans use their voices to signal status. In the past, we focused