Continued from here where we've been talking science stuff ...

While we're thinking and learning, how about pondering this for a while?

Researchers have been able to "decode" secret intentions ... those hidden thoughts that may or may not come true ... by looking at brain activity.

It has never before been possible to read out of brain activity how a person has decided to act in the future. The trick by which the invisible is made visible lies in a new method called "multivariate pattern recognition". A computer is programmed to recognize characteristic activation patterns in the brain that typically occur in association with specific thoughts. Once this computer has been "trained" it can be used to predict the decisions of subjects from their brain activity alone. An important technical innovation also lies in combining information across extended regions of the brain to strongly increase sensitivity.

The study also reveals fundamental principles about the way the brain stores intentions.

Wow. Trippy!

And here's something most of us are familiar with ... assuming, of course, we can remember such things ... the influence of the menstrual cycle on the human brain.

Although some husbands may think it's their human brain taking the brunt of menstrual impact, it is actually women who get sideswiped by the hormonal train wreck that is the "monthly".

As this article states: Estrogens and progesterone are not just sex hormones that influence ovulation and reproduction; they also affect a large number of cognitive and affective functions.

Ain' t that the truth.

If you're coming to the end of your days of monthly menstruals, here's some new info on those so very annoying an uncomfortable hot flashes.

From HRT to vitamin E to antidepressants to soy and herbal remedies, there's information here for the reading. Unfortunately, it does come down to advice about 'dressing in layers' and other trot-out-the-trite jabber that makes me wish men went through this, too. If they did, I'm certain the world would have a cheap and widely available solution.

And as women we don't just get the periods and all the upheavals they bring with them, followed by menopausal miseries, according to this, if we have a gene called Leukotriene C4 Synthase (LTC4S), or its variant, we're also likely to have heart disease.

The gene has been known for a while to be linked to asthma, but there is now direct evidence that it is also tied to heart disease in grown women. Although not much help to me and those like me, it may be very good news for our daughters.

"This is one of the first studies to track the development of heart disease in young people and not the aftermath of the disease in older populations," said David Iovannisci, Ph.D., Assistant Staff Scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute. "Our research provides critical clues to help us identify people who are susceptible to heart disease long before the disease presents itself and when treatments may be most effective."