Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Buenos manana!

My alarm went off this morning and I swore I must have accidentally set it for 4 am judging by how dark it was.  Then I realized, nope, it was really that dark outside.  I would have loved to have rolled over and woken up with the sun, but unfortunately, I have an 8 am class.  So I pulled myself out of bed, got ready, and made some breakfast. 

Breakfast was Kashi cereal, vanilla yogurt, and a banana. (notice my desk is as cluttered as my mind right now!)

So,  I was reading in my psychology book (2010 Goldstein) last night about the physiology of taste perception.  It talked about an experiment where experimenters gave monkeys an ample supply of dairy cream.  At first, the monkey enthusiastically drinks the cream, but after a minute or so, rejects the cream.  As the monkey's hunger for the cream decreased, so did the firing of the specific neuron reacting the the odor of cream.  Cessation of the neuron's firing signaled the monkey to stop drinking the cream.  So basically, our body has mechanisms for controlling food intake.  Interesting, right? 

It got me thinking, how often do we actually take a minute to listen to our body's control mechanisms?  Not just with hunger, but with all things.  It seems to me that we often get so busy and stressed that we completely ignore these subtle cues.  

Goal of the day: listen to your body.

Class dismissed! Have a good day!

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