oh my

Now this is interesting.

I'm hesitant to take this at face value. I found a few snippets in the comments that I thought worth noting:

"There's no history here, and no clear indication of cause and effect. Maybe the small brains led to the obesity in some manner (habitual differences). Maybe both the brain size and obesity are symptoms of a separate underlying cause.

Unless we have brain scans from these same individuals from 30 years ago, how can we know how badly their brains degenerated?  Hell, how can we even know these people didn't recently become obese, or that some of the "normal-weight" individuals weren't formerlly obese, and simply lost a lot of weight as they aged?"

"I am not a doctor, but even a three year old can connect the dots. With that said, research has shown that the avarage American's weight has increased by forty-two punds since the introduction of High Fructose Corn Syrup in sodas and foods in the early eightys. I just connected the first two dots.

 Many studies have also shown that as many as seven out of ten foods or sodas with H.F.C.S. sampled had mercury present. The mercury contamination is believe to be cause do to out dated equipment used in the processing of corn into H.F.C.S. Research has also proven mercury causes brain neuron degeneration. Wow, just connected two more dots!  So, let's review, you consume H.F.C.S., you will become obese, and as the toxic effect of mercury start to take effect, brain degneration will begin. Next time you enjoy that Coca-Cola, remember that Mercury is the second most toxic metal known to man; second only to plutonium! Enjoy!"

" The used definition for obesity is faulty, because it ignores the three body types medical science recognizes - it is more an index for body type; 

mesomorph people will have a greater muscle mass and thereby more neural mass. 

Tall people will be more ectomorph and therefor have a greater muscle mass and thereby more neural mass.  The last category of body type, the endomorph will therefore have less neural mass, and so will women (who have more body fat and are shorter, on average). This does not indicate neural loss at all."

I'm no expert, but I was a little suspicious as well. Grain of salt. Still, it's interesting and worth noting... any legitimate data is good data. When I die, perhaps they should dissect my brain - terrible diet rife with HFCS, low body weight. Pity I won't be around to see the results.

On an irrelevant but cool note, a few pearls of wisdom. Ignore some of the feminist stuff at the front, it gets better.

Why we can't have nice things.

Great. And suddenly, it all makes sense.

This has probably been around forever, but I wonder if this generation's tendency towards coddling (you're the best! you can do anything you set your mind to!) is helping to progress it.

And we thought we had it all.

Stumbled upon a wikipedia "list of emotions". Intriguingly enough, amongst the dozens of recognizable (well, visually recognizable) emotions were a few I couldn't identify. Emotions in foreign tongues.

An emotion only made note of by a sliver (or slivers) of all society? 

Most of these seem to be very real emotions, but they're what we'd consider an emotional blend. That said, we recognize 'bittersweetness', so I'm not sure why we wouldn't recognize these. Could be sheer lack of insight, or ability to spread that insight. Curiously, lots of German here. Either we have a lot of information about Germans and emotion, the Germans are exceptionally introspective, or we're lacking information about the rest of us and how we deal with emotion. Dunno. Anyway, here are a few:

Schadenfreude - I think we all know this one.

Weltschmerz - "The kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind." "Psychological pain caused by sadness that can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropriateness and cruelty of the world and physical and social circumstances." "Can cause depression, resignation and escapism." Dear, dear...

Limerance - "An involuntary emotional state of intense romantic desire for another person. Used to describe the ultimate, near-obsessional form of romantic love." Covers a lot of ground - hypersensitivity/overanalysis of a loved one's words/actions, intense fear of rejection, the hope vs. uncertainty balance, that kind of thing. Very interesting stuff, and smart to piece it all together.

Mono no Aware - "Used to describe the transience of things and a bittersweet sadness at their passing." Seems like longing, sorrow... not necessarily nostalgia, but sadness that things have to change. The reality of inevitability. Seeing your old high-school sweetheart get married off, old friends drifting apart due to external obligations. This one rings true to me (but, inevitably, I'll look back upon this and think, "I was being such an idiot") - moving away from old and comfortable things, from friends, from 'home', in an attempt to create a positive life from whatever I have right now. And hoping for friends to fare well as well, although with sadness at their parting.

Sehnsucht - "Longing, or in a wider sense a kind of intensely missing. It is a close relationship (encapsulated in one word) between ardent longing or yearning (das Sehnen) and the addiction (die Sucht) that lurks beyond each longing, waiting to turn the feeling into a destructive, self-defeating force." "The key ingredient of the experience is that this longing - never fulfilled - is itself sweeter than the fulfillment of any other human desire. Another feature is that it is so deeply personal that it does not occur to the one feeling it that others would have similar experiences, and so is rarely communicated verbally. For most it is something which cannot be put into words."

Acedia - "A state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in the world." Mother to sloth, apathy, depression, ennui. This one also comes with some examination from a medical perspective.

Saudade - A bit similar to Sehnsucht up there, but not identical. "A feeling of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return." "Saudade was once described as the love that remains after someone is gone. Saudade is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure or well-being, which now triggers the senses and makes one live again."

When writing all of this, I stumbled upon a link that reflects a bit on the speculations I had above regarding pieces of society and their connection to emotions or emotional blends. Not sure how much good it'll do, but here it is.

Bedtime - time to ignore whatever emotion studying the above evoked in me... and I'm sure there's a named emotion for that, too.

Don't forget this!

Toba Catastrophe Theory - the random event that potentially created humanity as it is today.

Remix

iDosers.

I can't believe I forgot about these. I'm kicking myself over here.

I guess that's why I have this now.

Frequency range	Name	Usually associated with:
> 40 Hz	Gamma waves	Higher mental activity, including perception, problem solving, fear, and consciousness
13–40 Hz	Beta waves	Active, busy or anxious thinking and active concentration, arousal, cognition
7–13 Hz	Alpha waves	Relaxation (while awake), pre-sleep and pre-wake drowsiness
4–7 Hz	Theta waves	Dreams, deep meditation, REM sleep
<>	Delta waves	Deep dreamless sleep, loss of body awareness

Brain waves, because I'll forget them.

"Big Nami" indeed.

Marchiafava-Bignami disease.

Booze rots your brain.

No, literally.

Marchiafava-Bignami is commonly found in alcoholics. It's when more than half of the corpus callosum have become necrotic. Dead tissue. Rotted away. The corpus callosum connects the left and right brain. Presumably this allows the two brains (left being systemic, logical, cold - right being emotional, artistic, warm) to function together properly.

What does drinking have to do with it, though?

Dyssomnia:

The wonders of sleep (disorders).

Sleeptalking (somniloquy):

Night Terrors:

Kleine-Levin Syndrome:

Narcolepsy:

Tetris Effect (trauma prevention?):

Sleep Paralysis:

Lucid Dreaming:

Hypnic Jerks:

Exploding Head Syndrome (don't take it literally):

Information on these to come, maybe? I dunno.