All posts by medical

Neuroscience

Researchers use virtual reality displays to test people’s visual awareness of color – News-Medical.Net

Color awareness has long been a puzzle for researchers in neuroscience and psychology, who debate over how many color observers really perceive.

A study from Dartmouth in collaboration with Amherst College finds that people are aware of surprisingly limited color in their peripheral vision; much of our sense of a colorful visual world is likely constructed by our brain.

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To test people's visual awareness of color during naturalistic viewing, the researchers used head-mounted virtual reality displays installed with eye-trackers to immerse participants in a 360-degree real-world environment.

The virtual environments included tours of historic sites, a street dance performance, a symphony rehearsal, and more, where observers could explore their surroundings simply by turning their heads.

With the eye-tracking tool, researchers knew exactly where an observer was looking at all times in the scene and could make systematic changes to the visual environment so that only the areas where the person was looking were in color.

The rest of the scene in the periphery was desaturated so that it had no color and was just in black and white. After a series of trials, observers were asked a series of questions to gauge if they noticed the lack of color in their periphery.

A supplemental video from the study illustrates how the peripheral color was removed from various scenes.

In your visual field, your periphery extends approximately 210 degrees, which is similar to if your arms are stretched out on your left and right.

The study's results showed that most people's color awareness is limited to a small area around the dead center of their visual field. When the researchers removed most color in the periphery, most people did not notice.

In the most extreme case, almost a third of observers did not notice when less than five percent of the entire visual field was presented in color (radius of 10 degrees visual angle).

Participants were astonished to find out later that they hadn't noticed the desaturated periphery after they were shown the changes that were made to a virtual scene that they had just explored.

A second study tasked the participants to identify when color was desaturated in the periphery. The results were similar in that most people failed to notice when the peripheral color had been removed.

A large number of people participated in the two studies, which featured nearly 180 participants in total.

"We were amazed by how oblivious participants were when color was removed from up to 95 percent of their visual world," said senior author, Caroline Robertson, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth.

Our results show that our intuitive sense of a rich, colorful visual world is largely incorrect. Our brain is likely filling-in much of our perceptual experience."

Caroline Robertson, Senior Author and Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College

Previous studies evaluating the limitations of visual awareness often relied on participants staring at video content on computer screens directly in front of them.

By leveraging the virtual reality experience, this research approach is novel, as the 360-degree environment is more similar to the way people experience the real-world.

Read the original here:
Researchers use virtual reality displays to test people's visual awareness of color - News-Medical.Net

Neuroscience

Potential Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment Market Report 2020 Key Companies NIH, UCL Institute of Neurology,…

Rising number of corona virus cases has impacted numerous lives and led to numerous fatalities, and has affected the overall economic structure globally. The Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment has analyzed and published the latest report on the global Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market. Change in the market has affected the global platform. Along with the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market, numerous other markets are also facing similar situations. This has led to the downfall of numerous businesses, because of the widespread increase of the number of cases across the globe.href=mailto:nicolas.shaw@cognitivemarketresearch.com>nicolas.shaw@cognitivemarketresearch.com or call us on +1-312-376-8303.

Request Free Sample Copy of Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment Market Research Report@ https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/medical-devicesconsumables/motor-neuron-diseases-treatment-market-report

The major players in the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market are NIH, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Neuroscience Institute, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sheffield, OZBiosciences, The University of Queensland, MND Australia . Some of the players have adopted new strategies to sustain their position in the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market. A detailed research study is done on the each of the segments, and is provided in Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market report. Based on the performance of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market in various regions, a detailed study of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market is also analyzed and covered in the study.

Report Scope:Some of the key types analyzed in this report are as follows: Riluzole, Nusinersen, Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Others

Some of the key applications as follow: Multidisciplinary Clinics, Hospitals, Social Work Facilities, Others

Following are the major key players: NIH, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Neuroscience Institute, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sheffield, OZBiosciences, The University of Queensland, MND Australia

An in-depth analysis of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market is covered and included in the research study. The study covers an updated and a detailed analysis of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market. It also provides the statistical information of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market. The study of the report consists of the detailed definition of the market or the overview of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market. Furthermore, it also provides detailed information for the target audience dealing with or operating in this market is explained in the next section of the report.

Read Detailed Index of full Research Study @: https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/medical-devicesconsumables/motor-neuron-diseases-treatment-market-report#download_report

The report also provides detailed information on the research methodologies, which are used for the analysis of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market. The methods are covered in detail in this section of the report. For the analysis of the market, several tools are used for the extraction of the market numbers. Among the several tools, primary and secondary research studies were also incorporated for the research study. These were further analyzed and validated by the market experts, to increase precision and make the data more reliable.

Moreover, the report also highlights and provides a detailed analysis of the drivers, restrains, opportunities, and challenges of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market. This section of Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market also covers the updated information, in accordance with the present situation of the market.

According to the estimation and the analysis of the market, the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market is likely to have some major changes in the estimated forecasts period. Moreover, these changes can be attributed to the changes due to economic and trading conditions across the globe. Moreover, several market players operating in the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market will have to strategically change their business strategies in order to survive in the market.

If Any Inquiry of Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment Report @: https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/medical-devicesconsumables/motor-neuron-diseases-treatment-market-report#download_report

Reasons for Buying this Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment Report1. Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market advertise report helps with understanding the Basic product segments alongside likewise their potential future.2. This global Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment report offers pin-point evaluation for changing competitive dynamics.3. The Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market supplies pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you in front of competitors4. Original images and illustrated a SWOT evaluation of large segments supplied by the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market.5. This report supplies a forward-looking perspective on different driving factors or controlling Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment market gain.6. This report assists to make wise business choices using whole insights of the Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment and also from creating a comprehensive evaluation of market sections.Note In order to provide more accurate market forecast, all our reports will be updated before delivery by considering the impact of COVID-19.

*If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want Click Here>Download Customized Sample Report of Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment Market Report 2020 (COVID-19 Impact Analysis Updated Edition May 2020)

About Us: Cognitive Market Research is one of the finest and most efficient Market Research and Consulting firm. The company strives to provide research studies which include syndicate research, customized research, round the clock assistance service, monthly subscription services, and consulting services to our clients. We focus on making sure that based on our reports, our clients are enabled to make most vital business decisions in easiest and yet effective way. Hence, we are committed to delivering them outcomes from market intelligence studies which are based on relevant and fact-based research across the global market.

Contact Us: +1-312-376-8303Email: nicolas.shaw@cognitivemarketresearch.comWeb: https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com

**********Download the Entire Report*************************************************https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/medical-devicesconsumables/motor-neuron-diseases-treatment-market-report

Read more from the original source:
Potential Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Motor Neuron Diseases Treatment Market Report 2020 Key Companies NIH, UCL Institute of Neurology,...

Neuroscience

How to make good decisions when you’re paralyzed by the stress of protests and the pandemic – KCRA Sacramento

Do you find it tough to make decisions these days? What used to be no-brainers, stopping at the grocery for bread and milk, making a pit stop at the gas station or meeting friends for dinner and drinks are now fraught with dangers.Are people wearing masks at the grocery and keeping their carts at a proper distance of 6 feet? Did you bring gloves or hand sanitizer for the gas pump? Will the restaurant have outdoor socially distant seating and just how does one eat with a mask?And now we're fighting back tears and struggling with rage over the killing of George Floyd, the unarmed and handcuffed black man in Minneapolis who died after gasping "I can't breathe" as a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck."It's crazy times, with protests and a pandemic and things at every level appearing untrustworthy," said biochemist Bita Moghaddam, who chairs the behavioral neuroscience department in the school of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University.Moghaddam, who studies how anxiety affects the brain, said it's no wonder our stressed, overworked brains can't spit out a decision. We have become victims of "analysis paralysis.""We don't know exactly what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month," Daphna Shohamy, who is a professor of psychology at Columbia University, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in a recent podcast.And we're all forced to make decisions in that state of uncertainty and to just rely on what we do know, which is not good enough," said Shohamy, who studies the cognitive neuroscience of learning, memory and decision-making."I notice it myself all the time," Gupta said in the podcast. "As simple as choosing a tie in the morning, what I'm going to have for lunch, whether I'm going to go for a run or a bike ride."Those were decisions that usually took me just a few seconds, and now sometimes I just find myself struggling," he said.How the brain makes decisionsThe headquarters for our decision-making capabilities is the prefrontal cortex, which controls our higher-level executive functions. Those include focusing our attention, creating and organizing thoughts, setting goals, planning actions and putting a stop to impulsive thoughts and behaviors.Under normal or mild stress conditions, the brain uses "working memory" to regulate our mood and actions from the top down. Working memory marries recent events with memories from long-term storage about what we learned from any experience, and it uses this to make decisions about how we should act, think and feel based on our experiences. And, of course, it helps us anticipate and predict possible consequences from our actions."The brain is constantly estimating risk," Moghaddam said."I'm hungry. I'm going to get up and drive to a pizzeria to grab some pizza. But driving involves risk because you could get into an accident," she said. "If you're suffering from anxiety disorders, you may say, 'No, I'm not going to even risk getting in the car because I couldn't relax.' If you're drunk, then the risk is even higher. And it becomes a computation game."It takes the first quarter of life for the decision-making area of the brain to fully mature in humans. Car rental companies recognize that fact and won't rent to anyone under 25.Other key milestones, such as a driver's license at age 16, voting at 18 and drinking at 21 occur when the brain's ability to make good decisions isn't fully baked.The prefrontal cortex is also the area of the brain that is most sensitive to stress. Even mild stress can cause "rapid and dramatic loss of prefrontal cognitive abilities," while prolonged stress can actually change the brain, according to Amy Arnsten, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Yale School of Medicine.When we are stressed all the time, certain neurotransmitters go awry, flooding the brain with chemicals that change the structure and functioning of the prefrontal cortex and the fight-or-flight emotion and memory centers of the brain. Working memory suffers, and our ability to make quick or well-thought-out decisions declines."In general, decision-making slows down," Moghaddam said. "You could argue it's better for our survival. You learned driving when it's icy is dangerous, you shouldn't be drinking and driving, and you've learned that this virus could kill you."The combo of stress with increased risk is making it much harder to make decisions during the pandemic."If you think about going to the grocery store right now, there's a fair amount of planning consciously or subconsciously what times will be less crowded, do I really need to go, and should I go," Moghaddam said. "Most of us didn't think of going to a grocery store as a dangerous thing before, yet now it has become an anxiety-provoking process."What to do next?Give your brain a break from its constant risk calculations.Try to take 10 to 15 minutes to close your eyes and meditate, pushing all of your worries and decisions to the side during that time.You can see physical changes in the brain in a short time, said psychology and psychiatry professor Richard Davidson, founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.Davidson did a randomized controlled trial of people who've never meditated before. Using direct measures of brain function and structure, he found it only took 30 minutes a day of meditation practice over the course of two weeks to produce a measurable change in the brain.There are other anxiety-busting activities that can help. Practice good sleep hygiene to improve your sleep quality, one of the best things you can do to ease stress and boost your mood.Studies show exercising at a moderate but not high intensity for 15 to 30 minutes at least three times a week does wonders for stress. Try rhythmic exercises, such as running, swimming, cycling and walking, to get your blood pumping in major muscle groups.Something as simple as taking deep, slow breaths can do amazing things to our brain and therefore our stress and anxiety, said Dr. Cynthia Ackrill, an editor for Contentment magazine, produced by the American Institute of Stress."When you physiologically calm yourself, you actually change your brainwaves," Ackrill said.Yoga, tai chi and qi gong are spiritual disciplines, designed to meld body and mind. A yoga lifestyle incorporates physical postures, breath regulation and mindfulness through the practice of meditation. Brain scans of people using tai chi and qi gong find increased alpha, beta and theta brain wave activity, suggesting increased relaxation and attentiveness.And finally, stop criticizing your brain for its indecisiveness."Why are we so worried about being paralyzed?" Moghaddam asked. "It's normal for a brain to take its time to make a decision. The brain is actually doing its job."

Do you find it tough to make decisions these days? What used to be no-brainers, stopping at the grocery for bread and milk, making a pit stop at the gas station or meeting friends for dinner and drinks are now fraught with dangers.

Are people wearing masks at the grocery and keeping their carts at a proper distance of 6 feet? Did you bring gloves or hand sanitizer for the gas pump? Will the restaurant have outdoor socially distant seating and just how does one eat with a mask?

And now we're fighting back tears and struggling with rage over the killing of George Floyd, the unarmed and handcuffed black man in Minneapolis who died after gasping "I can't breathe" as a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck.

"It's crazy times, with protests and a pandemic and things at every level appearing untrustworthy," said biochemist Bita Moghaddam, who chairs the behavioral neuroscience department in the school of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University.

Moghaddam, who studies how anxiety affects the brain, said it's no wonder our stressed, overworked brains can't spit out a decision. We have become victims of "analysis paralysis."

"We don't know exactly what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month," Daphna Shohamy, who is a professor of psychology at Columbia University, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in a recent podcast.

And we're all forced to make decisions in that state of uncertainty and to just rely on what we do know, which is not good enough," said Shohamy, who studies the cognitive neuroscience of learning, memory and decision-making.

"I notice it myself all the time," Gupta said in the podcast. "As simple as choosing a tie in the morning, what I'm going to have for lunch, whether I'm going to go for a run or a bike ride.

"Those were decisions that usually took me just a few seconds, and now sometimes I just find myself struggling," he said.

The headquarters for our decision-making capabilities is the prefrontal cortex, which controls our higher-level executive functions. Those include focusing our attention, creating and organizing thoughts, setting goals, planning actions and putting a stop to impulsive thoughts and behaviors.

Under normal or mild stress conditions, the brain uses "working memory" to regulate our mood and actions from the top down. Working memory marries recent events with memories from long-term storage about what we learned from any experience, and it uses this to make decisions about how we should act, think and feel based on our experiences. And, of course, it helps us anticipate and predict possible consequences from our actions.

"The brain is constantly estimating risk," Moghaddam said.

"I'm hungry. I'm going to get up and drive to a pizzeria to grab some pizza. But driving involves risk because you could get into an accident," she said. "If you're suffering from anxiety disorders, you may say, 'No, I'm not going to even risk getting in the car because I couldn't relax.' If you're drunk, then the risk is even higher. And it becomes a computation game."

It takes the first quarter of life for the decision-making area of the brain to fully mature in humans. Car rental companies recognize that fact and won't rent to anyone under 25.

Other key milestones, such as a driver's license at age 16, voting at 18 and drinking at 21 occur when the brain's ability to make good decisions isn't fully baked.

The prefrontal cortex is also the area of the brain that is most sensitive to stress. Even mild stress can cause "rapid and dramatic loss of prefrontal cognitive abilities," while prolonged stress can actually change the brain, according to Amy Arnsten, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Yale School of Medicine.

When we are stressed all the time, certain neurotransmitters go awry, flooding the brain with chemicals that change the structure and functioning of the prefrontal cortex and the fight-or-flight emotion and memory centers of the brain. Working memory suffers, and our ability to make quick or well-thought-out decisions declines.

"In general, decision-making slows down," Moghaddam said. "You could argue it's better for our survival. You learned driving when it's icy is dangerous, you shouldn't be drinking and driving, and you've learned that this virus could kill you."

The combo of stress with increased risk is making it much harder to make decisions during the pandemic.

"If you think about going to the grocery store right now, there's a fair amount of planning consciously or subconsciously what times will be less crowded, do I really need to go, and should I go," Moghaddam said. "Most of us didn't think of going to a grocery store as a dangerous thing before, yet now it has become an anxiety-provoking process."

Give your brain a break from its constant risk calculations.

Try to take 10 to 15 minutes to close your eyes and meditate, pushing all of your worries and decisions to the side during that time.

You can see physical changes in the brain in a short time, said psychology and psychiatry professor Richard Davidson, founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Davidson did a randomized controlled trial of people who've never meditated before. Using direct measures of brain function and structure, he found it only took 30 minutes a day of meditation practice over the course of two weeks to produce a measurable change in the brain.

There are other anxiety-busting activities that can help. Practice good sleep hygiene to improve your sleep quality, one of the best things you can do to ease stress and boost your mood.

Studies show exercising at a moderate but not high intensity for 15 to 30 minutes at least three times a week does wonders for stress. Try rhythmic exercises, such as running, swimming, cycling and walking, to get your blood pumping in major muscle groups.

Something as simple as taking deep, slow breaths can do amazing things to our brain and therefore our stress and anxiety, said Dr. Cynthia Ackrill, an editor for Contentment magazine, produced by the American Institute of Stress.

"When you physiologically calm yourself, you actually change your brainwaves," Ackrill said.

Yoga, tai chi and qi gong are spiritual disciplines, designed to meld body and mind. A yoga lifestyle incorporates physical postures, breath regulation and mindfulness through the practice of meditation. Brain scans of people using tai chi and qi gong find increased alpha, beta and theta brain wave activity, suggesting increased relaxation and attentiveness.

And finally, stop criticizing your brain for its indecisiveness.

"Why are we so worried about being paralyzed?" Moghaddam asked. "It's normal for a brain to take its time to make a decision. The brain is actually doing its job."

Continue reading here:
How to make good decisions when you're paralyzed by the stress of protests and the pandemic - KCRA Sacramento

Embryology

‘Authorised to resume licensed treatments’ following COVID-19 closure: what does this actually mean for a fertility clinic? – BioNews

8 June 2020

Scientific Director and HFEA Person Responsible, Hewitt Fertility Centres Knutsford and Liverpool, Liverpool Womens Hospital

Since fertility centres have been allowed to apply to reopen following their temporary closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported in BioNews 1045, many fertility clinics have been approved by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) as 'authorised to resume licensed treatments'. This has naturally meant that patients previously left waiting for their treatment now desperately wish to get going again on their journey towards achieving a family.

This understandable desire to resume treatment has led to clinic websites constantly being checked, phone lines in clinics becoming busy and many questions being asked across other channels of communication such as social media. Patients will often assume that if a clinic is now 'open' or can 'resume treatment' that this means it will happen immediately. It is sometimes difficult to explain to them the impact that COVID-19 has had on treatment plans and why things will take a long time to get back to any kind of normal.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought huge challenges to our health service and to society, and I hope that by explaining some of the challenges that fertility clinics face, I can remove some of the confusion, and help to restore some faith in the fertility service.

HFEA-licensed fertility clinics come in all shapes and sizes. Some provide only NHS treatment, some both NHS and private, and others just private treatment. A number of clinics are standalone facilities, whereas others are attached to existing NHS hospital sites. Some clinics may have the capacity within the laboratories, scan rooms and procedure rooms to provide additional treatments, whereas others may be bursting at the seams and unable to grow any more in their current location.

Some fertility clinics provide only a few hundred fertility cycles per year, and others provide several thousand, which means clinics will also differ significantly in the number of patients whose treatment was put on hold when clinics were instructed to stop providing treatment.

The types of staff providing the specialist fertility services also differ between clinics. Some private clinics may rely on NHS anaesthetists, medical consultants and nursing staff to provide private fertility treatments outside of their contracted NHS hours. Others may have a dedicated team of specialists providing private fertility care. Clinics within the NHS will also rely on anaesthetists working elsewhere within the NHS. Some clinics may be part of a group of clinics, offering more deployable staff, whereas others operate in isolation with staff dedicated to just one clinic. Furthermore, during this period of closure, nursing, medical and scientific clinic staff, from both private and NHS clinics may have been redeployed to support NHS services during the COVID-19 crisis, again affecting the number of staff available for fertility services.

Clinics within an NHS Trust may have HFEA approval but may be awaiting local NHS Trust approval to reopen due to restricted footfall in the hospital and the continued need for redeployed staff to support other services, whereas standalone private clinics may not have the same problem. On the other hand, clinics within an NHS Trust will have secured supplies of suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) and local infection control expertise, whereas private clinics may not have sufficient PPE nor advice available to be able to open immediately.

In short, although our clinics provide very similar fertility services, each has its own unique circumstances determining what will be a suitable strategy for reopening. This means that the way and the rate at which they re-open will be very different, and the number of patients 'on hold' and desperately waiting to re-start their treatment will also vary.

Although some clinics submitted their self-assessment to the HFEA for approval at the earliest opportunity, other clinics may need a little longer to build or implement their strategy. And although the HFEA list of approved clinics is growing each day, those approved clinics all have very different strategies created for their own unique service. All clinics, regardless of size, location or funding type, will have a number of patients who had to have their treatment cancelled or postponed and who need to be given priority in resuming their treatment. All clinics will undoubtedly need to re-open services at a lower capacity than before to ensure they keep their patients and their staff safe.

To answer the question directly: the differences between clinics means that the resumption of licensed treatment will look different across centres. Whatever the unique circumstances for your clinic, please be reassured that they, and the HFEA, are prioritising patient and staff safety by minimising the risk of COVID-19 transmission but still ensuring that you have the very best chance of a successful outcome within a high quality service.

Go here to read the rest:
'Authorised to resume licensed treatments' following COVID-19 closure: what does this actually mean for a fertility clinic? - BioNews

Embryology

Israeli, US researchers to get $7.3 million for joint agriculture projects – The Times of Israel

A joint US-Israeli agricultural research and development fund has approved grants of $7.3 million for 22 research projects done jointly by Israeli and US researchers.

The 2020 research grants will go to 20 US and nine Israeli institutions, and the projects approved are in a wide range of fields including agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, animal production, animal health, crop health and production, water and renewable resources, and food production, BARD-the US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund, said in a statement on Sunday.

This year, BARD will also grant ten postdoctoral fellowships, four BARD senior research fellowships supporting American scientists who will conduct research in Israel, and two joint US-Israel workshops, the statement said.

Get The Start-Up Israel's Daily Start-Up by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up

Fifty percent of the research grant recipients are early career scientists. They get an opportunity to work side-by-side with leading, experienced scientists, thus acquiring a crucial body of knowledge and expertise, the statement said.

This year we are facing many challenges as the coronavirus pandemic poses a threat to food security all over the world, said Yoram Kapulnik, BARDs executive director. The Ag research and development community has been influenced by this crisis yet the great minds in research and development will also be the ones to lead us safely towards finding new solutions and coping with the various challenges that have arisen. The wide array of research proposals approved is a testament to the excellent and innovative agriculture research communities both in the US and in Israel.

Among the projects approved for the grants are a project studying Beta-glucans as growth promoters and antibiotic alternatives in poultry; the development of salmonella sensing-based antibacterials for use in poultry; and the use of in-vitro embryo production and gene editing to study embryology in sheep.

Over the past 40 years BARD has funded more than 1,330 research projects with a total investment of $315 million. This research has led to some 200 new agricultural practices, 40 commercial deals, and 100 patent-series and breeding rights licenses, the statement said. The joint projects have helped both the Israeli and US economies and agricultural communities, as well as the continued collaboration among scientists in Israel and the US even after the projects are over, the statement said.

Read the rest here:
Israeli, US researchers to get $7.3 million for joint agriculture projects - The Times of Israel

Human Behavior

5 Psychology Books To Understand Human Behavior

Our mind is our greatest asset, but we dont always know how to use it or fully understand it. In the vast majority of cases, a lot of our minds potential remains untapped. In order to learn all about the intricate psychology that underlies human behavior, you simply need to find the right books that contain the right knowledge and absorb it.

This is precisely why we created Blinkist: a mobile app that gives you actionable tips from the worlds best nonfiction books in 15 minutes or fewer.

All tips are available in the app in bite-sized flashcard formats that you can quickly read or, thanks to the audio versions, listen to on-the-go. What you learn with Blinkist is totally up to youthere are more than 2,000 titles in virtually every category, including psychology, to choose from.

Read on to discover 5 illuminating books that divulge the mysteries of the human brain, teaching us how to take full advantage of our most amazing organ.

by Sally Hogshead

Read or listen to the main points of this title.

Read or listen to the main points of this title in just 15 minutes.

How do you appear to others? What makes you uniquely fascinating? This eye-opening book unveils the psychology of fascination and how people and businesses can harness it to develop bulletproof brands and sell-out products.

One of the 7 triggers of fascination is alarm; we are fascinated by things that threaten or alarm us. This trigger is used often in advertising. Keep an eye out for announcements or ads that say something like Our vacuum cleaners are incredible popular, but hurry, there are only 50 left! The inclusion of an impending deadline triggers alarm that in turn activates your fascination.

Key Takeaway: If you want to persuade someone to do something, skirt around the subject, reveal what you need, then forbid them to do it. At the very least, theyll be tempted help.

by Joseph A. Annibali, M.D.

Read or listen to the main points of this title.

Read or listen to the main points of this title in just 15 minutes.

Imbalances in our brains can give rise to such conditions as anxiety, depression and addiction, all of which can stand in the way of success and act as significant sources of unhappiness in our lives. In Reclaim Your Brain, M.D. Joseph A. Annibali investigates the biological causes for such problems and comes up with effective strategies to prevent and combat them.

Take, for example, negative thoughts in order to combat negative thinking, Annibali suggests that you should pay attention to the thoughts and stories that you tell yourself and then write them down. This will act of transcribing your thoughts will slow down your thinking and, once you have the thoughts on paper, you can critically think about your assumptions, draw clearer conclusions, and rewrite these negative thoughts into positives.

Key Takeaway: Writing your thoughts down, examining them critically, and rewriting the stories you tell yourself are all important steps toward improving your mental health.

by Michelle Tillis Lederman

Read or listen to the main points of this title.

Read or listen to the main points of this title in just 15 minutes.

The fact that people do business with people they like may seem self-evident, and yet, many of us too often fail to treat business relationships as actual relationships. This book shows you how to form meaningful interpersonal connections with others in a professional context in order to draw the greatest win-win advantages.

Take, for example, an awkward business social outing or networking event: if you find yourself in a situation where it feels difficult to be authentic, try and change your perspective on the person youre interacting with. Make an effort to look at them with unbiased eyes and perhaps you will find something to appreciate; e.g. they may have a set of skills that you dont have. Your ability to find the good in a person or situation will lead to a more genuine and productive interaction.

Key Takeaway: Be your authentic self & look at others with unbiased eyes.

by Maria Konnikova

Read or listen to the main points of this title.

Read or listen to the main points of this title in just 15 minutes.

How do con artists succeed? Everyone knows pyramid schemes are frauds, and yet so many people fall for them. This is because con artists know and exploit specific flaws in human psychology.

One of the ideas explained in this eye-opening book is cognitive dissonance. This means that when a tightly-held belief does not match reality, we are more willing to bend our perception of reality rather than deal with the stress of changing our beliefs.

One of the best ways to become less vulnerable to con artists is to better know and understand yourself. Get ahead of the game by observing yourself to find out what triggers your emotions and makes you act impulsively. This way, when you meet someone who tries to push your buttons, youll recognize whats happening and avoid falling into the trap of the con artist.

Key takeaway: Get to know your sensitive points and be wary of people who go after them.

by Eric Berne, M.D.

Read or listen to the main points of this title.

Read or listen to the main points of this title in just 15 minutes.

People are constantly playing mind games with one another its a natural, even if often undesirable, trait of human psychology. The negative impact of these games can be mitigated by learning to recognize, sidestep and counteract psychological games.

When a friend who often rejects your advice asks for help, your game alarm should start ringing. You know that he is maybe not looking for hard and fast advice, but wants something else from you. Instead of offering a list of solutions, flip things around. Ask your friend what he thinks he should do. That will get him thinking and overturn the usual rules of the game.

Key takeaway: A life without games offers an opportunity for closer relationships.

To get thousands of actionable tips from 2000+ of the worlds most important books on psychology and more, download the Blinkist app today.

Excerpt from:
5 Psychology Books To Understand Human Behavior

Human Behavior

Psychology and Human Behavior Essay – 1142 Words | Bartleby

771 Words |4 Pages

Behavioral neuroscience or biological psychology employs the principles of brain pathology to the study of human behavior through genetic, physiological, and developmental operations, as well as, the brains capacity to change with experience. Since the second world war, crime was largely attributed to mostly economic, political, and social factors, along with what psychologists termed at the time, the weak character of mental disturbance, and brain biology was rarely considered. However, new advances

The rest is here:
Psychology and Human Behavior Essay - 1142 Words | Bartleby

Human Behavior

Sheriff: The Path forward starts with leadership and culture – Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The recent death in Minneapolis of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police Department officer has sparked outrage in communities throughout the country, including Sarasota County.

This time, however, the national reaction feels different than when Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri, or Freddie Gray was killed while in police custody in Baltimore, or Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times in Chicago.

The relationship between citizens and police has reached a tipping point. We have never seen the shared sentiment and shows of unity between police and protestors that we are seeing now. Police leaders, including all 67 Florida sheriffs, are publicly decrying the Minneapolis Police Department and use of tactics like the knee on Floyds airway that obviously resulted in his death. They are not fearful of backlash from their brothers and sisters in uniform. It would seem that the thin blue line is slowly being erased.

This begs the question, What now?

It is foolish to believe that everything will change from this point forward, and there will never be another tragedy like Floyds. Police officers are imperfect human beings, and some will still make bad decisions in heated moments decisions that can determine whether they, their fellow officers, and the citizens they were sworn to serve will live or die. The most we can expect is a continued evolution toward trust between communities and police agencies, reducing the number of volatile situations with bad outcomes like the one we have just seen.

There are nearly 18,000 police agencies in the U.S., employing more than 680,000 people. Reform will not happen overnight. How can we accelerate it?

Recently, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts stated that she wants to legislate police policy.

"I know when you're talking about systemic injustice, sometimes people will chalk it up to culture, but culture is human behavior. And it can be changed," Pressley said. "And I think that begins by holding all accountable, from this White House to our State House to our City Hall, to root out the scourge of police brutality and the many other intersectional injustices that also play a part."

Pressley is right on culture: it has tremendous power to shape human behavior, bad or good. She believes legislation will change behavior and improve police culture. I believe she has the process backwards.

A positive police culture must come first. It is the foundation of reform and without it, nothing changes. No amount of policy, legislation and diversity in the ranks will change the behavior of cops in a negative culture with an us versus them mentality.

How else do you explain the continued racial bias in law enforcement against African American people, despite two decades of increasingly diverse hiring practices and legislated reform measures nationwide?

When I watched the video of officer Derick Chavin leaning on George Floyds neck, I saw what America saw unspeakable police brutality. After more nearly 34 years in law enforcement, I also saw things that many others did not. I saw black gloves that were likely not COVID-19 protection, but a statement of power and intimidation. I saw four officers, including an African American and Asian, with an attitude that said it was just another day at the office. In my mind, the situation was clear: the Minneapolis Police Department had allowed a culture to fester in which officers feel empowered and separate from their communities. De-escalation is something to which they pay lip service, but dont practice.

Could a policy against putting your knee on someones airway have saved Floyd? Possibly. But a police culture like the one in Minneapolis is a perpetual breeding ground for problems. If not Floyd, it would eventually be someone elses life lost at the hands of the police in any of a hundred ways.

Most people dont want to hear this. Changing police culture and mindset is big and messy. It takes a lot of time. You cant wrap it up in a bow like a policy or a law: There, the bill is signed now so weve solved this problem. You cant measure it easily, like the number of minority officers in your ranks.

The good news is that it is possible. It begins at the top. Law enforcement leaders are the CEOs of their organizations, and as they go, so go their people. We know this from the private sector, where CEOs and their management styles define everything about their companies. We also know from the military that good leaders can achieve remarkable things.

If America wants to accelerate change in police reform, it needs to focus seriously on its police leaders which is not the same as handcuffing them into submission. In hiring or appointing police chiefs, municipalities should look beyond credentials on paper and talk to people who have worked under the job candidates. Likewise, voters should elect sheriffs not based on their personal ideologies, but on their proven leadership qualities.

Most importantly, the people who put police leaders into position should ask themselves, Is this the person who can build a culture that creates trust? Then, hold them accountable.

Tom Knight is the sheriff of Sarasota County and the secretary of the Florida Sheriffs Association.

Go here to see the original:
Sheriff: The Path forward starts with leadership and culture - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Human Behavior

Survival Instincts and Lies from the Top: How Crises Alter Human Behavior – CBD Today

By now, you probably have experienced the long lines and empty shelves at grocery and warehouse stores. Or you may have tried to buy staples such as canned food and toilet paper online from companies such as Walmart, Target, and Amazon only to discover they are sold out.

This seems unprecedented, but a look back at our history helps explain the phenomenon.

Sander van der Linden, an assistant professor of social psychology at Cambridge University, said a fear contagion phenomenon has taken hold in America. When people are stressed their reason is hampered, so they look at what other people are doing, he said. If others are stockpiling, it leads you to engage in the same behavior. People see photos of empty shelves and regardless of whether its rational, it sends a signal to them that its the thing to do.

As humankind has become more civilized and technological advancements have changed our lives, the survival instinct can become dormant. However, as current events clearly indicate, this survival behavior quickly can be reignited and spread like wildfire.

A look back to the Great Depression can cast some light on human behavior during a crisis.

John Montgomery Ph.D., wrote about this human condition. When we live in environments, such as modern cities, that are drastically different from the environments that were biologically adapted for, we become subject to various evolutionary mismatch effects that can be extremely detrimental to our physical and emotional health, he wrote. Perhaps the most important consequence of this mismatch is that we become highly prone to being triggered repeatedly and unnecessarily into various states of survival mode.

A look back to the Great Depression can cast some light on human behavior during a crisis. As conditions worsened over the course of the Depression and people increasingly lost confidence in banks, they started withdrawing their money in large numbers. Recognizing the crisis, in 1932 President Herbert Hoover denounced traitorous hoarding and organized an anti-hoarding drive. He also delivered a radio address pleading for people to stop hoarding and cease converting bank deposits into cash. Few listened.

Why policy and leadership matter

In the aftermath of the Great Depression, many argued the financial sector was so important it needed to be closely monitored and regulated. For a while it was. But then Republican administrations continued to wind back many of the regulations that kept financial institutions from gorging themselves to death. The lack of oversight ultimately led to the Great Recession of 2007 2009.

After then-President George W. Bush left office, President Barack Obama implemented new regulations aimed at keeping the banking system healthy. However, those safeguards again were rolled back once Donald J. Trump took office.

Early in his administration, as if a thank you to Wall Street, Trump signed a directive aimed at dismantling the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, crafted by the Obama administration in response to the 2008 economic meltdown. Trump also signed a memorandum to reverse the fiduciary rule, which requires brokers to act in their clients best interest, rather than seek the highest profits for themselves, when providing financial planning advice.

Trumps action on the fiduciary rule, which Democrats and consumer groups immediately denounced, allows financial advisors to steer unsuspecting clients toward investments that may enrich the broker but not be in the clients best interest.

The great disconnect from the facts

The premise that the Republican party is the party of fiscal conservatives and the Democrats are fiscal numbskulls just doesnt fit with the facts. In fact, during the past thirty-nine years, all the United States recessions occurred under Republican administrations.

Moreover, Americas deficit spending, once anathema to Republicans, has increased more under recent Republican administrations than under Democratic presidencies.

Reagan took the federal deficit from $70 billion to $175 billion. George H.W. Bush took it to $290 billion. President Bill Clinton reduced it to zero. George W. Bush took it from zero to $1.4 trillion. Obama halved it to $584 billion. The Trump administration has raised it back to more than $1 trillion.

The U.S. is now in another crisis. The health of the countrys citizens and economy is under attack. People are hoarding supplies, and a survivalist mentality has infected the populace.

In this election year, voters can decide whether we have thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate leaders in Washington or boisterous, dishonest fools on the hill. The choice may be at the very heart of our survival.

Randall Huft is president and creative director at Innovation Agency, an advertising, branding, and public relations firm specializing in the cannabis industry. While working with blue-chip companies including AT&T, United Airlines, IBM, Walgreens, American Express, Toyota, and Disney, he discovered what works, what doesnt, and how to gain market share.

Read more:
Survival Instincts and Lies from the Top: How Crises Alter Human Behavior - CBD Today

Human Behavior

Public policy and human behaviour – Opinions – Business Recorder

ARTICLE: Trouble comes in threes. Extreme measures produce extreme behavior. Fear and panic are breeding grounds of reactivity. These phrases all seem to be true for today's world. Coronavirus may have reached its peak in some countries, and may be reaching peak in other countries as well, but its side-effects are already rearing their head. Economies are struggling to restart with so much restrictions, governments are still trying to find the right balance in saving lives and livelihoods, and public is finding it difficult to contain their frustration and anger. And nowhere is this trio of safety, economy and equity more on trial than in the United States of America.

Medicines may quell the immediate disease but their side-effects can spur other ailments that become even more problematic. To contain the virus human movement had to be contained. That was the safest solution. However, in doing so, human nature was cornered to a point where it was ready for a rampage given the opportunity. Public policy, governance and governments are key elements of dealing with a crisis. For public policy to be successful the cornerstone on which the effectiveness of the implementation of these policies depends upon is human behavior. That is why all successful public health issues are dependent not just on research of medical sciences but on research of behavioural sciences.

As discovered in the present pandemic, medicine is far behind preventing or finding a cure to this menace. The only way this virus can be contained is by adopting preventive and safety measures. The adoption of these safety measures is all dependent on how public becomes informed and engaged in behavioural change to follow the standard operating procedures. That is why all over the world we are seeing different results of the same policy. While all countries are trying to adopt similar curtailment strategies the results differ. South Korea has succeeded with partial lockdown while India is finding it difficult with total lockdown. Similarly, New Zealand has almost eradicated it while the UK and France are still on the downward trend of the peak.

With similar policies and dissimilar results the aspect of behavioural sciences needs more study and analysis. That is why public health policies are such a tricky element as response of public varies from country to country. The biggest example of this variance was how China effectively dealt with the Wuhan epidemic with a complete lockdown while in many other countries it failed. The policy and strategy were similar but public behavior differed. While Lockdown is the main strategy of the public health policy it has psychological and behavioural consequences. Lockdown word itself has negative connotations. Human beings are born with this instinct of freedom and freedom of choice. Anything enforced creates negative thinking, sometimes even at the risk of its own life.

Human behavior acts and reacts to external stimuli in a varied manner. Science of why and what people do in response to the good or bad happening around them should be an integral part of public health or for that matter any public issue. Behavioral science incorporates insights from psychology about what motivates people to alter their behaviour. Cass Sunstein, a distinguished American scholar at Harvard Law School has advocated the use of Nudge as a strategy of behavior compliance rather than bans or coercion. Sunstein, along with Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler, pioneered the use of "nudge" as a technical term in their acclaimed 2008 bestseller of the same name. In the book, they suggest that governments could do light-touch interventions to change people's behaviour for the better. Despite this, governments often use mandates, bans and incentives to coerce their citizens - an approach that, according to Sunstein, does not always fully address human behaviour.

Thus what has happened all across the world after prolonged lockdowns are scenes that are difficult to comprehend. Educated, sane people in developed world swarm beaches and parks with little regard to social distancing. In Pakistan, people jammed in shops and streets as if they were out of jails and as if there will be no tomorrow. In all cases whether developed or developing nations, whether educated or illiterate the violation of government rules was flagrant. The explanation lies in behavioural sciences. Whenever a private or public institution blocks choices or interferes with agency, some people will rebel, even if exercising control would not result in material benefits or might produce material harms. What is required is a mixed strategy of inducing voluntary behavioural change:

Communicate and Sell Change - Complete and sudden bans scare people. Yes, in China it worked because the Chinese society is trained to authoritative decrees. Elsewhere the reaction has been mixed. In Europe and the US the communication by leaders was first ridiculing the Chinese actions, the seriousness of the virus and then enforcing similar lockdowns without properly preparing the public. This extreme disdain and extreme curtailment created fear and non-adherence in some parts of the population.

Nudging Rather than Pushing - While government regulations are extremely important for behavior modification in the short run, in the long run it invites rebellion. Sunstein says that New Zealand unlike the UK and Italy went for nudging rather than kicking and that helped voluntary adherence. In the US, the current unrest over the tragic death of George Floyd has become not just an expression of injustice to blacks but an opportunity to evade the lockdown and express their caged frustrations.

Develop Community Influencers - The Local governments and neighborhood volunteers are a long-term replacement for monitoring adherence of SOPs. China used students, the UK has registered volunteers, Pakistan has created Tiger Force. This force should not be using force but relationship marketing in the community to connect, and relate to the community. This should be done in their language, their level and their style to make them understand the importance of practicing new behaviours.

Lockdowns are abnormal and create abnormalities of human behaviour. Dealing with them through normal public policy tools and regulations will not get endurable results. We have seen in countries such as Singapore and Japan that as soon as bans are relaxed people go back to their previous behaviours and the infection rates resurge. What is required is understanding behavioural responses, using pull strategies and interspersing them with sharp and friendly nudges to cover the period till the vaccine becomes available.

(The writer can be reached at [emailprotected])

Read the original post:
Public policy and human behaviour - Opinions - Business Recorder