ICYMI: The Science Behind Why We Watch Cat Videos And An Argument For Sleeping Alone

ICYMI: The Science Behind Why We Watch Cat Videos And An Argument For Sleeping Alone

ICYMI Health features what we're reading this week.

This week, we took a close look at the inner workings of the brain. We validated our cat video-watching habit (which apparently makes us more productive employees), and learned that our on-again, off-again book club membership helps our self-esteem. We cringed as we thought about our 16-year-old selves reading a Q&A with a neuroscientist who studies why teenagers are so moody and impulsive.

Finally, we spent time with a candid account of one man's experience dating with schizophrenia, reaffirming our belief that a persistent stigma still surrounds mental illness in America.

Read on and tell us in the comments: What did you read, watch and love this week?

1. Cat Videos Can Give You Energy And A Positive Attitude, Study Says -- The Huffington Post
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Research shows that opting to view cat videos in favor of hard news isn't necessarily shallow. Instead it's a highly effective form of mood therapy and stress relief.

Quote: Most people watch when they're either at work or supposedly studying. They also report that the good feelings they get from watching the clips outweigh any guilt from watching them when they're supposed to be doing something else.

2. Dating With Schizophrenia -- New York Times
Michael Hedrick has been dating for nearly 10 years, and the stigma he experiences because of his mental illness, as well as his own trust issues, make connecting with someone especially tough.

Quote: Trust is a major issue for me, the crux of my daily symptoms revolves around paranoia that people are judging me and making fun of me, so trusting someone new that fast is, in the simplest terms, extremely difficult.

3. A Rational Defense of Sleeping Alone -- The Atlantic

The ever-funny James Hamblin makes a case for couples sleeping in separate beds.

Quote: Who needs another person waking you up in the middle of the night, coughing and snoring? They flop around when they can't sleep. They get sweaty on hot nights. They flop around and the mattress is all springy -- it wakes you up.

4. Insurance Still Doesn't Cover Childbirth For Some Young Women -- NPR
While the federal government requires most insurance policies to cover prenatal care for pregnant women, it doesn't have the same requirements for labor and delivery costs, which can amount to thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Quote: Pregnancy discrimination is per se sex discrimination.

5. This Is What It's Like to Have a Seizure -- The Huffington Post
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Vivid illustrations depict one woman's experience suffering from seizures.

Quote: It feels as though black ink is bleeding inward from every which way, causing my vision to slowly fade out.

6. People Are Finally Talking About The Thing Nobody Wants To Talk About -- NPR
One of the biggest obstacles to education for women in low-income countries is menstruation. Without bathrooms at school or widely available sanitary products, many girls skip class school once they hit puberty. Innovative new products could change that.

Quote: The underwear is reusable. It comes with a mesh pocket that girls can fill with whatever absorbent material is readily available, from cotton to grass to torn up fabric. 'So you go kind of like McGyver style,' she says. 'Just stuff it with anything that is safe.'

7. Why Are Teens So Moody And Impulsive? This Neuroscientist Has The Answer -- The Huffington Post
teens on phone
Dr. Frances Jensen studied brain development in her lab for years before realizing she had a parallel experiment happening at home -- with her changing teenage sons.

Quote: What you’re going to get with helicopter parenting is a kind of learned helplessness. The kids have never had to make a decision, they’re not even aware that there are decisions there to be made.

8. Maybe You'd Like Yourself Better If You Joined a Book Club or Something -- Science of Us
A new study shows that membership in multiple groups leads to higher self-esteem, but not for the reasons you'd think.

Quote: In my case, that means my multiple group memberships will only improve my self-esteem if I start to fold them into the way I think about my own identity: I'm a reader, a vegetarian, a (sometimes) runner.

9. Mercury Is in Retrograde: Why Superstitions Can Be Good For You -- Health.com
Being superstitious is a resiliency tactic -- as long as you don't take your superstitions too seriously.

Quote: A sense of meaning can help you cope with a tough situation and recover faster. If you think a terrible event was meant to be, you can often find a silver lining.

Before You Go

1
Walnuts
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Walnuts are chock-full of heart-healthy and anti-inflammatory nutrients, and are the only good nut source of alpha linolenic acid (ALA), HuffPost Healthy Living earlier reported. That means they help promote blood flow, which in turn allows for efficient delivery of oxygen to the brain. And research presented at the 2010 International Conference on Alzheimer's found that mice with the disease who were regularly fed walnuts had improved memory, learning and motor skill coordination, according to MyHealthNewsDaily.
2
Olive Oil
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Olive oil is a great source of monounsaturated fats, which have been shown to actually slow brain aging.
3
Berries
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Animal studies have long indicated a link between berry consumption and brain health. But a recent study published in the Annals of Neurology found that a diet high in blueberries, strawberries and others were linked to a slower mental decline in areas like memory and focus in a large sample of middle-aged women, reported TIME's Alice Park.
4
Coffee
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Caffeine, the mild stimulant found in coffee, improves mental acuity, though the drink's enthusiasts -- who guzzle 120,000 tons of the stuff each year -- likely already know that. Aside from caffeine's brain boosting effects, coffee's antioxidant richness helps maintain brain health. And some research suggests that drinking coffee can actually stave off depression in women.
5
Spinach
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Spinach is rich in the antioxidant lutein, which is thought to help protect against cognitive decline, according to researchers from Tufts University. And a longitudinal study at Harvard Medical School found that women who reported eating the most leafy green and cruciferous vegetables had a markedly lower rate of cognitive decline, compared to those who ate the least.
6
Dark chocolate
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Antioxidant-rich dark chocolate is healthy for your whole body, but its caffeine content is thought to play a role in maintaining mental acuity. What's more, chocolate is rich in flavonoids, a class of antioxidant that helps to improve blood flow (and thus brain health) by regulating cholesterol and lowering blood pressure.
7
Avocados
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Avocados are full of monounsaturated fats that improve vascular health and blood flow, making them another brain food.
8
Water
When a person becomes dehydrated, their brain tissue actually shrinks. And several studies have shown that dehydration can affect cognitive function. Dehydration can impair short-term memory, focus and decision making, according to Psychology Today.
9
Wheat Germ
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Wheat germ is a rich vegetarian source of choline -- a nutrient that is involved in the body's production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that boosts memory, according to Shape. Eggs are another good choline source.
10
Beets
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Beets are a good source of naturally-occurring nitrates, which help improve blood flow to the brain, according to Shape.
11
Garlic
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Garlic may help stave off some forms of brain cancer, according to research published in Cancer, the medical journal of the American Cancer Society. Investigators found that the organo-sulfur compounds in garlic actually worked to kill glioblastoma cells -- a type of malignant tumor cell.

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