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Emotional Contagion and Social Networks
By Roberta Attanasio More than two decades ago, Gerald Schoenewolf described emotional contagion as a process in which a person or group influences the behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotional states and behavioral attitudes. However, “The science of emotional contagion goes back to 400 B.C., when Hippocrates, the founder of medicine, observed that some women seemed to transfer “hysteria” to one another. By the 1700s, researchers began to discover that people mirror the smiles and frowns they see on someone else’s face. In the late 1800s, German psychologist Theodor Lipps took the idea a step further, suggesting that this unconscious imitation was the root…
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From Old to Young: Rejuvenating Effects of Fasting on the Immune System
By Roberta Attanasio The beneficial effects of prolonged fasting — fasting that lasts 48–120 hours — have been known for several years. One of these effects is the enhancement of the cellular resistance to toxins in both experimental animals and humans. Now, results from a new study (Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression) published in the journal Cell Stem Cell (June 5, 2014), show that cycles of prolonged fasting protect against damage to the immune system and induce its regeneration, shifting hematopoietic stem cells from an inactive state to a state of self-renewal. Stem cells are cells that have the ability to divide and develop into many different…
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School Aged Children and Bullying: Influence on the Adulthood Inflammatory Response
By Roberta Attanasio Bullying can happen anywhere and to anyone. According to stopbullying.com, a federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.” Children can play many roles in bullying — they can bully others, they can be bullied, or they may actively or passively assist the bullying behavior or defend against it. Kids who bully and kids who are…