Studies

Silence

/ Gardy Loo Pismire / Leave a comment

For years I craved silence. The silence to contemplate. The silence which would deaden all the thoughts running around in my head with their corresponding sounds. The silence brought about when six children were all tucked into their beds and I could hear the whispers of the house as it told the stories that had happened that day. Yes, I craved silence. In fact, I was suppose to get hearing aids at age 25 but I didn’t. Whether it was vanity or just not wanting to hear the noisiness intruding on my everyday world; hearing everything at 1/2 sound was perfectly okay with me….until it wasn’t.

As I have aged my use of the word “What?” has increased proportionally to the speed at which my boobs have dropped. My children, lovers and friends have become frustrated at having to repeat themselves and I have often misunderstood what was being said to the point that I have hurt people inadvertently because I thought I heard something that I didn’t. I have spent so many years filling in the blanks incorrectly that it had become a way of life that many people were tired of sharing with me. And even scarier, studies have shown that people with hearing loss are much more inclined to develop dementia because they are not using or underusing parts of their brains.

So recently, I bought a pair of hearing aids from Costco. Yes, I am brand naming because Costco made it such an easy and simple process. Their audiologist was fantastic and walked me through everything I had to know and installed the app on my phone.

I have to say that I adapted really quickly to my devices even though it was strange to hear again. Now I walk down the street and actually hear the birds singing. I hear the refrigerator running (not sure that is great) and I can engage in conversations and not be embarrassed because I said something inappropriate. I can actually say that wearing hearing aids has changed my life for the better and for that I am thankful.

So the next time you have to repeat yourself to someone because of their hearing loss be patient with them. Understand that making a decision to wear hearing aids is a difficult and often complicated one. But most of all, in your kindest voice, with a smile gracing your face perhaps you might say to your hard of hearing friend, “I love talking with you. It is a highlight of my day. It would be wonderful if our conversation could be a little smoother which it might be if you could hear me just a little better.” And then just leave it at that. Timing is everything and one day your hearing impaired loved one will be ready to take the plunge. Until then, give them the support and encouragement that they need to realize for themself all that they are missing.

Why You Don’t Sleep Well Away From Home

/ Gardy Loo Pismire / 2 Comments

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I remember a trip to Thailand in which I didn’t sleep all night long. It is often like that for people when they travel. So why is it we often don’t sleep well when we are not in our own homes? Scientists think they have the answer.

Researchers at Brown University looked into this phenomena and found that the left hemisphere of the brain stayed more active and awake during “slow wave” sleep on that first night away from home. In effect the left hemisphere”kept an eye open” during the night during that first night and scientists believe this activity is used as a sort of protective device.

Researchers noted this and began to electrically stimulated that part of the brain and noted that subjects where quicker to wake and get up when this stimulation occurred to the left hemisphere vs. the right on this first night.

Many follow up studies are planned and in the future it is hoped that the researchers will actually find a way to let us weary travelers sleep just a little better.  Wouldn’t that be a dream!

Lust vs. Romantic Love…304 Days To Fix This

/ Gardy Loo Pismire / 2 Comments

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I just read another fascinating study out of the University of Chicago. Seems that within seconds, just by watching the gaze pattern of participants; researchers could determine whether romantic love or lust was in play. Incredibly, for both male and female subjects, eye-tracking of the face signaled that romantic love was in the air whereas those who fixated on the rest of the body were in it for the lust factor. Good information if you are looking for a mate but what about those who are already married?

On this week-end’s date with my hubby I decided to conduct my own research. The first hours of our date were spent in a movie theater so there was no information gathered there except that except that actor Josh Brolin seemed to want to get it on with Elizabeth Debicki who played Dr. Caroline Mackenzie in Everest. (Spoiler alert-they didn’t get it on nor did anyone else in this desperately sad and A-sexual movie)

Next we went to a local micro-brewery. There we spent time gazing into each other’s eyes and talking about mundane and inconsequential things. About half the time B spent looking at my face, another 1/4 of the time looking at this very shear new top that I was wearing and about 1/4 of the time he spent looking at a gravely sounding 65-year-old man who sang sad songs about drought and crops drying up which were what my panties were doing as I listened to the woes of farmers in the area. I couldn’t tell what part of the singers anatomy B was gazing at….should I be worried is my big question for the researchers?

What I also noticed was that from the bar I received five glances at my face before moving down to the new shirt, two gentlemen staring at my boobs, one woman who licked her lips at me and one man who kept looking at me as if to determine if I was a long-lost relative. I don’t have any idea what this all means except that just the thought of dating at my age scares the crap out of me and I don’t want to do it. EVER AGAIN. I also suspect that if this whole body/face gazing is what dating is about then I am doomed unless I skip the formalities and just blatantly stare at a man’s crotch….I wonder what researchers could determine from that?  And maybe, just maybe,  if I find myself single I might decide to become a research subject. Of course, I would only volunteer for the human sexuality studies…all for the sake of science.