Brain Focusing with Sound

Welcome back. Two or three years ago, I wrote, complaining about Loud Commercials. (I know; it’s hard to keep track of my complaints.) I was objecting to the ramp up in amplitude when certain radio commercials came on before my predawn jogging.

There I would be, stretching on my floor mat or hands gripping free weights, listening to the news-weather-traffic, when WHAM!--a thunderous car commercial would rattle the room. As I wrote, the FCC was preparing to establish new rules for television, not radio.

Well, forget radio. I can’t find a predawn news-weather-traffic radio station here in the Wisconsin hinterlands, if there is one. Now, I turn on the TV before jogging and bounce around different channels trying to quench my thirst for news. (There is no local weather report and there is no traffic.)

But I’ve got a new problem. On some stations, it’s worth listening to the news; on other stations, I’m only interested in reading the news tape, though I’m not able to see the screen from every exercise position. This brings me to the real problem:  

Actually, it’s only sound that
can distract me from reading.
(Multiple websites)

As I get older, I have a harder time ignoring distractions. If I leave the volume up, I sometimes have a difficult time trying to read (i.e., comprehend) the news tape.

I may be the only old guy nutty enough to be exercising before dawn, but apparently, aging is associated with deficits in the ability to ignore distractions--or at least that’s how the abstract of a recently reported study begins. The study may have demonstrated a strategy to help address this problem.

Brain Training

To test a cognitive-training approach for reducing one’s susceptibility to distractions, investigators from the University of California, San Francisco, and McGill University conducted parallel auditory experiments with humans and older rats.

In 12 half-hour training sessions over several weeks, 47 older adults (average age 69) were trained to identify specific tones (audio frequencies) through reinforcement feedback and then to distinguish those tones from progressively similar, distracting tones.

The training resulted in enhanced discrimination abilities, with accompanying improvements in memory and attention spans.

One measure of improvement was provided by electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements of the older adults’ brain activity (frontal theta), which showed reduced responses to the distracting tones.

A measure of improvement that registered better with me was obtained by giving the participants a test of distractibility before and after the training. Compared with 15 younger participants (average age 24) who had not received any training, the seniors scored 14% worse before the training and 31% better after the training.

Although you might not be as impressed with cross-species results, the experimental findings were similar for rats.

Wrap Up

One possible cloud over the study is that the investigators are financially involved with the training strategy. As I wrote earlier (Research Sponsor Bias), when there is such involvement, it is critical that the research be structured to avoid possible bias. In the absence of information to the contrary and given the peer review process for publication, I’ll assume that was done.

I certainly hope so since, in an effort to expand their target audience, the investigators are reportedly conducting similar studies with children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Me? I can adjust the volume; but getting kids off meds would be quite a breakthrough. 

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Research report in Neuron journal:
www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273%2814%2900954-4
Articles on study on Yahoo News (Reuters) and Science Daily websites:
news.yahoo.com/seniors-might-trained-ignore-distractions-223905206.html
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141120123138.htm

Domestic Cat Addendum

I illustrated last Friday’s blog post, Domestic Cats, with a photo of Henry, the Alpha-Cat, and a video of Henry being challenged by Timothy, the relentless kitten that was thrust upon him. Rather than delve deeper into genomes for this addendum, I’ll just illustrate how the relationship between the two semi-domesticated felines has evolved over the past year. (All of the photographs were taken by our son Noah, who with his wife, chooses to live with these animals.)

As documented in the video, Timothy could be a noodge. Though Henry never attacked the kitten as he did Boss, a pet sitter and probably others, Henry’s undomesticated side would occasionally be unleashed, which of course, delighted Timothy.

Timothy grew quickly. He was soon challenging Henry for the top spot, not only on the cat tree.

And eventually Timothy deposed Henry, who presumably had become too old and too domesticated.

This photo would be a fitting end for this cat saga, for it appears to illustrate Henry getting his comeuppance after years of semi-domesticated cat deeds.

But, in truth, their relationship evolved into one of trust and sharing.

And so, the blinds curtain comes down on this tail tale of cat camaraderie.

Domestic Cats

No way. Sure, our son’s cat Henry was always a bit rowdy. Didn’t I report that he annihilated a bat in our son’s new student apartment when he wasn’t much more than a kitten, and that when he was introduced to our cat Boss, he went directly for her throat?
 

Henry the Alpha Cat before
the advent of Timothy.
(photo from last year’s
blog post, Pet Update)

Of course I haven’t forgotten the time Henry slashed my wife’s leg when she was holding Boss out of his reach, or the year of his continual threats to Boss’s existence, or his slamming into the sliding glass door chasing squirrels on the deck, or his launching from my head to capture a flying bug.

OK, I agree that Henry’s refusing the pet sitter entry to our house was extreme. But we don’t really know the details of how he organized a marauding gang of cats to do who knows what when our son and daughter-in-law finally released him from his daily confinement. They said that he always came home. And he got his comeuppance when they got a new kitten, Timothy-the-Relentless.

Henry challenged by Timothy, the new kitten.
(from video youtu.be/8mWd1eYSkSc)

Timothy is like Henry. I suppose most cats could be. Maybe the research finding is true: Cats are only semi-domesticated. Who would have guessed?

Feline Evolution

Welcome back. This recently published cat research is in a paper by 25 investigators from 13 institutions in 5 countries. The study, led by Washington University’s School of Medicine, assembled the complete reference genome of a domestic Abyssinian cat and provided evolutionary comparisons with genomes of wildcats and other mammals, including humans.

Bottom line offered here in the middle: There’s not a heckuva lot of difference between domestic cats and their wild kin. Domestic cats still have many of the same hunting, sensory and digestive genetic adaptations.

Carnivorous animals have highly developed senses for locating prey; and cats, with their wide range of hearing frequencies and visual acuity, stand out among the carnivores. Cats also are able to metabolize hypercarnivorous diets (over 70% meat), rich in protein and in saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which would be a high coronary disease risk for humans.

Human Influence

About the only areas where the investigators found human influence in the domestic cat genome were related to fur color and pattern and to genes thought to be associated with being more docile, i.e., fear-conditioning behavior and stimulus-reward learning.

Reasons postulated for so little human-induced change begin with our relatively short history with cats. Archeological evidence suggests that our interactions with cats began only about 9,000 years ago when agriculture started to take hold. Cats came for the rodents, and farmers rewarded the best mousers with food and eventually much more. Human efforts at cat breeding for desired traits probably didn’t begin more than 200 years ago.

Another major factor in the lack of domestication is continued interbreeding with wildcats. Henry was neutered but lots of domestic cats aren’t.

Wrap Up

So, as anyone who’s ever lived with a cat will advise, if you want a fully domesticated animal other than most humans--one that will love, cherish, obey and maybe even worship you--think about a dog. Dogs started hunting with us about 30,000 years ago and that seems to have worked out. But that’s a different story. Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Cat genome study in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences:
www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/11/05/1410083111.abstract?sid=d951982e-c913-4fe3-9edf-d80fb1f03fc3
Article on study in Los Angeles Times:
www.latimes.com/science/space/la-sci-sn-cat-genome-20141107-story.html

Political Correctness Addendum

I illustrated last Friday’s blog post, Political Correctness Revisited, with a photograph of a sign proclaiming that political correctness was the downfall of American society. There have been so many other assertions--some humorous, some offensive and some that might have begun on websites that warn about black helicopters. Today’s addendum offers a handful of the less fervent.

This graphic has political correctness as the core of a liberal’s brain. The other brain compartments are equally condemning though pretty funny. (Multiple websites)

Among definitions of “politically correct,” this was one of the more benign. (Multiple websites)

Though noted more for his support for gun rights, the late actor, Charleton Heston, also apparently spoke against political correctness. (Multiple websites)

Ben Carson, who’s gone from medicine to conservative politics, has also apparently taken a stance against political correctness. (Multiple websites but probably www.teapartycommunity.com/blog/4152)

While this tweet by RG3, quarterback for the Washington Redskins, was clearly stated and promoted by conservative media, it’s not entirely clear what he was actually tweeting about. (Compiled by Media Research Center and seen on multiple websites.)

How could anyone object to this comment about political correctness from www.someecards.com?

This grievance was obviously voiced by someone pining for the good old days. (Multiple websites)

Political Correctness Revisited

I’m back and I hope you are, too. Welcome. While I was gone, I noticed that our TV provider, Dish, had a falling out with Fox and removed Fox News and Business channels. I noticed it quicker when Dish dropped CNN; dropping CBS was short lived. I don’t watch Fox News much, but it’s a hoot to tune in occasionally and hear the litany of what the president is doing wrong.
 

Advertised sentiment about political
correctness. (Photo from
smm110861.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/)

Although it’s been a while since I’ve heard political correctness disparaged on Fox, a recent study showed that the adoption of political correctness (PC) in the corporate work environment could yield a significant benefit. If Fox reported that finding, I feel bad that I missed the smirk and reference to elitist academics.

Anyway, PC--the attempt to avoid language or behavior that could offend a particular group of people and which no doubt can go too far--was found to produce a no-cost payoff in creativity.

Enhanced Creativity

Collaborating investigators from Cornell, the University of California, Berkeley, Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt ran tests with 582 participants. Groups of three were told to be “politically correct” or “polite,” while other groups received no instructions.

All groups then spent 10 minutes brainstorming business ideas. The creative output of each group was measured by the number of ideas generated and the relative novelty of the ideas.

While you might guess that creativity surges when all constraints are removed, the results demonstrated the opposite. Imposing a norm to be politically correct--a norm that set clear expectations for how men and women should interact--increased the creative output of mixed gender groups.

The investigators reasoned that men and women both experience uncertainty when asked to generate ideas as members of a mixed-gender group--men may fear offending women; women may fear having their ideas devalued or rejected. PC promotes rather than suppresses expression of ideas by reducing uncertainty and signaling that the group is predictable enough to risk sharing more ideas and more novel ideas.

Wrap Up

At least 15 years ago, I participated in a mixed-gender meeting involving military and civilian government personnel. The male Air Force officer leading the meeting kept dropping the F-word. It wasn’t my place to say anything, especially when no one seemed to flinch; yet I did ask a female Air Force officer about it after the meeting. She said it’s so common, she doesn’t pay attention.

Despite her experience, I remember that meeting because, in my 20 years of government meetings, it was the only mixed-gender meeting where the F-word or just about any questionable language was used.

Maybe that’s changed now. As I wrote in my Linguistic Longings post: Linguistic change is inevitable, whether it’s vocabulary, sentence structure or pronunciations. I was writing about the use of “mom” instead of “mother” and “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome,” but I suppose it’s much the same.

PC encompasses far more than use of certain words, of course; and again, it can easily go overboard. As the study shows, however, there’s much to be gained by, well, being polite. What do you think? 

I wonder if Dish will be giving rebates for all these dropped channels. Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Political correctness study in Administrative Science Quarterly:
asq.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/12/15/0001839214563975.abstract

Articles on study on Cornell Chronicle and Science Daily websites:
www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/11/pc-workplace-boosts-creativity-male-female-teams
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141104183610.htm