Looking at art provides a measurable rush of pleasure, according to researchers at University College in London. In an experiment conducted by Semir Zeki, a professor of neuroaesthetics, subjects were shown a series of photos while undergoing an MRI. When shown “beautiful” paintings, increased blood flow was observed in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with pleasure and desire. The blood flow increase was similar when subjects were shown photos of their loved ones. Ugly or frightening paintings did not produce the same effect, Zeki reports. The study is currently under peer review and should be published later this year. (Source: The Telegraph, Britain, May 8.)  Posted June 7, 2011

Too much happiness isn’t healthy. Using school and health records dating back to the 1920s, a multi-university research team found that children identified as “very cheerful” didn’t live as long as their less cheerful classmates. Researchers speculate that the “excessively cheerful” youngsters were prone to risk-taking and more dangerous lifestyles later on. In the same study, published in the May issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, it was found that magazine articles that offer advice on being happier actually make people more miserable--because the advice is bad, leading to anger and disappointment when readers try to follow it. For an abstract, see tinyurl.com/pf0411a. The full study costs $35   Posted June, 7 2011

Helping the mentally ill stop smoking is the object of a pilot program at the International Center for the Disabled (ICD), an outpatient clinic in New York. The program’s creators argue that the mental health system has been indifferent to, or even encouraged mentally ill people to smoke in the mistaken belief that it’s a stress-reliever. "But a lot of times, smoking doesn't really help with stress--people just think it does," according to Daniel F. Seidman, director of Columbia University Medical Center’s Smoking Cessation program. Seidman, who helped create the ICD program, was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article (April 26). The Journal piece cited a JAMA study indicating that: 1) people with serious mental illness (SMI) account for 44% of cigarettes smoked in the U.S. each year; and 2) the SMI population dies an average of 35 years earlier than the general public--mostly because of smoking-related illness. At ICD, they’re treating patients with counseling, nicotine patches, and a step-down “smoke by the clock” program.  Posted June 7, 2011

Women buy almost twice as many books as men, accounting for about 64% of total book sales. This is true for both fiction and non-fiction, and across most genres. The exception is fantasy novels, where the gender split is 50-50. That’s according to Bowker’s--the company in charge of assigning ISBN numbers. Among its other activities, Bowkers does comprehensive market research for the publishing industry. For more, see tinyurl.com/pf0411d.  Posted June, 7 2011

The world’s tallest building had its first jumper in early May, when Athiraman Kannan leaped to his death from the Khalifa Tower in Dubai. An expat from India, Kannan worked in the builkding as a cleaner. News reports in Asia indicate that an Indian worker commits suicide in Dubai every third day, on average. Indians make up about half of the Arab city-state’s population. The Khalifa tower opened in January, 2010, and stands 2,717 feet tall. Kannan jumped from the 148th of the building’s 160 floors.  Posted June 7, 2011

Fourteen straight quarters of economic recession is impacting Jamaica’s mental health, according to Dr. Leahcim Semaj, a Kingston psychologist. In an interview on Jamaican radio in April, 2011, Semaj cited a general increase in mental health problems, as well as a government report indicating that a significant number of adults are now calling teen crisis hotlines—for lack of anywhere else to turn with their problems. For more, see tinyurl.com/pf0411c. Posted June 7, 2011