News for Week of July 25, 1999
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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri reported that they had the first direct evidence that stress hormones associated with major physical or psychological traumas can impair memory — within a matter of days. After a week, memory appears to return to normal. An abstract of the study which appears in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry can be viewed at their website.
The "electronic brainstorming" process, pioneered as a teaching tool in the late 1980's at Queen's University School of Business in Kingston, Ontario, has been adopted by more than 300 diverse groups world-wide for strategic planning, product development, focus groups and conflict resolution. Participants use laptop computers to register ideas anonymously on a large central screen free of posturing, politics and intimidation. The talking and debate comes after the group selects the best ideas for development. A Portable Executive Decision Centre has been designed to take the process on the road. More information is available through the Queen's Executive Decision Centre.
Studies show that puberty changes the body sleep cycle in such a way that adolescents stay alert later at night and are sleepier in the morning. Dr. William Dement, Director of the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Clinic suggests this shift in their biological clocks makes it difficult for them to fall asleep early enough at night to get all the sleep they need in time for an early class. Other researchers have found that teens who start classes later in the day get better grades than those who start earlier. An excellent resource about adolescent sleep is available at Dement's Sleep Well site.
Updated July 26, 1999