Certain cleaning products with pleasant smells may leave you with more than a spotless home—they may also leave you with a squeaky-clean conscience. Pleasant smells may actually promote honesty, based on two experiments from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Former studies have shown that using cleaning products with citrus scents can help motivate cleaning-related tasks as well as keeping a cleaner dining environment. In much the same way, cleanliness is associated with physical purity and moral purity.

“By demonstrating that the association between morality and cleanliness is bidirectional, the current research identifies an unobtrusive way—a clean scent—to curb exploitation and promote altruism,” authors wrote.

The first experiment was a trust game designed to test integrity. Twenty-eight participants were assigned to either a scented (with citrus Windex) or an unscented room. For the game, participants acted as receivers. The senders, who they believed to be other study participants in another room, invested $4.

Research assistants told the receivers that the investment had tripled, and it was up to the receiver to decide how the money should be split. They could decide to say the investment was unsuccessful and keep a portion or the entire amount, or they could choose not to exploit the sender and split the money fairly.

Individuals from the scented rooms acted more honestly than those from unscented rooms. They returned almost twice the amount of cash, an average of $5.33 versus $2.81 for individuals from unscented rooms.

In a second experiment with 99 undergraduate students, participants were again assigned randomly to scented or unscented rooms. This time participants were given a packet of unrelated tasks to work on, one of which was for Habitat for Humanity. Participants indicated interest in volunteering as well as donating money to the charitable organization.

To control for variations in mood, participants took a version of the PANAS (Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule) test. In addition to showing more interest in volunteering, the experimental group was also 16 percent more willing to donate than baseline counterparts.

“The link from cleanliness to virtuous behavior appears to be a nonconscious one,” authors write. “In neither experiment did participants recognize an influence of scent on their behavior, and in Experiment 2, perceived cleanliness did not differ by condition nor correlate with the effects."

Much of the effect depends on whether or not the smell is pleasing to the individual. Researchers want to further investigate the different effects scents have on a person's moral behavior.

Looking for more information about general well-being? Visit Healia's Health and Wellness Community.

A visual recording tool, the SenseCam, offers great promise as a memory aid for patients with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

SenseCam automatically snaps pictures every 30 seconds to create and archive image sequences. Its fish-eye lens creates images similar to the wearer’s natural perspective. It is also capable of recording short videos. About the size of a deck of cards, SenseCam weighs just 3.2 ounces and stores up to 30,000 pictures.

“The small size of the recall device makes it possible to integrate it into common portable consumer products, such as MP3 players, purses, clothing, hats, backpacks, necklaces, collars, and other human-wearable products,” developers wrote in the patent.

The images primarily trigger episodic recall, memory of events and experiences. This is the most common form of memory loss for Alzheimer's patients.

Lyndsay Williams invented SenseCam for Microsoft Cambridge in 1999. The device has since been used to monitor diet, anxiety triggers and disaster response volunteers. Gordon Bell, 75, one of Microsoft’s lead researchers, has been using the SenseCam to record every detail of his daily life every day for the last ten years. “I capture everything that I can that is of value,” he says. “I think of my e-memory and bio-memory as one.”

SenseCam features a 24-hour battery life, and according to Bell it’s also extremely durable. His first SenseCam lasted 4 years. That’s over 420,480 pictures! Because so much information is recorded, Bell stresses the importance of a good filing system.

“We have a collections mechanism that gives as a by-product a more general file system beyond (an organizational) tree,  ability to collect stuff together and name it, keywords, taxonomies,” he says. “My favorite organizing principle is facets.”

Apart from day-to-day activity, Bell says it’s come in handy when meeting new people at tradeshows and conferences. He’s come to depend on and respect the system a great deal, too. “All of your life’s images have a strong impact on being able to refresh your life,” he says.

SenseCam shows great potential, but further research is needed to determine its full effect on memory recall. In the meantime, you can read more about Bell's experience in his book, Total Recall, or follow MyLifeBits until the official release date is set.

Visit Healia's Alzheimer's Community.

Ice cream and other foods with certain types of saturated fat may encourage overeating. The fat interferes with the brain, interrupting signals that tell the body it is full, according to a new study from the University of Texas Southwestern. If you’ve been enjoying a lovely weekend with Ben&Jerry’s, stop right there!

UT Southwestern conducted a study on the effects of different types of fats on the hypothalamus and other parts of the brain. “Normally, our body is primed to say when we’ve had enough, but that doesn’t always happen when we’re eating something good,” said study author Dr. Deborah Clegg, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern. What they found was that certain fatty acids blocked hormone signals from insulin and leptin, hormones that regulate weight and appetite.

The study examined the effects in rats. The animals received equal amounts of different types of fats. The first group of rats was fed a diet high in palmitic fatty acids, the second monounsaturated fatty acids, and the third with oleic fatty acids. These groups were then divided further into two groups. In the first group, fats were directly injected into the bran via the carotid artery, while the second group of rats received fats via a tube.

“We found that the palmitic acid specifically reduced the ability of leptin and insulin to activate their intracellular signaling cascades,” Dr. Clegg said. “The oleic fat did not do this. The action was very specific to palmitic acid, which is very high in foods that are rich in saturated fat.”

Oleic acids are naturally-occuring “good” fats found in foods such as olives and some types of soybeans. Palmitic acid, in contrast, is a type of saturated fatty acid typically found in foods high in animal fats, such as beef, butter, and cheese. These types of fats are intended for long-term energy storage, but when a person consumes a diet high in palmitic acid it can accelerate obesity.

“What we’ve shown in this study is that someone’s entire brain chemistry can change in a very short period of time,” Dr. Clegg said. The study showed that the effects of these types of fats can last as long as three days.

“Our findings suggest that when you eat something high in fat, your brain gets 'hit' with the fatty acids, and you become resistant to insulin and leptin,” she said. “Since you’re not being told by the brain to stop eating, you overeat.”

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Hopelessness may increase your risk of stroke, according to new information from the University of Minnesota. Researchers found that higher levels of hopelessness are linked with accelerated development of early atherosclerosis in middle-aged women.

Atherosclerosis causes plaque to build up on the insides of arteries, reducing the flow of oxygen-rich blood to organs and other parts of the body. Arteries in the neck can thicken, a condition called carotid artery intimal-medial thickening (IMT). Atherosclerosis increases risk of heart attack and can block blood flow to the brain and lead to stroke.

Science has explored the connection between hopelessness and IMT in men and women with cardiovascular disease, but little was known about the link in healthy women. “This is the first study to suggest that hopelessness may be related to subclinical cardiovascular disease in women without clinical symptoms of heart disease,” said Susan A. Everson-Rose, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and co-author of the study.

Data for the study was collected from two sites in Chicago and Pittsburgh, using the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Five hundred and fifty-nine women (average age 50) living in the city participated in the study. Participants appeared to be in good health, showing no signs of cardiovascular disease.

SWAN used questionnaires to measure the association between IMT and hopelessness frequency using an eight-point scale, asking participants about personal goals and future life expectations. Scores of five and above were considered “high.” Ultrasounds were then used to measure the thickness of arteries in the neck.

Participants with the highest hopelessness scores showed an average of .06 mm greater thickening than their hopeful counterparts (.02 mm is equal to roughly one year’s thickening). Researchers discovered that hopelessness triggered a hormonal release in response to mood change that can amplify the effects of atherosclerosis and the thickening of neck arteries.

Researchers plan to continue exploring the unique relationship between hopelessness and cardiovascular disease in future studies. “These findings suggest that women who experience feelings of hopelessness may have greater risk for future heart disease and stroke,” Everson-Rose said. "We look forward to examining the longitudinal relations between hopelessness and heart disease risk in women."

There may be added benefits to that diet you’re on—following a Mediterranean-style diet may put you at a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers from the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center found that individuals who adhered to a Mediterranean-type diet in addition to exercise were 60% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible degenerative disease affecting the brain, often causing severe memory loss (a result of damage to the hippocampus) and destroyed cognitive ability. Alzheimer’s, which typically begins around age 60, is the leading cause of dementia among the elderly.

Damage to the brain may begin as early as 20 years before any complications are detected. Alzheimer’s begins when neural tangles form in the entorhinal cortex. This causes the neurons to function less efficiently, and the neurons eventually die, causing these areas of the brain to shrink.

“We know that some part of Alzheimer’s is related to genetic changes and as time goes on we discover more and more of these changes,” explains lead author Nikos Scarmeas, M.D., and associate professor of clinical neurology at Columbia. “But it is also possible that non-genetic changes, including lifestyle and behavior, may also be affecting our brain health and our risk of developing brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.”

The study examined 1,880 multi-ethnic individuals, average age 77, from Northern Manhattan in New York City. The group was divided into two smaller groups, for which information on both physical activity and mental status was available. Participants did not show signs of dementia at the beginning of the study, and were followed from 1996 to 2006, measured every 18 months for neurological changes.

Participants were measured for physical activity level (no physical activity, light activity such as golfing, moderate activity like biking, or vigorous activity such as jogging) and how well they stuck to the diet (on a scale of 0-9). Diet scores were higher for individuals who consumed more fruits, vegetables, legumes and fish, and less meat, dairy and saturated fats.

“Often times people who exercise also follow a healthy diet and vice versa,” Scarmeas says. “We wanted to tease out which of these two behaviors may be associated with lower risk for AD, or if the combination of the two is associated with decreased risk even further.”

Individuals who had low physical activity had a 29-41% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who  were physically inactive, while individuals with “much” physical activity further decreased their risk by 37-50%. Strongly following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a 40% risk reduction for Alzheimr’s. Individuals with high diet adherence and high activity individuals showed a much lower absolute risk than those with low diet adherence and activity status, reduced from 21% to 9%.

According to Scarmeas, this study emphasizes the importance of a healthy lifestyle. "We need to understand and learn more about the exact biological mechanisms that may connect physical activity and diet with the biological changes of Alzheimer's disease," he says. "This study is important because it shows that people may be able to alter their risk of developing Alzheimer's by modifying their lifestyles through diet and exercise."

Learn more about Alzheimer's disease by visiting Healia's Alzheimer's Community.

 The air quality in and around your home may have negative effects on your child’s intelligence, according to a study by Columbia University Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH).

The study, released a week ago by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), found that children exposed to chemical pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in the air, water, and soil scored lower on IQ tests than children with lower exposure.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are chemical pollutants that can be found in the air, water, and soil. PAHs are typically released from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, diesel, oil, gas, etc.), tobacco and other natural substances. Auto emissions are a major source of PAHs in the United States, especially in heavily trafficked urban areas.

Doctor Frederica Perera, lead author and professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, compares the exposure to such pollutants to low-level lead exposure. “These findings are of concern because these decreases in IQ could be educationally meaningful in terms of school performance,” she says. “IQ is an important predictor of future academic performance.”

A child’s developing fetal and nervous system is more vulnerable than an adult’s, and PAHs have been associated with higher cancer risk, asthma, allergies, low birth weight, and a reduced head circumference. Reduced head circumference, according to CCCEH, is connected with lower cognitive functioning and academic performance. In this study, the first of its kind, researchers hoped to study the relationship of in utero PAH exposure on a child’s intelligence.
 
Participants were non-smoking black and Dominican-American women, aged 18-35, residing in Washington Heights, Harlem and South Bronx, N.Y.—areas with higher pollutant exposure. During pregnancy participants regularly completed questionnaires and were asked to wear monitors that measured PAH levels.

Researchers followed the children, measuring IQ levels at age three and again at age five using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of the Intelligence. Of the 249 children, 140 had higher than the average 2.26 n/m3 level of exposure. The mean score for all children was 98.72, with a mean score of 96.6 for children whose exposure was classified as “high” and 101.6 for children with lower exposure. Scores differed by 4.67 on the verbal and 4.31 points on the full-scale test.

Researchers will continue to follow children to age 11 to learn more about the effects of PAHs on intelligence and child development. “It should serve as a warning bell to us all,” says Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., director of NIEHS. “We need to do more to prevent environmental exposures from harming our children.”

Want more information about health during pregnancy? Visit Healia's Pregnancy Community or take the Healia Pregnancy Quiz!

The old adage that age 40 is "over the hill" has come under fire recently as aging baby-boomers proclaim that "50 is the new 40" or "life begins at 50." With respect to brain function however, a more appropriate new aphorism might be "30 is the new 40." Researchers at the University of Virginia reported this week that some mental abilities begin to decline at age 27 after peaking at age 22.

The seven-year study of more than 2,000 healthy people aged 18-60 involved 12 tests of mental agility such as solving puzzles, recalling words and story details, and spotting patterns. For 9 of the 12 tests, the peak performance was achieved on average at age 22. By age 27, scores on the three tests that measure brain speed, reasoning, and visual puzzle-solving ability all began to decline. Scores on memory-related tests began to decline at around age 37, while scores on tests of cumulative knowledge such as vocabulary and general information continued to increase until the age of 60.

The study appears in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

For more on the relationship between cognitive abilities and aging, join the Healia Support Group for Healthy Aging.

_{Photo: Liz Henry, Flickr, Creative Commons}

Canadian researchers report today that athletes who suffer a concussion while playing sports continue to show negative effects of their injury 30 years later. The results are alarming because until recently, most research into the aftereffects of concussions has focused on the period immediately following the injury or at most a few years after.

Researchers at the Université de Montréal gave a questionnaire to former university-level athletes (mainly hockey players) who are now in their 50s and asked them if they had ever suffered a concussion during their playing days. The researchers identified a group of 19 healthy former athletes who had sustained concussion more than 30 years ago and another group of 21 healthy former athletes with no history of concussion. When compared, the results showed that former athletes who had suffered only one or two concussions showed declines in their attention and memory, as well as a slowing of movements compared to athletes who had not suffered a concussion.

Specifically, former athletes who had suffered a concussion more than 30 years ago (and not since) showed signs of mild cognitive impairment on the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), which tests orientation, attention, immediate and short-term recall, language, and the ability to follow simple verbal and written commands. They also showed deficits on tests of episodic memory and executive function. Electroencephalogram (EEG) tests showed impairments in brain activity as well: concussed participants showed aberrant responses to unpredictable stimuli. Even their overall movements were slower than their non-concussed counterparts.

The results of the study are alarming on several levels. For one, they call into question the current thinking about sports concussions, which is often focused on ensuring safety by determining how much time should pass after a concussion before an athlete returns to competition. The results also indicate that sports concussions may actually accelerate the aging process in the brain, perhaps making these athletes more vulnerable to developing severe neurological disorders including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

However, it is important to note that all the study participants were all still fit and healthy and continued to engage in some form of regular physical activity at least three times a week. They lived relatively normal lives despite their mild impairments. The researchers intend to follow the participants in the coming years to determine if they experience more severe deteriorations in their mental functioning and quality of life.

The researchers suggest that athletes should be better informed about the long-term effects of sports concussion on mental and physical functioning so that they can weigh the potential risks of returning to competition after a concussion.

Do you have child who plays contact sports? If he or she experiences an on-field concussion, you may want to consider talking to the doctor about the risks of a return to competition. For more information about concussions, join the Healia Health Community for Head and Brain Injuries.

 

_{Photo: JamieL.WilliamsPhotograph y, Flickr, Creative Commons} 

This week is Folic Acid Awareness Week and women of childbearing age should be particularly aware of the benefits of folic acid. The Week is sponsored by the National Council on Folic Acid (NCFA), a partnership of national and state organizations and government agencies charged to improve health by promoting the benefits of folic acid.

Folic acid is a B-vitamin necessary for proper cell growth. If taken before and during early pregnancy, folic acid can prevent from 50% up to 70% of some forms of birth defects called neural tube defects. According to the CDC, birth defects of a baby’s brain or spine happen in the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman knows that she is pregnant.

It is possible, but difficult, to consume the recommended daily amount of folic acid in foods. In 1998, the Food and Drug Administration required the addition of folic acid into enriched breads, cereals, flours, pastas, rice, and other grain products to help increase folic acid consumption in the U.S.

Women of childbearing age should take 400 micrograms of synthetic folic acid daily, from fortified foods and/or a daily multi-vitamin, and eat a variety of foods as part of a healthy diet. According to the NCFA, the easiest way to get the recommended daily amount of folic acid is to take a multi-vitamin each day.

Additional health benefits associated with folic acid include reductions in cardiovascular disease and decreased risk of colon, cervical, and breast cancers. Folic acid may also help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and protect against Parkinson’s disease.

Folic Acid Awareness Week is January 7-13, 2008. To find more information regarding folic acid, please search healia.com.

folic acid Folic Acid Awareness Month birth defects

Do you know how your brain copes with a stream of undifferentiated information? Five researchers at Stanford University’s School of Medicine recently discovered that people’s brains show distinct activity levels associated with distinct patterns in music.

Volunteers listened to classical music by William Boyce, whose pieces are noted for clear and well-defined segments. Ironically, brain activity picked up during the silent periods. It's during these times that the brain breaks information down into easily comprehensible chunks. Neuroscientists refer to these activities as

"segmentation processes" - the techniques used by the brain to take a stream of sensory information and parcel it up into more easily comprehended pieces.

Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and were able to see brain activity pick up during the ten second silent transitions between movements. This brain activity occurred in two areas of the right side of the brain: the ventral region of the prefrontal cortex, and in the dorsal region. The right side of the brain is believed to be involved in processing music. The researchers wrote that examining

such segmentation processes in music may be a useful window into similar processes in other domains, such as spoken and signed language, visual perception, and tactile perception.

brain activity music silence MRI segmentation