According to scientists, chemical compounds common to blueberries known as flavonoids can enhance memory, learning and general cognitive skills such as the ability to reason, understand, make decisions and figure out percentages without having to resort to a calculator. Flavonoids are even capable of slowing the deterioration in mental acuity associated with getting old, and might even stave off diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Until quite recently, researchers believed that flavonoids functioned as antioxidants in the brain, protecting cells from damage caused by those pesky and ubiquitous molecules called free radicals. Instead scientists have discovered that flavonoids alter brain cell chemistry in other ways. For example, they seem to increase the production of kinases, an enzyme integral to learning and memory, and they may even protect neurons from damage and death, a precursor to neurodegenerative disorders.

Before you say, “but I don’t actually like blueberries so none of this affects me”, flavonoids aren’t confined to just blueberries. So far, researchers have identified more than 6,000 different flavonoids widely distributed in other berries and citrus fruits, vegetables including spinach, parsley, peppers and onions; cereal grains, tea, cocoa and wine (yay!!), and soy foods such as tofu.

As to whether dark chocolate or an orange is better for you in terms of helping you come up with more than a few correct answers in the newspaper’s cryptic crossword, scientists aren’t yet able to say. Certainly eating flavonoid-rich foods is more beneficial than popping supplements. Even better if you can stick to fresh fruit and veggies instead of processed foods – so go easy on those blueberry muffins!

You can download more stories on flavonoids here.  Dr Rosemary Stanton’s workshop Health, happiness and the modern diet at Happiness & Its Causes 2011 might also take your fancy.

Photographer Paul

Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Daydreams are unrelated to what we’re actually doing and include every possible imagining from the mundane to over-the-top – your acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, the leftover chocolate mousse waiting for you in the fridge at home, winning Powerball, telling your annoying boss that you bought the company and she is no longer needed. Although most daydreams may be humdrum, sometimes they do amount to more than aimless mental doodling.

For instance, scientists confirm that daydreaming has some concrete benefits such as reminding us when we’re absorbed in a task not to forget other important goals and helping us solve problems creatively. That’s because we can more readily access – and even use – the ideas in our unconscious mind when we let our thoughts wander. This is assuming, of course, we make an effort to remember them. Indeed, such epiphanies can be world changing. Albert Einstein’s reverie of himself running along a light wave led to his theory of special relativity.

The recent discovery of a neuronal network in the brain dedicated to daydreams is helping scientists understand the phenomenon. They call this web the “default network” because when we’re not focused on what we’re doing, the network fires up. Scientist believe this network is necessary to creating our sense of self. This suggests daydreaming is tied up with our identity and how we integrate the external world into our inner being.

But daydreams have a bad side too. Fortunately it’s not common but some folk are so hooked on their fantasies starring a much-enhanced version of themselves that real-life concerns and commitments fall by the wayside. Also, like anyone with an addiction, compulsive daydreamers may be filled with self-loathing coming down after experiencing a high.

More recently, US psychologists at Harvard University announced that a wandering mind may even make you depressed. Researchers asked more than 2000 participants to report their current activity and state of mind. The results show that the more people claimed to be in la la land, they less happy they felt.

This makes sense when you consider that we space out more when we’re stressed, bored, tired or find ourselves in a tumultuous environment. It is depressing if you imagine how wonderful life could be and then compare that with how tedious and difficult it sometimes is.

You can access the full story in the New York Times.

Photographer hinnamsaisuy

Extreme sports aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but for those of us game enough to jump out of a plane, with a parachute of course, or scale a sheer rock face at an improbable height, that elated feeling when we safely touch down on flat earth again is hard to beat. Especially if we thought our physical limit was a power walk around the block.

So it should come as no surprise to learn that more and more psychologists who specialise in major anxiety disorders are talking up the benefits of adventure sports such as sky diving and white water rafting for clients who worry (link here to the anxiety tip sheet on the Australian Psychological Society’s website or to the piece in the SMH).

For starters, those who participate in such activities feel braver and more confident. Someone who’s conquered their personal equivalent of climbing Everest is more likely to show courage in other areas of their life. The need to be physically fit and strong is another bonus because anxious folk are then less likely to feel victimised, a common trait in worriers. There’s also the deep level of concentration these pursuits demand, as any rock climber focussed on finding that next foothold knows, keeping at bay any negative thoughts.

Not that people with anxiety disorders should replace therapeutic treatment with a death-defying hobby. Instead it’s combining the two that produces such positive results.

Interested in finding out more about strategies to overcome anxiety and worry? Why not consider signing up for our Happiness & Its Causes 2011 workshop Don’t worry – be happy! led by psychologist Dr Sarah Edelman, a specialist in the power of cognitive behaviour techniques to transform that self-defeating “I can’t” attitude into one of “can do”. Or join Dr Russ Harris in exploring The confidence gap – learn to overcome your fear, meet challenges and pursue your dreams using the scientifically proven approach of Acceptance and Commitment Training.

If you haven’t joined a community choir yourself, you probably know somebody who has. That’s because more and more people are signing up to sing in unison, a pastime with much to recommend it.

Some of the benefits of singing in a group are it boosts confidence, and helps relieve depression and social isolation. Other positives – and these don’t apply exclusively to singing with fellow minstrels – include fewer respiratory ailments, improved fitness and flexibility, and thanks to the endorphin hit singing gives you, reduced stress levels. Who hasn’t ever belted out their favourite tune in the shower – mine happens to be It’s Raining Men – and not felt immeasurably better?

Indeed, the relationship between music and happiness is one of the areas for exploration in our upcoming Happiness & Its Causes conference. As well as enjoying music and dance performances, hear some of Australia’s biggest names in the business explain why music matters and always will because, well, it always has. That’s right. Evolutionary biologists say humans are hardwired to sing and that language actually evolved from wordless crooning. For more on the music-happiness connection see article in Scientific American on the power of music to alter our emotional perceptions of others.

And after the discussion on music – the heart and soul of happiness be inspired by The Transformers Choir – Brisbane’s answer to The Choir of Hard Knocks. Through the choir people who are disadvantaged in their communities have formed a loving and supportive family of friends. Their motto is a quote from Hans Christian Anderson: “Where words fail, music speaks.”

But did you know high self-esteem also works wonders for your health, especially your heart and immune system? This is the latest finding of a team of NZ scientists whose study involved looking at the extent to which self-esteem levels in people impact on their cardiac vagal tone – an indicator of how strongly the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) influences the heart (http://psr.sagepub.com/content/12/4/370). They found that people with a healthy sense of self have a higher vagal tone, that is, a suitably active PNS that slows the heart by reducing anxiety and inflammation.

To the typical boast of confident folk, “I feel on top of the world,” this discovery adds a whole new layer of meaning.

activity of telomerase, an enzyme that protects against celluar ageing and can be suppressed in response to psychological stress. The good news is that you don’t need to spend hours a day in meditation to feel the benefits – just 20 minutes practice a day for 3 days resulted in decreased sensitivity to pain in one study and improved cognitive performance in another (Fadel Zeidan, University of North Carolina, Charlotte).

Visit the Happiness & Its Causes website to hear more on the science of meditation from Dr Sara Lazar, neuroscientist and leading meditation researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA. You can also visit the Mind & Its Potential website for B. Alan Wallace’s presentation on developing focussed attention.

We’re always delighted to receive feedback from our delegates – see below for some of the comments from our recent Mind & Its Potential conference which was another wonderful event. A little bit of Mind & Its Potential is travelling north next year for the Happiness & Its Causes Conference in Brisbane, 16-17 June, 2011 which features the Science of Mind Forum with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and leading scientists.  For full programme details and a brochure visit our website Happiness & Its Causes 2011

“Inspiring, insightful and full of interest for anyone with a love of learning, a desire to help others and a curiosity about what it means to be human.” Peter Joseph, Chairman, Black Dog Institute
“I have come to the last three Mind & Its Potential Conferences, each one is better than previous, excellent, excellent, excellent – all speakers relevant, all superb, thank you.”
Sue Carlson, Department of Education and Training

“Exceeded my expectations in terms of speakers’ relevance of information, level of scientific research presented, as well as fun and humour.  Highly enjoyable.” Ksenia Goureeve, Course Development and Administration, National Institute of integrative Medicine

“Magnificent and moving.” Rosette Rosa, ACH Group

“Inspiring, diverse, challenging and energising, I am keen to read and learn more.” Deanna Rohistein, Relationships Australia, S.A.

“You have delivered again! Cutting edge information and great format.” M. Dent, Director, Esteem Plus

“World class conference with some of the best ‘minds’ in the world, raising our potential.”
Linda Hale, Manager, Disability Innovative Curriculum and Support, Dept. of Education and Children’s Services, S.A.

“An incredibly inspiring and exceptionally high standard of global authorities in the field of neuro-science.  Congratulations and thank you.”
Janet Etty-Leal, Mindful Meditation Consultant

“The Conference far exceeded my expectations…I would highly recommend the conference to others in my profession and organisation.” Dr Sarah Elder, Psychologist/Team Leader, Alzheimer’s Australia (Tasmania)