Warning: everything in this article is absolutely true.

Caveat: I still do keep an open mind towards everyone and everything until I get pissed off, or your idea sucks.

Recently, a friend shared with me his beliefs about love. He said, “There is no such thing as ‘being in love.’ All you’re feeling is a chemical reaction: biology meets the body. Even if I thought I was in love, I would not trust it.”

I ruminated for a moment. As a psychotherapist, I enjoy being around “new love.” New love birds are snuggly and sweet, with an innocence bordering on insanity, and they emit a positive energy that feels like a warm blanket on a cold day. Rarely do new love birds come to counseling; I usually see couples when they aren’t so love bird-ish anymore, when feathers have been loved off, when there are more wrinkles on foreheads, and the sweetness of being freshly loved has decomposed somewhere between the diaper bag and the garbage pail. If there is no such thing as being in love beyond a simple biochemical reaction, it really undermines a lot of our thinking about what makes the world go ’round, or what makes life worth living. As much as some grind their teeth about it, most of us don’t want to leave this planet without being in love at least once.

Finding a new business partner is a bit like falling in love. If you think there can’t be biochemical sparks flying, consider how you might feel if you:

1. Encounter a like-minded person in your field, who
2. Shares an affinity for the same kind of product, service, or concern, and
3. Is passionate about what he or she does for work, while
4. Wanting to make a good income doing what s/he loves.

If you’ve been stumbling around with a hole in your business, a potential business mate can give you the butterflies, full of hope as well as anxiety. Remember that last business partner or employee? Still smarting from the heel mark she left on your back as she trampled you on the way out? Or are you disappointed that the good times rolled away when your last partner moved on to another venture?

There’s a reason why people say “love is blind”: they say it because it is true. If love weren’t blind, none of us would ever get together long enough to have children (or with businesses, to launch a product and turn a profit). How can you tell if you’ve found “Ms. Right” or that perfect business partnership? The following five elements are not the end-all merits for a great partnership, but they’ll put you on the right track.

5 Things to Look for in a Potential Partner

1. A long and clear track or training record, including references, about their actual work. You would think that this would be a “no-brainer,” but if you’re “in love,” you might not actually ask to see work references or a resume. You might think that a LinkedIn search was enough. You should still conduct a thorough online search about your potential workmate, but remember: you don’t just want to look at what is said. You also want to look for what is unsaid. Compare the resume with verbal reports from former co-workers, friends, and colleagues. Start creating a mental construct from the constellation of reports, and look for congruencies and inconsistencies.

2. Character. People rarely hesitate to share the character traits of their pets: friendly, feisty, good with children, clever, obedient, gentle. But when it comes to people, we often forget to observe and name the character traits that we see: aggressive, fearful, impatient, kind, generous, friendly, cautious, clumsy, confident.

On the lighter side of things, people have developed many different ways of determining character, from the Chinese “science” of face reading, to the Science of Life ayurveda readings of Jyotish. When we ask, “What’s your sign?” it might be to learn trivia, but it also falls in the search for character, even if you don’t believe astrology holds much credence. My personal favorite is observing non-verbal communication. Does the person ever smile or laugh? Do they hold a lot of tension in their shoulders, foreheads, and jaw? Do they make long eye contact with me? What kind of gaze are they able to handle? Do they walk quickly as if they are making a jail break? Fast or slow eaters? Any nervous tics?

One of my counseling professors told a seemingly trivial story about socks. After purchasing a pair of cashmere socks, he simmered with anger when he tore a small hole in both socks after failing to use a pair of scissors to separate them from a small plastic loop. His point: how you do one thing is often a template for how you do everything. What is unsaid — the non-verbal messages — about a person can reveal very important clues about personality, congruency, habit, and performance.

3. Problem solver. A problem solver is the antithesis of a complainer/whiner and often make excellent business partners. They are usually not prone to gossip or spending needless hours putting others down (although they can still be opinionated). Instead of saying, “I can’t stand it when…” the problem solver describes a problem with the hope that he might be able to come up with a viable solution, either by himself or with the help of others. Problem solvers love puzzles; you can’t pay them enough for the amount of hours their minds roam the planet looking for the perfect idea, person, object, sound – whatever it takes – to solve the puzzle and move onto the next mystery.

The only drawback to working alongside a Problem Solver as a business partner is dealing with perfectionism. You decide if that is a character flaw you can live with. Perfectionism can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, most documents, aesthetics, tasks, and projects are going to be attended to with astonishing results! On the other hand, these may not be completed on time, other’s work downplayed, or her own projects devalued because of that same perfectionism.

4. Ease with people. Ideal business partners have a mix of skills that lie somewhere between mastery of technical skills and fluency of management skills. Rarely does someone have that perfect combination. What you’re looking for is someone who has better-than-average communication skills, isn’t afraid to confront, is personable, approachable, and engenders trust with you and with others. Humor is a plus: comedy is a keeper. A test: what does your body feel like when you’re around this person? Tense? Relaxed? Do you want to vomit like Southpark’s Stan vomits on Wendy every time you meet? Listen to your intuition (emotional reactions felt in the stomach), or better yet, use what Malcolm Gladwell calls “rapid cognition” — what we think in just two seconds – in his book, “Blink” (2005). If you pay attention, you’ll also observe how this person feels when you are in his presence. It’s a two-way street.

5. Flexibility. While fitness trainers have a motto, “You’re only as young as your spine,” flexibility in relation to one’s work and one’s outlook on life are perhaps the “spine” of your potential business partner. If she lacks flexibility, she isn’t going to do well with the rate of change happening in the world of social media and technology.

Having flexibility is like a seasoned surfer. Seasoned surfers don’t always catch every wave. They learn to read the waves, are willing to paddle back and forth to set themselves up in the best position to catch one, but they won’t stay in the same place, waiting for the wave to come to them. A flexible business partner understands that times change, and she must change… or die.

Flexible people are “outside the box” thinkers. They know how to prioritize and aren’t overly frazzled when the market changes. They tend to roll with the punches rather than donning boxing gloves to defend themselves. This is different from boundary-less people. People without boundaries tend to seethe with resentment under the surface of “no problem” and “OK I’ll do it.” Truly flexible people find a “flow.” You’ll know you’re with a flexible person when you feel their positive energy even in crunch time.

5 Red Flags to Look Out For

If you’re “in love,” you might not notice even glaring flaws unless you know what to look for. Here are a few red flags that suggest that you smile, slowly retreat towards the door while facing your potential mate, and then run away for the sake of your business. Run away, and don’t look back.

1.”We’re perfect! When do we start?” As with any other relationship, I recommend a “getting to know you phase” of at least three months. If you feel the other person is rushing into things and resists being scrutinized, there’s probably a reason. If you sense pushiness from the get-go, just imagine what it will be one year down the road.

2. Begins conversations with a complaint. The person who always sees the glass half empty tends to have a negative spin to just about anything. Unless you work well with this, complainers are the Eeyore of the business world. If you think this is funny, sit down with your kid and watch the video about Eeyore’s Birthday (in which he receives two presents). Although complainers can serve a purpose, you might not want your chief complainer to be your business partner. Or your bagel boy, for that matter. Next candidate, please?

3. Shows little curiosity or powers of observation. People who pretend they know everything drive me crazy. They cannot admit when they are wrong, and they have lost all wonder for life. The most curious are the most creative, and there are no bounds to the kinds of ideas that flow from their observations. I’d rather be the cat killed by curiosity than the water buffalo drowned by a slowly rising river that he never noticed was coming up around his head.

4. Has not shared a disagreement, or avoids conflict at all costs. This should scare you. Not that you should seek someone who needs to fight all the time, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, you don’t need to have a partner who cannot or will not share a disagreement. Failure to go toe-to-toe with you may end up being costly. You want a business partner who can see your own blind spots, projections, insecurities, and weaknesses, and won’t fail to share how she sees these affecting your happiness and productivity. If you that isn’t your potential partner’s strongest suit, hire a counselor/coach instead.

5. Shows signs for the following personality disorders: Borderline, Borderline, and… Borderline. I don’t want the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV to determine who becomes your business partner, but someone with Borderline personality (and yes, Borderline’s can be male too!) or the double whammy NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) AND BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) are too much to handle in the workplace for most folks. You won’t know if you’re coming or going, and you’ll have to worship the little motherfucker in order to get anything done.
Everyone has their issues. You have your own issues, for crying out loud. But know what you’re getting into if your potential business shows signs of turning his schizophrenic word salad poetry into the next hit song. The mania that gets the job done in the first few months may become the months of depression, missed days of work, and irrational behavior that exhausts your personal resources and makes you hate what you do.

While we’re on the topic, I don’t recommend workers who have a history of untreated addictions to drugs or alcohol either. People with addictions won’t be able to hide their behavior for the three-month minimum observation period (see #1) you’ll be requesting. Anyone who makes exception to drinking or drugging on the job has compromised his ability to choose or to exert control. While this seems like yet another no-brainer, you have no idea how many people have come to me for advice about how to deal with a co-worker or employee with drug and alcohol problems. It’s usually a five-minute conversation: what legal contracts have you signed, does the person have health insurance that will pay for rehab, and what plan do you have to replace that person until you figure out a better method of selection?

As a psychotherapist, I can’t tell you to call them a psycho hose beast and to get the fuck out of your life. I can say you should avoid taking someone on who isn’t very good at caring for themselves. You want someone who can stand on their own two feet, not someone who will show up for work with a static-cling sock stuck in their hoodie, stumbling about with a hangover, or foraging for food after a night of the munchies. They are just the type to brag about what they think they are getting away with on their Facebook status, exuding a stable facade whilst their personal life is eroding in a sea of medicated pain.

The cycle has come full circle. I have a new company, Hipsforhire.com, and I have a new potential business partner. We’re doing that dance: contracts, expectations, waiting period, resumes, and background checks. I’m also looking forward to helping more friends and colleagues through the relational aspects of their business ventures, as I’ve finished my CEUs for professional coaching. As long as I don’t light anything on fire, I think this time around is going to be a lot better. Are you looking for a new business partner? What’s your best tip to finding the right fit?

Bernice Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC is a nurse psychotherapist, yoga instructor, cat lover, dance enthusiast, audiophile, clean freak, occasional snowboarder, and globe trotter. This is her fourth blog article for Lockergnome, and more of her writing can be found at www.hipsforhire.ning.com or @hipsforhire on Twitter. When she’s not trying to change the world, she’s livestreaming her cat Charles-Monet, staying away from matches, and documenting her first 365-1/4 days as the “n00b” to Social Media. She lives with her ricecooker and her cat in Seattle, WA.

“The factors in brewing that influence silicon levels in beer have not been extensively studied” said Charles Bamforth, lead author of the study. “We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer.”

Silicon is present in beer in the soluble form of orthosilicic acid (OSA), which yields 50% bioavailability, making beer a major contributor to silicon intake in the Western diet. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), dietary silicon (Si), as soluble OSA, may be important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue, and beer appears to be a major contributor to Si intake. Based on these findings, some studies suggest moderate beer consumption may help fight osteoporosis, a disease of the skeletal system characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue.

The researchers examined a variety of raw material samples and found little change in the silicon content of barley during the malting process. The majority of the silicon in barley is in the husk, which is not affected greatly during malting. The malts with the higher silicon contents are pale colored which have less heat stress during the malting process. The darker products, such as the chocolate, roasted barley and black malt, all have substantial roasting and much lower silicon contents than the other malts for reasons that are not yet known. The hop samples analyzed showed surprisingly high levels of silicon with as much as four times more silicon than is found in malt. However, hops are invariably used in a much smaller quantity than is grain. Highly hopped beers, however, would be expected to contain higher silicon levels.

No silicon was picked up from silica hydrogel used to stabilize beer, even after a period of 24 hours and neither is there pick up from diatomaceous earth filter aid.

The study also tested 100 commercial beers for silicon content and categorized the data according to beer style and source. The average silicon content of the beers sampled was 6.4 to 56.5 mg/L.

“Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon,” concludes Dr. Bamforth. “Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer.”

Dawn Peters @ Wiley-Blackwell

[Photo above by megamello / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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Because bladder cancer is the most expensive cancer to treat, its management places a significant economic burden on the United States healthcare system, which costs two to four times that of healthcare systems in any other industrialized nation. In an attempt to reduce costs, in 2005 Medicare increased physician reimbursement for office-based endoscopic bladder procedures, such as biopsies. Moving these procedures from the more expensive inpatient hospital setting to the presumably less expensive outpatient office setting could cut costs provided that they are performed for the same indications, are equally efficacious, and are tolerable to patients.

The reimbursement change was expected to alter physician incentives, leading to increased use of outpatient endoscopic surgery, a decline in hospital-based endoscopic surgery and, consequently, a reduction in healthcare-related costs. To evaluate this hypothesis, Micah Hemani, MD, and Samir Taneja, MD, of the Division of Urologic Oncology at the New York University Langone Medical Center and their colleagues assessed treatment patterns in their practice before and after the Medicare change in physician reimbursement.

The investigators found that the number of outpatient bladder surgeries doubled after Medicare reimbursements rose, but the number of hospital-based surgeries did not significantly decline. As a result, there was a 50% increase in overall Medicare costs. While there was an increase in patient referrals for outpatient surgeries, it was not sufficient enough to account for the increased use of these procedures. There was, however, a rise in the redundant use of outpatient surgery on patients who also underwent hospital-based surgery for the same condition. Also, while the number of outpatient procedures increased, the likelihood that a procedure would lead to a bladder cancer diagnosis declined. “We believe these trends are disturbing as they may reflect both diagnostic and therapeutic over-utilization of office-based endoscopic bladder surgery,” the authors wrote.

The reasons for this surge in use of outpatient procedures are unknown but might include improvements in office-based equipment for surgery, improved physician comfort and skill with these operations, and the incentive of receiving increased financial reimbursement. Whatever the cause, these findings suggest that Medicare financial incentives for the outpatient treatment of bladder cancer may actually increase overall costs without improving care.

Dr. Hemani noted that the study’s results illustrate a need for clinical guidelines for these office-based surgeries, as well as a need for policy measures that ensure accountability for physicians who perform them.

“Given the ongoing healthcare debate in Congress regarding reforming the current system, one wonders if many of the changes currently being proposed in Washington might not have similar effects to what we are seeing in this one isolated example,” said David Penson, MD, MPH, of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, who was not involved with the study but wrote an accompanying editorial. “Sometimes, policies have the exact opposite effect of what was intended,” he cautioned.

David Sampson @ American Cancer Society

[Photo above by Rob Lee / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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That’s the conclusion of a new study carried out by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston, and the University of Minnesota. The study is published in Child Development in the journal’s January/February 2010 issue.

To learn how the deprivation and neglect that institutionalized children often experience affect brain development, the researchers looked at 132 8- and 9-year-olds. Some of the children were adopted into U.S. homes after spending at least a year and three-quarters of their lives in institutions in Asia, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe, and Africa. Others were adopted by the time they were 8 months old into U.S. homes from foster care in Asia and Latin America; most of these children had spent no time in institutional care, while some had spent a month or two in institutions prior to foster placement. On average, the internationally adopted children had been living with their families for more than 6 years. These children were compared to a group of American children raised in their birth families.

Children adopted early from foster care didn’t differ from children who were raised in their birth families in the United States. Children adopted from institutional care performed worse than those raised in families on tests measuring visual memory and attention, learning visual information, and impulse control. Yet these children performed at developmentally appropriate levels on tests involving sequencing and planning.

The take-home message: Children make tremendous advances in cognitive functioning once they reach their adoptive families, but the impact of early deprivation on their brains’ development is difficult to reverse completely.

“We identified basic learning processes that are affected by early institutionalization,” notes Seth Pollak, professor of psychology and pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin, who was the study’s lead author. “Policies that speed the time in which children can be removed from institutionalized care so they can develop within family contexts should be implemented to decrease the likelihood of learning problems later in children’s lives.”

Sarah Hutcheon @ Society for Research in Child Development

[Photo above by tudor / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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Researchers found that when given access to an online program about fruits and vegetables, participants increased their daily fruit and vegetable intake by more than two servings. Many of the participants continued using the program after the study concluded, and even reported their family members became involved in the program.

“People already know the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, but they often don’t know how to incorporate them into their diet,” says study senior author Christine Cole Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H., chair of Henry Ford’s Department of Biostatistics and Research Epidemiology. “That’s why our study worked. Using online programs, we were able to offer study participants practical and easy tips to increase their daily fruit and vegetable intake.”

Results are published in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than 25 percent of adults in the United States eat five servings of fruit and vegetables per day. Those who eat more fruits and vegetables are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and certain cancers.

The 12-month-long Henry Ford study recruited members of Health Alliance Plan and four other HMOs in Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis and Atlanta, ages 21 to 65. Study participants were placed in one of these three groups:

A control online program that provided general information for the participants about improving their fruit and vegetable intake.

A program that was similar but personalized to the individual’s needs

A program that incorporated the other two components and was also supplemented with motivational interviewing counseling via e-mail.

The program was divided into four sessions. Each session included four to five pages of core content, illustrations and optional links to more detailed information and special features designed to supplement session content. For example, special features illustrated serving sizes and nutritional similarities of fresh versus frozen versus canned foods. Another optional feature presented 300 fruit and vegetable-based recipes. Short video and audio files were offered to reinforce text on behavioral strategies. Once available, all program components were accessible throughout the 12-month study period.

An optional feature offered menus individually tailored by nutrition experts and were generated on the basis of participants’ fruit and vegetable preferences and dietary restrictions.

At the end of the study, researchers found that there was improvement across all study groups, but the most significant changes were with the group that had motivational interviewing and counseling.

“We found that giving participants gentle reminders that refocused them on their goals greatly improved progress,” says study co-author, Gwen Alexander, PhD, assistant research scientist. “They were being held accountable for their progress, which became a key motivator.”

Up next: Drs. Johnson and Alexander are now working on creating a similar study focused on people ages 21 to 30, to find new strategies to help them incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their diet, while catering to their lifestyle.

Liz Trudeau @ Henry Ford Health System

[Photo above by themeetingplacenorth / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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Heliconius, or passion-vine butterflies, live in the Americas — from the southern United States to southern South America. Although they cannot interbreed, H. melpomene and H. erato have evolved to mimic one another perfectly.

These delicate butterflies have splashes of red and yellow on their black wings, signaling to birds that they contain toxins and are extremely unpalatable. They mimic one another’s colour and pattern to reinforce these warning signals.

Scientists have studied these butterflies since the 1860s as a classic case of evolution in action, but only now is modern sequencing technology unlocking the underlying genetics.

The Cambridge-led team of researchers from UK and US universities, which has been breeding the butterflies in Panama for the past decade, has been searching for the genes responsible for the butterflies’ wing patterns and the answer to the question of whether the same genes in two different species are responsible for the mimicry.

According to Dr Chris Jiggins of the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, one of the authors of the study: “The mimicry is remarkable. The two species that we study — erato and melpomene — are quite distantly related, yet you can’t tell them apart until you get them in your hand. The similarity is incredible — even down to the spots on the body and the minute details of the wing pattern.”

That the two species have evolved to look exactly the same is due to predation by birds. “The birds will try anything that looks different in the hope that it’s good, so they learn that certain wing patterns are unpalatable and avoid them, but anything that deviates slightly from what they’ve experienced before is more likely to be attacked,” he explains.

These butterflies have been studied since Darwin’s day because they are such a striking example of adaptation. For years, scientists have pondered whether when different species evolve to look the same, they share a common genetic mechanism.

According to Jiggins: “It’s interesting because it tells us how flexible evolution is. If you get the same wing pattern evolving independently in different populations, do you expect the same genes to be involved?”

Because there are thousands of genes in the butterflies’ genome, most scientists felt it was unlikely that the same genes should be involved. But the results of this study suggest that this is, in fact, the case.

The new results — published today in two parallel papers in the journal PLoS Genetics — show that the regions of the genome associated with the wing patterns are very small — akin to genetic “hotspots”.

“This tells us something about the limitations on evolution, and how predictable it is. Our results imply that despite the many thousands of genes in the genome there are only one or two that are useful for changing this colour pattern. It seems like evolution might be concentrated in quite small regions of the genome — or hotspots — while the rest of it does not change very much,” says Jiggins.

This is not the only unexpected element of the study. The team was also surprised that the obvious candidate genes — such as those involved in colour or wing pattern in other species — do not seem to be involved in the passion-vine butterflies’ mimicry.

According to Jiggins: “We think it’s more likely to be some novel method of cellular signaling, which is quite intriguing and could be important in many other insect species.”

The next stage of the research is to look at other traits, such as behaviour, because the butterflies have preferences for particular colours and use wing patterns to select mates. “It seems the same regions of the genome control this behaviour as well as the wing pattern. We’d like to understand this,” he says.

Becky Allen @ University of Cambridge

[Photo above by eqqman / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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Florence Neymotin, an assistant professor of economics, evaluated students’ Scholastic Aptitude Test scores over seven years, taking into account the immigrant makeup of the students’ communities. She concluded that the native students’ scores weren’t negatively affected by immigration and that their chances of applying to a top college or university weren’t diminished.

“With immigration, I think people do get concerned and wonder whether their non-immigrant children are going to get a good education if they are in public schools with many immigrants, and whether the parents of these non-immigrant children should, therefore, move their children to schools with fewer immigrants,” Neymotin said. “These results can quell anti-immigrant sentiment to some extent, but I don’t think this is the complete picture of immigration by any means.”

In October 2009, the research appeared in the Economics Education Review and was featured in the editor’s choice section of the journal Science.

Neymotin said previous research has looked at how low-skilled immigrants affect low-skilled natives, for instance in terms of wages and employment. But she and other researchers are interested in how immigration is affecting high-skilled natives, such as in higher education. Neymotin wanted to see whether immigrants in schools were actually harming U.S.-born high school students, particularly in terms of test scores.

“From what I was seeing in people transitioning from high school to college, the answer is no,” she said.

Neymotin looked at SAT scores of public school students in California and Texas between 1994 and 2001. She matched the scores with characteristics about the students’ schools and communities and concluded that native students’ SAT scores weren’t harmed by immigration.

Neymotin looked at California and Texas because they are high immigration states active in legislation affecting both immigration and schools. Moreover, the makeup of Hispanic and Asian immigrants was different in the two states, allowing her to see if results were consistent.

Since this study, Neymotin also has examined entrepreneurship and volunteerism among immigrants.

Florence Neymotin @ Kansas State University

[Photo above by svenwerk / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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Fu-Hung Hsieh, an MU professor of biological engineering and food science in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the College of Engineering, is leading the project to create a low-cost soy substitute for chicken. His research, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Illinois-Missouri Biotechnology Alliance, has led to a process that does more than just add color and flavor to soy. Hsieh has developed a process that makes the soy product simulate the fibrous qualities of a chicken breast.

“Early tests provided some of the fibrous texture to the final product, but it tasted more like turkey,” Hsieh said. “In order to produce a more realistic product, we had to tweak the process and add extra fiber to give the soy a stringy feeling that tears into irregular, coarse fibers similar to chicken.”

To create the soy chicken, Hsieh starts with a soy protein extracted from soy flour. The soy then goes through an extrusion cooking process that uses water, heat and pressure while pushing the mixture through a cylinder with two augers.

“This particular soy substitute is different because we are working with a higher moisture content, which is up to 75 percent,” Hsieh said. “The high moisture content is what gives the soy a very similar texture to chicken — in addition to the appearance.”

Along with pleasing the senses, Hsieh’s soy chicken provides health benefits for consumers. Soy foods contain important nutrition components, some of which help maintain healthy bones and prevent prostate, breast and colorectal cancers. Soy foods also are a good source of essential fatty acids and contain no cholesterol. The FDA has approved a claim that encourages 25 grams of soy protein in a daily diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol to help reduce cholesterol that is at or above moderately high levels.

Hsieh’s research has been published in the Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry, Journal of Food Science, and Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society. The next step in Hsieh’s research will be to taste-test various texture combinations and make final refinements to the formula.

Christian Basi @ University of Missouri – Columbia

[Photo above by stuckincustoms / CC BY-ND 2.0]

“While we were heartened by the congressional testimony of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, we believe that a year to study the matter and another year to implement change is too long,” said APA President Carol Goodheart, Ed.D. “The military has proved itself willing, able and effective in the integration of African Americans and of women. This experience can and should inform efforts to end the current situation in which gay and lesbian service members, who everyone acknowledges are currently serving, must conceal their sexual orientation to avoid being discharged.”

Admiral Mullen, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary Gates testified on Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee in favor of allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military. President Obama has also voiced support for repeal of the current prohibition but has declined to issue an executive order to do so.

The American Psychological Association strongly opposes the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for lesbian and gay people in military service. This stance reflects the APA Policy Statement on Sexual Orientation and Military Service, adopted by the APA Council of Representatives in July 2004. In this policy statement, the association reaffirmed its opposition to discrimination based on sexual orientation and its commitment to disseminating scientific knowledge to ameliorate the negative effects of the current law through training and education.

APA has also lobbied in support of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which currently has 187 co-sponsors.

“We know that some openly gay or lesbian service members have served in the U.S. military with no ill effects to others,” Goodheart said. “In fact, a stop-loss policy during the Persian Gulf War prevented discharges for homosexuality during that war.”

In addition, Goodheart noted that repealing the current policy would improve the mental health of gay and lesbian people already serving in the armed forces.

“The military can be seen as a highly stressful environment, especially in wartime. It is important to encourage military personnel to seek mental health care when needed in order to promote their well-being and effectiveness,” she said. “The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, however, works against effective access to mental health services by increasing the anxiety of gay and lesbian military personnel and then discouraging them from seeking mental health care.”

Public Affairs Office @ American Psychological Association

[Photo above by M. V. Jantzen / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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And, lab tests show that oil absorbed can be squeezed back out for use.

Case Western Reserve University researchers who made the material, called an aerogel, believe it will effectively clean up spills of all kinds of oils and solvents on factory floors and roadways, rivers and oceans.

The EPA estimates that 10 to 25 million gallons of oil are spilled annually in this country alone. Spilled oil ruins drinking water, is a fire and explosion hazard, damages farmland and beaches and destroys wildlife and habitats. The harm can last decades.

The aerogel is made by mixing clay with a polymer and water in a blender, said David Schiraldi, chairman of the Macromolecular Science and Engineering department at the Case School of Engineering.

The mixture is then freeze-dried; air fills the gaps left by the loss of water. The resulting material is super light, comprised of about 96 percent air, 2 percent polymer and 2 percent clay.

The oil-absorbing form is just one of a growing list of clay-based aerogels being made in Schiraldi’s lab. By adding different polymers, they produce materials with different properties.

“This particular one is oleophilic or oil-loving,” Schiraldi said. “Chemically, it hates water, loves oil: the perfect combination.”

The aeorgel can be made in granular form, in sheets or in blocks of almost any shape and is effective in fresh and saltwater or on a surface. Because absorption is a physical phenomenon, there is no chemical reaction between the material and oil. If the oil is otherwise not contaminated, it can be used.

Oil spill experts on both coasts say that the ability to squeeze out and conserve the oil is an advantage over other products currently available.

The material was first made when Schiraldi challenged his then-PhD student Matt Gawryla with idea of making kitty litter. Gawryla added the oil cleanup concept to the program.

Case Western Reserve has granted a 9-month exclusive license for this and other clay-based aerogel technologies to AeroClay, Inc. a startup company. Schiraldi will be chief scientific officer of the new company.

Kevin Mayhood @ Case Western Reserve University

[Photo above by Ingrid Taylar / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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But how does the biosensor integrated in the chip register the few biomolecules swimming around in the blood that are indicative of a certain disease? »We have placed antibody-occupied nanoparticles on the sensor electrode which fish out the relevant proteins. For this purpose, we repeatedly pump the blood across the electrode surface. As with a river, the flow is fastest in mid-channel and the water runs more slowly near the bank. We have therefore made a sort of fishing rod using nanoparticles which registers the antibodies in the middle of the blood flow where most proteins swim by per unit of time.« If an antibody catches the matching protein, a tumor marker, the electrical charge distribution shifts and this is picked up by the electrode.

The researcher groups are now developing a first demonstrator combining four independent single-molecule-sensitive biosensors. The experts are also working on the simultaneous detection of several tumor markers, which will increase the clarity of tests. The system will be ready to enter the market in a few years’ time.

Dr. Jörn Probst @ Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

[Photo above by Auntie P / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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“DOE’s program and programs in the national and international research community provide increasing confidence from a technical standpoint that some commercial production of methane from methane hydrate could be achieved in the United States before 2025,” said Charles Paull, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and senior scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California. “With global energy demand projected to increase, unconventional resources such as methane hydrate become important to consider as part of the future U.S. energy portfolio and could help provide more energy security for the United States.”

Methane hydrate, a solid composed of methane and water, occurs in abundance on the world’s continental margins and in permafrost regions, such as in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s North Slope. Although the total global volume of methane in methane hydrate is still debated, estimates yield figures that are significant compared with the global supplies of conventional natural gas. The existence of such a large and untapped energy resource has provided a strong global incentive to determine how methane might be produced from methane hydrate safely, economically, and in an environmentally sensible way.

Some of the remaining challenges to production identified by the committee include developing the technology necessary to produce methane from methane hydrate and understanding methane hydrate’s potential to behave as a geohazard. For example, industry practice is to avoid methane-hydrate bearing areas during drilling for conventional oil and gas resources for safety reasons. However, avoidance will not be possible if methane hydrate is the production target. In addition, the committee recommended research and development areas for DOE’s program, such as designing production tests, appraising and mitigating environmental issues related to production, and determining with greater accuracy the methane hydrate resources on the Alaska North Slope and in marine reservoirs.

Jennifer Walsh @ National Academy of Sciences

[Photo above by der_bobbel / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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In fact, according to a pair of papers in the latest Current Biology, it looks like bonobos never seem to learn how not to share. Chimpanzees, by contrast, are notorious for hogging food to themselves, by physical aggression if necessary. While chimps will share as youngsters, they grow out of it.

In several experiments to measure food-sharing and social inhibition among chimps and bonobos living in African sanctuaries, researchers from Duke and Harvard say these behavioral differences may be rooted in developmental patterns that portray something about the historical lifestyles of these two closely related apes.

When compared with chimps, bonobos seem to be living in “a sort of Peter Pan world,” said Brian Hare, an assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, who participated in both studies. “They never grow up, and they share.”

Hare and his mentor, Richard Wrangham, the Ruth Moore Professor of Anthropology at Harvard, think this kinder, gentler ape’s behavior has been shaped by the relative abundance of their environment. Living south of the Congo River, where food is more plentiful, bonobos don’t compete with gorillas for food as chimps have to, and they don’t have to compete much with each other either.

In essence, they don’t have to grow up, Hare said, and cognitive tests that the team performed on the captive animals seem to bear that out. Bonobos shared like juveniles even after they reached adulthood.

“It seems like some of these adult differences might actually derive from developmental differences,” said Harvard graduate student Victoria Wobber, who is the lead author on one of the papers. “Evolution has been acting on the development of their cognition.”

To measure sharing behavior, paired animals at the Tchimpounga Sanctuary in the Republic of the Congo were put into an enclosure with some food. Younger chimps were found to be quite similar to young bonobos in their willingness to share food, but the chimps become less willing to share when they’re older.

In a second set of sharing experiments, Hare and a colleague at the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary near Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo gave bonobos an opportunity to have all of a food pile to themselves while a fellow bonobo watched helplessly from behind a gate. Instead, the subjects universally preferred to open the gate and let their friends share. Their friends weren’t even begging or carrying on.

“A chimp would never voluntarily do that,” Hare said. “Chimps will do things to help one another, but the one thing they will not do is share food.”

In a series of tests on how socially savvy the apes were about asking others for handouts, the chimps were quick studies, but the bonobos never quite got the hang of it. In chimp society, where hogging the food pile is a privilege of rank, younger animals have to learn which adults can be begged from and which cannot, Wobber said.

In one test of social skills, Wobber had two humans hold treats concealed in their hands, while a third human was empty-handed. The animals were encouraged to ask for a treat by touching the hands. The chimps quickly picked up on the pattern and didn’t bother begging from the empty-handed person. The bonobos were less discriminating and tried the empty hand just as much as the full ones.

A second social experiment used two people, one with a treat and one without. After the apes had it figured out, the treats were moved to the other human. The chimps caught on to the new pattern much more quickly than the bonobos.

These experiments don’t mean the bonobos are less smart, Wobber said. It’s just that they’re less attuned to the social inhibitions a chimp would need to successfully share food without being slapped on the head.

The findings fit into a larger picture that Hare and Wrangham have been building in which animals that have been domesticated, such as pet dogs and arctic foxes in a long-term experiment in Siberia, possess what could be considered juvenile physical traits and behaviors, even after they’ve reached sexual maturity. It’s an example, they say, of selection acting against aggression. Their behaviors are more juvenile, and so too are their physical features.

Karl Leif Bates @ Duke University

[Photo above by Sebastian Niedlich / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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Researchers found striking evidence that some users have developed a compulsive Internet habit, whereby they replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. The results suggest that this type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health.

Lead author Dr Catriona Morrison, from the University of Leeds, said: “The Internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side.

“While many of us use the Internet to pay bills, shop and send emails, there is a small subset of the population who find it hard to control how much time they spend online, to the point where it interferes with their daily activities.”

These ‘Internet addicts’ spent proportionately more time browsing sexually gratifying Web sites, online gaming sites and online communities. They also had a higher incidence of moderate to severe depression than non-addicted users.

“Our research indicates that excessive Internet use is associated with depression, but what we don’t know is which comes first — are depressed people drawn to the Internet or does the Internet cause depression?

“What is clear, is that for a small subset of people, excessive use of the Internet could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies.”

Incidents such as the spate of suicides among teenagers in the Welsh town of Bridgend in 2008 led many to question the extent to which social networking sites can contribute to depressive thoughts in vulnerable teenagers. In the Leeds study, young people were more likely to be Internet addicted than middle-aged users, with the average age of the addicted group standing at 21 years.

“This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in Web sites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction,” added Dr Morrison. “We now need to consider the wider societal implications of this relationship and establish clearly the effects of excessive Internet use on mental health.”

This was the first large-scale study of Western young people to consider the relationship between Internet addiction and depression. The Internet use and depression levels of 1,319 people aged 16-51 were evaluated for the study, and of these, 1.2% were classed as being Internet addicted. While small, this figure is larger than the incidence of gambling in the UK, which stands at 0.6%. The research will be published in the journal Psychopathology on 10th February.

Hannah Isom @ University of Leeds

[Photo above by lintmachine / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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“What is missing from the tragedy of disaster, and our response to it, is the recognition that disasters are preventable, that it is within the power of societies and communities to prevent or at least minimize the devastation disasters cause,” said Kathleen Tierney, director of CU-Boulder’s Natural Hazards Center. “We mourn the human toll of disasters, but collectively we do far too little to minimize their impacts.”

The pervasive view of disasters is that they are inevitable, said Tierney, who also is a professor of sociology. They are viewed as acts of God, acts of nature or just random, tragic events.

But while earthquakes are inevitable in earthquake zones, and hurricanes and tornadoes are inevitable under certain weather conditions — “there are no inevitable disasters,” she said. “There is no such thing as a natural disaster.”

The city of Port-au-Prince increased in size and population with virtually no attention given to the fact that it’s in a seismic area, located on a boundary between two continental plates, she said. No effort was made to make buildings seismic-resistant. No restrictions were placed on where or how homes were built. Many homes were built on hillsides susceptible to landslides.

All of these conditions are either tied to or made worse by the extreme poverty in Haiti, Tierney said. Eighty percent of the population lives in poverty and the country was still recovering from four hurricanes that hit the country in 2008 when this year’s earthquake struck.

“The Haiti government can’t provide for daily needs, much less a disaster,” Tierney said.

But there are steps that can and should be taken now to make Haiti more disaster-resistant, she said, noting that the country faces continued risks from aftershocks, landslides and another hurricane season starting in June. She hopes that the international donor community will put preventive measures in place as a condition of providing disaster assistance.

For example, hillsides in Haiti should not be developed and the badly damaged port of Port-au-Prince should be rebuilt to standards that will enable it to withstand the next earthquake and the next hurricane, she said. Implementation of good emergency management practices and the engagement of Haitian communities in planning for future disasters also is essential.

“Societies create disasters of the future by decisions they make or don’t make — by how they live with nature,” Tierney said.

Fields such as urban planning provide sound insights on land-use and urban development strategies that can keep people, buildings and infrastructure out of harm’s way, she said. Architects and engineers understand how to employ hazard-resistant design and construction practices. Building codes can prevent structures from collapsing.

It also is known how to design emergency management systems that will perform effectively when disaster strikes and how to educate people in ways that will help protect them from natural and technological hazards, she said. Laws, ordinances and other measures also can save lives, protect property and speed the recovery process after disasters.

“We do not lack the knowledge to prevent disasters,” Tierney said. “What we lack is the foresight and political will to do so. The United States and other countries have not yet learned the lesson that disasters are preventable and that today’s investments in prevention reduce tomorrow’s suffering.”

Kathleen Tierney @ University of Colorado at Boulder

[Photo above by United Nations Photo / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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“Unlike bone, cartilage does not grow back, and therefore clinical strategies to regenerate this tissue are of great interest,” said Samuel I. Stupp, senior author, Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and Medicine, and director of the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine. Countless people — amateur athletes, professional athletes and people whose joints have just worn out — learn this all too well when they bring their bad knees, shoulders and elbows to an orthopaedic surgeon.

Damaged cartilage can lead to joint pain and loss of physical function and eventually to osteoarthritis, a disorder with an estimated economic impact approaching $65 billion in the United States. With an aging and increasingly active population, this figure is expected to grow.

“Cartilage does not regenerate in adults. Once you are fully grown you have all the cartilage you’ll ever have,” said first author Ramille N. Shah, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Shah is also a resident faculty member at the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine.

Type II collagen is the major protein in articular cartilage, the smooth, white connective tissue that covers the ends of bones where they come together to form joints.

“Our material of nanoscopic fibers stimulates stem cells present in bone marrow to produce cartilage containing type II collagen and repair the damaged joint,” Shah said. “A procedure called microfracture is the most common technique currently used by doctors, but it tends to produce a cartilage having predominantly type I collagen which is more like scar tissue.”

The Northwestern gel is injected as a liquid to the area of the damaged joint, where it then self-assembles and forms a solid. This extracellular matrix, which mimics what cells usually see, binds by molecular design one of the most important growth factors for the repair and regeneration of cartilage. By keeping the growth factor concentrated and localized, the cartilage cells have the opportunity to regenerate.

Together with Nirav A. Shah, a sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon and former orthopaedic resident at Northwestern, the researchers implanted their nanofiber gel in an animal model with cartilage defects.

The animals were treated with microfracture, where tiny holes are made in the bone beneath the damaged cartilage to create a new blood supply to stimulate the growth of new cartilage. The researchers tested various combinations: microfracture alone; microfracture and the nanofiber gel with growth factor added; and microfracture and the nanofiber gel without growth factor added.

They found their technique produced much better results than the microfracture procedure alone and, more importantly, found that addition of the expensive growth factor was not required to get the best results. Instead, because of the molecular design of the gel material, growth factor already present in the body is enough to regenerate cartilage.

The matrix only needed to be present for a month to produce cartilage growth. The matrix, based on self-assembling molecules known as peptide amphiphiles, biodegrades into nutrients and is replaced by natural cartilage.

Wendy Leopold @ Northwestern University

[Photo above by MacQ / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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“In 2001 the ‘Code Red’ worms caused $2 billion dollars worth of damage worldwide,” said Yoon-Ho Choi, a postdoctoral fellow in information sciences and technology, Penn State. “Our algorithm can prevent a worm’s propagation early in its propagation stage.”

Choi and his colleagues’ algorithm defends against the spread of local scanning worms that search for hosts in “local” spaces within networks or sub-networks. This strategy allows them access to hosts that are clustered, which means once they infect one host, the rest can be can be infected quickly. There are many types of scanning worms, but Choi calls these worms the stealthiest because they are the most efficient and can evade even the best worm defenses.

A worm outbreak can begin with the infection of a single computer. After infection, a worm begins to probe a set of random, local or enterprise IP addresses, searching for more vulnerable hosts. When one is found the worm sends out a probe, or packet, to infect it.

“A local scanning worm can purposely scan a local or enterprise network only,” said Choi. “As the size of the susceptible population increases, the worm’s virulence increases.”

The researchers’ algorithm works by estimating the size of the susceptible host population. It then monitors the occurrence of infections within it and sets a threshold value just equal to or below the average number of scans necessary to infect a host by an infected host.

If the scanning worm’s number of scans carrying a specific destination port number exceeds the threshold, the algorithm quarantines the worm. The algorithm then breaks down the network into many small networks, or cells, which in some cases might be only one computer. A worm can spread within the cells, but not between the cells. This way the algorithm can isolate an infected host or small cluster of infected hosts housing the worm.

“By applying the containment thresholds from our proposed algorithm, outbreaks can be blocked early,” said Choi.

To test the effectiveness of their algorithm the researchers ran a series of computer simulations and emulations using different scanning strategies of local scanning worms. Results showed that their algorithm was an efficient estimator of worm virulence and could determine the size of the susceptible host population after only a few infections.

“Our evaluation showed that the algorithm is reliable in the very early propagation stage and is better than the state-of-the-art defense,” said Choi.

Choi, working with Lunquan Li, assistant professor, Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and his Penn State colleagues, Peng Liu, associate professor, information sciences and technology, and George Kesidis, professor, electrical engineering and computer science and engineering, published their work in the February issue of Computers and Security.

According to Choi, local scanning worms are constantly evolving. They are becoming more complicated and increasingly efficient. As a result, worm outbreaks pose a real threat to networked systems. Because many networked home and office computers are susceptible to local scanning worms this algorithm may be an effective defense against damaging worm outbreaks.

A’ndrea Elyse Messer @ Penn State

[Photo above by Photos by Chrystal / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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Using the results of Project EAT (Eating Among Teens)-II, researchers analyzed the consumption of whole grains by 792 adolescents and 1,686 young adults between the ages of 15 and 23. There were 1,110 males (44.8%) and 1,368 females (55.2%) in the sample. Demographic characteristics were also collected to identify factors associated with daily intake of whole grains.

Daily whole-grain servings were estimated by summing the reported frequency of consuming dark bread (1 slice), kasha/couscous/bulgur, popcorn (1 small bag), hot breakfast cereal (1 bowl), and cold breakfast cereal (1 bowl).

The authors examined the associations of socio-environmental, personal, and behavioral factors with whole grain intake. For increased consumption, home availability of whole grains was the only socio-environmental factor, while a preference for the taste of whole-grain breads and confidence that one could change or maintain their eating patterns to consume the recommended number of whole grain servings were the personal factors of importance. Among behavioral factors, fast-food consumption negatively affected whole grain consumption.

Writing in the article, Nicole I. Larson, PhD, MPH, RD, Research Associate, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, and colleagues state, “The findings of this study indicate that interventions designed to promote improvements in whole-grain intake should address confidence to consume whole grains, taste preferences for whole-grain products, and the availability of these foods in settings where youth frequently eat meals (schools, home, and restaurants). Nutrition interventions should provide opportunities to taste a variety of whole-grain foods, including newly developed products such as white whole-wheat bread…In order to improve the availability of whole-grain breads and other products at home, parents as well as youth may need to be provided additional tools to help them identify and prepare whole-grain products. The observation of an inverse relationship between fast-food intake and whole grain intake further suggests there is a need to improve the availability of whole-grain products in restaurants.”

Lynelle Korte @ Elsevier Health Sciences

[Photo above by Hartini / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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The authors, Daniel S. Licht, of the National Park Service, and four coauthors, note that research in recent years has shown the importance of wolves to ecosystems in which they naturally occur. For example, the presence of wolves usually leads to fewer ungulates, which in turn generally means more plant biomass and biodiversity. Wolves can also increase tourism.

Licht and his coauthors believe that wolves introduced for the purpose of ecosystem stewardship, rather than for the creation of self-sustaining wolf populations, could enhance public understanding and appreciation of the animals. Advances in real-time animal tracking made possible through global positioning system technology, as well as the use of contraception and surgery, could help in controlling the growth of introduced populations. This approach might mitigate concerns about depredation of livestock and game, attacks on pets, and human safety, Licht and colleagues maintain. Fences could also play a role.

Wolves were introduced to Coronation Island, Alaska, for ecosystem restoration in 1960, and they successfully controlled deer there before the wolf population grew and subsequently crashed. Licht and his coauthors suggest that with more intensive management this unfavorable outcome could have been avoided, and that desirable results could be expected at many sites in North America and elsewhere, provided there are sufficient prey.

Timothy M. Beardsley @ American Institute of Biological Sciences

[Photo above by Tambako / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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The new study reported on 40 people who were treated with botulinum toxin, or Botox. Tiny applications of this powerful nerve poison were used to deactivate muscles in the forehead that cause frowning.

The interactions of facial expression, thoughts and emotions has intrigued scientists for more than a century, says the study’s first author, University of Wisconsin-Madison psychology Ph.D. candidate David Havas.

Scientists have found that blocking the ability to move the body causes changes in cognition and emotion, but there were always questions. (One of the test treatments caused widespread, if temporary, paralysis.) In contrast, Havas was studying people after a pinpoint treatment to paralyze a single pair of “corrugator” muscles, which cause brow-wrinkling frowns.

To test how blocking a frown might affect comprehension of language related to emotions, Havas asked the patients to read written statements, before and then two weeks after the Botox treatment. The statements were angry (“The pushy telemarketer won’t let you return to your dinner”); sad (“You open your email in-box on your birthday to find no new emails”); or happy (“The water park is refreshing on the hot summer day.”)

Havas gauged the ability to understand these sentences according to how quickly the subject pressed a button to indicate they had finished reading it. “We periodically checked that the readers were understanding the sentences, not just pressing the button,” says Havas.

The results showed no change in the time needed to understand the happy sentences. But after Botox treatment, the subjects took more time to read the angry and sad sentences. Although the time difference was small, it was significant, he adds. Moreover, the changes in reading time couldn’t be attributed to changes in participants’ mood.

The use of Botox to test how making facial expressions affect emotional centers in the brain was pioneered by, Andreas Hennenlotter of the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany.

“There is a long-standing idea in psychology, called the facial feedback hypothesis,” says Havas. “Essentially, it says, when you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you. It’s an old song, but it’s right. Actually, this study suggests the opposite: When you’re not frowning, the world seems less angry and less sad.”

The Havas study broke new ground by linking the expression of emotion to the ability to understand language, says Havas’s advisor, UW-Madison professor emeritus of psychology Arthur Glenberg. “Normally, the brain would be sending signals to the periphery to frown, and the extent of the frown would be sent back to the brain. But here, that loop is disrupted, and the intensity of the emotion, and of our ability to understand it when embodied in language, is disrupted.”

Practically, the study “may have profound implications for the cosmetic-surgery,” says Glenberg. “Even though it’s a small effect, in conversation, people respond to fast, subtle cues about each other’s understanding, intention and empathy. If you are slightly slower reacting as I tell you about something made me really angry, that could signal to me that you did not pick up my message.”

Such an effect could snowball, Havas says, but the outcome could also be positive: “Maybe if I am not picking up sad, angry cues in the environment, that will make me happier.”

In theoretical terms, the finding supports a psychological hypothesis called “embodied cognition,” says Glenberg, now a professor of psychology at Arizona State University. “The idea of embodied cognition is that all our cognitive processes, even those that have been thought of as very abstract, are actually rooted in basic bodily processes of perception, action and emotion.”

With some roots in evolutionary theory, the embodied cognition hypothesis suggests that our thought processes, like our emotions, are refined through evolution to support survival and reproduction.

Embodied cognition links two seemingly separate mental functions, Glenberg says. “It’s been speculated at least since Darwin that the peripheral expression of emotion is a part of the emotion. An important role of emotion is social: it communicates, ‘I love’ or ‘I hate you,’ and it makes sense that there would be this very tight connection between peripheral expression and brain mechanism.”

“Language has traditionally been seen as a very high level, abstract process that is divorced from more primitive processes like action, perception and emotion,” Havas says. “This study shows that far from being divorced from emotion, language understanding can be hindered when those peripheral bodily mechanism are interrupted.”

David Havas @ University of Wisconsin – Madison

[Photo above by bensonkua / CC BY-ND 2.0]

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