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Friday, July 27, 2012

Benefits of Waking Up Early & Tips for waking up early


“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” – Ben Franklin 

Getting up early is not easy for so many persons. But if they practice this good habit there are many benefits associated with it.The benefits of waking up early are myriad. It doesn’t take much to change your lifestyle to avail these benefits. After all, personal and professional well-being, and ultimate success are what everyone seeks. 

1. Time to Exercise

Waking up early gives you the time to exercise. You can easily go for a jog, do a few laps in the pool, practice yoga or hit the gym with plenty of time at hand.

2. Time to Meditate

There is nothing like beginning the day with a dose of meditation. It will help calm your mind and sharpen your reflexes to keep you going through your busy schedule of work.


3. Experience the Charm of Early Morning

Only an early morning person knows the charm and serenity that those hours offer. The silence, the birds chirping, the absence of cars honking, and the sunrise are all advantages only early rising can offer.

4. Increase Productivity and Efficiency

A study conducted at the Texas University in 2008 revealed that early risers are more prone to be productive and efficient at work. In fact, students who wake up early are known to get higher grades than those who wake up late.

5. Eating Breakfast

Breakfast is known to be the most important meal of the day. Often, you may land up skipping it if you are running late for work. An early start to the day ensures that this significant meal is never given the slip.

How to Become an Early Riser
  • Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.
  • Allow yourself to sleep earlier. You might be used to staying up late, perhaps watching TV or surfing the Internet. But if you continue this habit, while trying to get up earlier, sooner or later one is going to give. And if it is the early rising that gives, then you will crash and sleep late and have to start over. I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll sleep, and read while in bed. If you’re really tired, you just might fall asleep much sooner than you think.
  • Put your alarm clock far from you bed. If it’s right next to your bed, you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it’s far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just have to stay up.
  • Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the room. My habit is to stumble into the bathroom and go pee. By the time I’ve done that, and flushed the toilet and washed my hands and looked at my ugly mug in the mirror, I’m awake enough to face the day.
  • Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.
  • Have a good reason. Set something to do early in the morning that’s important. This reason will motivate you to get up. I like to write in the morning, so that’s my reason. Also, when I’m done with that, I like to read all of your comments!
  • Make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early. A good reward is to make a hot cup of coffee or tea and read a book. Other rewards might be a tasty treat for breakfast (smoothies! yum!) or watching the sunrise, or meditating. Find something that’s pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of your morning routine.
  • Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to read your blogs, unless that’s a major goal of yours. Don’t wake up early and waste that extra time. Get a jump start on your day! I like to use that time to get a head start on preparing my kids’ lunches, on planning for the rest of the day , on exercising or meditating, and on reading.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Cholera Breakout,its Prevention and Control




Today(23.7.2012) it is reported in the News that 70 persons in Chennai are hospitalised with severe diarrhoea, a symptom of Cholera and one person is reported to be dead. It is also reported in the newspaper(The Times of India,Chennai dt.23.7.2012) that the unclean city could face the cholera very soon. It is better to know about the disease and it prevention and control.


What is Cholera Disease?

  • Cholera disease causes a lot of watery diarrhea and vomiting
  • Cholera diarrhea can look like cloudy rice water
  • Cholera can cause death from dehydration (the loss of water and salts from the body) within hours if not treated

*Cholera is an infection in the small intestine caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae

The main symptoms are profuse, watery diarrhea and vomiting
Transmission occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by the feces of an infected person, including one with no apparent symptoms. The severity of the diarrhea and vomiting can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, and death in some cases. 


The primary treatment isoral rehydration therapy, typically with oral rehydration solution (ORS), to replace water and electrolytes. If this is not tolerated or does not provide improvement fast enough, intravenous fluids can also be used. 


Antibacterial drugs are beneficial in those with severe disease to shorten its duration and severity. Worldwide, it affects 3–5 million people and causes 100,000–130,000 deaths a year as of 2010. Cholera was one of the earliest infections to be studied by epidemiological methods.



How is Cholera Spread?

  • Cholera germs are found in the feces (poop) of infected people
  • Cholera is spread when feces (poop) from an infected person gets into the water people drink or the food people eat
  • Cholera is not likely to spread directly from one person to another

Prevention and Control

The risk for cholera is very low for people visiting areas with epidemic cholera. When simple precautions are observed, contracting the disease is unlikely.

What to do if you think that you or someone in your family has cholera

  • If you have oral rehydration solution (ORS), start taking it now; it can save your life
  • Go immediately to the nearest health facility. Continue to drink ORS at home and while you travel to get treatment
  • Continue to breastfeed your baby if they have watery diarrhea, even when traveling to get treatment


All people (visitors or residents) in areas where cholera is occurring or has occurred should be aware of the basic cholera facts and observe five basic cholera prevention recommendations.
Five Basic Cholera Prevention Messages
  1. Drink and use safe water*
    • Bottled water with unbroken seals and canned/bottled carbonated beverages are safe to drink and use
    • Use safe water to brush your teeth, wash and prepare food, and to make ice
    • Clean food preparation areas and kitchenware with soap and safe water and let dry completely before reuse
    *Piped water sources, drinks sold in cups or bags, or ice may not be safe and should be boiled or treated with chlorine. 

    To be sure water is safe to drink and use:
    • Boil it or treat it with a chlorine product or household bleach
    • If boiling, bring your water to a complete boil for at least 1 minute
    • To treat your water with chlorine, use one of the locally available treatment products and follow the instructions. For a list of products distributed by country, visit CDC’s Safe Water System website
    • If a chlorine treatment product is not available, you can treat your water with household bleach. Add 8 drops of household bleach for every 1 gallon of water (or 2 drops of household bleach for every 1 liter of water) and wait 30 minutes before drinking
    • Always store your treated water in a clean, covered container
  1. Wash your hands often with soap and safe water*
    • Before you eat or prepare food
    • Before feeding your children
    • After using the latrine or toilet
    • After cleaning your child’s bottom
    • After taking care of someone ill with diarrhea
    * If no soap is available, scrub hands often with ash or sand and rinse with safe water.
  2. Use latrines or bury your feces (poop); do not defecate in any body of water
    • Use latrines or other sanitation systems, like chemical toilets, to dispose of feces
    • Wash hands with soap and safe water after defecating
    • Clean latrines and surfaces contaminated with feces using a solution of 1 part household bleach to 9 parts water
    What if I don’t have a latrine or chemical toilet?
    • Defecate at least 30 meters away from any body of water and then bury your feces
    • Dispose of plastic bags containing feces in latrines, at collection points if available, or bury it in the ground. Do not put plastic bags in chemical toilets
    • Dig new latrines or temporary pit toilets at least a half-meter deep and at least 30 meters away from any body of water
  3. Cook food well (especially seafood), keep it covered, eat it hot, and peel fruits and vegetables*
    • Boil it, Cook it, Peel it, or Leave it
    • Be sure to cook shellfish (like crabs and crayfish) until they are very hot all the way through
    *Avoid raw foods other than fruits and vegetables you have peeled yourself.
  4. Clean up safely—in the kitchen and in places where the family bathes and washes clothes
    • Wash yourself, your children, diapers, and clothes, 30 meters away from drinking water sources.
   Source:http://www.cdc.gov/cholera/prevention.html    

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Health benefits of Neem Tree


 

Neem is a fast-growing tree that can reach a height of 15-20 m (about 50-65 feet), rarely to 35-40 m (115-131 feet). It is evergreen but in severe drought it may shed most or nearly all of its leaves. The branches are wide spread. The fairly dense crown is roundish or oval and may reach the diameter of 15-20 m in old, free-standing specimens.
  
The tree is native to Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. This amazing tree is claimed to treat forty different diseases. All the parts of the tree is used for treating illness, the leaves, fruit, seeds and even the bark all contain medicinal properties.
The use of neem as a medicinal herb dates back over 5,000 years. Today it’s benefits have been proven by scientific research and clinical trials. And, although few of us have access to a neem tree, it can be purchased in the form of oil, powder and pills.
To give you an idea of the healing powers of the neem tree, here are a few names that the people of India have given it, “Divine Tree”, “Village Pharmacy”, “Heal All” and “Nature’s Drugstore”. With the almost ending list of uses for neem, I think it could be called, ” The Tree of Life”!
DIABETES
In treating diabetes, neem has been found to actually reduce the insulin requirements by as much as 50% without altering the blood glucose levels. Take 3 to 5 drops internally each day.
BLOOD DISEASES
Neem cleanses the blood, stimulates antibody protection and strengthens the immune system which improves the bodies resistance to many diseases.
MOUTH INFECTIONS
Used as a mouth wash it treats infections, mouth ulcers, bleeding sore gums and will even help prevent tooth decay!
PINK EYES
For pink eye the juice of neem leaves can be used as eye drops, warm 5-10 ml and apply several drops.
JAUNDICE
To treat jaundice, mix 30 ml of neem juice with 15 ml of honey, take on an empty stomach for seven days.
BURNING SENSATIONS
If you suffer from burning sensations and excessive sweating, add 5 to 10 drops of neem oil in a glass of milk before going to bed.
ACNE
For acne problems take 2 capsules twice daily, you will start to see results within a few days.


SINUSITIS
For sinusitis, plain pure neem oil can be used as nasal drops. Use tow drops twice daily, morning and evening.
ATHLETES FOOT
For athletes foot, soak feet in warm water with 15 ml of neem oil.
EAR-ACHES
Neem oil will quickly stop earaches, just warm some oil and apply a few drops into the ear.
LICES
To kill head lice, neem oil should be massaged into the scalp and left on over night. Shampoo your hair as usual the next morning.
INFLUENZA
Drinking neem tea during an outbreak of influenza will help alleviate some of the symptoms and speed up the recovery time.
HEAD-ACHES
For headaches neem powder should be applied to the forehead, neem oil should also work in combating headaches when used the same way.
KIDNEY PROBLEMS
Blood disorders such as blood poisoning, kidney problems and poor circulation have been benefited by the use of neem.
OTHER BENEFITS
Neem is highly effective in treating gastritis, indigestion and heartburn. With all of the countless medicinal benefits that are already provided with the use of neem, it is also being studied very closely for a treatment for AIDS, cancer, allergies, diabetes and both male and female forms of birth control!
Neem oil should be stored in a cool dark place, if the oil solidifies it can be placed in warm water to bring back to liquid form.


P.S. Do not use this oil if you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant (research indicates that when ingested, this oil prevented implantation & had an abortionist effect as per wikipedia. Although we are using it topically, it’s probably still better to be safe than sorry).

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

It is good to know!!!


Buttons

Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?

A: When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right!  And that's where women's buttons have remained since.

Mayday

Q: Why do ships and aircraft use 'mayday' as their call for help?

A: This comes from the French word m'aidez -meaning 'help me' -- and is pronounced, approximately, 'mayday.'
Tennis court
 
Q: Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?
A: In France , where tennis became popular, round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'egg.' When tennis was introduced in the US ,  Americans (mis)pronounced it 'love.'

Q. Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?
A: In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.

Q: Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'?
A: In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing,he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.
Clinking Glasses
Q: Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?
A: It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host.. Both men would drink it simultaneously.  When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host's glass with his own.

Q: Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?

A:Invented in 1825,limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre,a performer 'in the limelight' was the centre of attention.

Q: Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?
A: Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.
Caddie
Q: In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?
A. When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl,Louis, King of France , learned that she loved the Scots game 'golf.' So he had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned  (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced  'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into 'caddie.

Piggy coin box
Q: Why are many coin banks shaped like pigs?
A: Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.' When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container that resembled a pig. And it caught on.
Q: Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches (milling), while pennies and nickels do not?
A: The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Unique places of Worship of the World !

The history of architecture of places of Worship  rich and varied, and this suggests that it began with the construction of  places of Worship    and distributed all architectural innovations, all styles and directions. 


As of today we can admire the preserved places of worship of the great civilizations of the ancient world, as well as new models of amazing religious structures. We can view below 20 Unique places of Worship of the world. 


01.Cadet Chapel U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado.







02.. Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, Colombia. Previously, there was a mine, in which the Indians extracted salt.




03. Cathedral of Our Lady in tears, the city of Syracuse, Italy.




04. Church of St. Joseph - the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, built the Church of St. Joseph's in Chicago.




05. Church of St.. George is in the Ethiopian town of Lalibela. Built in the 13th century and goes into the ground at 25 meters.





06. The church comfort, Cordoba (Spain). Designed in the past year.




07. Cathedral - Basilica of Glorious small Bogomateri.Eto the highest in Latin America, the Catholic Cathedral: its height is 114 m + 10 m cross on top.




08. Grundtvig Church in Copenhagen, Denmark. Construction of the church lasted from 1921 to 1926.




09. Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Brazil.




10. Stavkirka in Borgunne, Norway. Metal parts in the construction were not used.






11. Paraportiani Church, Mykonos Island, Greece. The temple was built in 15-17 centuries.




12. Church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. 
Because of the complexity of manufacturing of masonry structures, the cathedral will be able to finish no earlier than 2026.




13. Milan Cathedral. It was built over five centuries.




14. St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square is located in the Moskve.yl built in 1555-1561 by order of Ivan the Terrible.




15. Jubilee Church, Rome. It was built in 1996-2003.





                                                                             

16. Notre-Dame-du-O in the French city Ronshan. Tourists coming to see the church become a major source of income ronshantsev.




17. Las Lajas Cathedral, Colombia. Construction of the temple on the 30-meter arch bridge was completed in 1948.




18. Hatlgrimskirkya in Reykjavik, Iceland. The construction of this church took 38 years.




19. St. Michael's Monastery, Kiev. It is believed that St. Michael's Cathedral was the first temple with a gilt top, from which went to Russia, this kind of tradition.




20. Chapel of the crown of thorns, Arkansas, USA. The building has 425 windows.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

10 Amazing Facts about Brain


    

About  Brain:
Your brain has three main components: the cerebrum (which consists of the left and right cerebral hemispheres), the cerebellum and the brain stem. The cerebral hemispheres of the brain make up the largest part of your brain. The cerebellum is the structure located behind the brain stem, and the brain stem is the lowest section of the brain and is connected to the spinal cord.
The central structures of the brain are the thalamus, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland. The thalamus relays sensory information to the cerebrum; the hypothalamus helps regulate body functions such as thirst and appetite, as well as sleep, aggression, and sexual behavior; and the pituitary gland produces hormones that play a role in growth, development, and various other physiological variables. The pons, medulla, and midbrain are the three structures that compose the brain stem. The ventricles are natural cavities inside the brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid.
Source: AMA's Current Procedural Terminology, Revised 1998 Edition.

I want to share the following interesting facts about our brain. The information is received by me by way of email from one of my friends. 

1.Your brain uses less power than your refrigerator light
The brain uses 12 watts of power. Over the course of a day, your brain uses the amount of energy contained in two large bananas. 

Curiously, even though the brain is very efficient, it's an energy hog. It is only 3 per cent of the body's weight, but consumes 1/6 (17 per cent) of the body's total energy. Most of its energy costs go into maintenance; the added cost of thinking hard is barely noticeable.

2. Frequent jet lag can damage memory
Jet lag is not simply annoying; in repeated doses it can be dangerous to your brain's health. 

People who often cross many time zones can experience brain damage and memory problems. This probably results from the stress hormones released during jet lag that are known to damage the temporal lobe and memory. 

You probably don't need to worry because, unless you work for an airline, few people fly across multiple time zones more often than every two weeks. Shift workers are more likely to be at risk. 

Like repeated jet travel, frequent drastic changes in working hours are likely to cause stress on the body and brain.

3. Why you can't hear phone conversations in a noisy room
Talking on your mobile phone in a noisy place can be difficult. Your mobile makes the brain's task harder by feeding sounds from the room you're in through its circuitry and mixing them with the sound it gets from the other phone. This makes it a harder problem for your brain to solve because your friend's transmitted voice and the room noise are tinny and mixed together in one source. 

Cover the mouthpiece when you're trying to hear your caller and you'll stop the mixing.

4. Shoot-'em-up video games can help you to multitask
Sustained multitasking increases your ability to pay attention to many things at the same time. A significant source of practice is playing action video games where the aim is to shoot as many enemies as possible before they shoot you. These games make you distribute attention across the screen, and quickly detect and react to events. 

Playing Tetris (an early puzzle-based video game) doesn't have the same effect, perhaps because you have to concentrate on only one object at a time, rather than multitask. 

Does this mean that you should encourage your kids to play shoot-'em-up action games? We wouldn't go out of our way to expose kids to violent images, but at least you can take heart that video game-playing has positive effects.
5. The brain has a joke centre
Humour is hard to define, but we know it when we see it. One theory suggests that humour consists of a surprise - we don't end up where we thought we were going - followed by a reinterpretation of what came earlier to make it fit the new perspective.

To make it a joke instead of a logic puzzle, the result needs to be a coherent story that isn't strictly sensible in everyday terms. 

Some patients with damage to the frontal lobe of their brain, particularly on the right side, don't get jokes at all. Typically, this is because they have trouble with the reinterpretation stage of the process. For instance, given a joke with a choice of punchlines, they can't tell which one is funny.

6. There's a reason you remember those annoying songs

Having a song or, more often, part of a song stuck in your head is incredibly frustrating. But sequence recall has a special and useful place in our memories. 
We constantly have to remember sequences, from the movements involved in signing our name or making coffee in the morning, to the names of the exits that come before the motorway turn-off we take to drive home every day.

The ability to recall these sequences makes many aspects of everyday life possible. As you think about a snippet of song or speech, your brain may repeat a sequence that strengthens the connections associated with that phrase. In turn, this increases the likelihood that you will recall it, which leads to more reinforcement.
You could break this unending cycle of repeated recall and reinforcement - which may be necessary for the normal strengthening and cementing of memories - by introducing other sequences. Thinking of another song may allow a competing memory to crowd out the first one: find another infectious song and hope that the cure doesn't become more annoying than the original problem.
7. Sunlight makes you sneeze
Many people sneeze when they look into bright light. Why would we have such a reflex and how does it work? The basic function of a sneeze is fairly obvious: it expels substances or objects that are irritating your airways. The sneezing centre is located in the brainstem, in a region called the lateral medulla; damage to this site means that we lose the ability to sneeze.

Sneezing usually is triggered by news of an irritant that is sent through brain pathways and into the lateral medulla. This information gets to the brain from the nose through several nerves, including the trigeminal nerve, which carries a wide variety of signals from the face into the brainstem. It's a really crowded nerve, which might explain why bright light could induce a sneeze. 

A bright light, which would normally be expected to trigger pupil contraction, might also spill over to neighbouring sites, such as nerve fibres or neurons that carry nose-tickling sensations.
8. You can't tickle yourself
When doctors examine a ticklish patient, they place his or her hand over theirs to prevent the tickling sensation. Why does this work? Because no matter how ticklish you may be, you can't tickle yourself.

This is because your brain keeps your senses focused on what's happening in the world; important signals aren't drowned out in the endless buzz of sensations caused by your actions. For instance, we are unaware of the feel of a chair and the texture of our socks, yet we immediately notice a tap on our shoulder.
To accomplish this goal, some brain region must be able to generate a signal that distinguishes our touch from someone else's. The cerebellum, or “little brain”, may be the answer. It is about 1/8 of our total brain size - a little smaller than our fist - and weighs about 4oz (113g). It is also the best candidate that scientists have for the part of the brain that predicts the sensory consequences of our own actions.
The cerebellum is in an ideal location for distinguishing expected from unexpected sensations. If a prediction matches the actual sensory information, then the brain knows that it's safe to ignore the sensation because it's not important. If reality does not match the prediction, then something surprising has happened - and you might need to pay attention.
9. Yawns wake up the brain
Although we associate yawning with sleepiness and boredom, its function appears to be to wake us up. Yawning expands our pharynx and larynx, allowing large amounts of air to pass into our lungs; oxygen then enters our blood, making us more alert. Many vertebrates do it, including all mammals and perhaps birds. It also has been observed in human foetuses after just 12 weeks of gestation. In non human primates, it is associated with tense situations and potential threats.

Think of yawns as your body's attempt to reach full alertness in situations that require it. They are contagious, as anyone who has attempted to teach a roomful of bored students knows. No one is sure why, though it might be advantageous to allow individuals quickly to transmit to one another a need for increased arousal. They are not contagious in non primate mammals, but the ability to recognise a yawn may be fairly general: dogs yawn in response to stressful situations and are thought to use yawning to calm others. You can even sometimes calm your dog by yawning.
10. Altitude makes the brain see strange visions
Many religions involve special visions that occurred at great heights. For example, Moses encountered a voice emanating from a burning bush on Mount Sinai and Muhammad was visited by an angel on Mount Hira. Commonly reported spiritual experiences include feeling and hearing a presence, seeing a figure, seeing lights (sometimes emanating from a person) and being afraid.

Similar phenomena are reported by mountain climbers, a group generally not thought to be very mystical. Could it be something about the mountains? Acute mountain sickness occurs above altitudes of 8,000ft (2,400m). Many of the effects are attributable to the reduced supply of oxygen to the brain. At 8,000ft or higher, some mountaineers report perceiving unseen companions, seeing light emanating from themselves or others, seeing a second body like their own, and suddenly feeling emotions such as fear. Oxygen deprivation is likely to interfere with brain regions active in visual and face processing, and in emotional events.