Failure is the way to go?

It turns out that failure is the way we learn best--presuming we don't get too much of it at any one time. And the article helps explain why.

THE ATTRIBUTIONS WE MAKE

Of course, through disappointment and failure we learn how to cope. Welearn what we can cope with. Success is great, but it often misleads us.We tend to internalize success, erroneously ascribing it to our ownstellar innate characteristics--while overlooking the often-powerful handof luck or special opportunity. On the other hand, we tend to attribute failure to general conditions Out There or to adverse circumstances. Weoften do this so we can look ourselves in the mirror in the morning.

PRESSURES FOR SUCCESS

Our culture these days is especially focused on success. The economy is doing quite well and so success stories abound. Our taste for having things and displaying status is riding high. People are focused on the pathways to success. Of course, there are signals that focusing on success is not always psychically sustainable: The pressure to achieve has an uncanny way of promoting perfectionism, and disorders ofperfectionism are rampant. Eating disorders are only the most visible.Think about anxiety disorders related to obsessiveness, the ubiquity ofstress, and burnout especially among young athletes who push theirbodies beyond their limits.

A DIFFERENT DIRECTION

The new article, which appeared in the May issue of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, turns my head in a completely different direction. What I like about it is that it shows precisely how we learn more from our mistakes than we do from getting things right. Bydefinition, mistakes violate our own expectations. The surprise indiscovering we are wrong is particularly conducive to learning--it galvanizes our attention, amplifies it, and speeds up our ability to detect the possibility of error the next time around.

PRIORITY PROCESSING

The need to learn from mistakes is so crucial--in our ancient past on the savannah it likely saved lives and is the reason why our ancestors survived and we can strut our stuff today-- it is allocated priority processing in the brain. Psychologist Andy Wills and colleagues at the University of Exeter in England report that when we come up against things for which we earlier made incorrect predictions, the brain sendsout a signal of recognition. It does this amazingly quickly--in just one-tenth of a second--almost immediately after seeing the object that first foiled us, in an effort to prevent us from repeating the error.This happens automatically, long before there is time for conscious consideration.

ANOTHER CHANCE

Learning, then, hinges on the surprise of getting things wrong. Failure,after all, is just information, a signal to try something else, anotherchance to learn. But failure is information--and not a fixed and frozen outcome or catastrophe--only if people are allowed to see themselves as problem-solvers, secular scientists learning by trial and error, and notas totems of talent or perfection who need to look smart and always produce the right answer.

PROMOTING FAILURE

We need to fail more often and we need to get more comfortable with the concept of failure--not always see it as a negative, and especially not as a negative reflection on our innermost self. If we never fail, it means we're not testing our limits; we don't know who, or what, we are.

Experimentation is the true mother of success. Many inventions--Velcro is one--grew from accidents that were at first looked on as failures.Experimentation demands tolerance for mistakes, and without either one of them innovation is as good as dead. In the absence of innovation, our economy has little ability to sustain itself in the global marketplace. Our future depends as much on failure as it does on success.

Security, Change, Fear - a thought

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of humankind as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable!-- Helen Keller 1940

EQUALITY? Hardly...

R.I. governor blocks bill requiring infertility treatment coverage for the unmarried

Rhode Island governor Don Carcieri has vetoed a bill requiring health insurers to cover infertility treatments for unmarried people, saying they shouldn't be forced to subsidize out-of-wedlock births.

The Republican governor, who opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions, warned that eliminating the marriage restriction would also drive up health care costs.

''As a matter of public policy, the state should be encouraging the birth of children to two-parent families, not the reverse,'' he said in a written statement Thursday announcing his Wednesday veto.

Two weeks ago Carcieri permitted another bill to become law without his signature that required insurers to increase the age cap on eligible women to 42 from 40. It also required insurers to pay for infertility treatments after a couple fails to conceive or carry a pregnancy after one year of trying, instead of two.

But Carcieri balked when Democratic state representative Edith Ajello's bill went one step further and eliminated the marriage requirement.

Ajello, a prominent supporter of same-sex marriage, said her legislation could benefit heterosexual couples who choose not to wed, lesbian couples barred from marrying in Rhode Island, and single women. She said infertility treatment can cost as much as $20,000, making it prohibitively expensive without insurance coverage.

''I do think it's an issue of civil rights, of discrimination, of not looking at people with an equal eye,'' Ajello said. ''I think we get into a very potentially dangerous situation when we decide who should have children and who shouldn't.'' (Ray Henry, AP)

This will make you smile! Little Obama Girl

Burger King to Use Trans-Fat-Free Oil

July 6, 2007 MIAMI (AP) -- Burger King said Friday it will use trans-fat-free cooking oil at all its U.S. restaurants by the end of next year, following in the footsteps of other leading fast-food restaurants. The world's second largest hamburger chain said it was already using zero trans-fat oil in hundreds of its more than 7,100 U.S. restaurants nationwide. Burger King is known for its flame-broiled burgers, but uses cooking oil for its french fries and most of its chicken products. In tests, consumers determined that more than a dozen items cooked in the new oil, such as french fries and hash browns, tasted the same or better than products cooked in the trans-fat oil, the company said. Miami-based Burger King Corp. said two trans-fat-free oil blends passed tests. If adequate supply becomes available, the U.S. rollout of the oils could be completed sooner than 2008, the company said. Trans fats are listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. They can raise bad cholesterol and lower healthy cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, doctors say. Critics have said Burger King was taking too long to move toward the healthier oils. The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest sued Burger King in May, saying the company was moving too slowly and had failed to set a definite timetable for removal of trans fats. In response to the lawsuit, Burger King said in May it expected to begin the national rollout its new zero trans-fat oil by the end of this year. Among Burger King's main competitors, McDonald's Corp. said earlier this year it had selected a new trans-fat-free oil. Wendy's International Inc. started using cooking oil with zero grams of trans fat in August 2006. Starbucks Corp. announced in May that it will cut artificial trans fats out of food and drinks in its stores in the continental United States, Alaska and Canada by the end of the year. Yum Brands Inc. said in April that all of its KFC restaurants are now serving fried chicken with zero grams of trans fats. Yum Brands also said its Taco Bell restaurants switched to a trans fat-free frying oil. Burger King is owned by Burger King Holdings Inc. and operates more than 11,200 restaurants worldwide. About 90 percent its restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Michael Moore Confronts CNN Inaccuracies

To check out Michael Moore's point by point arguments supporting his facts in the making of SiCKO, confronting the inaccuracies in Dr. Sanjay Gupta's CNN story, click here.

Truth. We have 47 million people in the USA who are uninsured and without access to health care. The result is 18,000 people who die each year simply because they do not have health insurance - that is the body count of six 9/11's.

Your vote counts! Time to demand from our politicians CHANGE though universal health care!

On "Forwarded Jokes and Emails"

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.

"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up."

The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the man. "Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.

"There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

"This is Heaven," he answered.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."

Soooo...

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word.

Maybe this will explain.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes.

Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get?

A forwarded joke.

So, next time if you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.

You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime

Brain mapping leads to optimal function

Offers holistic way of treating mental woes

Pat Whitney
Jan. 5, 2005 12:00

AM As recently as 15 years ago, medical science considered the human brain complete at birth and unchangeable.

Now, proof of brain plasticity - that the brain can be physically changed - is leading neuroscientists to discover innovative ways of treating brain dysfunction.

When the Dr. Phil television show hosted a feature on alternative treatments for attention deficit Disorder and other cognitive problems this fall, Jeffrey Fannin, Ph.D., director of the Center of Cognitive Enhancement in Glendale, took note.

A doctor on the show was demonstrating brain mapping to achieve optimal brain function, using the same equipment Fannin uses on his patients locally.

One patient is Alex Goode, 12, a seventh-grader at Highland Lakes Middle School in Glendale. Alex, like a growing number of students today, was unable to focus in school, suffering from a lack of concentration and lethargy.

"Before a psychiatrist diagnosed me with ADD, I'd just look off into space when I was supposed to be listening," he said. "And I had heightened bouts of anger and sensitivity."

His doctor placed him on a Ritalin substitute.

"It gave me an energy boost, but I had a hard time sleeping - one of the side effects," he said.

Alex's parents took him to the Center for Cognitive Enhancement in search of an alternative. Fannin performed a brain mapping on Alex using an electroencephalography, or EEG, and confirmed ADD. Alex started a neurofeedback program unique to his brain makeup.

"I've had 28 sessions (neurofeedback) since July," Alex said. "I go two or three times a week. It's so relaxing and has already made a difference. I find it much easier to get my work done, and I'm getting along with people better. And my IQ has risen 14 points."

Brain mappings illustrate deficiencies or overstimulation in certain areas of the brain. The imaging also reflects graphic evidence of any trauma.

"As the neurofeedback creates new dendrites and neural pathways in the brain, patients can often be weaned off medication," Fannin said.

For Alex's parents, the prospect of successful treatment without drugs is paramount.

In March, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning for people, particularly children, taking any of 10 popular antidepressants, especially at the beginning of treatment or when doses were increased or decreased. Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celxa, Lexapro, Wellbrutrin, Effexor, Serzone and Remeron potentially put people at risk for worsening depression, anxiety and panic attacks, and increased the possibility for suicide in adults and children.

What Fannin and a growing number of certified neuropsychologists, naturopathic doctors and doctors of osteopathy are offering patients is a choice.

And, in many cases, the use of drugs and the risks and side effects associated with them is eliminated.

Even insurance companies are taking note.

According to Lisa Young, executive assistant at the Center for Cognitive Enhancement, many PPO plans offer some kind of coverage for brain mapping and neurofeedback treatments.

"It really depends on the particular plan and insurance company covering out-of-network services," Young said.

Neurofeedback emerged in the '60s and '70s in research labs at the University of Chicago and Stanford University.

Today, neuroscience is a rapidly growing field commanding more than one half of Yale University's biomedical research budget.

Brain imaging and neurofeedback are part of a new, more holistic approach to diagnosing and treating attention deficit disorder, anxiety and depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism and other brain dysfunctions. Brain mapping is also used with stroke victims, patients with severe head injuries and to enhance optimum performance.

A pioneer in the effort is Daniel G. Amen, M.D., a nationally recognized expert in the fields of the brain, behavior and ADD using brain imaging in clinical psychiatric practice. The Amen Clinics in Newport Beach and Fairfield, Calif., hold the world's largest database of functional brain scans for neuropsychiatry.

One of his books, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, has been on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into 10 languages and has sold more than 150,000 copies worldwide.

Meditation, laughter and playing a musical instrument also have been shown to make permanent positive changes in the brain.

Teresa Vesco, a naturopathic physician in north Scottsdale, said neurofeedback helps fill in the blanks for her patients when used in conjunction with natural medications.

"Neurofeedback works for a synergetic effect," she said. "I find when my patients start using it, they become a lot more compliant when their brains begin to function the way they're supposed to."

Patients with chronic pain also can benefit from neurofeedback.

"Neurofeedback helps them get into a meditative state more easily, allowing acupuncture and other methods to work - sometimes in just one visit," Vesco said.

Vesco is undergoing the intensive certification process.

Fannin added that putting the skids on an overworked brain is key to any improvement.

"Children are exposed to so much stimuli today long before their brains are equipped to process it," he said. "Consequently, their brains can't slow down, leading to aggressive behavior, the inability to focus and other problems."

Like meditation, neurofeedback helps restructure the brain while medication may still be needed to control impulses.

Brain mappings cost $250, and treatments over a three- to four-month period can run as high as $3,500, a hefty amount if not covered in part by insurance. Eventually, sessions are done at home with progress and results linked to Fannin by computer.

For Mark Johnson, 53, who lost his job to downsizing in North Carolina and came to Phoenix in 2002, it was money well spent.

After suffering with anxiety and depression most of his life, he was referred to Fannin by his brother, a Phoenix resident.

"I desperately wanted to get off a high dose of Prozac my doctor had me on," he said. "I so wanted to feel better."

After an initial brain mapping in December 2002, Johnson began neurofeedback treatments designed to create dendrites and reroute neural pathways in his brain.

"By December 2003, my D.O. locally who was keeping track of my progress with Dr. Fannin eventually weaned me off Prozac, despite the fact my psychiatrist in North Carolina said that would never be an option," he said. "I felt so good that I fulfilled a lifelong dream and applied for a job with the Foreign Service. I made it to Washington for the final round of testing.

"Neurofeedback isn't every solution to every problem, but it is part of an important recovery process. Drugs aren't always the answer."

Brain Scans Reveal Why Meditation Works

By Melinda Wenner

29 June 2007 09:08 am ET

If you name your emotions, you can tame them, according to new research that suggests why meditation works.

Brain scans show that putting negative emotions into words calms the brain's emotion center. That could explain meditation’s purported emotional benefits, because people who meditate often label their negative emotions in an effort to “let them go.”

Psychologists have long believed that people who talk about their feelings have more control over them, but they don't know why it works.

UCLA psychologist Matthew Lieberman and his colleagues hooked 30 people up to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines, which scan the brain to reveal which parts are active and inactive at any given moment.

They asked the subjects to look at pictures of male or female faces making emotional expressions. Below some of the photos was a choice of words describing the emotion—such as “angry” or “fearful”—or two possible names for the people in the pictures, one male name and one female name.

When presented with these choices, the subjects were asked to pick the most appropriate emotion or gender-appropriate name to fit the face they saw.

When the participants chose labels for the negative emotions, activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex region—an area associated with thinking in words about emotional experiences—became more active, whereas activity in the amygdala, a brain region involved in emotional processing, was calmed.

By contrast, when the subjects picked appropriate names for the faces, the brain scans revealed none of these changes—indicating that only emotional labeling makes a difference.

“In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses,” Lieberman said of his study, which is detailed in the current issue of Psychological Science.

In a second experiment, 27 of the same subjects completed questionnaires to determine how “mindful” they are.

Meditation and other “mindfulness” techniques are designed to help people pay more attention to their present emotions, thoughts and sensations without reacting strongly to them. Meditators often acknowledge and name their negative emotions in order to “let them go.”

When the team compared brain scans from subjects who had more mindful dispositions to those from subjects who were less mindful, they found a stark difference—the mindful subjects experienced greater activation in the right ventrolateral prefrontral cortex and a greater calming effect in the amygdala after labeling their emotions.

“These findings may help explain the beneficial health effects of mindfulness meditation, and suggest, for the first time, an underlying reason why mindfulness meditation programs improve mood and health,” said David Creswell, a UCLA psychologist who led the second part of the study, which will be detailed in Psychosomatic Medicine. "

http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php?act=Post&CODE=00&f=8

For a wonderful book on this topic of neurobiology and meditation and how this practice of mindfulness meditation literally changes brain physiology read THE MINDFUL BRAIN by Dan Siegel PhD