WHY ITS HARD TO FORGET THE PAST

BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

INTERVIEW WITHPROF. DR. VON WEIZSÄCKER

ISPECTRUM MAGAZINE

THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONS ON GENETICS

Issue 05/January-February 2014

FLASHBULB MEMORIES

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FEATURES

03 FLASHBULB MEMORIESWHY ITS HARD TO FORGET THE PAST06 Explaining FBMs08 FBM variations and accuracy

14BIOLOGICAL CLOCKHEALTHY SLEEP15 Sleep restriction18 Our life is a rhythm

24INTERVIEW WITHPROF. DR. VON WEIZSÄCKERENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT28 Energy efficiency33 Climate protection34 CO2 Emissions

37THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONS ON GENETICS38 Environmental influences can influence genes41 Positive and Negative Emo-tions: How can they affect our health?43 DNA for all: To laugh or to cry, that is the question44 Music for Emotions46 Mother Emotions: Fear and love. Can we control our emo-tions?

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CONTENTS

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Mado MartinezEditorial Director

Editorial DirectorMado Martinezmadomartinez@ispectrummagazine.com

Art DirectorRayna Petrovaraynapetrova@ispectrummagazine.com Copy Editing and ProofreadingMatt Lovedaymattloveday@ispectrummagazine.com

Contributing WritersRob Hutchinson

Markus Köller

Elaine Vieira

ImagesCover Photo : 9/11 World Trade Centre,NYcommons.wikimeadia.org,public domain photos,morguefile.com

editorial

Ispectrum magazine

WWW.ISPECTRUMMAGAZINE.COM

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admin@ispectrummagazine.com

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Dear readers,

I hope the year 2014 we have just started will be even better than the one we left behind. Let’s move forward! Issue #5 commences with “Flashbulb Memories”. I am sure you remember what you were doing during the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre Towers. Do you want to know why you remember? You will have to read this.

Markus Köller went to an important international symposium in Münster, Germany, to interview Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker about climate change. It’s a matter of importance to listen to what he has to say.

Elaine Vieira is a well known scientist and a tireless researcher. She shares with us in this issue her latest discov-eries in the field of our biological clock and healthy sleep. What do they have to do with obesity, diabetes and other diseases? We will find out by reading about her findings.

All these very interesting things, and a little bit more, launch us into what will be a fascinating year. Don’t forget to share with us your comments and feel free to submit your own articles.

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Ever wondered why there are certain events that stick in your mind and no matter what you do you just cannot bury them in the past?

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FLASHBULB MEMORIES

major world event or an accident you witnessed or expe-rienced yourself, these memo-

ries can seem as vivid as the day you experienced them many years later. Take for example 9/11. If you ask any-body what they were doing that day as the Twin Towers fell the vast majority will be able to tell you where they were, what they were doing, even what the weather was like. The reason for these

exceptionally sharp memories arethat they are flashbulb memories (FBMs) a snapshot taken at a shocking or highly emotional time that sears the event into the memory. But do these FBMs diminish over time and what affect does it have on eyewitness testimony? Surely a memory as powerful as this will be strongevidence in court and be an asset to the criminal justice system.

A

BY

ROB HUTCHINSON

WEBSITE

WWW.ISPECTRUMMAGAZINE.COM

WHY ITS HARD TO FORGET THE PAST

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The way information is stored depends on the type of memory it is. There are two main memory catego-ries short and long term memory. Because it is not necessary to store all the information we process in our brain these memory types act as a filter. After being perceived informa-tion passes to the short term mem-ory, which can store the information for around 20 seconds. Afterthis the information is either lost or transferred to long term memory. This transfer happens due to the repeated use of the information or rehearsal of it. The long term memory is limitless, although the memories in this vast storage unit can decay over time or due to illness. Long term memory is obviously the more complex of the two and has separate categories of its own.These memories can be split into explicit (requiring conscious thought

to retrieve the memory), implicit (the major form of long term memory that does not require con-scious thought, almost like an auto-pilot) and autobiographical memory, which contains specific life events that we remember better than others.

FBMs fit into this last category of autobiographical memory. These precise, long lasting and concise memories are remembered with astounding clarity. However, it is not the same as photographic memory, as it is possible for FBMs to decay over time and little details to be lost.FBMs are like taking an instant image of everything that is presentw

MEMORY TYPES -WHEREDO FBMS FIT IN?

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at the time of a shocking eventin a person’s private or public life. Feelings and emotional responses, those present with them at that time, even the exact thing they were doing the moment before the inci-dent can all be recorded with amaz-ing detail. In a 2002 study on 9/11 by the Pew Research Center for thePeople and the Press 97% of those interviewed had a FBM for the attacks. Interestingly 38% ofthose said that for them 9/11 was the biggest life event for that year, which explains why so many record-ed a FBM. The key for recording a FBM is that the event is of great personal importance and contains high emotion and surprise alongside drastic consequences. For the memory to be so long lasting it needs

to be highly distinctive and signifi-cant. But how are these FBMs any different from traumatic memories? The key is that traumatic memories contain high levels of stress caused by anxiety or fear, which are generally absent from FBM. This is not to say the two are not similar. During a traumatic event arousal is increased, leading to increased attention to surroundings and events causing the memory to be more detailed.

Much of the research into FBMs have focused on events where important public figures who were loved by many have been mur-dered. The death of John F Kennedy

9/11, 2001 Attack on the World Trade Center,New York

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EXPLAINING FBMShas always held a place in the hearts of many Americans, and provid-ed a dearth of research into FBMs. In the many studies conducted a high proportion of peo-ple had a vivid memo-ry of the day’s events, with the personal emo-tional effect on them-selves and the shock being the main con-tributors to the forma-tion of the FBM. It was JFK’s assassination that first prompted investi-gations into the FBMas many researchers at the time were surprised by just how accurate people’s memories were.Although certain aspects of the memory disap-peared it was fixed into the brain in such a waythat it did not appear to erode over time. Brown & Kulik studied these memories in depth andcontributed to the defi-nition of FBMs that we use today.

So how can FBMs be explained? There are a variety of different models, so here is just a taste of the most compelling and scientifically supported

ones. The original FBM memory model was designed by Brown & Kulik. The Photographic Model determined that for a FBM to occur theremust be a high level

JFK

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of surprise, consequen-tiality and emotional arousal involved. A high level of arousal would cause more frequent rehearsal and a stron-ger memory recon-struction at later dates.The Comprehensive Model succeeds in going further than the Photographic Model bybuilding an intercon-nected relationship

between the variables involved in the record-ing of the FBM.Whilst the Photographic Model put forward a jumble of variables, the Comprehensive Model worked at explaining the correlation between them. The model proposes that knowledge and interest in the event determine the level of

importance to the indi-vidual, therefore alsoaffecting the individu-al’s emotional arousal.The level of importance of this event contributes to the prior rehearsal of the memories, mak-ing the FBM so strong. Associating these together allows the individual to remem-ber vivid aspects of the event such as what they were doing at theexact time and the people they were with, alongside a detailed explanation of the event itself.A different take on the FBM is provided by the Importance-DrivenEmotional Reactions Model, which focuses on personal consequences as the most important event.If the personal conse-quence is high then the emotional reaction will be strong, bothimportant factors in the creation of a FBM.

John Lennon,1975

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FBM VARIATIONS AND ACCURACY

This model is actually based on the experiences of people who experi-enced an earthquake. Victims of the earthquake were interviewed along-side a control group and theirmemories recorded. At a later date participants were interviewed again, with the long term memories of the victims being understandably more durable and accurate than those of the control group. From this they proposed the model, with the importance of the personal conse-quences seen as a fundamental part for the formation of FBM. However, being based only on the one study it has very clear problems, and can-not explain why the murder of John Lennon affected so many people despite his death not having any close personal consequences tomany of those who remember the event so well.

Like many aspects in psychology cultural and gender variations can affect the level of accuracyin FBM.Edery Halpern & Nachson (2004) looked into the gender differences involved in FBMs. Israeli university students completed questionnaires about their memories for certain terror attacks, with the results showing that men had more distinct FBMs than women and that they also recounted more signifi-cant details of the events. Women, however, reported more emotional reactivity than the men. Due to the lack of research into this area it is

hard to draw conclusions from one study or try to link the differences in responses to any correspondingfactors. Across cultures the factors that affect FBMs remain constant, but there are cultural variations that influence the vividness of the recounting. Kulkofsky et al (2011) studied the formation of FBM across five different countries; the USA, UK, China, Germany and Turkey.They found that the Chinese memo-ries were less influenced by any per-sonal factors connected to the event. This could be because in Asian cul-ture there is less emphasis on indi-viduality, so their recollections of

FBMs show less personal connection with the event. Age differences alsoplay a part in the vividness of the memory. The younger you are the more likely you will be tohave a strong recollection later in life. Cohen et al (1993) examined age related differences in FBMs. They tested participants 11 days after an important event and then again 11 months later.Less than half the adults had a FBM of the event but nearlyall of the younger participantsdid.

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As a tool for giving wit-ness testimony in crim-inal cases the evidence would strongly suggest that FBMs provide a compelling account of events and that they cannot be brought into question.However, it is possible for FBMs to be incor-rectly recorded and it is always best to take anaccount of these mem-ories as soon as possi-ble after the event. In a courtroom a year laterthese memories can be questioned, but if a witness statement was taken immediately after

the event then this is almost priceless evi-dence.

The accuracy of these memories have been brought into question,

Pearl Harbour , 1941

the classic example of Ulric Neisser’s account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 demonstrating that key points of the memory can in fact be wrong.He recounted listening to a baseball game at the time of the attack when in fact no base-ball games were being played at that time.

People who were asked about their memories of the Challengershuttle disaster in 1986 also showed discrep-ancies with the actual events and what they were actually doing at the time. It seems possible that FBMs can have discrepancies, so even the smallest incorrect detail could

have implications in the testimony of people who witnessed a crime. Researchers at Duke University interviewed participants days after the 9/11 attacks about their memories of the event alongside other mundane events that happened that same day.

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Space Shuttle Challenger

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Interviewed one week, six weeks, or 32 weeks later they found that the consistency of the memories for the attack and the mundane events was actually the same, with the number of consistencies in both sets of memories dropping.

Participants remained very confident of their memories and were unaware of the inaccuracies that were creep-ing in.FBMs are a vivid snapshot of a high-ly consequential and shocking life event that is burnt into the

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brain like a hot iron branded into an animal. It will be there until the end of your life unless illness causes it to decay. It has its uses, but we must be careful not to rely on their accu-racy too much.

FBMs are yet anoth-er example of the com-

plexities and endlessly astounding qualities of ourminds.

FBMs are a vivid snapshot of a highly consequential and shocking life event

O

BY

ELAINE VIEIRA

WEBSITE

HTTP://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/

BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

besity is considered today an important health problem in

modern society, leading to preventable causes of deaths worldwide. It reduces life expectancy by increasing the rates of hearth disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep disorders and cancer. Recently, new possible contributors have been

identified as possible causes of obe-sity. Among them, circadian (cycles of 24 hours) disturbances have been proposed as triggers of obesity and type 2 diabetes. How do we disrupt our circadian cycles, our biological clock? Humans are the only species that do no follow their biological clock!

HEALTHY SLEEP

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We are constantly changing the time we eat, the time we sleep, etc. The most common ways that we disrupt our bio-logical clock are: Lack of sleep (sleep-ing less than 7 to 8 hours), eating at the wrong time, exposure to artificial light at night, working at night and eat-ing high fat diets.

In our modern society we are constant-ly exposed to these problems which are occurring in parallel with the epidem-ics of obesity. Today many researchers say that obesity could be a result of not how much we eat; but the time we eat!

DEREGULATION OF YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK CAN MAKE YOU FAT AND AT RISK OF METABOLIC DISEASES

SLEEP RESTRICTION

The circadian biological clock is controlled by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN), a group of cells in the hypothalamus that respond to light

and dark signals. Light reaches the SCN, and tells our internal clock that it is time to be awake. The SCN then signals to other parts of the brain that control hormones and other functions that make us feel sleepy or awake. With this exposure to light in the mornings, the SCN also sends

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signals to raise body temperature and pro-duce cortisol. The SCN also responds to light by decreasing melato-nin secretion, which is associated with sleep onset. Melatonin pro-duction then increases during the night and stays elevated through-out the night, promot-ing sleep. Thus, it is important to pay atten-tion to our biological clock and not disrupt the sleep-awake cycle.The recommended amount of hours for a person to sleep is between 7 to 8 hours. If you sleep less than 7 hours per day, this could be cause for con-cern. Everybody knows

that a bad night sleep can make people tired but today the scientific community has dem-onstrated that lack of sleep can also increase the pre disposition to metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The average

amount of sleep has declined by 1.5 hours over the past centu-ry together with an important increase in obesity. In 1999, a study from Eve Van Cauter from the University of Chicago has changed the idea

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that the only effect of lack of sleep was tired-ness. His group showed that sleep restriction in healthy young men led to signs of insulin

res is tance which can lead to type 2 diabetes. The mecha-nism behind these effects seems to involve two impo r t an t h o r m o n e s that regu-late hunger ( g h r e l i n ) and satiety (leptin). The group who slept

fewer hours had an increase in the levels of ghrelin and a decrease in the levels of leptin increasing their appe-tite1. Indeed, many studies have found that peo-ple who sleep poorly are more susceptible

to develop obesity and type 2 diabetes. One study showed that people who slept for 5 hours each night had an increase of 3.6% in body mass index. Interestingly, the group that slept fewer hours had a preference for fatty substances and carbohydrates and con-sumed more calories through foods of this type. Reducing sleep-ing time has a power-ful effect on cells in our body.For instance a study by Tasali, Brady and van Cauter demon-strated that four nights of just 4.5 hours of sleep reduced t h e insul in s e n s i -tivity of fat cells2. It means that these people have

more risk of develop-ing diabetes.

Is sleep duration more important than sleep quality? Sleep qual-ity is just as important as sleep duration. The same effect of reduced insulin sensitivity was found in people who slept 7 to 8 hours but were prevented from entering deep sleep. This effect could be explained by the fact that the onset of slow-wave sleep coincides with hormonal changes in our body.

reducing sleeping time has a powerful effect on cells in our body

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Our biological clock is regulated by complex mechanisms involving sev-eral hormones and, at a molecular level, by the so called ‘clock genes’. The body clock is important because it regulates the time we eat, when we sleep and other physiological func-tions. Today we know that besides the central clock located in the SCN in the hypo-thalamus, every cell in the body has its own clock that helps to regulate the cells metabo-lism. Mice that lack the clock gene develop high blood sugar, high cho-lesterol levels and become obese3. My research with Dr. Ramon Gomis group at IDIBAPS-CIBERDEM, Barcelona, together with research-ers Dr. Ivan Quesada and Dr. Angel Nadal from Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Spain, has shown

that a lack of another clock gene called Rev-erb alpha leads to impaired insulin and gluca-gon secretion, the two key hormones in the development of diabetes 4,5. Nutrients such as high fat diets can disrupt the circadian pattern of clock gene expression in cells that could be responsible for impairment in their function. Indeed, she showed

the body clock is important because it regulates the time we eat, when we sleep and other physiological functions

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that mice fed with high fat diet for 6 weeks had a loss of circadian clock gene expression in pancre-atic islets (tiny clusters of cells that produce insulin, glucagon and other hormones important to maintain glucose homeostasis) that could be involved in defects of the beta-cell function during obesity and type 2 diabetes 4.

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Eating at different times can also affect our bio-logical clock. Mice fed a high fat diet only dur-ing the day time, when these nocturnal ani-mals should be sleep-ing, gained significantly more weight than mice

that got the same diet but were allowed to eat at a normal time6. This study could be trans-lated to the human situation when people eat during the night time. Indeed, people with a nocturnal life-

style characterized by having a dinner late at night and eating snacks at night showed high levels of glucose and low levels of leptin and melato-nin (important hor-mone that regu-

lates sleep) during the night. Nowadays hav-ing a nocturnal lifestyle is considered one of the main risks for obe-sity and diabetes.

The exposure of bright light at night through the use of computers, TV and cell phones can also disrupt our body clock. Studies in humans showed that bright light at night reduces the secretion of melatonin7. The rea-son is that the artificial

light emits wavelengths that can activate cells in the retina and send the light signals to the SCN telling the body: “it is still day time”, so melatonin production decreases. The reduced melatonin levels can disrupt sleep keeping people awake for a lon-ger time, which makes them eat more during the night. Importantly, exposure of bright light at night is already being considered a risk for cancer development.

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Changing sleeping time such as in the case of shift work can also affect our health. One of the effects of industrialization was the adop-tion of 24-hour continuous work in a number of industries. This has resulted in an increase in the pro-portion of the population engaged in shift work. Epidemiological studies show that shift work is associated with obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, abdominal obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease8. Thus, it is clear that if we do not pay attention to our biological clock we can cause metabolic problems.

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time and protection from artificial light could be solu-tions to normalize our bio-logical clock and prevent many diseases.

Scientists are now using tools to restore the biological rhythms to treat some diseases.For instance, helping obese peo-ple to lose weight just by improv-ing their sleep time and quality. Thus, future therapies that aim to correct the time of meals, sleeping

scientists are now using tools to restore the biological

rhythms to treat some diseases

5- Vieira, E. et al. PloS One. 8, e69939 (2013).

6- Megumi Hatori. et al. Cell Metabolism. 15, 848–860

(2012).

7- Reiter, RJ. et al. Crit. Rev. Oncog. 13, 303-28

(2007).

8- Knutsson A. Occup Med. 53: 103-08 (2003).

References:

1- Siegel, K. et al. Ann. Intern. Med. 141, 846-850

(2004).

2- Broussard, J. et al. Ann Intern. Med. 157, 549-557

(2012).

3- Turek, F. et al. Science 308, 1043-1045 (2005).

4- Vieira, E. et al. Endocrinology. 153, 592–601

(2012).

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BY

MARKUS KÖLLER

WEBSITE

D aily economic challenges require forward-looking decisions. The German m:ut-symposium set an objective to solve entrepreneurial questions. One of the greatest environmental scientists of our time was the main speaker of the event: Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker is known for his courageous commitment for sustained economic growth in unison

WWW.MEDIEN-LOGE.DE

with environment protection. One of his main propositions is that with an increase of the efficiency of resources by a factor of 5 (80%), we can solve current global issues. In a quiet corner of the event he has answered several questions for our journalist Markus Köller. Read about von Weizsäckers concerns, his private life and how a better future can start today!

INTERVIEW WITHPROF. DR. VON WEIZSÄCKER

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

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Photo:(C) 2013 Ingo K

annenbäumer, M

EDIEN

LOG

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Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

Hardly ever. Well, I don’t think of myself as a brave man. I’m just courageous in facing opportunities of teach-

ing and changing indi-viduals by being quite frank in public speeches and presenting what I think is the right thing

to do. So if you´d call that kind of actions spirited, then perhaps I’m brave.

M.K. : Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker, today’s event is called „m:ut” which is the German word for „bravery”. When have you shown bravery in your life?

Photo:(C) 2013 Ingo Kannenbäumer, MEDIEN LOGE

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M.K. : Isn´t a retirement a way to show bravery, too? To me the age of 74 years seems like a good time to retire.

M.K. : A little guessing game: How many kWh (Kilowatt Hour) do you need to move a ten kilogram object on the top of Mount Everest?

Actually I find it more amusing to travel around the world and try to change peoples’ behav-ior by teaching them good science and phys-ics. Everybody I met so far was very interest-ed, listening and learn-ing from the things I

was saying, which I find important. So, my work is one way of enjoy-ing life. Of course I do enjoy life at home, too. As a matter of fact I have an agreement with my wife: in sum-mer we both have to call off all other exter-

nal obligations for four weeks. In this time we stay at a lovely lake resort in Austria and enjoy our togetherness. Christmas is another date, of course, when I enjoy staying with the whole family at our house.

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

Yes, very good! I love to ask people this ques-tion, because the answer is so astonishing! Every time I ask my students, the answer is every-thing between 300 kWh and a thousand kWh.

Actually the answer is just a quarter – which is absolutely astonish-ing! In this difference lies one of the hugest prob-lems of our society: our expectation of what a

kWh can do is roughly a thousand times less from what a kWh can do in reality. On this assumption, which depends on wrong physics, we are basing all of our estimates of

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M.K. : The increase of energy efficiency is the main point of your theory for a better future. Your goal is to raise the productivity of resources up to 80%. Here, at the m:ut symposium, are many German decision mak-ers. If I‘d tell them to increase energy efficiency about the amount of that percentage, they would call me crazy.

Well, actually this increase is just the beginning. So many people think I’m crazy, and if you call it brave

of me to propose such things, then indeed I’m brave. I find it com-pletely normal. It’s just good science, good

technology and correct physics.

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

energy demand. That is a scandal! The result of this misbelief is an immense wastefulness

in the use of energy. If protecting climate, environment and bio diversity requires less

consumption of energy, water and minerals, we better have to start with correct physics.

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M.K. : Do you really think your factor 5 thesis is a realistic approach to the climate issues?

Oh, absolutely! I always give examples in my speeches, which show the possibility of an increase in efficiency even by a factor of 10.

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

Photo:(C) 2013 Ingo Kannenbäumer, MEDIEN LOGE

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Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

You can define the connection with a ‘ping pong’ metaphor: If you raise productivity, you can get higher wages. If you raise wages, you have a stronger incen-tive to rationalize labor… So that’s the basis of our economic world. The same ping pong mechanism can be initi-ated in the energy effi-ciency section: Political decisions and develop-

ment has to become a ‘ping pong’ between resource productivity and resource prices. I often recommend-ed politics to increase resource prices exactly by the percentage that resource productiv-ity has been raised. So increase resource prices and productivity goes up, raise productivity and prices go up and so forth. This will go in a

ping pong mechanism, maybe it will be going for a hundred years. Of course it is easier to establish the ping pong mechanism between wages and labor pro-ductivity, because work-ers take to the street if they are unfairly paid. Whereas a kWh has no union, no lobby and remains silent in the corner without fighting for a higher price.

M.K. : How can politics encourage this development?

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M.K. : Here in Germany the prices for energy are already rising. But I heard the amount of energy being wasted – even CO2-Emission – is not going down. So a kind of opposite development is recognizable.

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

The increase of energy prices is very good for Germany. Nevertheless, as you said before, the emissions are rising.

This has a totally dif-ferent background: In the USA, a new method of raw materi-al production has been

discovered and is used for a short amount of time now: it is called FRACKING and is a method of extracting

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Process of Hydraulic fracturing (FRACKING)

natural gas from the ground. This production method has strikingly decreased the coal pric-es on the US-market. The solution of the coal producers was to sell the excess coal to Europe.And now they blame the Europeans for increas-ing their carbon emis-sions.

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M.K. : I think the current state of climate protection is perfectly explain-able with the so called „prisoner’s dilemma” – no one wants to move first, because the one who’s moving first is losing. So how do we start?

M.K. : Big goals need the support of everybody. Isn’t it very frustrating for you to watch the inconclusive debates between politicians and economists over the years? For instance, as with the debates at the last United Nations Climate Change Conference in Warsaw (Poland)?

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

Exactly. That’s the cur-rent mentality of the decision makers and the attitude of the cli-mate negotiators.

Nobody wants to move first. Part of my mes-sage is, you can over-come the situation of the prisoner’s dilem-

ma and move into the first-mover-advantage-situation, by improving resource productivity.

Of course it’s frustrat-ing sometimes. I also know that we’ve to be patient with long term developments, because the engagement for a better environment and especially for those changes is com-

ing in waves. About 10 years ago, after Al Gore published his INCONVENIENT TRUTH, everybody believed that climate protection had to be the first priority of every government. For example the British and

the German govern-ment were very active. Since then, the priority of environmental pro-tection has decreased in northern America and in Europe, too.

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M.K. : China is known as a “Climate Killer”, it barely ascended one rank up in THE CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX 20141 from the state “very poor” to “poor”. Do you think that this is an ongoing tendency?

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

I should think so. What many persons wouldn’t believe is that the good exception in the field of reducing CO2 Emissions is Asia. The „Climate Killer” label for China is a very wrong term,

because the Chinese are slowly facing the right direction. I mean, they managed things in 30 years, where we needed more than 100. By transferring this kind of development to the

actual goals in envi-ronmental and climatic protection ambitions, we can expect a fast and positive change in the country.

1 Cf.: http://germanwatch.org/en/7677

Benxi heavy steel industries in 2013 (China)

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M.K. : In comparison to China, how do you rate the activities of the United States of America regarding climate issues?

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

I think that President Obama’s ambitions are dichotomous. The top priority was to over-come the scandal of the northern American health insurance situ-ation: one quarter of the Americans has no health insurance. This 25% are simply dying if they are deadly sick, because they can’t afford medical treat-ment. So he consid-ered the overcoming of that scandal a higher priority than combat-ing climate change. The biggest problem is that the US-Senate, the American con-gress and the House of Representatives has been utterly conserva-

tive for many decades, maybe since the Reagan years, so hardly any progress can be expect-

ed. Sadly Obama gave up on his environmental ambitions in the end.

President Barack Obama

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My motivations are my children and grandchil-dren. They should get the possibility of having a better future.

M.K. : Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker, one last question: What is your inward urge? What is still driving you after a lifelong commitment for humanity and the planet?

Prof. Dr. von Weizsäcker

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THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONS ON GENETICS

BY

MADO MARTINEZ

WEBSITE

WWW.MADOMARTINEZ.COM

Lash out in anger, fall into a melancholy state, laugh, feel grate-ful, experience fear... Emotions are within the river of the state of mind that flow in the sea of our organism. Scientific studies suggest that what we feel influences the genetic printing of modifications that could determine the difference between a healthy life and one of illness.

Image courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeD

igitalPhotos.net

Epigenetics. The name literally means “genetic control” and com-pletely changed the idea of life sci-ences. In the last decade research has established that epigenetic patterns of DNA passing through genes are not definitive, ie, there are environmental influences such as nutrition, stress and emotions that can influence genes. One con-sequence of epigenetic modifica-tions is that changed genes can pass on to future generations.

approached the Public Biomedical Research Center in Barcelona. Here works Elaine Vieira, PhD, from the University of Uppsala in Sweden. She investigates chro-nobiology and has a post doctor-ate from the Karolisnka Institutet in Estocolmo and the Universidad Miguel Hernández. Apart from hav-ing a warm smile and the charm-ing disposition to collaborate with me, when I asked her if emotions can influence my genetics, she responded; Yes, much more than we imagine. Not only emotions, nutrition, the environment, too. How is this possible? The idea that our environmentcan alter our genes is not new and it has a name:

I

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES CAN INFLUENCE GENES

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I have always heard that eating food that contains harmful chemi-cals results in these chemicals being deposited in my body. Not only are these transmitted in the food chain, but also from parents to children for generations. Elaine opens the door to even more pos-sibilities.I called Doctor Luis Bardasano, biologist and physician, bioelectro-

magnetics specialist and Director of Medical Specialties at the Faculty of Medicine in Madrid. This great sage considers himself a neolamarckian and speaks very clearly about the relationship between emotions and genetics. Stress, for example, can be con-sidered from a neurochemical and neuroelectric viewpoint as an ele-ment that could alter, or modify,

YOU ACCLIMATIZE OR YOU ‘ACCLIMADIE’

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the genetic component of a cell when it exceeds certain conditions. What about the possibility that we pass on to our children the genet-ic modifications acquired by the influence of our emotions? Doctor Bardasano believes this is so, and he replies with a simple botanical example:

In life you acclimatize or you ‘accli-madie’. If you can acclimate, you pass your genes to your descen-dants. A plum tree that is sick but overcomes the illness gives the following year’s best and highest quality fruits, and consequently gives the best seeds with a great-er capacity to fight disease and become immune. The same happens between par-ents and children.

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To say that having a positive atti-tude and a cheerful disposition from childhood will mean a healthy life almost sounds like a fairy tale. So “good” emotions have good consequences and “bad” emotions have bad consequences.The famous Dr. Deepak Chopra, author of several diverse books, including Quantum Healing, explains how positive and nega-tive emotions influence the spread of disease and/or the acceleration of healing process or the opposite: The labyrinth of the mind-body connection is not so easy to solve. If we ask why a positive mind is not necessarily a promise of good health, when it would make sense, we realize that the answer lies in the definition we give to the word “ mind.” It is not a philosophical question, but a practical problem. If a patient comes to me with can-cer, at what point am I to judge his mental state on the day of diagno-sis, much earlier or much later? Dr. Lawrence LeShan, author of

pioneering studies in the fifties, established a relationship between feelings and cancer in childhood. He used to track his patients childhood to banish the black seed that poi-soned their psyche, thus defending a theory that there is a seed which

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EMOTIONS: HOW CAN THEY AFFECT OUR HEALTH?

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lies dormant in the subconscious for years before inducing the dis-ease. I myself treated a patient with lung cancer who could survive com-fortably for five years with a major injury in the lungs. There was no suspicion that the injury was cancerous but the cancer grad-ually arrived, and when I told him the diagnosis of lung can-cer, he pan-icked. After a month, he began to cough up blood and he died three months later. If it is true that his mental state helped pre-cipitate the events, he had to act fast. This patient could overcome his tumor, but not his diagnosis.

Amit Goswami is a the-oretical nuclear physi-cist and member of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Oregon, where he taught physics for 32 years. After a period of distress and anguish in his private and pro-

fessional life when he was 38, he became interested in quantum cosmological theory, quantum physics and

its applications to the mind-body problem. He is the author of, among other books, Quantum Doctor. Goswami con-firms experiences that demonstrate the pres-ence of subtle fields (when he refers to the chakras, we must take into account the tradition from which Goswami,

who received his doctorate in

Calcutta) in the human body. This brilliant mind nucle-ar theo-ry states that nega-tive emo-tions inter-

fere with the body’s internal

p rog ramming which affects the

immune system.

negative emotionsinterfere with the body’s

internal programming which affects

the immune system

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DNA FOR ALL: TO LAUGH OR TO CRY, THAT IS THE QUESTION

The scientist and engi-neer Gregg Braden, author of such excit-ing books as The Divine Matrix, has interesting theories. Considering various experiments performed

on DNA he suggests that there is an ener-gy field through which DNA is communicating with photons. He also says that living cells are recognized by a form of energy that is not

affected by distance or by time, an energy that exists everywhere and all the time. Curiously the results also shows that DNA changes shape according to the feelings of those whom they studied, depend-ing on if they feel fear, anger, stress, or relax-ation, love, joy, grati-tude or appreciation. It is worth mention-ing that experiments conducted in the Math Heart Institute con-firmed that individuals who were trained to feel a deep love were able to change the shape of their DNA. According to him, there is an energy similar to a closely knit network that connects all mat-ter, and that this net-work may be influenced by our vibrations.

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MUSIC FOR EMOTIONS

I contacted with Marco Antonio Diaz, direc-tor of Radio Evolution, dedicated to science and music. Could music affect our emotions? Regarding your question about whether there is a possibility that music and musical emotions

also affect our genetics, the answer would be obvious, he answered me. Exposing our state of mind to music can change our predisposi-tion into other direc-tions.Dan Winter, in fact,

explained about the study conducted by Manfred Clynes on emo-tions and pressure. The study generated a test where they put peo-ple in situations that have made them expe-rience several emotion-al responses and after

feeling the emotion, they pressed a button. The button recorded the changes in pres-sure on the button over time. Clynes realized that people pressed the same in China as in Mexico and in New York. The emotions we receive are transferred in a clear and concise way through our pres-sure, he explained. Therefore someone

playing a musical instru-ment produces the same emotional effect on the vast majority of people. Lets say that the sounds give shape to material, therefor that is why cymatics (the study of waves) shows that grains of sand that are moved by the vibrations of a speaker and as you increase the frequency emitted by the speaker,

the sand grains adopt more and more com-plex shapes. In biology it is exactly the same, and therefore we can say that emotions defi-nitely affect our genet-ics, they rebound and resonate to the state of our society, the planets and the stars, he con-cluded.

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MOTHER EMOTIONS: FEAR AND LOVE. CAN WE CONTROL OUR EMOTIONS?

Chinese tradition says the world of emotions translates into yin and yang. Indeed, Eastern wisdom establishes two mother emotions, from which all others derive: Fear and love. But can we control emo-tions? A psychological consultation can give me the answer. Years ago, in a discussion with Ana Moyano, psy-chologist in Alicante, we were faced with this challenge. What was it I was told by this woman? That emotions come from thoughts, but you can control what you think. It’s simple: Think of a red dinosaur. Have you thought about it? Great. Now think of a blue dinosaur. Yes? There you go. From this point of view, controlling our emotions is as easy as choosing what to think of every time. If you do not want to feel a sad emotion you have to replace the negative thinking that is causing it

GENERAL ADAPTION SYNDROME: YOU MAY BE STRESSED

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(stop thinking that I lost my job, for example) and replace it with a positive thought (think how good it feels to bask in the sun in the garden or how lucky I am to have good friends, for example) that will trigger a range of emotions in line with the vibration of thought.

Do you feel tense? You may be under much pressure, your inter-ests are blocked, you feel threat-ened, isolated, frustrated, and you feel forced to process many infor-mation in a little time during diffi-culties at work, or you could even feel surrounded by harmful envi-ronmental stimuli.Have you thought what to do to combat stress? No? Maybe you

should know that stress has a reason to battle your body and create conditions and diseases that arise that cause your body to stop work-ing. Why? Because stress is a natural and necessary response for your sur-

vival, a defense mech-anism against abuse of your life and the causes of negative emotions in your body. This authentic sol-dier called stress can unchain the serious health problems and pathological abnormali-

ties that impede your body. Or you lie in your grave. You choose.

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W W W . I S P E C T R U M M A G A Z I N E . C O M

“Fat cells need their sleep as well”

(Dr. Matthew Brady ,University of Chicago)