On:

Do you dream? If you’re a woman, you have more nightmares than the man who may be sleeping beside you.

When 170 volunteers were asked to write down their most recent dream, 30% of the women 19% of men reported having a nightmare, 19% of the men.

Some researchers think that female nightmares may be linked to women?s menstrual cycles. BBC News quotes researcher Jennifer Parker as saying, “The consistent finding in this research was that women report more unpleasant dreams than men?In terms of processing emotional information, women may be more prone to taking unresolved concerns into their sleep life.”

Art credit: freeimages.co.uk
read more

On:

Looking at a person’s brain while they are listening to music can yield valuable insights into how the mind works. However, music theorist Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis claims the idea that listening to Mozart boosts brainpower is NOT TRUE.

Margulis says, "Studies about music move into the popular media and can get mistranslated, transmitting potentially misleading information." She points to the popularity of the "Mozart effect"–the research that showed improved spatial reasoning after listening to Mozart–as an example of unintentional distortion of scientific research about music.
read more

On:

Can love change the way your brain works? What is happening in the minds of people who have developed a greater capacity for forgiveness and compassion? Can a quality like love?whether it?s shown toward a family member or a friend?be measured in the brain?

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques, researcher Richard Davidson has been able to demonstrate that significant positive changes in brain behavior can be activated through meditation and other contemplative practices.
read more

On:

(sort of?for now, anyway) – Researchers say that ocean levels will definitely rise during the next 100 years, but they’re not likely to rise more than 7 feet. This would still be high enough to flood most coastal cities around the world. Is this good news or bad news?

In BBC News, Richard Black quotes USGS researcher Shad O?Neel as saying, “Even a sea level rise of 8 inches in a century will have quite dramatic implications. This work is in no way meant to undermine the seriousness of climate change, and sea level rise is something we’re going to have to deal with.”

Art credit: gimp-savvy.com
read more