In Brief: Anger to Sleep Deprivation

The Level-Headed Hothead

Anger enables analysis.

Under the influence of anger, your thinking can actually be more rational than rash. In a recent study, Wesley Moons and Diane Mackie at the University of California at Santa Barbara provoked half their subjects and then had them all judge how convinced they were by sets of essays. The irate raters showed much better powers of discrimination between solid and weak arguments.

"Strong physiological arousal has detrimental effects on cognitive functioning," Moons says, but in the case of moderate ire, "people are more motivated to think carefully about the information available to them." If you're already upset, they theorize, whatever you analyze is more likely to improve your mood than make it worse.

But according to Moons, it's still unclear when it's best to use your Hulk processing, or just how to locate that anger sweet spot, so "applying our findings now is a little early." —Jennifer Garfinkel

A Bone to Pick with Prozac

Think twice before popping pills for depression: Meds that improve your mood may also weaken your bones. Many people fight their funks with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac or Zoloft, but a study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people aged 50 or older who use SSRIs are twice as likely to suffer fragility fractures. The study suggested that the meds reduce bone mineral density, make falls more likely, and may also alter bone architecture. But instead of rushing to stop your scrip, check our list of tips below for countermeasures. —Greg Isaacson

How to Keep a Strong Skeleton

Try running and playing basketball instead of swimming and cycling. A study of senior Olympic athletes found that those who compete in high-impact sports have significantly greater bone mineral density than those who do lower-impact sports.

If you exercise intensively, be sure to boost your caloric intake, or you may wind up with brittle bones. For young women, menstrual cycle disruption is a clear sign of undernutrition, but even women who have regular periods may be eating too little.

Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, which you need for strong, healthy, hardware. Get big doses of D by drinking lots of milk and exposing yourself to sunlight 15 to 20 minutes per day. If you take supplements, take a D/calcium combo. If you're at risk of osteoporosis, consider pharmaceutical options.—Greg Isaacson

Fired Up on No Sleep

Fatigue's neural double whammy.

When poker stretches into the wee hours, gamblers sense luck inching over to their side. Encouraged with drowsy hope, they raise the stakes.

And when they lose, well, sleepy regret has less of a sting. Betting the farm never felt so easy.

Fatigue's threat to decision-making is double-pronged, according to researchers at Duke University. They recently measured the brain activity of sleep-deprived subjects who placed bets in a gambling task. Staying awake for 24 hours was found to stimulate areas of wishful thinking, as well as reduce emotional response to loss. The need for shut-eye increases activity in the nucleus accumbens, a region that signals the possibility of reward.

At the same time, pockets of the brain tied to emotion—the insula and orbitofrontal cortex—go dark, leaving the high-roller less guilt-ridden about bad choices.

"You become insensitive to losses and you place high bets with expectations to win," explains Duke's Michael Chee. "It's a recipe for disaster." —Peter Sergo