What Shapes My Brain? -Science Blog Post

Nina Kraus of Northwest University performed experiments to measure how the brain processes sound and how it affects us in our daily lives.  The results are fairly surprising.

The researchers played music or speeches into volunteer's ears.  While the sound was playing, they monitored the electricity the brain created. The volunteers ranged from ages birth to 90 years.

It was concluded that several factors impact the brain.  The music we listen to, the languages we speak (especially if you are multilingual), aging, language disorders, and hearing loss. Also, people who actively listen to music were found to hear better than those who don’t.  

Outside of the lab, studies have also been conducted in schools, community centers, and clinics.  

Other findings include:

• Kraus lab discovers biological approach to measure an individual's sound processing with unprecedented precision.

• The way a pre-literate child processes the ingredients of sound -- pitch, timing and timbre -- can predict future reading ability.

• Sound processing disadvantages can be partially offset by making music as well as speaking another language.

• Engagement matters. The brains of children who were more actively involved in Kraus lab studies saw more robust changes.

• Sound processing in the brain can be a neurological marker for issues such as autism, dyslexia and learning delays.

All in all, many fascinating conclusions have been reached by Kraus and her colleagues.  My favorite one is: How the brain processes the sounds it hears is a great measure of how healthy your brain really is.   

For more information, go to http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151214185800.htm

 

I Stand For What I Stand On: Join The Fight To Save Planet Earth

Explain To

Explain to future generations

That it was once good for the economy

When they cannot farm the land

There is no clean air to breathe

And there is no clean water to drink.

Explain to them

You knew one day Earth would be beyond fixable

Yet you never even bothered to lend a helping hand

What monsters will they make of us?

Knowing so much, but caring so little.

Explain to the suffering, the dying, the ill

The cure that once existed

That could cure them once and for all

Was eliminated by deforestation

And would never have a chance to help a single soul.

Explain to the animals

Why you kill for their homes

And what they did to deserve to be so hated

Why they die for fashion, or to become a decoration.

Explain to the world

When nothing is left

Corpses in the ground and smog up above

You knew this would happen

Yet you never even bothered to lend a helping hand.

Since humans started walking the Earth, we have been polluting.  Killing animals for decorations and fashion and using up resources faster than they can be produced.  We say technology is advancing, but as long as the air, food, and water is dirty, the Ozone Hole expands, and living beings die at the mercy of others, technology isn't advancing for the better.  Greed controls us.  We are brainwashed into believing the world is a safe, healthy place.  War breaks out.  Entire species of plants and animals are wiped out.  The rain forest is in danger.  I wrote this poem to explain how we destroy our environment. Consequences can be prevented, though.  Solar electricity can become the new gasoline.  Recycling can occur more.  We, as the human race, can open our eyes and together make a change.  Turning off lights is small.  Recycling is small.  Not taking the car to every place you go is small.  Sometimes small is what makes the biggest impact. Please join the fight to save our planet Earth.

   

27 Random Trivia You Never Thought You'd Know!

Hello! I have always loved trivia.  Jeopardy, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader, etc. have always been some of my favorite shows.  Taking a break from science, here are some fun things I bet you never thought you'd know! Feel free to comment more trivia!   

1. The line between the two numbers of a fraction has a name--- the vinculum.

2. To get a rough estimate of the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, count the number of cricket chirps you hear for 15 seconds, then add 37 to that number.

3. 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 configurations can be made out of a 3x3 Rubik’s Cube.

4. The longest word typed using only the left hand is ‘stewardesses’.

5. If you throw an object, it will travel further if you throw it to the west than if you throw it to the east.  This is because of Earth’s rotation.

6. Mosquitoes are attracted to blue twice as much as they are attracted to any other color.

7. Wrigley’s Gum was the first item to have a bar code.

8. To eat a piece of celery, it takes more calories to eat it than are actually in the celery itself.

9. Humans only used about 10% of their brain.

10. 7 times is the average number of times the average major league baseball is pitched.

11. The first novel written on a typewriter was Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

12. The GNP of Texas - if it were a country - would be the fifth largest GNP of any country in the world.

13. The average American eats 18 acres of pizza per day.

14. In the English language, the shortest complex sentence is ‘I am’.

15. Almonds are a member of the peach family.

16. To produce enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee, you would have to yell for about 8 years, 7 months, and 6 days.

17. The lifespan of a dragonfly is 24 hours.

18. The only state that can be typed on one row of a keyboard is Alaska.

19. Dr. Seuss was challenged by editor Bennett Cerf to write a book with no more than 50 words in it, resulting in Green Eggs And Ham.

20. The only bank in the world that allows ATM users to perform transactions in Latin is in Vatican City.

21. Approximately one out of every 4 lobsters are born with a genetic disorder that will eventually turn the lobster a blue color.

22. The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after the daughter of President Grover Cleveland. Her name was Ruth Cleveland, and she was the first baby girl born in the White House.

23. The most widely spoken native language in the world is Mandarin Chinese.

24. Starbucks was named after the first mate in Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

25. M&M stands for the lasts names of Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie, the inventors of M&M.

26. One-Fifth of the world’s oxygen comes from the Amazon Rainforest.

27. “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter of the English alphabet in it.