SportsGeezer

Pumping Up Your Brain Is Easier Than You Think

First, readers should know that "fluid intelligence" is not knowing which kind of beer tastes best with a particular meal. It's the ability to reason and solve problems, such as figuring out which kind of beer tastes best with a particular meal. The good news is that researchers now think that fluid intelligence, once considered a constant, like height, can be improved. CBS News reports that experiments conducted at the University of Michigan suggest that a demanding memory task might kick your intelligence up a notch or two, and the more you engage your brain this way, the smarter you might become. Psychologists asked healthy adult volunteers (average age: 26) to take a standard test for fluid intelligence, and then perform a series of training exercises designed to improve their working memory. The researchers divided the volunteers into four groups; each group repeated the exercises over a different number of days. CBS News reports that when scientists retested the volunteers' fluid intelligence after the training and compared the scores to those who did not receive training they noted a significant improvement in fluid intelligence scores among those who participated in the demanding memory tasks. There were greater improvements seen in those who spent the most time training.
Read more from CBS News.

Three Reasons to Take a Nap

Geezer understands that virtually none of his readers need a reason to take a nap, but some readers who suffer from persistent work ethic may want a reason to justify taking a nap. This article in the Washington Post offers at least three: naps improve our memory; naps make us more creative; and daily naps may improve lifespan. The Post reports that experiments conducted by Matthew A. Tucker of Harvard Medical School suggest that a 45-minute nap can enhance the ability to perform tasks relying upon memory. And Dimitrios Trichopoulos, also at Harvard, has found that among a sample of 23,000 adult Greeks, habitual nappers were 30 percent less likely to die of heart disease.
There's more here, but Geezer doesn't have time read it. Must take a short nap.
Read more in the Washington Post.

Hypertension: A Good Reason to Just Say Yes to Drugs

No. Hypertension does not mean being tense. No. Hypertension cannot be cured by losing weight. Yes, as many as 66 percent of people 60 and older have elevated pressures that warrant treatment, so you would think at least 50 percent of people over 60 would get their facts straight. They don't, as Jane Brody reports in the New York Times. The big take away here: don't count on getting your blood pressure down without drugs. It's a nice idea, and weight loss, improvements in diet and exercise habits can help people lower an elevated pressure, but, the Times tells us, most people need help from medication, notably a diuretic in combination with one or two other drugs. Read more in the New York Times. 

What Stress Does to Your Body: A Visual Aide

Geezer finds it far too stressful to contemplate, but more courageous readers who have been longing for a four-color illustration of the unfortunate effects of stress on the human body are in luck, thanks to the info-graphics editors at the Washington Post. Have a look. 

Shark: The Other Kind of Attack that Can Kill a Triathlete

David Martin, a 66-year-old retired veterinarian, was swimming with a nine amateur athletes from the San Diego Triathlon Club when his body suddenly lurched up, out of the water, then went under. Others in the group, which was 150 yards from the beach, knew immediately that Martin had been hit by a shark. When Martin surfaced again, they grabbed his flailing body and pulled him to shore, where he was later pronounced dead. One fellow triathlete said that if Martin hadn't been wearing a wet suit, his legs would have been ripped off by what is believed to be a great white shark. The beach has been closed.
Read more from ABC News.

In Game of Life, Status Trumps Money

If you had to choose between status or cash, which way would you go? That was the question that researchers in Japan and at the National Institutes of Mental Health in Maryland hoped to answer with experiments that used an MRI to watch their subjects brains as they made decisions that would reward them with either money or status. The answer: It's close, but status has the lead.
In the Japanese study, researchers observing 19 participants found that the brain was activated in response to high and low appraisals by others (but did not perk up to more neutral comments); it also responded to monetary wins and losses but was quiet if a player broke even.
At NIMH, researchers scanned the brains of 72 volunteers as they attempted to earn money in a computer game. During play, the researchers occasionally revealed how supposed competitors (who, unbeknownst to them, were fake) were faring. The scientists created an arbitrary ranking system of the real and faux players in which some of the bogus gamers appeared to perform better—and others worse—than the real ones. The participants were told that their status in the game had no effect on how much money they could win, but that earning more money could boost their rank.
Lead researcher Caroline Zink told the Scientific American that the brains of players reacted very strongly to the other players and specifically the status of the other players. The journal reports that, according to Zink, the striatum became just as animated when players were given a shot at improving their social standing as it did when they won a buck. And that wasn't the only indicator that they cared about how others perceived them. She says another brain region (the medial prefrontal cortex) involved in sizing up others went wild when players were shown photos of competitors who outperformed them.
Read more in the Scientific American.

 

Good-bye Nalgene, Hello Whatever

Now that the potential for a class action lawsuit has persuaded the Nalge Nunc International Corporation to phase out the manufacture of Nalgene sports bottles, Geezer thirsts for an answer to one question: What will replace the colorful flock of Nalgene bottles that gathers on the sidelines of soccer fields shortly before game time? Beer bottles, which are often consulted in the aftermath of Geezer's games, would render play even more laughable. Jot your favorite replacement in the comment function below. In the meantime, here's the lowdown on Nalgene's demise.

The Low Carbon Diet: Eating Our Way to a Healthier Planet

Gosh, the Low Carbon Diet Program, as developed by the Bon Appetit Management Company, is a complicated business. Geezer is pleased to attempt to read what is billed as " first national program to highlight the significant connections between food and climate change," and he appreciates the effort by Bon Appetit, a food service company that feeds some of America's most respected companies (Target) and universities (M.I.T.) to add a few years to life of the planet by directing us to foods that can be produced and sold with minimal energy consumption, but a slow reader could starve to death before learning what, exactly, we are supposed to eat. Geezer recommends the thoughtfully offered Low Carbon Diet Pocket Guide, which comes in PDF form, and whose five easy low carbon diet tips are presented below:
1. If you bought it, eat it. Don't waste food.
2. Make "seasonal and regional" food your mantra.
3. Moove away from beef and cheese.
4. Don't buy air-freighted food.
5. If it's processed and packaged, skip it.
Read more about the Low Carbon Diet Program.

It's Official: Exercise Lifts Spirits

Geezer suspects that regular readers have long been on to something that researchers are just figuring out: exercise does as much for your head as it does for your body. The Boston Globe reports on continuing documentation of the mood boosting effects of pumping up, or running, or just moving around. The newspaper cites a recent study conducted at Duke University that found that three sessions of vigorous aerobic exercise a week proved about as effective at beating back depression as daily doses of Zoloft, when the effects were measured after four months. In another study, the Globe reports, depressed patients who got better with exercise were less likely to relapse after 10 months than those helped by antidepressants. And patients who continued to exercise after the four-month mark were 50 percent less likely to be depressed months later than those who were sedentary. Other studies suggest that exercise may be about as effective as psychotherapy, the other main tool for alleviating depression.
Read more about pumping up your head in the Boston Globe.

Sound Systems for Distance Swimmers

Once upon a time, distance swimmers imagined moving through the water to the strains of their favorite music. Geezer, who imagined himself to be a distance (relative term) swimmer, was certain that the first person to invent a waterproof MP3 player would drown in cash money. Now he's thinking that maybe the fourteenth or fifteenth person to invent a waterproof MP3 player might make enough money to build an indoor pool. Maybe not. There are many waterproof MP3 players on the market, and one way to start deciding which one to buy is to watch this slide show put together by the New York Times. The Times persuaded Katie McClelland, who has broken two FINA world records for amateur adults in breast stroke, to test-swim four waterproof players and one case-headphone combo, ranging in price from $36.99 to $144.99. Read McClelland's verdict in the New York Times.