Rinxiety: HypoVibroChondria… or merely a Fauxcellarm?

Do you suffer from Rinxiety? [1]

How about Phantom Ring Effect (or Phantom Ringing), Phantom Vibration Syndrome, Vibranxiety,  HypoVibroChondria or Fauxcellarm?

All of the above terms describe the sensation and the false belief that one can hear his or her mobile phone ringing or feel it vibrating, when in fact the telephone is not doing so.

Phantom ringing may be experienced while taking a shower, watching television, or using a noisy device. Humans are particularly sensitive to auditory tones between 1,000 and 6,000 hertz, and basic mobile phone ringers often fall within this range. This frequency range can generally be more difficult to locate spatially, thus allowing for potential confusion when heard from a distance.

False vibrations are less well understood, however, and could have psychological or neurological sources.

With me, Phantom Ringing happens most often when I am driving and listening to the radio. Many times, I check to see if my cell phone is ringing/vibrating (I have it set on both ring and vibrate).

About 80% of the time, it is merely a Fauxcellarm. In fact, yesterday I was in my car listening to a program about Rinxiety when it happened! Very strange.

Is this VibraSchtick new? Am I riding a 21st century phantom fad? Hardly!

(Tesla – Where are you now that we need you most?)

Nikola Tesla knew something that many of his contemporaries in the late 1800s either did not know, or chose to ignore.  He knew that with the amazing power of electricity and current, came an incredible capacity for danger.

(If Tesla had invented the cell phone)

Sadly, because studying our own health has taken such a back seat to technological advances, we could very well be causing our own issues. What if Phantom Vibration Syndrome (or Vibranxiety) isn’t actually a neurological problem, but rather, the result of a very real physical ailment?  How tragic it would be to know that by using even the tiniest of devices, we’re killing ourselves.

Tesla wouldn’t approve, but then, I don’t think he’d be surprised.

And will someone PLEASE answer that phone?

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Ringxiety is a portmanteau neologism formed from the words “ringtone” and “anxiety.” It was first coined by David Laramie, a doctoral student at the California School of Professional Psychology, whose dissertation concerned the effects of cell phones on behavior.

Neurobiology of Fear

Reblogged from Joshua Hoffine Horror Blog:

Continued from post What is Horror?

If the Horror genre is best defined by the intention to elicit and manipulate the emotion of fear, what then exactly is the emotion of fear?

The dictionary defines fear as: a feeling of agitation and dread caused by the presence or imminence of danger.

Persons experiencing fear display increased alertness, concentration on the source of fear, attack and fight-or-flight behaviors, and evidence of sympathetic-nerve stimulation such as cardiovascular excitation, superficial vasoconstriction, and dilation of the pupils.

Read more… 531 more words

Neurobiology of Fear Continued from Joshua Hoffine's post 'What is Horror?'  

Going With Your Gut Feeling

Intuition Alone Can Guide Right Choice, Study Suggests

For centuries, scientists have studied how we go about the difficult task of choosing A or B, left or right, North or South — and how both instinct and intellect figure into the process. Now new research indicates that the old truism “look before you leap” may be less true than previously thought.

My little geeks and nerdlings over at the University of Tel Aviv have stumbled upon an interesting finding regarding instinct and intuition. [1]

The article begins, “Decision-making is an inevitable part of the human experience, and one of the most mysterious. For centuries, scientists have studied how we go about the difficult task of choosing A or B, left or right, North or South — and how both instinct and intellect figure into the process. Now new research indicates that the old truism “look before you leap” may be less true than previously thought.”

(Prof. Marius Usher)

In a behavioral experiment, Prof. Marius Usher of Tel Aviv University’s School of Psychological Sciences and his fellow researchers found that intuition was a surprisingly powerful and accurate tool. When forced to choose between two options based on instinct alone, the participants made the right call up to 90 percent of the time.

“The study demonstrates that humans have a remarkable ability to integrate value when they do so intuitively, pointing to the possibility that the brain has a system that specializes in averaging value,” Prof. Usher says. This could be the operational system on which common decision-making processes are built.

The results of their study were recently published in the journal PNAS. [2]

I have a healthy respect for intuition, especially women’s intuition. Not that anything and everything a woman intuits can be taken to the bank… far from it. But there are times when I will take a woman’s intuition over a man’s intellect.

Case in point, my friend Tracy. She has an almost unerring ‘gut sense’ about many things. On several occasions in the past, when I have rationally thought something out, planned it meticulously and could see no real flaw… Tracy would say “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”… based on nothing except her instincts and intuition.

(Tracy: I don’t think we should go that way. I dunno… we just shouldn’t!)

She has an uncanny ‘spidey sense’ that I ignore at my own peril. Many a carefully crafted scheme has been tossed into the garbage bin because Tracy didn’t ‘feel right’ about it. Were there times when I went against Tracy’s gut feelings and it turned out ok? Sure. Were there times when Tracy was completely blindsided by something that she did not expect? Sure. She’s not psychic. She can’t predict the future. But there were many more times when I did not heed her gut feeling and I regretted it. Enough times that I learned through bitter experience to Just Trust Tracy.

There are times, however, when going with your gut leads you astray. There are times when you disregard facts and choose what Stephen Colbert calls ‘truthiness’… what feels like the truth rather than what is the truth.

(Karl Rove’s Election Night Meltdown – When truthiness and The Truth collide)

Some people learned that the hard way recently.

So I will continue to make plans based on facts and figures as I know them. But… I will always run them by Tracy first!

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[1] Personally, I use the terms ‘instincts’ and ‘intuition’ interchangeably. I am sure people could quibble with this, but if there’s a difference it’s not substantive enough for me to care about.

[2] Journal Reference:  K. Tsetsos, N. Chater, M. Usher. Salience driven value integration explains decision biases and preference reversal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; 109 (24): 9659 DOI:10.1073/pnas.1119569109

My Brain Hurts! (Worrying About Math)

When People Worry About Math, the Brain Feels the Pain

The gang over at ScienceDaily.com confirm what I have suspected all along!

The article begins, “Mathematics anxiety can prompt a response in the brain similar to when a person experiences physical pain, according to new research at the University of Chicago.”

I knew it!!

(Math anxiety: The pain in brain [1])

Using brain scans, scholars determined that the brain areas active when highly math-anxious people prepare to do math overlap with the same brain areas that register the threat of bodily harm — and in some cases, physical pain.

“For someone who has math anxiety, the anticipation of doing math prompts a similar brain reaction as when they experience pain – say, burning one’s hand on a hot stove,” said Sian Beilock, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago and a leading expert on math anxiety.

Surprisingly, the researchers found it was the anticipation of having to do math, and not actually doing math itself, that looked like pain in the brain. “The brain activation does not happen during math performance, suggesting that it is not the math itself that hurts; rather the anticipation of math is painful,” added Ian Lyons, a 2012 PhD graduate in psychology from UChicago and a postdoctoral scholar at Western University in Ontario, Canada. [2]

(My brain hurts!)

The work by Lyons and Beilock suggests that, for those with math anxiety, a painful sense of dread may begin long before a person sits down to take a math test.

This reaction needs to be addressed like any other phobia, the researchers said. Rather than simply piling on math homework for students who are anxious about math, students need active help to become more comfortable with the subject, Beilock said.

(University of Chicago psychology professor Sian Bielok)

Beilock’s work has shown, for instance, that writing about math anxieties before a test can reduce one’s worries and lead to better performance. [3]

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[1] University of Chicago researchers have found that the higher a person’s anxiety about math, the more anticipating math activated areas of the brain related to experiencing pain. (Credit: Courtesy of Sian Beilock)

[2] The two report their findings in a paper, “When Math Hurts: Math Anxiety Predicts Pain Network Activation in Anticipation of Doing Math,” in the current issue of PLoS One.

[3] Story Source: The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Chicago. The original article was written by William Harms.

Women texters use more emoticons! :O

A shocking news story, ripped from today’s headlines! [1]

Women use emoticons more than men in text messaging

Women are twice as likely as men to use emoticons [2] in text messages [3], according to a new study from Rice University.

The study, “A Longitudinal Study of Emoticon Use in Text Messaging from Smartphones,” used smartphone data from men and women over six months and aggregated 124,000 text messages. The participants were given free iPhones to use for the test period but didn’t know what researchers were investigating.

“We believe that our study represents the first naturalistic and longitudinal study that collects real emoticon use from text messages ‘in the wild,’” said Philip Kortum, assistant professor of psychology at Rice and one of the study’s authors.

The study also confirms previous research that women are more emotionally expressive in nonverbal communication,

Interestingly enough, however, the authors of this research found that while women may use emoticons more often than men, the men used a larger variety of emoticons to express themselves.

In other words, while female texters are ‘quantity emoticon users’, men are ‘quality emoticon users.’

Kortum and his co-authors [4] pointed out that their study is a glimpse into the complex nature of real mediated communications. They said that additional inquiry in real-world settings are needed to understand the complexities of human communications through technology.

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[1] Actually, October 10, 2012… but you get the idea.

[2] Emoticons are graphic symbols that use punctuation marks and letters to represent facial expressions to convey a person’s mood, help provide context to a person’s textual communication and clarify a message that could otherwise possibly be misconstrued.

[3] Texting has become one of the most popular forms of communication in society worldwide. This year alone, it is estimated that 8 trillion text messages will be tapped out.

[4] The study’s co-authors were Chad Tossell, Clayton Shepard, Ahmad Rahmati and Lin Zhong, all of Rice University, and Laura Barg-Walkow at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and appeared in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

Macabre Fascinations (1): Weird Things Under Glass

In the early 60s, the successful television series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” enjoyed its share of unsettling episodes, but none so viscerally creepy as “The Jar,” which aired Feb. 14, 1964.

(Skull and snails under glass)

The episode stars Pat Buttram (Mr Haney in “Green Acres”) as a down-on-his-luck yokel who purchases a jar full of mysterious contents from a carnival. The container attracts scores of visitors, each of whom see something different in its murky water — and something awful. Buttram’s new-minted popularity doesn’t sit well with his wife, Thedy (Collin Wilcox, Mayella Ewell in “To Kill a Mockingbird”), who attempts to have the jar destroyed. However, as she soon finds out, not only does the jar not go quietly, her husband is also none too eager to lose his one chance at respectability — and he’s all too ready to go to extremes to preserve it.

(Girl’s head under glass)

I remember the first time I watched that episode. It creeped the hell out of me. I’ve never forgotten it.

I also recall going to my small town county fair and seeing freak show specimens preserved in formaldehyde.

(Rag doll… or is it?)

Since then, I’ve always had this dread fascination with macabre things kept or preserved in glass containers, especially large apothecary jars.

Maybe I’ll start my own macabre little collection one day.

Anger, Not Forgiveness, May Be the Key to Maintaining a Healthy Relationship

The folks over at MedicalDaily.com may be on to something!

In a recent article, it states that anger, not forgiveness, may be the key to maintaining a healthy relationship.

The time-honored tradition of forgive and forget may not be the best way to a happy marriage, psychologists revealed.

Instead, they claim that expressing your anger and having a heated but honest conversation could be more effective clearing the air and guaranteeing a long and healthy relationship.

Relationship psychologists at Florida State University said that forgiveness does not always work and could actually cause some major problems in an intimate relationship.

“I continued to find evidence that thoughts and behaviors presumed to be associated with better well-being lead to worse well-being among some people — usually the people who need the most help achieving well-being,” researcher James McNulty said in a statement.

McNulty looked at the potential costs of positive psychology by looking at previous studies and found that that forgiveness in a marriage can have some untended negative effects.

“We all experience a time in a relationship in which a partner transgresses against us in some way,” he said. “For example, a partner may be financially irresponsible, unfaithful, or unsupportive.”

He said that when these problems in the relationship occur, partners must decide whether they should be angry and to hold onto their anger or to forgive.

He discovered that a variety of factors can complicate the effectiveness of forgiveness, including a partner’s level of agreeableness and the severity and frequency of the wrongdoing.

He said that while an agreeable person who believes that their partner is forgiving is less likely to offend their partner, a disagreeable person may actually be more likely to offend their partner.

Furthermore, he said that anger can serve a vital role in signaling to a transgressing partner that their offensive behavior is not acceptable.

“If the partner can do something to resolve a problem that is likely to otherwise continue and negatively affect the relationship, people may experience long-term benefits by temporarily withholding forgiveness and expressing anger,” he said.

However, psychologists note that there is never a single answer to a problem.

“There is no ‘magic bullet,’ no single way to think or behave in a relationship. The consequences of each decision we make in our relationships depends on the circumstances that surround that decision,” he concluded.

Why I Hate Almost Everyone (Part 18): Clowns

Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns.

Please note that I did not say it was the irrational fear of clowns.

Nothing could be more rational than being afraid of a guy in floppy shoes, fright wig, garish make-up and a red nose.

It is not unlike my fear of bad Irish drag queens. Perfectly reasonable.

I don’t know who first came up with the idea of clowns. I’m sure it was the result of some drunken Graeco-Roman stage gag gone horribly out of control.

It is interesting to note that I don’t have a fear of mimes. I harbour a deep-seated loathing for them, of course. Who doesn’t? But not fear.

I’m also not afraid of the old commedia dell’arte clowns. I do not lie awake at night knowing that Pulchinello or Arlecchino is hiding under my bed just waiting to get up to no good.

Nor am I afraid of Shakespearean clowns… other than the not-unreasonable fear that they might bore me to death.

(Bring on the waterworks!)

Nor do I fear the heart-broken clown in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, although I am embarrassed at the fact that I cry every effen time I hear him sing “Vesti la Giubba.”

Truly, I do. It’s sad yet pathetic. Can’t stop the waterworks. Really.

(Hello, kids!)

Nope… the source of my greatest nightmare is the 19th and early 20th century Barnum & Bailey style ‘modern’ circus clown.

(The Circus Clown, movie poster – 1934)

Scares the crap out of me.

(Is that a coffin on that chair??)

I get the sinking feeling that the moment I turn my back, the psychotic sociopath who is masquerading (literally) as a clown reveals his true self, thrusting a knife into my neck.

So parents, for the love of all that is good and decent, don’t inflict clowns on your kids. Don’t take them to the circus thinking they’ll have a blast as they watch an ever increasing hoard of serial killers come out of a tiny clown car.

All you are doing is guaranteeing them years on some psychiatrist’s couch, blaming you for why they break into a cold sweat whenever they see Ronald McDonald.

Fake It ’til You Make It! ‘Faking’ Attraction Leads to Love

“The key to success is sincerity. One you can fake that, you got it made!”

French dramatist Jean Giraudoux was really onto something, at least when it comes to matters of the heart.

A recent MedicalDaily.com article reports, “Pretending that you find someone attractive increases your susceptibility to their charms and heightens your chances of truly falling in love with them, according to new relationship research.”

The latest findings [1] suggest that behavior can lead to certain emotions just as much as emotions can lead to behavior, and may offer explanations for the relative success of arranged marriages compared to conventional marriages.

Past research has shown that those in arranged marriages or those who have had their partner chosen for them by a parent or matchmaker, tend to feel more in love over time compared to those in regular marriages who feel less in love as time passes.

Lead researcher psychologist Richard Wiseman tested the theory of the “positive action” technique, which he believes could be used to not only accelerate feelings in new relationships but also rekindle them in older ones, by holding a speed dating night where some of the prospective partners were instructed to act as if they were already in love with each other.

(This is True Love. You think it happens every day?)

“Just as people feel happier when they force their face into a smile, so pairs of people behaving as if they find one another attractive became emotionally close,” he said. “The assumption was that the emotion leads to the action or behavior but this shows it can happen the other way around, action can lead to emotions.”

“Behaving like you are in love can lead to actually falling in love. People are always going about positive thinking when this suggest positive action is just as valid,” Wiseman said. “We actually had a problem stopping people. We had go around pulling couples apart.”

“Actions are the quickest, easiest and most powerful way to instantly change how you think and feel,” he said.

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[1] The findings are published in the professor’s new book Rip It Up, which is described as ‘ripping up the rule book, where Wiseman will present radical new insights into ways to improve your body and brain.

Creepy Girls (7): Girls on the Floor in the Corner

In macabre photos, girls are sometimes placed on the floor…

…or in the corner…

or on the floor in the corner.

Maybe there’s something about our childhood images (memories?) of being sent to stand or sit in the corner… a particularly embarrassing and powerless position in which to be put…

…especially by someone older, larger and stronger… and often, someone you’re supposed to love… and who is supposed to love and protect you.

Whatever the reason, these images play on our most basic feelings of humiliation, guilt, shame and self-loathing.

And yes, fear.