1 . Me and My Brain

We all know that meaningful changes happen in our bodies during adolescence (青春期), but have you ever stopped to wonder what’s actually going on inside our brains during this time?

To paint a clear picture, we should first know about ourselves with the different parts of the brain. Did you know, for example, that our brains are made up of around 100 billion nerve cells (神经细胞) called neurons (神经元)? And coming from these neurons are several branch-like structures for sending and receiving electrical signals? Every time we do or think anything, a signal is sent. The signal travels down a long structure called the axon (轴突) and, at the end, it passes across small gaps called synapses (神经元的突触) to the dendrites (树突) of another neuron, which receive the signal. In this way, messages are sent across our neural network.

Our brain structure changes greatly as we grow up. Newborn babies have almost all their neurons but few connections between them, which is why they can’t do very much. After a few months however, the number of connections increases quickly, which in turn helps small kids master new skills such as walking and talking. Most brain development is completed in the first few years, but we now know that our brains continue to develop throughout our lives and perhaps the most surprising time of change and development is during adolescence.

During this period of reorganization, the brain notices a sudden increase in neurons not dissimilar to a plant growing uncontrollably in spring. Just as we cut back a plant to make it stronger and healthier, we cut back our brains. The connections that are used become stronger, whereas those which aren’t used dry and die. So, the more often an action or thought is activated, the stronger the connections become between the neurons, which in turn makes the part of the brain being used stronger. This explains why the more you do something, the better you become at it, reinforcing the old saying “practice makes perfect”. In fact, the teenage brain provides conditions for perfecting skills such as playing a musical instrument, speaking another language, or learning a difficult computer game. It could be argued that teenagers decide the development of their own grey matter through the activities they take part in and their experiences.

It may also be unsurprising to many to learn that the last part of the adolescent brain to develop is the frontal cortex (额皮质), responsible for self-control, problem solving and decision making. So, long before teens are good at abstract thinking (抽象思维) and logical decision making, they depend on the emotional center of the brain to make choices and think. So perhaps unpredictable, uncertain, risk taking teenage behaviors, often put down to hormones (荷尔蒙), may actually have more to do with what’s going on inside our brain.

2 . Can you see the glass as half full, rather than half empty? Are you always looking on the bright side of life? If so, you might be an optimist.

An optimist is someone who is hopeful about the future and tends to expect that good things will happen. A number of studies have shown that optimists enjoy higher levels of happiness, better sleep, lower stress and even better cardiovascular (心血管的) health and immune (免疫的) function. And now, a study connects being an optimist with a longer life.

Researchers followed the lifespan (寿命) of some 160, 000 women aged 50 to 79 for 26 years. They were divided into two groups by completing a self-report measure of optimism. Women with the highest scores were considered optimists. Those with the lowest scores were considered pessimists. Then, the researchers followed up with the study. They found that those who had the highest levels of optimism were more likely to live longer. So why is it that optimists live longer?

One possible reason is that it could be related with their healthier lifestyles. For example, research from several studies has found that optimism is related with eating a healthy diet, staying physically active and being less likely to smoke cigarettes. These healthy behaviors are well known to improve heart health and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease. Accepting a healthy lifestyle is also important for reducing the risk of other potentially deadly diseases, such as cancer.

Another possible reason could be the way optimists manage stress. When faced with a stressful situation, optimists will reduce stress levels and boost the power to take steps. They use methods to solve the source of the stress, or look at the situation in a less stressful way. For example, optimists will plan ways to deal with the matter, call on others for support or try to find hope in the stressful situation.

In short, the ways optimists deal with stress might help protect them somewhat against its harmful effects. Be the person who looks at the glass half full. Appreciate the little things in your life and face your problems with a smile and a take-charge attitude. Optimism is the best tool when it comes to changing your outlook on life.

4 . Willpower helps us to keep studying and working hard. It allows us to say no to the extra sweet after a meal. We may not achieve our goals if we fail to control ourselves, so scientists have been studying willpower for many years.

One of the main theories (理论) of willpower is the energy model of self-control. According to it, the brain can provide limited power, which can be used up. Nobody is disciplined all the time. When an act of self-control weakens our will, we’ll feel tired because of the decrease of blood sugar as we face another challenge.

This model has great influence, but Northwestern University’s Daniel Molden doesn’t agree with it. His team has been using a new experiment to test the role of carbohydrate metabolism (碳水化合物代谢) in self-control.

Daniel’s team questioned the finding that self-control lowers blood sugar levels. Volunteers ate nothing and had their baseline blood sugar level tested. Some completed high self-control tasks, while others did low disciplined tasks. Later, all volunteers had blood sugar tests and did another self-control challenge.

The results were interesting. Volunteers who completed the challenging task showed less willpower in the following task. This agrees with the energy model. However, their blood sugar did not fall. It showed that willpower didn’t increase carbohydrate metabolism.

The energy model suggests that using up sugar can bring back self-control. Daniel’s team tested this idea by having volunteers rinse (清洗) their mouths with water mixed with sugar, spitting (吐出) it out like mouthwash. Others rinsed with the artificial sweetened water that was similar to a sugary drink but provided no energy. Later, all volunteers participated in a second task requiring self-control.

The results disagreed with the energy model once again. Those who rinsed with the artificial sweetened water showed lower willpower. However, rinsing with the sugary water seemed to bring back volunteers’ lost willpower, more than the artificially sweetened water. This study showed that only the sugary rinse could bring back self-control.

Scientists believe that inspiration is the reason why self-control is back. They believe the mouth “senses” the carbohydrates in the mouthwash, which may tell that a reward (奖励) is coming. Sensing that an energy increase is coming, the brain is active to put in extra effort. In short, the sugar inspires—rather than offers energy for—willpower.

If inspiration can be refilled with something as simple as a mouthwash, this opens different possibilities for new researches in the future.

6 . What is your understanding of self-control? How do you think it works? Do you think your self-control ability is limited or unlimited? Do you believe that after a long day you run out of energy, and you need to rest to get it refueled (补充燃料)? If this is the case, then you have a limited theory (理论) of self-control.

Do you think that challenging activities don’t easily lose your energy? In that case you have a non-limited theory.

In an experiment, researchers divided students into two groups based on their self-control theory and followed them during a term. Outside the exam period, there were no differences between the two groups. However, when requirements were high, students with a limited theory procrastinated (拖延) more, achieved a lower GPA (grade-point average) and ate more unhealthy food.

Theories about self-control become a self-fulfilling prediction. If you think that self-control is limited, then you will give in to temptations (诱惑) more easily and find it harder to realize your goals. On the other hand, if you have a non-limited theory, you will be more successful with your goals.

Interestingly, both ‘non-limited’ and ‘limited’ theorists feel just as tired immediately after exercising self-control. However, ‘non-limited’ theorists don’t take their feelings as a sign that they have depleted a limited resource and need to rest. In fact, they believe that a day full of challenging tasks ‘activates’ their self-control skills, which leaves them refreshed and more willing to make effort the next day.

It seems that there’s a clear benefit to having the ‘right’ beliefs about self-control. How can you change your self-control theory?

If you’re willing towards a ‘limited’ theory, we suggest that you try to persuade yourself or a friend that if they use effortless strategies, then self-control is not easily run out. Researchers have managed to experimentally control students’ self-control theories.

There’s another, probably more powerful way to change your self-control theory. In a series of experiments, researchers asked participants to do an easy (e.g. keeping a diary) or a difficult (e.g. not eating sweets) task for 2 weeks. Before and after this period, they measured their self-control theories and self-control strength. Interestingly, the participants who did the more effortful task changed their beliefs toward the ‘limited’ theory by the end of the experiment. As a result, they made less effort in the final self-control task.

This study shows that when we experience a lot of effort, it may act as a signal telling us that our self-control ability is limited. This in turn makes it more difficult for us to exercise self-control in the future. Therefore, if you use the more effortless strategies, you can automatically shape your self-control theory to be more non-limited, naturally improving your self-control.

7 . People use laughter to communicate with others. It’s how we tell friends that we find their jokes funny, or how kids in a park show that they are having fun. Humans laugh to express many kinds of feelings, from happy to sad, from like to hate and so on. But how about animals? Do they also laugh? If they do laugh, is there a connection between animals’ laughing and playing?

A study shows that not only humans but also some animals enjoy good laughter. Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA, suggested that a number of animals can laugh. Through their research, they found that 65 kinds or groups of animals laugh while playing. The animals that laugh the most include monkeys, rats and dolphins.

Animal sound sometimes is like a short laughter, but scientists said that not all of these are connected to playing. After all, animals sometimes make sound as if they are laughing but in fact, they are in danger, or perhaps they are using it to fight with animals that may eat them.

Sasha Winkler, a scientist studying animal behavior, noticed that the small monkeys she worked with liked to play together by catching each other. While having fun together, they made panting sounds, almost like they were out of breath, which reminded Winkler of quiet laughter. In that sense, researchers pointed out very interesting ideas of laughter and panting. They believe that laughter comes from heavy breathing during play.

Study suggests that many animals laugh so that their playing partner knows they are having fun. This is important because animal play can sometimes look like fighting. Laughter becomes a way for animals to stop harmful act when communicating with others. Some animals also make a “play face” like a smile to show that they are happy and not angry.

One big difference between human laughter and animal laughter is that humans laugh much more loudly. Most sounds animals make during play are very quiet so they can only be heard by the animal they are playing with. But for humans, loud laughter is a sign that we’re part of a group. “It’s really amazing that so many animals have a similar function of sound during play,” said Winkler. “These special parts of animal laughter will also be an important area for future study.”

8 . Participation trophies (参与奖) appeared in children’s sports competitions about a century ago. They have been used to encourage and reward children for participating in funny and healthy activities. The trophies recognize students’ attendance (到场) and effort rather than their ability and the competition results.

Since the 1990s, though, there has been an increasingly strong voice that participation trophies are making the kids “soft”. They ruin kids’ competitive spirit and make children too lazy to work hard to get things they want. The thinking often goes, “Every kid will think they are winners, so they will always feel that they are born to win, even if they don’t deserve (值得) to win.”

However, this idea is worthy of much more thinking. Does anyone really think that kids are fooled into thinking their participation trophy is a gold medal? Kids are always smarter than that and always more aware of their social surroundings. They know that a participation trophy just says it was good for them to be here having fun. It doesn’t say everyone wins the first place.

Kids are learning about their abilities and strengths every day. The idea that participation trophies keep kids from experiencing the “real world” is, in my view, one-sided. Participation trophies recognize that kids’ skill sets are wildly different and that we put kids in organized sports at young ages when their skills are still very much in development. Participation trophies celebrate every kid for being a part of the team or the activity, instead of their skill levels.

And different from the idea that participation trophies keep kids from trying hard things, my opinion is the exact opposite. They send a message that there’s great value in trying something that you don’t love or that you may not succeed in. Encouraging kids to try and fail at things is the key to building their confidence by teaching them that failing is necessary for growth and learning. These trophies are a drop in the bucket (桶) for now, but their effects may be seen after the kids step into the grown-up world. As kids get older, their strengths and interests develop more clearly. At that time, they will join in more competitive activities in their professional fields, and they will know the world of, winning and losing.

Participation trophies are protective of children’s mental health, by giving them soft places to land in the rocky journey of childhood. Kids need kindness from the adults in their lives. They need to know that they have inherent (与生俱来的) value and worth no matter what they achieve or produce. This view keeps children’s physical and mental well-being front and center right from the start, which couldn’t be more important if we are to raise mentally healthy children.

10 .

On Christmas Eve, a team of reindeer (驯鹿) will help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children all around the world. The reindeer, led by their fearless leader Rudolph, won’t be the only ones doing something special. Back in the highest Arctic, their cousins have an extraordinary ability—changing their eye color.

During the summer months, when the days are long and the sun is bright, reindeer’s tapetum lucidum (荧光膜), a mirror-like layer at the back of their eye, appears golden, which helps bounce most of light off the eyes, effectively acting like a pair of natural sunglasses. As winter comes, and the days become shorter and darker, the tapetum lucidum turns blue to absorb more light, allowing reindeer to improve their night vision and see clearly in low light conditions.

With these adaptations, reindeer can get used and live in one of the most terrible environments on Earth. Unlike humans, reindeer can see well into the shorter Ultra Violet (UV紫外线) range. This UV vision enables them to locate food and enemies more effectively in the snow. Lichens (地衣), a key part of their winter diet, absorb UV, so they show up dark against UV-reflecting white snow. Wolf and polar bear fur also absorb UV, so instead of disappearing against snow, they pop out in high contrast, allowing reindeer to see possible threats from a distance.

Reindeer change their eyes by adjusting their tapetum lucidum, which is made of collagen fibers (胶原纤维). In winter, the collagen fibers become packed tighter. This change happens when reindeer widen their pupils (瞳孔). In summer, the reindeer’s pupils return to a smaller size, which helps reindeer reduce the amount of light entering the eyes.

Today, the increasing use of artificial lighting, especially during the winter months, is harmful to their sensitive eyes. It can make reindeer lose their way. So it is important for us to be careful of our use of electricity and make efforts to reduce light pollution to ensure the well-being and survival of these wonderful creatures.