No one likes dealing with test anxiety. It can leave you feeling flustered to the point that it impairs memory and decreases your academic performance. However, clinical research has shown that exam stress can lead to physiological damage as well. Exam stress conditions were shown to correlate with oxidative damage of proteins and lipids. Such […]
Author: Jessica
Most of us have been ingrained with the idea that there’s a standard of sleep that we all have to live up to (or sleep up to), somewhere between seven and eight hours per night usually being the recommendation. Sleep, after all, can affect a variety of important cognitive functions, as well as your mood. […]
Health Conscious or Health Obsessed? Delving Deeper into Vancouver’s Fitness Culture Living in Vancouver, there is certainly a presence of gym goers, devoted yogis, joggers, and cyclists. Having such mild weather and beautiful scenery to gaze at makes outdoor activity much less daunting and enjoyable. On a darker note, I often wonder how the label […]
You’ve likely either had your first midterm of the season already, or about to have one in the coming week. This can be an extremely stressful time for students, commonly filled with desperate cramming and countless cups of coffee. But did you know that stress actually changes the way you learn and which brain structures […]
How often have you heard a friend or family member: complain about needing to go to the gym more tell you to eat healthier and exercise more to stay fit consistently make the new year’s resolution to “get in shape”? Alternatively, how often have you heard a friend or family member: talk about their […]
Do you find that you tend to eat more when you’re stressed? People who do are classified as an emotional eaters – that is, you eat in order to satisfy your mood, and not your hunger. Why is this so? Well, when you are stressed out, the hormone Cortisol is released, which is associated which […]
There has been a long-standing question of whether or not bipolar disorders are underdiagnosed or overdiagnosed. Some researchers suggest bipolar disorders are overdiagnosed due to the “bipolar spectrum” problem of including a variety of symptoms and cases under the classification of bipolar disorders (Mazza et al., 2013). However, a recent study has suggested bipolar disorders […]
A study from the University of York in Britain suggests that acupuncture may be as effective at treating depression as counselling. Out of the 755 people recruited for the study, 302 were randomly assigned to receive weekly acupuncture sessions, 302 to receive weekly counselling sessions, and the remaining 151 received usual care only. On a […]
Psychological scientists at the University of California have found a strong link between daily-life stresses to long-term mental health. The main questions they were trying to investigate was whether or not emotional experiences accumulate to cause overall detrimental effects, or if they make us stronger and prepare us for future distress. Using surveys, the researchers […]
Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found distinct differences in brain functioning between children at risk of developing schizophrenia and those who are not. In this study, fMRI was performed on 42 subjects aged 9 to 18, half of which had relatives with schizophrenia and half of which did not. Individuals with a […]