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Two Types of Willpower

Two Types of Willpower

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Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

will power self control

Will power is certainly a useful thing to have and in everyday life this often means overcoming temptation.

But many of us fall short on willpower at least some of the time – but mostly very often. However, the term may be misleading because researchers think of willpower in different ways. There’s one way which is: just don’t eat that extra chocolate bar, scoff the dessert, eat the bag of crisps (chips for the rest of the world), or get out for a run in the cold rain. That is what researchers call synchronic regulation.

The other approach is to do what Odysseus did in Homer’s Epic: to get his sailors to strap him to the mast so that he couldn’t be overcome, or better respond, to the Sirens song. This therefore involves changing the environment or creating new habits to avoid temptation in the first place. This is known as diachronic regulation.

Zachary Irving et al. of Rutgers University wanted to know how normal folk view will power or self control. They conducted a series of experiments whereby respondents had to judge a person’s actions and the scenarios describe either synchronic or diachronic regulation or a mixture of both.

They found out that we normally only consider synchronic regulation as will power – that is to just resist the temptation through pure force of will. This is interesting because it shows that what researchers think and the everyday person may differ. It is also, it must be noted, the least effective strategy.

Will power requires power and is hard to exert all of the time. That is why Odysseus had the foresight to have himself strapped to the mast of his ship. He knew that shaping the environment and pre-empting his lack of ability to exert willpower was the most effective way to overcome this.

And this sage advice is a few thousand years old – but today it doesn’t apply to Sirens song but often to what we eat or how we get your daily physical activity. And now you have the terminology: diachronic regulation is the way to go.

Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Zachary C. Irving, Jordan Bridges, Aaron Glasser, Juan Pablo Bermúdez, Chandra Sripada. 
Will-powered: Synchronic regulation is the difference maker for self-control
Cognition, 2022; 225: 105154
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105154

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Our Brains Seem to Use Quantum Computations

Our Brains Seem to Use Quantum Computations

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Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

brain wave consciousness

Our brain are blobs of real organic material, but we also know real material at the very small level enters into the quantum world where very strange rules apply to baffle all but the smartest scientists, and even some of the smartest scientists (such as Einstein).

There are also multiple open questions in science such as the experience of consciousness and how our brains can still outperform supercomputers in certain circumstances and conditions. That our brain uses quantum processes could explain this and has been proposed by many people before – but this is all speculation and theoretical musings. However, now we have the first glimpse of proof that our brains do indeed engage in quantum processes.

Christian Matthias Kerskens and David López Pérez of Trinity College Dublin conducted a clever experiment to try to measure what can’t be measured. I am at the limits of my knowledge, and it gets complex but let me have a go at explaining.

In trying to measure the quantum we are trying to measure the unmeasurable but there are ways to do this, for example entanglement is when particles become connected and behave in the same why despite no obvious connection and being distant in space and time. What Einstein called “spooky action at a distance”.

What Kerskens and Lopeze Perez did was to measure proton spins in brain water – a natural fluid that builds up in our brain. Using a special MRI technique they were then able to measure proton spins but also to look for entangled spins. They were then able to identify EEG signals in the spins. But this would normally not be able to be observed under these conditions unless, that is, there was entanglement.

This suggests that these protons are entangled and therefore showing EEG signals despite not receiving this input directly. This is one of the first cases of direct evidence for quantum processes in the brain and this would also explain why the brain can perform some of the things it can despite its limited size. It could also help explain some aspects of consciousness – but the topic of consciousness is hotly and fiercely debated so let’s not go there for now.

Further research is necessary, of course, but it is a first promising step to getting more concrete grip on our quantum brain.

Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Christian Matthias Kerskens, David López Pérez.
Experimental indications of non-classical brain functions.
Journal of Physics Communications, 2022; 6 (10): 105001
DOI: 10.1088/2399-6528/ac94be

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Insults Trigger the Equivalent of a Slap to the Face in the Brain

Insults Trigger the Equivalent of a Slap to the Face in the Brain

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Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

brain wave insult

Insulting other people is not a good thing to do, we know that. Though we have all been guilty of it at some stage, no doubt. Similarly, we have all probably experienced insults of varying degrees. But what does this do to our brains?

Enter Marijn Struiksma et al. who investigated the brain and skin responses of three types of statement with a view to seeing if we get used to these statements over time i.e. does an insult become weaker over time as we get used to it. Obviously running this type of experiment runs into a number of ethical problems. How do we insult people without causing them too much distress, etc.?

The resulting experimental protocol was therefore very simple: 79 participants read three statements repeatedly. A negative statement “Andy is horrible”, a positive statement “Andy is impressive”, and a neutral statement “Andy is English”. To see differences to personalised statements, 50% of the statements used other names and 50% used the name of the participant.

Now, remember this is in a lab setting with the statements not coming from an interaction with a real person, the statements were fictitious, and, on the big scale of things, very mild. However, even so, the data showed that these statements still do get at you triggering robust brain wave changes and a stress skin conductance response. But what is surprising or noteworthy is that:

  • Insults elicited strong responses irrespective of the person they were directed at (brain wave responses and skin conductance responses)
  • Insults were more powerful than compliments, triggering the equivalent of a mini-slap to the face
  • Insults did not degrade over time

This shows that there is a strong negativity bias when it comes to personal information and how sensitive we human beings are to these types of comments. But also, that negativity remains even after repetition is surprising because normally, we expect repetition to dull the effect – not so with insults.

It would be great to study this in the real world but that raises many ethical hurdles. For now, we know that insults do stimulate strong brain wave and skin conductance effects that remain persistent over time and are stronger than the effects of a compliment.

This may, on a different note, be why the rule of 6-1 was given for marriages and also business leadership. You need at least 6 positive comments to each negative comment.

Indeed, be sparing in your criticism and generous in your compliments.

Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Struiksma, M. E., De Mulder, H. N. M., and Van Berkum, J. J. A. (2022).
Do People Get Used to Insulting Language? 
Front. Commun.  7.
Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.910023.

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Even a Short Bout of Exercise Can Boost Brain Growth

Even a Short Bout of Exercise Can Boost Brain Growth

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Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

brain growth exercise sport

Exercise is good for you – we all know that. The research is also overwhelming showing incredibly wide-ranging benefits, heart health, lower inflammation, better metabolism, lower risk of degenerative diseases, and the list goes on and on. So, all in quite simple – get exercising.

I have also reported on the multiple benefits for the brain – from exercise in childhood being able to be seen in the brain 40 year later, to general improved cognition, and brain plasticity, brain growth that is.

But most of these studies focus on long-term or bouts of exercise lasting weeks or months. What about just one session of exercise? Is it too little to have any tangible benefits apart from the short-term glow of having done something positive and having a short positive hormone boost?

Well, now a study from the Oregon Health & Science University published in July by Christina Chatzi et al. have shown that just a single bout of exercise can also have positive benefits and notably on brain plasticity, growth, itself.

This experiment was done in mice it must be noted. However, many exercise studies have translated well from mice to human beings so it is very encouraging.

What they did is put otherwise sedentary mice though a single exercise routine – this would be the equivalent of 4’000 steps for human beings – the researchers compared this to a game of pick up basketball.

I am sure you will be keen to know what they found.

Yes, very good news.

They noticed an increase in synapses, the connections between brain cells, in a region called the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a region that is known to be very important for memory and learning.

This happens through activating a gene called Mtss1L which seems to have been largely ignored in previous studies in the brain and exercise. This increases production of proteins that are important for shaping cell membranes and therefore helping them to growth and connect.

So, this shows that a single bout of exercise can boost synaptic growth in your hippocampus – priming your brain for learning and yes, that is growing your brain in, albeit, a small way – but also not to be scoffed at either.

So, of you go – get your sports shoes on – or just have a game of basketball, or a kick around on your way home. Your brain will thank you for it.

Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

twitter / LinkedIn

References

Christina Chatzi, Gina Zhang, Wiiliam D Hendricks, Yang Chen, Eric Schnell, Richard H Goodman, Gary L Westbrook. 
Exercise-induced enhancement of synaptic function triggered by the inverse BAR protein, Mtss1L
eLife, 2019; 8
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.45920

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Disagreements Improve Team Perception

Disagreements Improve Team Perception

Quick Hits
Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

team performance

When it comes to teams, we like to think of team cohesion and getting on well together which often aligns with team performance. In fact, we at leading brains have developed team assessments measuring just this.

We however, also state that a certain amount of misalignment, diversity of opinion is a good thing – just too much misalignment and disagreement blocks effectiveness of the team. And this research into military teams also shows something interesting in disagreements.

The researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory investigated identification of armoured vehicles in 29 two-person teams. Identifying types of armoured vehicle is essential in combat: you could fire on a friendly vehicle or let an enemy vehicle pass. Armoured vehicles are also difficult to distinguish apart particularly when viewing with limited angles or under time pressure.

What they found is that teams that disagreed more were better at combat identification. This may seem slightly counter-intuitive – with the assumption that high-performing teams would be better at first-off identification and therefore disagree less. However, it seems that disagreeing with a first guess forces people to justify their opinion, and this created more clarity and potential corrections.

This raises an interesting perspective in business teams that disagreeing with a person’s point of view could lead to better discussions and therefore better decisions. Assuming this can take place with the right atmosphere. So, disagreeing should be seen as a positive thing to do to engage in better decision-making.

Another note is that in this particular study they did further analysis of the abilities that contribute to correct identification. What they noticed is that spatial abilities are important to identification of the correct vehicles, unsurprising. But also, that the ability to communicate was essential.

In addition, they analysed gender and saw no correlations to gender composition of teams. So individual spatial skills and ability to communicate were the key factors irrespective of gender.

So, all in disagreements are good, specific skills also, and communication abilities are key.

This was in a very specific scenario, I know, but I assume much of this translates to functional teams of all sorts in the military and business. Indeed, plenty of other research has also pointed to these as being essential attributes of high-performing teams. So go ahead and disagree at your next meeting.

Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

twitter / LinkedIn

References

Anthony L. Baker, Joseph R. Keebler, Emily C. Anania, David Schuster, John P. Plummer. 
Team Combat Identification: Effects of Gender, Spatial Visualization, and Disagreement
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2020; 001872082090228
DOI: 10.1177/0018720820902286

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