Good Sleep Wakes Up Memory________________________________________
Getting shut-eye before tests boosted performance, study found
By Juhie Bhatia, HealthDay Reporter
(HealthDay News) -- Besides helping you feel well-rested, getting your zzz's may also sharpen your memory, a new study shows.
Researchers found that sleep not only protects memories from outside interferences, it also helps strengthen them.
"There was a very large benefit of sleep for memory consolidation, even larger than we were anticipating," said study author Dr. Jeffrey Ellenbogen, an associate neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and a postdoctoral fellow in sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School.
In the study, the researchers focused on sleep's impact on "declarative" memories, which are related to specific facts, episodes and events.
"We sought to explore whether sleep has any impact on memory consolidation, specifically the type of memory for facts and events and time," Ellenbogen said. "We know that sleep helps boost memory for procedural tests, such as learning a new piano sequence, but we're not sure, even though it's been debated for 100 years, whether sleep impacts declarative memory."
The study involved 48 people between the ages of 18 and 30. These participants had normal, healthy sleep routines and were not taking any medications. They were all taught 20 pairs of words and asked to recall them 12 hours later. However, the participants were divided evenly into four groups with different circumstances for testing: sleep before testing, wake before testing, sleep before testing with interference, or wake before testing with interference.
Two of the groups (the wake groups) were taught the words at 9 a.m. and then tested on the pairings at 9 p.m., after being awake all day. The other two groups (the sleep groups) learned the words at 9 p.m., went to sleep, and were then tested at 9 a.m.
Also, prior to testing, one of the sleep groups and one of the wake groups were given a second list of 20 word pairs to remember. These groups were then tested on both lists to help determine memory recall with interference (competing information).
The result: Sleep appeared to help particpants recall their learned declarative memories, even when they were given competing information.
According to the researchers, people who slept after learning the information performed best, successfully recalling more words whether or not there was interference. Those in the sleep group without interference were able to recall 12 percent more word pairings from the first list than the wake group without interference (94 percent recall for the sleep group vs. 82 percent for the wake group).
When presented with interference, those who slept before testing did significantly better at remembering the words (76 percent for the sleep group vs. 32 percent for the wake group).
"We were surprised to find the order of magnitude by which the data demonstrated our effects," Ellenbogen said.
Jan Born, a professor of neuroendocrinology at the University of Lübeck in Germany, said the study offers more proof of the importance of sleep for memory consolidation.
"Considering that learning in every educational setting (schools, colleges, etc.), is centrally based on hippocampus-dependent memory function [declarative memories], people should realize that optimal learning conditions require proper sleep," he said.
Proper sleep may have other benefits, too, added Michael Perlis, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. Research has shown that in addition to memory, sleep may be related to physical functioning, good immune function, physical and cognitive performance, and mood regulation, he said.
"These are all theories. The only thing we know is that when we're deprived of sleep, we do less well. Is that a lack of sleep or sustained wakefulness? It's very difficult to figure out how to crack that nut," he said. "We spend 30 percent of our time on sleep. What is sleep for? This is a riddle we're still working on."
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Directing A Business Or Managing A Business?
Author: Naz Daud
Growth of a business requires people to work on and not simply in the business. It is a very small amount of directors that actually understand what they are meant to do when they are a director.
They must understand their duties and responsibilities for the business to be effective
There is a school of thought that believes the business should run the directors and not the other way round.
An effective business requires people working in the business not just on it.
The majority of small businesses do not work - plain and simple. Over eighty percent of small businesses fail within the first three years.
Most small businesses are run by owner-managers who bear all the hallmarks of victims. They will complain about overheads, staff, etc. and their businesses will never achieve their potential because they are always working in the business and not on it.
The key to avoiding this state of affairs is the recognition that a business needs to be run and managed -things need to be planned and designed, they just don't happen.
It is essential for people to spend more time working on the business and not in the business. This is the magic formula for enabling you to run the business and not have the business run you.
So the question then begs should one be a director or manager?
Many small business directors are given the title as a matter of course or because they happen to be sitting in the room at the time the company is formed.
How many directors or board directors actually know the difference between managing and directing?
The typical response is complaints about the board and the responsibilities for the business, share options and so forth. It is almost as though many people put into these roles were meant to know the job by instinct once given the role.
The bottom line is that there is no manual and many people make it up as they go along.
To define further, managers look after day to day affairs and are glorified supervisors.
Directors, on the other hand, are responsible for all aspects of the business and its future direction.
The role of the board is fundamental to the growth of the business.
In recent years, the board's duties have been clarified, with the four main areas of the board being:
Strategic thought
Formulation of policy
Managing the managers
Accountability
There are some dilemmas arise from the four roles, however.
The skills to move the business forward while keeping it under control must be demonstrated.
The board must be alert to the short term pressures while being kept informed of the broader trends and competition externally.
The board must retain an objective point of view and stand back from day to day running whilst maintaining a sufficient knowledge of what is going on.
Commercial needs of the business need to be balanced with the need to act responsibly to towards employees, its business partners and general society.
Without clarity of leadership, focus, vision and mission the business will suffer greatly.
One of the great challenges for the growing business is to appoint and run an effective board that leads the business - working on and not in, the business.
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11 Simple Yet Powerful Meditations For Immediate and Long-Term Stress Relief & Management
Author: Abbas Abedi
To achieve long-term stress relief and management, meditation has been shown to be the most effective technique to use. There are many types of meditation beginning with simple breathing to using visualizations and images to help focus and/or relax the mind and body. Doing these exercises can help you give your brain a "charge", helping enhance your memory, focus and ability to relax, as explained in the following article from Time Magazine http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1147167,00.html
Exercise: Basic Meditative State "The Empty Mind"
The Empty Mind Preparation:
The key to this meditation is to focus on your breathing and everytime you notice your mind straying to any thought just bring your attention back to your breathing.
Relax your body completely by visualizing each major muscle group relax and let go. Now do a 4 to 1 count as follows:
Take in 4 deep breaths, repeating "4" to yourself as you exhale. Then take 3 deep breaths, repeating "3" when you exhale. Now take 2 deep breaths, repeating "2" when you exhale. Finally, take 1 deep breath, repeating "1" as you exhale.
. Imagine that you are a passive observer of something very relaxing where there is repetitive motion. For Example: relaxing on the beach, watching the waves go back and forth or just lying in the grass and watching as the clouds move by overhead.
. Finally, now you want to cause your mind to go completely blank. As you are focusing on this repetitive movement, begin to envision a blank form.
. Maybe this blank form will arise as 'gaps' in your thoughts. I.e. there are always gaps in thought, become aware of yours. Allow these gaps to expand.
. If you get lost in thought and notice, then you are already succeeding in the meditation. As you NOTICED getting lost.
. Allow each thought to pass as easily as it came in, expanding your awareness of the 'gaps'.
10 Quick and Effective Meditations For Stress Relief Management
1 Breathing In Colors
Sit in a comfortable position with your back straight. Then choose a color. You can pick any color you like, from blue, to gold, to red. Breathe in each color till it feels like your body and mind are filled with the color. Continue to meditate on colors that make you feel wonderful or relaxed or peaceful.
2 Your Special Place
Pick a place you feel safe and comfortable. Visualize this place clearly and step in, following the steps in Exercise 10. Spend some time meditating as if you are actually there.
3 A Deep Pond
Imagine a deep blue pond. Notice some fish below the surface darting around. Take a silver coin from your pocket and toss it into the center of the pond. As the coin slowly drifts down allow yourself to relax.
4 Walking Meditation
While walking start becoming aware of your breath. Expand this awareness to include the feel of the clothes on your body and the feel of your feet on the ground. While continuing your awareness of your breath and body, become aware of the place you are walking and the scenery around you. Finally, being aware of breath, body and surroundings add the huge dome of the sky above you and the earth below you. Breathe deeply and relish this expanded sense of awareness.
5 Eating Meditation
It helps to be grateful before you eat as this prepares your mind to enjoy the meal. Take each bite consciously and enjoy the taste and texture. Chew slowly and take your time.
6 Candle Flame Meditation
Light a candle and sit comfortably in front of it. Focus only on the flame allowing any thoughts arising to just pass by. Watch how the candle dances. Then close your eyes and continue to focus on the flame in your minds eye. If you lose the image open your eyes and gaze at the candle again. If you like you can imagine any thought arising to go and burn up in the flame. This will help you attin a focused meditative state.
7 Breathing In A Smell
Smell is very important to us and easily alters our internal states. Pick a flower or food that smells extremely good to you. Breath in this smell deeply and slowly. Take your time enjoying the feeling of the smell "fill" your body.
8 Mirror Meditation
Get a mirror and sit comfortably in front of it. Look into your eyes and repeat any affirmation you would like to meditate on. For example, "I feel relaxed" or "I am confident" and so on.
9 Mental Rehearsal
Professional Athletes spend time not only practicing but also mentally rehearsing their moves. Studies have shown that this mental rehearsal improves actual performance. Think of an activity that you would like to excel at. Spend time visualizing each move exactly how you want o do it. Do this in detail. Then repeat several times. You can enhance this ability by doing the candle flame meditation before this.
10 Smile Meditation
Studies have shown that a genuine smile releases endorphins into your bloodstream, relieving stress and even rejuvenating your entire mind and body. The smile meditation is easy to do and very effective at feeling really good, quickly.
. Think of something funny to start you smiling. It could be an event, a movie, a cute baby or even a puppy. Anything to bring a good smile on your face.
. Imagine this smile spreading over face, down your neck and into your body.
. Meditate on the smile till your whole body begins to feel like a big smile.:-)
All the above meditations can be done quickly and easily (for a few people it may take a little practice). Practice on the train, sitting in a waiting room, or just when you need a quick burst of stress relief, relaxation and energy.
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