Air pollution may limit brain potential
The natural world holds tremendous beauty. That is why author and philosopher Ilchi Lee chose to relocate to Sedona, Arizona, where a person can freely move about in nature. However, many people do not have the option to spend much time in a green environment, and new research suggests that this could have a negative impact on their mental health.
Researchers from Ohio State University found that mice that were exposed to high levels of environmental air pollution were significantly more likely to develop memory and learning problems and depression. The findings show that spending too much time in the city may limit an individual's brain potential.
"This could have important and troubling implications for people who live and work in polluted urban areas around the world," said Laura Fronken, who led the study.
She added that the particles in air pollution appear to cause inflammation. This may damage brain tissue, leading to cognitive impairment.
Lee says that for an individual to reach their brain potential they must live a balanced life. This may include periodically getting out of the city and spending more time in natural settings.
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Positive people feel more satisfied, study finds
Ilchi Lee has long said that keeping a positive attitude in the face of adversity is the key to achieving personal success. It is the most effective way for a person to overcome the obstacles in their daily lives and attain their life dreams.
Now, a new study out of Kent University in the UK has confirmed these benefits. The researchers found that participants who looked for the positive aspects of stressful events and used humor to cope with stress felt more satisfied and fulfilled at the end of each day.
For the study, researchers asked 149 participants to keep a daily diary of the things that made them feel stressed, how they dealt with these issues and how satisfied they were at the end of the day. The results showed that positive people were much happier with their lives.
The results may not be that surprising given the number of motivational stories Lee has about triumphing over adversity by keeping a positive attitude. Negativity and anxiety only serve to slow a person down. However, with positivity, hope and trust in one's self, there is no limit to what a person can achieve in their life.
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Researchers discover reasons behind neurodegenerative effects of stress
Stress can cause the brain to deteriorate over time, and now a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis has determined the cause of this effect. The findings may help individuals limit stress and rejuvenate their pursuit of personal development.
They found that a gene known as RCAN1 is produced at high levels in the brain during periods of stress. This gene normally is involved in the brain's coping mechanisms and helps individual's deal with stress. However, when it is present in large quantities, it appears to destroy brain tissue by enveloping neural networks and limiting their function.
"One can imagine that it becomes sticky and makes tangled scaffolding," said Kelvin Davies, who led the study. "By publishing this hypothesis, we hope to stimulate more research on the subject."
Ilchi Lee has long recommended meditation and other relaxation techniques in order to help people reach their full brain potential and avoid the damaging consequences of stress. The findings of this new study provide yet another reason to adopt this approach.
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Make sure you don’t burn bridges down the stretch
Fulfilling your human potential as a professional means that you should avoid the "lame duck" syndrome when leaving your current employer.
It is natural for many employees who give their notice at a job to shift their work gear into neutral and significantly reduce their production. However, this is a slippery slope that should be avoided for many reasons.
For starters, you never know when you may run into a co-worker in the future, in a professional or personal setting. It is best not to gain a reputation as a worker who "phones it in" once they know they cannot be disciplined by their temporary employer.
In addition, your work habits can seep their way into your next professional role. If you are slacking in your final two weeks at work, you are more likely to start off on the wrong foot in your next profession.
The best way to leave a job is to adequately train your replacement – if you have one. By sharing your knowledge and experiences with your successor, your former co-workers, and the company as a whole, will benefit.
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Quitting one’s job is a process
While it can be easy to over-react to a problem at work – whether it be a disagreement with a boss or built-up stress – employees should carefully weigh all their options prior to quitting the job once and for all.
Ilchi Lee believes that considering all of one's options is a sign of personal growth that can be useful throughout a person's life.
According to a recent article on The Street, while the job market may be improving across the country, we're still in a period of recovery, so workers should not simply assume that they will be able to land another position if they step down from their current post.
In this same vein, it is important to be honest with oneself over the reasons for wanting to quit the job, according to Brazen Careerist CEO Penelope Trunk.
"In general, people quit their jobs because they are delusional and think they need more time for something, like writing a novel or traveling," Trunk, who is also a business blogger, told the news source. "These are not actually good reasons to quit your job."
Rather, workers should focus on more legitimate reasons for quitting such as health or potential negative impacts of the job on one's family or personal life, Trunk said.
If the reasons are there and the employee decides quitting is the only appropriate step, they should make sure to give their employer plenty of notice so that they can hire someone else to step in right away.
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Early life experiences may predict future depression risk
A new study out of the University of California, Los Angeles has found that individuals who have experienced trauma early in their lives may be more prone to depression following minor stressful situations later in life. The findings suggest that individuals who have had traumatic experiences may benefit from relaxation exercises like meditation.
The researchers said that depression is triggered in most adults by a sudden disturbing experience, such as lose a loved one or getting fired from a job. But at least 30 percent of people who develop depression experience the mood disorder as a result of much more minor everyday stresses.
After surveying a group of depressed adults about their early life experiences and what triggered their current bout of depression, the researchers found a strong correlation between experiencing trauma at a young age and being launched into a depressive state by minor life events.
Ilchi Lee recommends meditation as a way for individuals to let go of the stresses of their days, and the findings suggest that this may particularly important for some people. Simply taking a few minutes each day to focus one's self and let go of what bothers them may be an effective way to preserve mental health.
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Thoughts influence perception, study finds
It has long been said that a person’s view of the world around them colors their perception, and a new study published in the journal Psychological Science confirms this notion. The findings suggest that a person’s happiness in their life is only limited by their brain potential.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales started by asking participants to visualize a particular image – a colored shape with a pattern on it. The team then showed participants two different images at once, one of which was the image the participants were previously asked to visualize.
The results showed that participants who visualized the initial image with the greatest ease perceived that particular image more dominantly than the other. The researchers said that this shows how strongly a person’s thoughts can influence their perception of the world around them.
"Our ability to consciously experience the world around us has been dubbed one of the most amazing yet enigmatic processes under scientific investigation today,” said Joel Pearson, who led the study. “If we stop for a moment and think about it, our ability to imagine the world around us in the absence of stimulation from that world is perhaps even more amazing."