My reflections/opinions on 'Welcome To Your Brain - The Science of Jet Lag, Love and other curiosities of Life' by Sam Wang & Sandra Aamodt

As a great thinker and explorer of Psychology, I found great pleasure in reading this book with satisfies all of those little questions such as: why are some people 'morning people' and others 'night people'; why can't you tickle yourself?' and how does your mind know that a joke is funny?

I've always wondered why when somebody else yawns I suddenly have a compelling need to yawn myself even when I'm not bored or tired... at first I thought to myself that it might be social learning theory but, what if the person I am imitating the yawn from doesn't conform to the conventional model (similar , powerful and caregiving)? That's because it is not associated with SLT, it's because yawning serves a function in alertness as it allows large amounts of air and therefore blood into the system, the cortex ensures that yawns are 'contagious' in situations that require being alert. So actually, this is biologically not a bad thing at all... despite making us yawn and possibly offend others.

So why can't you tickle yourself, ey? I'm incredibly ticklish, yet I can't tickle myself. I'm pretty sure that it's not my fingers because I can tickle people successfully back. Here's why: your brain's why (in the cerebellum). Our brain's are able to predict the sensory consequences of movements. It's important that we know the consequence of a sensation as when I feel a tap on my shoulder, I would need to react differently to somebody punching me and starting to attack me than knocking into an inert object.

Also wondering why you're sticking to your diet, yet your friend eats everything in sight yet your friend eats everything in sight? Your brain changes your basal metabolic rate to keep your weight at it's preferred level. Leptin is a chemical that tells your brain how your fat levels are changing when your fat decreases leptin falls in the blood, telling your brain you need more food, this makes your hungry and gain weight. Likewise, we feel hungry at certain times because of ghrelin, a hormone that's released at mealtimes established by social cues and conventions.

Shockingly, reducing calorie intake could reduce the risk of cancer even. This has been postulated by studies on rodents who were found to live 50% longer on a low-calorie diet this is because insulin sensitivity declines with age, particularly with a high-calorie diet.

To conclude, I would recommend this book to anybody who has ever asked themselves questions about themselves or others to a Psychology fanatic. There is an article for everyone, even about cuttlefish that have personalities...