Benefits of Anxiety
a podcast summary by Adrian, eighth grade writer
When under certain circumstances, anxiety can have benefits. Anxiety is when someone becomes very nervous, stressful, and on the edge. The University of Stanford scanned the brains of twenty-four students with MRI’s, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging. They scanned them while they were playing a computer game in which they won and loss small amounts of money. They found that, in their brains, there is a small part called the Anterior Insula, which creates anxiety in the body. They found that, after a few days of testing, the subjects began to get used to the anxiety, using it to their benefit. When they were exposed to extreme anxiety, they were able to make quicker decisions, thus not losing as much money in the game.
Dementia or Creativity…
a podcast summary by Rachel, seventh grade writer
People suffering from dementia can lose parts of their brains as they begin to deteriorate, but there are other brains cells that start to connect, so it makes their creativity show up more than before. An artist from Russia was diagnosed with dementia but had created some of her best pieces of art while she had dementia than when she did not. Some doctors and scientists had also seen and studied a famous artist who had dementia and saw that he had also composed his greatest works of art while suffering from dementia. Some of the first signs of dementia were their loss of communication and increase in talent. So dementia can make you lose your ability to communicate, but it can also increase your artistic abilities. Dementia can give you success in certain areas and failure in others.
(Click here to view/print these two middle school samples.)
