Word: alertness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...most basic steps to reduce workplace interruption. In the Basex study, 55% of workers surveyed said they open e-mail immediately or shortly after it arrives, no matter how busy they are. "Most people don't even think about turning off the dinger," says Spira, who turned off the alert sound on his e-mail nine years ago with no regrets. "We can't control ourselves when it comes to limiting technological intrusions...
...ordered up a story on the question of whether caffeine makes you smarter. And without a latte?with three shots of espresso today instead of the regular two?I wouldn't feel equal to the task. Experience tells me that a strong dose of caffeine inevitably makes me more alert, focused, quick-witted, clever. As far as I'm concerned, the case is already closed...
...disappointing teammates, fear of being unworthy?the circuit starts to resemble the classic fight-or-flight response. In the perform-or-perish version, anxious thoughts trigger the release of adrenaline, the hormone that sets the heart racing, primes the muscles to run and puts all the senses on alert. The eyes slip into tunnel vision?the last thing a quarter-back needs when he's relying on peripheral perception to spot a waiting receiver...
...drugs that enhance mental performance?popularly known as smart drugs. Nootropes aren't new. Amphetamines, first synthesized by a German chemist in 1887 and used in over-the-counter inhalers by the 1920s, were doled out generously during World War II to Allied and German troops to keep them alert. Military pilots still take dextroamphetamine, or go pills, to stay in fighting form on long missions. But in the post-Viagra era, many neurologists believe?and ethicists fear?that scientific advances and social changes may have set the stage for a new age of cosmetic nootropy...
...latest addition to that budding pharmacopoeia is a narcolepsy drug called modafinil that was approved two years ago to help shift workers stay alert. And there's a lot more in the pipeline. Neurologists have made rapid progress unraveling the molecular underpinnings of memory and attention, and drug companies are testing dozens of compounds derived from those discoveries to treat cognitive ailments like Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia...