I’ll admit it: I am 100% obsessed with my i-phone. I feel completely empty without it. Even when I temporarily misplace the device, it feels like the end of the world is near. Having the gadget conveniently in my back pocket at all times provides an instantaneous accessibility to various social media apps such as snapchat, instagram, and facebook. Along with the ability to text message, call, and facetime others. However, I’ve began to ponder the possible negative consequences of partaking in this technology driven environment, especially for adolescents, who are naturally more prone to depression and anxiety as they mature into adulthood. I’m sure we’ve all seen movies or heard our grandparents rants about the “good ol’ days”, when teens communicated with one another solely in person. Technology in the 21st century has completely eliminated the face to face interaction people in the past were once subjected to, and a growing number of studies suggests there are negative consequences to it.

In this particular study, researchers asked 467 teens about their social media usage during the day and nighttime hours. The tests also sought to examine the participants sleep quality, self esteem, anxiety, and depression levels. A big question examined in the study was if the participants felt the need to be readily available 24/7. As I mentioned before, I constantly have my phone by my side, and even sleep right next to the device while it’s charging. This concept can be referred to as FoMo, or fear of missing out, especially when it comes to social media. It would be practically devastating to miss out on a social gathering with friends, or a “dinner date” with members of my sorority.

The study concluded that there’s most likely a causal relationship between the amount of time one spends on social media, and side effects such as decreased sleep, low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression in the participants. However, those who utilized social media prior to bedtime were at an increased risk. Cleland Woods, head of the study claims, “ The teenage years can be a time of increased vulnerability to depression and anxiety, and sleeping poorly may contribute to the risk of these conditions. Also, research is increasingly suggesting that there is a link between the use of social media and overall feelings of well-being, particularly in adolescents”.

Countless similar studies have linked social media usage in teens to traits of schizophrenia, depression, and overall poor mental health. Although the results of the study are clear, researchers and physicians are not advocating for an elimination in technology usage all together. Cleland Woods promotes a “digital sunset” approach for families, where the family as a whole turns off their devices a couple hours before bed and throughout the night. More information on Dr. Woods concept on technology can be found here.

Obviously, technology is an ever present component to our lives, and the positive aspects greatly outweigh the negative ones. Everything is good in moderation, and I for one will continue to scroll through my social media feed on a device that connects me to the world. However, I hope to decrease the amount of time I waste staring at my iphone screen!

I’m personally a huge advocate for diet soda. I find myself drinking the fizzy, great tasting beverage whenever it’s available. I’ll order diet coke when i’m out to eat, beg my parents to purchase it at the foodstore, and constantly waste my meal points on the beverage. I’ve always thought, why not? For zero calories, could I really be doing any harm?

For all you fellow diet soda drinkers out there, the findings from researchers studying the health effects of consuming the beverage are unfortunate. The study called for 22,000 U.S. adults to document what they ate and drank over two consecutive days. Over 90% of the participants claimed they consumed discretionary foods on both days. “Discretionary foods” are categorized as nutrient-poor foods such as fries and hot dogs, or foods that the body does not need for survival. On average, 482 calories consumed per day came from discretionary food intake.

Moreover, the researchers analyzed the fact that those who drank diet drinks consumed 49 more calories from discretionary foods, compared with those who stayed away from sugar-free beverages. Additionally, those who consumed regular sugary sodas and fruit drinks ate about 30 extra calories from nutrient-poor foods. Ruopen An, a professor of Kinesiology at the University of Illinois reported to lifescience that, “ The key finding is that on the days when people drank diet beverages, they consumed a higher proportion of discretionary foods compared to on the days they did not drink diet beverages”.

I personally find this trend in data surprising, how could drinking something with artificial sweetener as opposed  to a regular high-calorie drink have an adverse affect on one’s dietary selection? Most importantly, however, participants consumed the least of amount of discretionary foods on days when they stayed away from both diet and sugary drinks all together.

Among the obese people in the study, drinking diet beverages was linked with consuming even more additional calories than nonobese people from discretionary foods, the researchers found. The obese people consumed an average of 73 extra calories from discretionary foods on days they drank diet drinks, compared with the days they didn’t have these drinks. For comparison, on the days they consumed regular sugary beverages, obese people consumed 32 extra discretionary-food calories. The reasoning behind the data is still unclear for researchers. One proposed idea is that people who consume diet drinks do not feel satisfied, so they compensate by eating a greater amount of unhealthy foods, or maybe individuals feel less guilty to indulge in something sweet after consuming a 0-calorie beverage? The question still stands.

Most recently, a study published last week by the University of Illinois suggests a different logic behind the relationship between diet drinks and sugary foods. Maybe people indulge in unhealthy foods, then opt to drink a diet beverage because they feel guilty about eating the food in the first place. Whatever the direct reasoning may be, the evidence is clear. As consumers we should shy away from drinking both diet and regular soda, because they both have only negative effects on our health and decision making abilities.

I’m sure we’ve all personally experienced, or watched a close friend struggle through a difficult breakup. I automatically think back to my best friends High School break up that she still weeps over to this day. Movies and T.V shows usually have the female in the relationship struggle through the emotions of romantic breakup, while the male appears completely fine. However,  it seems as if the media’s portrayal of modern day relationships is accurate in today’s culture. So why is exactly that breakups hurt women more? A study performed by researchers at Binghamton College claim we blame genetics for this trend. For the Study, researchers asked 5,705 randomly selected individuals from 96 different countries to rate the physical and emotional pain they felt after their most recent breakup on a scale from 1 (no pain) to 10 (unbearable pain). Women ranked their emotional pain, such as feelings of sadness, depression and anxiety on average a 6.84, compared to 6.58 for men. Additionally, women reported their physical pain (such as insomnia, panic attacks, etc.) to be 4.21, compared to the males results of 3.75.

While it’s evident that women experienced greater physical and emotional pain after a breakup, studies suggest that the two sexes experience different types of breakup related emotions in the same proportions. For instance, both sexes reported strong feelings of anger and depression, and lesser amounts of fear and instability. Similarly, both men and women reported trouble sleeping and weight fluctuations in much greater quantities than panic attacks following a breakup.

The age old question still stands, why do women experience deeper emotions than men after a romantic break up? Researchers can conclude from this study, along with countless similar experiments that it’s because women naturally have more to lose than men. Craig Morris, a scientist at Binghamton University claims that: “Women are evolved to invest far more in a relationship than a man is, A brief romantic encounter could lead to nine months of pregnancy followed by many years of lactation for an ancestral woman, while the man may have ‘left the scene’ literally minutes after the encounter, with no further biological investment.”

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This claim is completely understandable, and definitely contributes to why women take breakups harder than men do. However, women may not get the complete short end of the stick in this situation. The study also showed that men are left with a different type of emotional scarring. Morris quotes: “The man will likely feel the loss deeply and for a very long period of time as it ‘sinks in’ that he must ‘start competing’ all over again to replace what he has lost — or, worse still, come to the realization that the loss is irreplaceable,” Morris said.  A greater explanation outlining the varying romantic feelings in males compared to females is highlighted here.

So there you have it, while women experience the loss of a lover more intensely overall, the emotions are  typically more intense but with a quicker rebound compared to males, whereas the initial feelings may be bearable,  the recovery process can be much longer.

We’ve all heard our parents, teachers, and coaches preach that getting to bed at an earlier hour makes for a more productive and early start to the following day. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”. However, contrary to popular belief, the idea of getting to bed at an early hour that our oldest instilled in our daily routine may not be beneficial, and could potentially have an adverse affect on our overall livelihood.

Multiple studies  performed by scientists at the University of Iowa focused on two types of people: “Larks” who rise early in the morning, and tend to go to sleep at a respectable evening hour, and “owls” who are most alert at night, and typically go to sleep long past midnight. Notably, these labels are more involved than they appear, they have to do with how alert the volunteers feel in the morning, when they normally get tired, and when they would ideally like to get up.
First, I researched a study performed by epidemiologists at Southampton University in England, the study analyzed a national sample of men and women who’d they surveyed years earlier on sleep patterns as well as measures related to, wellness, health, wisdom, and wealth. There were 356 self proclaimed  larks and 318 owls in the group. Contrary to Franklin’s decree, night owls had noticeably larger incomes overall than morning people. However, the two opposing groups scored the same on a cognitive test and showed no health differences. This study opposed Franklin’s argument that going to bed and waking up early was associated with any health, socioeconomic, or cognitive advantage.

A further study was published the following year by Psychologist Richard D. Roberts of the University of Sydney that looked more closely at the question of intelligence differences. They measured the chronotype of 420 test participants and gave them two intelligence tests. Together the tasks measured vocational knowledge, general math, reading, memory and processing speed. The results, although not overwhelming, came down slightly on the side of the night owls. There were significant differences on working memory and processing speed. The same results appeared in favor of the night owls even when the tests were taken in the morning. Richard Roberts quotes, “ The results indicate that, contrary to conventional folk tale, evening people are more likely to have higher intelligence scores”. Franklin’s thoughts on morning people being healthier hold true in this regard. Larks are less vulnerable than owls to substance abuse. A number of studies support these connections. Specifically, one analysis of 676 adults from a finnish twin cohort found that evening types were much more likely to be current or lifelong smokers. They were less likely to stop smoking, and were at higher risk for nicotine dependence compared to morning people. Another similar study of 537 individuals found that night owls consume more alcohol than larks. The results are understandable since these activities are often performed at night, however, it’s unclear to researchers as to why evening people are more likely  to partake in such activities  because they’re already out late, or whether the addictive behaviors keep them up longer in the first place.

From the studies analyzed above, Ben Franklin certainly wasn’t completely correct. There are benefits and downfalls to being both an “early bird” and “night owl”, so follow your instincts when it comes to when to go to sleep and wake up in the morning!

“I’ll have a Venti Pike Roast Coffee with sugar free hazelnut syrup!” My daily run to Starbucks before class every morning has become an unbreakable routine. I, along with the majority of overworked College students find themselves relying on the caffeinated beverage to push through an endless day of classes, study sessions, and homework. A Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or WAWA are conveniently found in practically every town in the US, and millions of Americans find themselves brewing an individual serving of coffee with their Keurig machines in the comfort of their homes. With this in mind, do Americans ACTUALLY run on Coffee, or is it simply a placebo effect; energizing people by simply having the hot beverage in hand. Illustrated  in the graph below, the percentage of adults ordering a specialized coffee every day is on the rise:

First I examined the question, do Humans perform their daily tasks more efficiently with the caffeine stimulate? Although very hard to properly examine,  I researched a study published in Neuropsychopharmacology where The Scientists deprived 379 people of coffee for 16 hours, then asked them to rate their levels of awareness. The scientists then gradually gave the participants caffeine. It took routine coffee drinkers 250 mg of caffeine before they reported alertness levels equal to non-coffee drinkers. The results show that the  caffeine only aids in mollifying the withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, in  non-coffee-drinkers, the caffeine they consumed didn’t improve alertness. Therefore, the caffeine only seemed to have an affect on routine “coffee-holics”. Additionally, there are some major loopholes within the study, because it relies on self reported results. (Hence, the “placebo effect” could be preset). In other words, the  withdrawal symptoms that coffee lovers experience when not consuming their desired amount of daily caffeine is a major factor to any caffeine related experiment. While alertness may improve after participants are given coffee, it’s most likely a recovery from caffeine withdrawal. Non-coffee drinkers alertness stayed the same while given caffeine because their bodies were not reliant on the caffeine stimulate in the first place. Overall, this individual study shows that caffeine only aids regular coffee drinkers who have become dependent on the stimulate.

A similar study, performed by a renowned neuroscientist who blogs as a “Neuroskeptic”, had researchers administer either decaf or regular coffee to self proclaimed coffee addicts, then had them do a difficult computer task. Those drinking regular coffee did significantly better on the task. Interestingly enough, when told that coffee typically helped with the task, the volunteers actually did worse after consuming decaf coffee, while performance improved after drinking regular coffee. The results may hint towards a placebo-effect where coffee-lovers convince themselves that caffeine is needed to perform efficiently, and therefore exert more effort when there’re given the stimulate. However, in this study everyone was an avid coffee drinker, so the reason caffeine improved could have again  been the removal of withdrawal symptoms, and not a real benefit of caffeine.

After examining both studies, I’ve come to the conclusion that while Americans may “Run on coffee” from habit, we could all survive without the caffeinated beverage just fine.

Hey Everyone! My names Anna Sassi and i’m from “just outside of Philly”… isn’t everyone? I’m a Freshman here at Penn State, and i’m currently enrolled in DUS but will probably end up studying elementary education, partly because I still act like a kid myself! Science was never my strong suit in High School, and to this day i’m still haunted by endless “webassign” questions for my Honors Physics class. However, I choose to take Science 200 to fulfill a general science requirement. Despite my preconception towards Science classes, this course seems very interesting and bearable! Outside of academics I really enjoy running, here’s a picture of favorite place to run at home 🙂