Posted on 06/04/2009 11:03:31 AM PDT by Schnucki
People with a sunny outlook absorb more visual information from the outside world, proving that a positive attitude really can improve performance.
Brain scans of volunteers shown a series of images found a good mood helped them see more while those who were down in the dumps suffered from tunnel vision.
It is the first direct evidence showing how our mood literally changes the way our visual system filters our experience.
Volunteers were shown a series of images designed to generate a good, bad or neutral mood while undergoing scans to examine how their brain responded.
Professor Adam Anderson, psychologist at the University of Toronto said good and bad moods literally change the way we see.
"Specifically our study shows that when in a positive mood our visual cortex takes in more information, while negative moods result in tunnel vision," he said.
But his co researcher Taylor Schmitz warned being bright and breezy is not always such a good idea when it comes to our sight, as it can be distracting.
He said: "The downside is that this can lead to distraction on critical tasks that require narrow focus, such as operating dangerous machinery or airport screening of passenger baggage."
In the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, participants were shown a face surrounded by 'place' images, such as a house.
To focus their attention on the central image, they were asked to identify the gender of the person. When in a bad mood, the subjects did not process the places in the surrounding background. But, when viewing the same images in a good mood, they actually took in more information – they saw the face in the centre as well as the surrounding pictures of houses.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Interesting article. Thanks for posting.
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By gosh, I put on my glasses this morning and they were right. More tax money for research. And more.... And more.... And more....
And a zen attitude promotes squinting.
OMG! I’m blind!(I didn’t even look at Helen Thomas)
I sometimes wish I lacked the morality to do stuff like this. Lobby the government for money and then get paid extra for the results.
There may be something to this.
When I used to hunt game where acute vision was a big help, deer hunting, antelope hunting, duck/goose hunting, wild turkey hunting, squirrel hunting and varmit shooting, if I felt positive about myself, my abilities with the gun, my peers and/or my guides, I usually was successful.
My older son has incredible vision and is an excellent shot with a rifle or shotgun, and usually is very successful when he hunts with a firearm.
A few of years ago he got back into archery. He is good but not excellent. He upgraded to a new bow system two summers ago, and with the exception of wild turkeys, which came in when he called them, he has yet to get a good shot on a deer, elk or a wild pig. It will be interesting to discuss this with him.
This probably applies to athletes like quarterbacks on the days they have the entire field in their vision and days when they can’t eyeball their tight end at 5 yards. Or when good running backs can see holes opening up and have a good day.
Maybe that will offset what I was always told would make me go blind if I kept doing it.
So this means Mr. McGoo is a cynical negative nabob and manically depressed?
Obama depresses me...By the time 2012 rolls around, I could be already blind.
Though I take Dennis Prager to heart in that, “Happiness is a moral obligation.”
Usually, just thinking that makes me happy.
Hang in there. God’s grace to You and Yours....
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