The Psychology Behind Haunted Houses And Why We’re Drawn To Them

Posted on 14/11/2024 by Boris Clair

Is there anything more enticing than a haunted house?

Yes, we should all know better after many, many horror films have been set in them, but there’s just something so alluring about sharing a house with spirits that have long-since left the mortal realm.

If you’re with me here and you enjoy this mythology, you may be disappointed by what I’m about to reveal.

You see, the thing is, most of the features of “haunted” houses can unfortunately be explained away by science.

The science behind haunted houses

Writing for BBC Science Focus, Dr Alistair Gun, a radio astronomer reveals: “The vast majority of paranormal investigations have been of the pseudoscientific variety – based on incorrect, incomplete or misrepresented science, or invalid due to bias, manipulation, assumption or omission.”

He goes on to explain: “It’s an unscientific leap of faith to believe in alien visitation based solely on unexplained sightings.

“The same is true for the belief in ghosts; there’s no scientific rationale for it. Science does offer some potential explanations for hauntings. Most are environmental or psychological in nature.”

Unfortunately, our whimsy can’t outweigh science.

In fact, the explanation is likely something very normal, according to Gun. Sleep paralysis, sleep deprivation and stress can all play into experiencing hallucinations and visual disturbances.

Additionally, “haunted” houses are more likely to have mould and some variations of mould can lead to hallucinations.

So, if you think your home is haunted, you may want to check for it.

Why do we enjoy being scared?

Why is this disappointing news, though? Why are we so drawn to being scared in a controlled setting like a haunted house or even just watching a scary film? Are we okay?

The British Psychological Society says: “There is a neuropsychological reason – we get an adrenalin rush when something spooks us or something scary happens which releases endorphins and dopamine, so put simply, there is a chemical process that creates a similar sense of euphoria.

“Some say that having a ‘scary ghost experience’ is like being on a rollercoaster, we are hijacking the natural flight response and enjoying it.”

Makes perfect sense.

This Is How Long One Bad Night’s Sleep Actually Impacts You For – And I’m Horrified

Posted on 09/10/2024 by Boris Clair

If you’ve had a rough night’s sleep recently, you may think to yourself ‘well, I’ll simply catch up on those missed hours of rest at the weekend’.

Unfortunately new research has revealed that actually this is a complete myth and that one night of restlessness can affect your attention, memory and cognition for – wait for it – a whole week.

The long-term study focused on one person’s brain and behaviour for five months using scans

As part of a unusual, long-term study, scientists tracked one person’s brain and behaviour for 19 whole weeks. The participant, first author of the study, Ana María Triana of Aalto University, Finland wore devices throughout the timeframe to track her activities and physiological markers and had routine scans to see how well her memory and cognition were working.

The results?

From the data gathered and published it would appear that our brains’ responses have two clear patterns – a response that could last around a week or a longer term wave of up to 15 days of gradual effects.

Things like focus after a bad night’s sleep fell under the shorter term response, while factors such as memory and attention were impacted for longer.

“We find traces of past behaviour and physiology in brain connectivity that extend up as far as 15 days,” the authors of the study, published in the journal Plos Biology, reported.

“Every day, we wake up as a slightly different person, as our mental states are influenced by many external factors,” they added.

“The quality of sleep, the level of physical activity, and the nature of our social interactions all affect the state of our brains at different timescales.

“Our findings suggest that behavioural, physiological and lifestyle factors correlate with brain connectivity across different timescales, in both the short term – less than seven days – and longer term, up to two weeks.”

The good news however is that physical activity was also found to positively affect brain region interaction and even slight changes in both mood and heart rate left lasting impressions for up to 15 whole days.

And with that, we’re off to bed.

This Is The Worst Thing To Do If You Wake Up At 3AM And Can’t Get Back To Sleep

Posted on 23/09/2024 by Boris Clair

Here’s what happened to me last night: I went to bed at 10pm, for a 6:30am wake-up and finally got to sleep at midnight.

Then, I woke up again at 1am and panicked until 3am about the next morning.

If you’re interested, I didn’t end up making that early work-out. But if I’d considered leaving my bed rather than simply stressing about the next day, some experts think I might have stood a chance.

Speaking to healthcare provider John’s Hopkins, sleep expert Dr Luis F. Buenaver said that staying in bed when you can’t sleep isn’t just likely to keep you up longer ― it can ruin your kips in the future too.

How does staying in bed affect your sleep?

It “will lead your brain and body to associate your bed with wakefulness instead of with sleep”, Dr Buenaver said.

That can have a longer-term effect on your ability to nod off once your head hits the pillow, so he says you should get up after around 20 minutes of sleeplessness.

“Sit in a comfortable chair in another room,” he advised. “Read a book, with just enough lights on so that you can see the print comfortably.”

Don’t do any work or pay any bills in that time, and if you start stressing about those or other issues, try distracting yourself with music or audiobooks.

You should only go back to bed when you’re feeling drowsy.

“It can be difficult leaving a warm, comfortable bed after waking up in the middle of the night,” the sleep expert said.

“But think of this step as an investment in better sleep — if not tonight then tomorrow night and in the future.”

Any other advice?

I’m definitely guilty of scrolling mindlessly through TikTok after my 3am jolts awake, but sleep expert Dr Jeff Rogers told Bustle that’s the worst thing I can possibly do.

“The blue light from your phone mimics daylight and suppresses the production of melatonin, the hormone which regulates your sleep-wake cycle,” he shared with the publication.

And while you might want to try switching rooms after 20 minutes, Wendy Troxel, a senior behavioural scientist at Rand Corps, told CNN that clock-watching is generally a bad idea.

“Clock watching becomes habitual, and that habitual response of frustration and anxiety also causes a stress response in the body,” she said.

“You look at the clock… and immediately might grit your teeth. You think of all the demands… how awful it is going to be when you’re sleep-deprived,” she added.

If that sounds like you, Dr Buenaver says it’s fine to guess when your 20 minutes have passed.

I Just Learned The Worst Place To Store Garlic, And I’ve Always Kept Mine There

Posted on 19/09/2024 by Boris Clair

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how the spot beside your hob is the worst area to store your olive oil (tough news to hear, considering it’s one of the most common places to put it).

And now it seems food science is coming for my garlic storage too.

The bulbs fare best in mesh bags at temperatures around 15.5-18°C, Cornell University says.

I know I should keep the allium out, but my kitchen is so tiny that I just end up bunging it in the fridge.

That’s a mistake, Cornell University says: “Storing fresh garlic in the fridge is generally not a good idea.”

What’s wrong with putting garlic in the fridge?

Gardeners may already know that cool temps can cause garlic to sprout.

Sur La Table chef Richard Temples shared on Martha Stewart’s site: “The cold temperature in the fridge mimics autumn to garlic, and causes it to sprout within a couple [of] weeks.”

“Sprouts are edible but can have a bitter flavour”, the chef added.

And if you’ve made garlic oil or garlic confit, storing it in the fridge can be outright dangerous, Cornell University warns.

“This is because garlic bulbs are low-acidity, making them prone to Clostridium botulinum, better known as the culprit behind botulism”, they write.

Store-bought garlic oil usually has a preservative like citric acid in it, and/or is kept at lower temperatures than your fridge could ever manage, Cornell University says.

So where should I store garlic?

It doesn’t need to be anything too fancy, Temples said.

A wire basket, a paper bag, a mesh container, and anything that lets your garlic “breathe” is good.

“You always want to keep your garlic cool and dry—cool, but not cold, and with some airflow” he shared.

Countertops and cupboards can be good options, though countertops may be better as they offer more airflow.

Just make sure you keep it away from sunlight, Stephen Chavez, chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, said on Martha Stewart’s site.

“Like any other plant/bulb, it will sprout much quicker with the sunlight.”

I Just Learned What The White Bits On Used Pimple Patches Really Are, And No, It’s Not Pus

Posted on 31/08/2024 by Boris Clair

My first experience with a hydrocolloid patch ― the generic name for the various pimple patches people apply to their faces ― actually had nothing to do with a spot.

That’s because the same technology, and a lot of the same ingredients, are used on those blister patches you place on your ailing heel (fellow Docs lovers will know the pain).

But if I’m being totally honest, I had no idea why they shrunk my spots or healed my post-run bubble ― until I saw a TikTok from board-certified dermatologist Dr. Witney Bowe.

And yes, she did clarify what that white gunk is.

How do they work?

Speaking to the American Chemical Society (ACS), Hadley King, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist, said that the patches work by drawing moisture out of your skin.

That way, they shrink the spot while covering it so it has room to heal. The barrier means you can’t touch your spots, either.

“As the hydrocolloid gel adheres to the skin, it absorbs excess oil and dirt away from pimples,” Dr. King told ACS.

So it makes sense that, as Dr. Bowe explained in her Tiktok, the white spots you see after wearing patches overnight are not pus.

“They’re actually the hydrocolloid material absorbing fluid, extra moisture, extra water, which thickens the hydrocolloid material and just makes it look a little bit whiter in those spots,” the doctor said.

Should I use pimple patches for serious acne?

It’s not that you can’t use them in addition to an existing routine ― but they’re better for one-off “spot treatments,” Dr. Bowe shared.

That’s because, aside from being a bit wasteful if you’re using them on the daily, they don’t tackle the real root of the issue ― they just help to speed up the recovery of a certain type of existing zits.

ACS writes that patches are best for spots that are raised and have visible pus (basically, those you’d be tempted to squeeze otherwise).

Longer-term treatments may include salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, niacinamide, tea tree oil, or, in more serious cases, retinoids.

If you’re just looking to cover the odd spot, though, at least you can be rest assured your patch won’t be stuffed with its unspeakable contents…

6 Psychological Factors Have Been Linked To Dementia Risk, And 2 Are More Important Than The Rest

Posted on 14/08/2024 by Boris Clair

We’ve already shared at HuffPost UK how everything from reading fiction to walking may help to decrease your risk of developing dementia.

In fact, for a small group of genetically predisposed older people, something as simple as fish oil tablets may offer some protective benefits.

And now, a study has been released that suggests those with poor “psychological well-being” may have a higher chance of developing dementia.

This comes from a paper published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry which tracked over 900 participants over 14 years.

They tracked who got mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, and who didn’t.

What did they mean by “psychological well-being”?

The team measured “self-acceptance, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, positive relation with others, and personal growth,” the researchers said.

Every year, they measured participants’ scores in those six areas using Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being.

They found that “Psychological well-being (specifically purpose in life and personal growth) became significantly lower before MCI diagnosis,” the study said.

Researchers found that the dip in psychological well-being usually happened six years before the diagnosis.

The 73 participants who developed dementia were more likely to have lower psychological well-being than those who didn’t.

The mean age of participants was 79.9 years old, and “most participants are white and female, which may limit the generalisability of our findings to other populations,” the scientists said.

So, will I definitely get dementia if my psychological well-being is low?

Absolutely not.

“Future studies with larger and more diverse samples are warranted to verify our findings,” the paper said ― even then, it only studied older, mostly white, mostly female people.

They did not find that every person with decreased psychological wellbeing got MCI or dementia, nor did they find that every person with good psychological wellbeing was dementia or MCI-free.

“Compared with participants who were dementia-free, those who developed dementia were more likely to be older, female, APOE ε4 carriers, and to have a lower level of psychological well-being (p0.05 for all),” the paper said.

Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation for Alzheimer’s Society, told The Guardian that it’s very likely taking care of your mental health and social life is a prevention factor.

But he added, “At this stage, it is not clear whether we can use these wellbeing factors as a predictor of MCI and we need research to demonstrate if tackling these factors might change the trajectory of a decline in memory and thinking skills.”

Speak to your GP ASAP if you suspect you or a loved one have dementia.

To Pre-Rinse Or Not To Pre-Rinse? The Age-Old Dishwasher Argument Has Finally Been Settled

Posted on 06/11/2023 by Boris Clair

I don’t know about your household, but mine faces the same debate on repeat: should you rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, or not?

I’d always thought both sides made a valid point ― until I heard from Ian Palmer-Smith, appliance expert at Domestic & General, about the topic.

“One of the biggest dishwasher myths is that you need to rinse items before loading them,” he shared via email.

Here’s his reasons against pre-rinsing, as well as some other dishwasher tips from the pros.

Why shouldn’t you rinse your dishes before placing them in the dishwasher?

Palmer-Smith says that, in short, the practice is just a bit useless: “Pre-rinsing plates is a bit like hand washing your car before taking it to the car wash.”

Then, there’s the added boiler costs of using extra hot water (which, though likely not a huge percentage of your bill, are best avoided if not needed).

“In reality, [rinsing before dishwasher use] uses extra unnecessary hot water and typically won’t improve the results. Modern dishwashers use high temperatures designed to break down stubborn stains with little trouble,” he says.

Of course, that’s not to say you should just lob a loaded plate into your appliance, he adds. Scraping is the way forward, Palmer-Smith says, as too much gunk can clog your machine.

He concedes, however: “If you have a pan with some burnt-on food residue it can be a good idea to give it a soak beforehand.”

Still, it’s bad news for the rinsing regiment.

Dishwashers are more energy-efficient than you might think

In case you think I’m escaping the Dish Debate scot-free, you’re wrong; I’m usually a proponent of hand washing, because I always thought dishwashers used way too much energy.

But according to Palmer-Smith, I’m in the wrong.

“Even without pre-rinsing, dishwashers generally use less hot water than hand washing,” he says (that is, of course, if you have a dishwasher already).

“On average, a dishwasher uses water four times more efficiently than washing by hand so if you are running a load when the appliance is full, this can actually ease your energy bills more than most think,” the appliance pro adds ― and it turns out that science agrees.

Well, that’s a load of stress (literally) off my hands…

So THIS Is What Video Calls Are Doing To Our Brains

Posted on 30/10/2023 by Boris Clair

If you’ve ever been on a work video call (and after COVID, it’s safe to say lots of us have), then you’ll probably know the particular stressors the medium can bring.

There’s the person who’s accidentally muted themselves. There are the patchy internet connections. There’s the awkward, crossed-mic silences when the person leading the call asks a group questions (martyrs, IMO).

And now, a paper published in Imaging Neuroscience has found that video calling people affects more than just social cues; it suggests that the contact method can have a pretty noticeable effect on how our brains process the interaction.

“Separable Processes for Live ‘In-Person’ and Live ‘Zoom-like” Faces’,” a study led by Yale professor Joy Hirsch, found that “the social systems of the human brain are more active during real live in-person encounters than on Zoom.“

People who we see on video calls “do not have the same ‘privileged access’ to social neural circuitry in the brain that is typical of the real thing,” Hirsch said.

The researchers used brain imaging tools to look at the neural activity of pairs speaking via video call and those speaking in person.

The scientists observed high levels of neural activity during face-to-face interactions, along with long gaze times, increased pupil diameters, and what appeared to be enhanced face-processing abilities.

Those who were looking at an image on a screen had a “suppressed” social response compared to those who were talking face-to-face, the paper revealed.

“Overall, the dynamic and natural social interactions that occur spontaneously during in-person interactions appear to be less apparent or absent during Zoom encounters,” said Professor Hirsch. “This is a really robust effect.”

The Yale study highlighted the unique impact face-to-face interactions can have on our brains.

“Online representations of, faces, at least with current technology, do not have the same ‘privileged access’ to social neural circuitry in the brain that is typical of the real thing,” said Professor Hirsch.

So, if you’ve ever felt like a video meeting was genuinely mind-numbing, you might be onto something…

Turn Out Most Animals Are Pretty Frickin’ Gay, Research Finds

Posted on 09/10/2023 by Boris Clair

We’ve recently written about how many members of Gen Z are LGBT+ (spoiler alert; it’s a lot). And a recent study recently showed that same-sex attraction is far from limited to humans; lots (like, up to 80% in some cases) of animals are sexually fluid, too.

The project examined all the existing research on same-sex activity among animals. It was led by scientists at Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas in Spain ― they created a database of all the studies’ conclusions.

So, what did they find?

They discovered that same-sex sexual activity has been recorded in 1,500 animal species, from birds to bees (literally).

Mammals were much more likely to be recorded as engaging with gay sex than other species (about 4%), with non-human primates particularly likely to display homosexual behaviour ― “it has been observed in at least 51 species from lemurs to apes,” they say.

That’s likely an underrepresentation of actual homosexual activities, the researchers add.

“This figure is probably underestimating the actual prevalence of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals, since this behaviour has attracted the attention of behavioural ecologists and evolutionary biologists only recently,” they say ― and there’s already a research bias towards mammals over other animals, which could explain some of the discrepancies.

In fact, longer-term studies find that homosexual activity occurred in 80% of the mammal population ― the more you observe the animals, it seems, the more sexually fluid they prove themselves to be.

Those who performed same-gender sex acts commonly displayed activities like courtship, mounting, genital contact, copulation and pair bonding ― mounting and genital contact were the most common acts (87% of the same-sex sexual acts in their dataset).

OK, but ― why?

Because it doesn’t help to further the population, same-sex activity among animals is considered an “evolutionary conundrum” and a “Darwinian paradox,” the researchers say.

Of course, lots of the animals who engaged with same-sex sexual activity also had sex with a different gender. And our conception of “homosexual” and heterosexual” is just that ― our human conception.

“Same-sex sexual behaviour as it is used here does not denote sexual orientation (ie an overall pattern of sexual attraction/arousal over time), sexual orientation identity (the sexual orientation that individuals perceive themselves to have), categories of sexual beings (homosexuals, heterosexuals, etc), nor sexual preference,” the researchers say.

They warned that their findings shouldn’t be used to analyse homosexuality in humans ― they’re different.

With that said, a lot of the studies that the researchers looked at suggested homosexual activity in animals could have an adaptive role “in maintaining social relationships and mitigating conflict.”

Part of the reason they think this is because homosexual behaviour has evolved in so many species in similar environments, suggesting it has benefits for those in their circumstances.

They also found that “The prevalence of same-sex sexual behaviour was also associated with adulticide [grown adults of a species killing other adults of the same species], but only for males.”

But the researchers don’t think this disproves the theory that same-sex activity is used to calm conflict ― in fact, they think it confirms it.

That’s because if animals usually engage in homosexual activity during times of violence, it’s more likely that violent results will be associated with the act.

“Because the association was more intense in males than in females, we presume that adulticide was a stronger force triggering the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in males. If this hypothesis is confirmed, it seems that same-sex sexual behaviour mitigates rather than negates adulticide, as there are still many species that commit this type of aggressive behaviour,” they say.

The authors of the study added that the field is under-researched, and more study is needed. In the meantime, though ― that’s pretty interesting, right?

Yes Really – We All See Very Different Colours

Posted on 04/06/2023 by Boris Clair

What is your favourite colour? Mine is lilac. Most people’s favourite colour is some variation of blue and we care so much about colour that there’s been a recent trend of influencers getting “colour analysis” consultations to learn whether the colours they tend to wear actually suit their complexions and hair shades.

The wild thing is, though, that while we have what we think are very concrete ideas of our favourite colours and which ones we gravitate towards when clothes shopping, we actually experience colours differently from one another meaning that the colour you’re describing (like your favourite blue shirt) is not quite the same colour that the person you’re talking to is seeing.

Or, another example is, have you ever found yourself arguing with the opposite sex over a colour? Maybe you saw something that looked more red than orange and they argued that, no, it’s definitely orange? This is because as well as individuals perceiving colours differently, perception of colours greatly differs between the sexes, too.

Why Do We Experience Colours Differently?

The back of your eyes are lined with retinas and this is where photoreceptors are located. So, as biologists CJ Kazilek & Kim Cooper of Arizona State University say, “If you think of the eye as a camera, the retina would be the film. The retina also contains the nerves that tell the brain what the photoreceptors are “seeing.”

There are two types of photoreceptors involved in sight: rods and cones. Rodd work at low levels of light and they’re used for night vision as only a few bits of light can activate a rod. They don’t help with colour vision which is the reason everything is in a greyscale at night. Cones, however, require light and are used to see colour. We have blue, green, and red cones.

However, much like lots of elements of human beings: the number of cones in the human retina isn’t constant. Some people have a lot more than others and in fact, there is research that suggests women could potentially see a lot more colours than men.

According to researchers, we could actually be seeing dramatically different colours. Vision scientist Joseph Carroll of the Medical College of Wisconsin said, “one person’s red might be another person’s blue and vice versa. You might really see blood as the colour someone else calls blue, and the sky as somebody else’s red but our individual perceptions don’t affect the way the colour of blood, or that of the sky, makes us feel.”

Another consideration is that colour can differ between languages and lexicons. Grue languages don’t discriminate blue from green but only have one colour term that covers all blue/green shades in the colour spectrum. These include Vietnamese, Kuku-Yalanji, Tswana, and Zulu.

Blue Strawberries?

This week, news emerged of a man in his 40s that had a very rare condition called colour agnosia. It was reported that, “He could put very similar hues in the right order. But he could not sort tokens into distinct colours such as red, green, blue, yellow, and orange. He could not identify the colours of the tokens. He could not imagine the colour of his car. He could not even understand, when presented with a drawing of garishly blue strawberries, that the picture was odd at all.”

This isn’t colour blindness. It’s something entirely different. Researchers say: “In pure colour agnosia, patients have difficulty naming or pointing to named colours, despite relatively preserved colour perception (i.e., retaining the ability to match colours or to identify the numbers on the Ishihara plates). They also have difficulty matching colours, either verbally or visually, to familiar coloured objects (e.g., identifying the colour normally associated with cherries, lettuce, or bananas).”

I don’t know about you but I’m not going to stop thinking about this for a while.

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