BlogPositive

Happy pets

.or rather pets make you happy Swimming with dolphins can reduce depression. So says an article in the British Medical Journal. So how does this work then? Well its all about your limbic system. Quick anatomy lesson here..your brain is made up of three areas that arose sequentially over time during evolution. The oldest part of the brain is the area that connects to the top of your spinal cord - the hind brain or reptilian brain. This bit of the brain is responsible for many of our automatic reactions such as the fight or flight response. The next oldest part or mid brain is the limbic system. This bit of the brain is made up of several structures and they mostly have roles in mediating our emotional responses. This is then connected to our fore brain, the neo-cortex where most of our logical processing happens. This is also the area responsible for much ideas generation. We know that if small babies do not get enough cuddles or contact with a carer or parent then the limbic part of the brain does not develop correctly. In later life they can have difficulties recognising or responding correctly to emotions. There is something about physical contact with people and other mammals such as pets and now seemingly also dolphins that stimulates the limbic system. We all know that we can feel better simply by getting a hug from a good friend and this response is mediated by the limbic system. We can get the same effect by stroking a dog or a cat. This is why there are charities that exist to take pets into hospitals and to interact with those who are physically or emotionally traumatised. There process is also called limbic resonance. We describe this in our rational way as emotional connection. In babies this means that they feel better when they make eye contact with their mothers and both partners in the interaction feel the same way. It is also used to describe moments when you may be experiencing an emotional event and you get a phone call from someone close to you who asks if you are OK. No-one can really explain how that apparent brain to brain connection can work when the two people are not physically close to each other. I find this sort of thing really interesting. So to keep happy, keep making those emotional connections with the people who are important to you. This is one thing that you can't get via the internet, the physical contact is important. And as the BMJ article says it can also help with depression. So have you had enough hugs today? Have you spent time with someone who cares about you? Have you looked into the eyes of a loved one and smiled? If you live alone where is that physical contact going to come from?

Men are responsible for global recession

So its now official.  If we had greater gender equality then the world would not be experiencing the global credit crunch.  Men are responsible for the global recession.  If we had more women working in traditionally male dominated work environments we would not be facing the financial downturn that we now find ourselves in.  So how do I work that out then?

Well a paper published by a team from Cambridge has shown that daily testosterone levels in city traders were directly linked to the profits that they made.  This shifts them into a cycle of behaviour where they taste success, feel more confident, feel more able to take risks and therefore increase their chance of further success.  Absolutely typical "lads night out" behaviour often seen in single sex male groups.

As we all know, what happens is they take higher and higher risks fueled by ever rising testosterone levels and eventually their ability to make rational decisions is compromised by the hormone levels.  Eventually one irrational decison is fatal and they lose everything.

If the traders were women this wouldn't happen. Although women do have testosterone it is present at much lower levels and its effect on this type of behaviour is much reduced.  There is also plenty of research that shows how this type of laddish, macho culture, risk taking, showing off, is moderated by the presence of women in the group.  Put more simply, if there were more female city traders then the global credit crunch wouldn't be happening.

Oh and one more thing...

We need a research team from Cambridge to show us that men behave irrationally when driven by testosterone?  Hello?  Just ask any woman.......