Makie 4s Case Made In

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Science Behind Personal Motivation and Drive

If you've ever seen the television show Gilmore Girls, you know that Rory Gilmore is a textbook overachiever: she sets her sights on Harvard at a young age (although she ultimately chooses Yale), and she finishes all of her weekend homework by Saturday so that she can devote Sundays to extra credit. Why are some people overachievers and/or go-getters willing to work hard to reap future rewards, while others are perfectly content to settle and slack off?According to a recent study, the degree of motivation people exhibit may be determined by levels of dopamine in the brain.Some neuroscience basics: dopamine is a neurotransmitter that has several different functions. It regulates movement and emotional responses, and it's also linked with the reward system of the brain. When dopamine is released in certain regions of the brain, people experience pleasure and satisfaction. These feelings of enjoyment motivate people to seek out and perform certain activities. Eating food releases dopamine, as does using technology.While dopamine's role in the brain's pleasure and reward system is well established, this new study shows that dopamine may play a role in people's motivation and work ethic as well. The study, which was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, set out to determine how hard people were willing to work for a monetary reward. It looked at 25 participants ranging in age from 18 to 29. The participants were able to choose between playing an easy button-pushing task in which they would earn $1 or a more difficult task where they could earn up to $4. Some people chose to work harder and perform the difficult task for the bigger reward, while others stuck to the easy task and reaped a smaller reward.Why did some opt for the more difficult task? The answer lies in the brain. Researchers imaged the brains of the participants and found that those who selected the harder task had high dopamine levels in two areas of the brain: the striatum and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, both of which are linked to reward and motivation. This was expected.What was not expected was the discovery that those who opted for the less difficult task had a higher release of dopamine in the anterior insula, a region of the brain involved with emotion, meaning that they were focused more intently on the cost of the exercise (incessant button pushing and consequent pinky finger pain) than the rewards.Both sets of participants had high dopamine levels-albeit in different brain areas. This finding shows that dopamine can have opposing effects in different brain regions; simply put, dopamine does different things in different parts of the brain.The implications of this study go far beyond explaining the factors behind individual motivation and drive: the opposing effects of dopamine complicate the issue of medications used to treat depression, ADHD, and schizophrenia. The prevailing assumption is that these drugs, which alter dopamine, impact brain regions in the same way, but as this study shows, dopamine does not have a standard, uniform effect.The results of the study may provide valuable information that can be used to improve the treatment of mental health disorders. It also may help establish an objective method for diagnosing problems such as depression, ADHD, or schizophrenia.Co-author David Zald, PhD remarked, "Right now our diagnoses for these disorders is often fuzzy and based on subjective self-report of symptoms. Imagine how valuable it would be if we had an objective test that could tell whether a patient was suffering from a deficit or abnormality in an underlying neural system. With objective measures we could treat the underlying conditions instead of the symptoms."

Renee Jain is the founder of GoStrengths.com, a website devoted to increasing the resilience and happiness of kids and adults. Learn more about ways to boost your family's well-being at http://www.

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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Travel the Beautiful Beaches of North Carolina

North Carolina may be most widely known for the tranquil shores o

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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Weightloss Strategy - 7 Simple Steps For Building Your Fitness Blueprint

Weightloss is not achieved in leaps, but in steps. Create your own blueprint for fitness success by implementing the following 7 simple steps.1. Have a PlanThe most successful people in business have a plan. Why is this any different when it comes to your exercise and nutrition strategy. You will be most successful if you write down your plan. Determine what will be your workout schedule. What will be the types of exercise you will do and for how many minutes. Will you be exercising at the gym, your home, or the park.When it comes to your nutrition, plan your meals on a calendar. This will be your meal planner. Next, create shopping lists for added structure. It's always best to have ready made snacks in the refrigerator - fruit, crunchy vegetables, and lean meat protein are some of my favorites.Make room in your plan for missteps. I'm emphasizing balance here. There will be times when an evening out sidetracks you from your goal. Just ensure you know to get back to your position of strength at the next meal.2. Create SystemsAnyone could run my friend Jennifer's household. Why? Because she has a system. She has created a system to operate the entertainment center by laminating all the steps for programming, and it is located next to the television remote. Another system she created is for her daughter's dinner/bath/bedtime routine. It, too, is laminated and posted in the kitchen. There is no guessing. These are good examples of tested systems. Her husband, mother or a babysitter could walk in and take over. This is very relevant to a successful weightloss strategy.If you have a systematic workout routine and your snacks and meals are thoughtfully planned and executed then the rate of your success is much higher than if you had simply created a plan and dashed off in the dark with hopes of following through. For example, you can put out your clothes the night before and set your alarm. When the alarm goes off you get on your clothes and go to your designated workout area to start with exercise number one.Regarding nutrition, you could have your weekly shopping list generated in a word document so you can find it easily and/or need to change it. The shopping list would contain the ingredients that will make the meals on your meal planner. Instead of leaving your grocery shopping until a time when you can fit it into your week, commit to doing it the same day each week. If you can designate that chore, do so!3. Get Out the DoorMost days my clients don't wake up with a smile saying, "Wow! I am so excited to go and exercise first thing this morning." But what I employ is the 5 minute rule. My clients have to get out the door and begin with 5 minutes of exercise. After 5 minutes they usually find that they can go 5 more and then soon the workout is completed. Try that tactic. You will feel great from all the endorphins that were lacking before started.4. Trash the JunkThere are many temptations facing us in our culture today. We have to be mindful that removing those temptations establishes a greater opportunity for more blessings to flow our way. The same goes for poor food choices. If there are bad choices in the pantry then we are tempted to grab for the chips or ice cream. Poor food choices include processed foods like chips, fries and sugary cereals. By cutting out junk choices there are more room for the nutritious foods.5. Enlist a FriendIt's important to have a non-judgmental friend to be the cheerleader in your corner - a person who can hold your feet to the fire. It could be a workout buddy or just someone you call and confide in regarding your regular progress. I can't underscore the power of a buddy enough.6. Create a Measuring ToolI like to use body fat measurement. However, a scale can just as easily be used to measure progress.7. Write It DownJournaling is proven to be one of the top tools to keep people connected to their exercise and nutrition plan. Each day there should be an entry for the type and duration of exercise. Just as important, you should log food intake. It is amazing what you eat if you actually log it. By glancing over the journal at a time when you are unmotivated or feel like the wheels are coming off you will find renewed strength from your past success so that you can continue to move forward.Bonus Tip: Create a Reward SystemEstablishing rewards to mark milestones in fat loss is powerful. The key is to make the reward significant enough to matter. I strongly discourage food items as a reward. Instead, think of a movie that you're looking forward to viewing. Or, a night out with your girlfriends. Buy the movie coupons ahead of time and post them on your bathroom mirror as a reminder.

And, if you want a real jumpstart on your plan. I'm giving you the opportunity to apply for a complimentary fitness strategy call http://www.YourWinningFitnessStrategy.com with me. It's important to let me know your exact fi

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Monday, December 2, 2013

A Kodak Digital Camera Under 100 Dollars

The search for a 14.0 megapixel resolution point and shoot, digital camera under 100 dollars ends with Kodak EasyShare C195. The camera offers style and elegance in four stunning colors: red, blue, purple and silver. The camera has a Share button for tagging images and then quickly uploading them on social media websites like the Facebook, Flickr and Youtube etc. The camera helps you tag your friends and family and once they have been tagged it can recognize up to 20 pre-tagged faces in the shots.For accurate zooming and clarity the camera has been fitted with a 5x Optical and 5x digital lens, a total of 25x zoom. The camera uses its Blur reduction feature to minimize camera shaking or subject movement without damaging the rest of the shot. It also has a Smart Capture feature to automatically adjust camera settings according to the surroundings. The Kodak Color Science coupled with a 3 inch, big and bright LCD helps you view shots in vibrant colors.It helps you take amazing HD photos in 16:9 format that can be cropped, un-delete and even rotated to an angle with the help of its built-in Kodak Perfect Touch Technology. Once the shots have been captured, you can edit them and later view on a high definition television or some other high definition compatible device.It even captures your life's precious moments in continuous VGA (640 x 480) at 30 fps video with lots of built-in features to help you edit the videos you have taken. Its digital zoom gives you the option to zoom anytime as you record videos. The videos can be recorded up to the capacity of the 4 GB memory or it can be increased with the help of supported memory.Features:� Weighs 0.39 lb (177 g) with batteries and SD card� 3.8 x 2.4 x 1.2 inches in dimensions� No view finder� Self-timer� Burst shooting mode� Blur Reduction� Face recognition and face detection� 4 Shooting modes� 21 Scene Modes� White balance options� 5 Color Modes� Share Button� 3.9" TTL (through-the-lens) auto focus� 14. Megapixels resolution� High-resolution images up to 4288 x 3216 pixels� 5x Optical, 5x digital total 25x zoom� 33 - 165 mm (35 mm equiv.)� 3" LCD� ISO sensitivity: auto 64 - 400, manual 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000� Built-in mechanical lens cover� Video mode (640 x 480 at 30 fps)� Direct Printing� 32MB internal memory� Kodak Perfect Touch technology� Flash options� Accepts SD and SDHC memory cards� Powered by "AA" batteries� Built-in flash� Kodak's Easy Share software� Kodak Perfect Touch TechnologyKodak Easyshare software, as the name suggests has made capturing shots and videos, editing and then sharing them on social websites, very simple and easy. You don't even have to connect the computer for printing as the built-in direct printing feature enables the user to collect prints by connecting the camera to a printing device directly.The camera costs around $49.99.Kodak's Easyshare C195 is the best you can get for a digital camera under 100 dollars.

William L Odom is a passionate photographer who enjoys both writing and photography. He writes articles on anything from a review of a digital camera under 100 dollars, to finding out the best digital camera under 200 dollars.William also looks at digital cameras best buys outside this price range, and reports on those too.William writes reviews for online photo press. He highlights the camera's features and gives his honest opinion of them, enabling the user to make a better qualified decision on their digital

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