Damselz-In-Sanity

 Pizza or Pani Puri? KK or One Direction? Read a book or binge a TV show? We've all been confronted with 'crucial' life choices but many a time, when under pressure, it is common to feel paralysed; so yes, don't worry - you're not the only one. In fact, scientists have found that nearly 20% of the adult population suffers from this. Why? Let's find out! Researchers have found that the stability of preference-based decisions relies on the intensity of communication between two specific areas of the brain, rather than the strength of activation in individual brain regions. To investigate this, they employed transcranial alternating current stimulation, a non-invasive technique that modulates brain activity patterns. They reduced information flow between the prefrontal cortex (located just below the forehead) and the parietal cortex (above both ears) while participants made preference-based or sensory decisions about food. The study revealed that when the informati

 I promise this metaphor will make sense by the end of this post. Hello everyone and welcome backzo! We've all had friendships. We all have friendships. We all will have friendships. There's a reason I used the past and future tense here. Now this post is not going to be about the childhood friendships we've all grown up with and have been tight-knit since we were 4.  This post is going to be about those friendships which didn't last so long. Now I think we can all relate to the fact that we're not close to every single person we knew in 2nd grade. I, for a matter of fact, had invited my entire class for my birthday in 2nd and now I don't even follow half of them on social media. But let's jump to life during and post-high  school for a bit (thora aur relatable) High school: things start getting all mixed up. Everybody gets serious about their future – some are prepping for college entrances; some for the SAT. It's pretty much a given that you won't

 Disclaimer: Please take this post as a pinch of salt and a dash of humour. You may relate to this post but please do not use it as a base to self-diagnose. Hello hello everyone! We've heard of Boy Math; we've heard of Girl Math; some of us have even heard of "Dog Math" Welcome back to a fresh new month with ✨ADHD Math✨ ADHD math is hyper-focussing for 9 hours straight when you crack a concept but not being able to sit still for 2 minutes when it doesn't interest you in the least (despite a heavy deadline that you blissfully procrastinated because "you work well under pressure") ADHD math is breaking down 40 pages into 2 20's; 20 into 2 10's; 10 into 2 5's and saying: Okay, if I do 5 pages at a sitting thoroughly and take a break after, I should be done in 8 sittings.  And then you reach the 35th page and the task is basically over (only 5 more pages, I'll do it later: the 8th sitting never made its way) ADHD math is thinking: The toast w

 Hello everyone and welcome back! Today's faltu-friday blog may be slightly eccentric as opposed to my previous posts. This time, it's not going to be me speaking of a topic myself, but rather, one which I encourage you to speak up on. Do you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears?  So, I request you to drop your comments (either private or public) on the quote above. Signing off, Kuhu :)

 Have you ever simply thought of a product and it randomly pops onto your Instagram feed? Welcome to ✨Neuromarketing✨ Let's break the term down first. Neuro: concerning the brain Marketing: Well yes, promoting a product or service. The field of neuromarketing—aka consumer neuroscience—studies the brain to predict and maybe even manipulate consumer behaviour and decision-making.  As simple as that.  In the past, decision-making used to be uncomplicated. However, in today's world, consumers are overwhelmed with information, and even the most basic products are surrounded by countless options. Marketers are trying to understand the customer, what they are looking for, and changing their outlook towards a particular product. Let me give you 2 examples to simplify this concept: There are more than 200 different brands of bottled water available in India. Why does someone prefer a Bisleri to Dasani? Can this preference be generalised? There is no single, straightforward answer to thi

(Don't be this person!)  Hello hello and welcome backzo! Last week, I covered the topic, 'Science of Bragging' , and as promised, today's blog is on how to address one.  (Because obviously, problem ke baad solution dena padta hai; customary) Anywhoo, here are a few of my reflections from experiences and I hope you all can relate to and also incorporate them into your lives :) Without further ado, Let's get to it! 1) Listen politely and change the subject or leave when you can Do it naturally and sincerely. Don't try to come off as overly disinterested and apathetic to show them how uninterested you are. Just be friendly and engaged enough, let them finish their self-promotion, and then change the topic or excuse yourself. Even if they're trying to put you down, playing it cool and being polite can often work well. Just smile and nod, as if they're sharing some random piece of information. Don't let them see that they're getting to you. 2) Call th

 Heilo heilo and welcome backzo! Aaj ka blog is based on something that I, you, and literally every other person has dealt with; and maybe even endorsed (it's alright - trial and error process ya!) ✨Bragging✨ Now some of us may have done it intentionally; others, unintentionally; and a third category does it so much that you forget that you're doing it in the first place! It's sort of like lying. You lie once, you lie a 100 times. None of us like to speak to a vain boaster, but sometimes, we're too quick to judge.  So, in today's post, let's break down the science of bragging: Why do people brag? Simply put, to mask themselves. 90% of the time, people who brag are in reality, unknowingly, insecure about themselves and so they find a need to validate themselves by putting others down; or raising their level. More fancily put, braggers monopolize a conversation, paint a distorted picture of their lives, and use good news to justify their inflated sense of self-wor

(Picture Credits: The New York Times)  Hello everyone and aaj ke #faltufriday blog post mei aap ka swaagat hai. Today's post is a literal shower thought but I thought it might be really cool so yay :) (Okay okay I'll get a bit more formal now) Music, as we all know, holds the power to influence us. We connect with it because it connects with us - our life story. So, today's blog is going to be me sharing some of my favourite (and yours!) mental health-related lyrics' of songs :) (Just a friendly reminder that everyone has their own unique taste in music, so let's respect each other's preferences!) And I won't be sharing "my thoughts" or anything on it - I'll leave the interpretation up to you! Let's go :) I used to float, now I just fall down I used to know but I'm not sure now What I was made for What was I made for?                                                                 ~Billie Eilish (What was I made for) You showed me a pow

 It's 2am. You're at your study desk with a cup of coffee at your side. You sailed through Matrices; hit a slight bump at derivatives but managed it through and now are entering the most daunting task of them all: Integration. Your only sense of motivation: The Hum Honge Kaamyaab Spotify playlist consisting of Lakshya Title Track and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag Rock version on loop. It's 6am. Congratulations! You successfully fell asleep midway through Partial Fractions! This is what actually happened to me a day before a Math exam :) And you can most probably relate to listening to music while doing math too <3 Because musical transposing involves mental adjustment of notes up or down by a specific amount, it shares cognitive elements with math! Listening to Music while studying Math can be beneficial because, at some level, all music is math. It's about time signatures, beats per minute and formulaic progressions. (Perhaps that's the reason behind the Asian-piano stereo

 I cried after my 10th Grade board exams ended. More recently, I cried once HFSMUN (my school's flagship event) ended. Now before you label me a 'cry baby' or assume that this is the end of my blog (sns not anytime soon!), let me clarify: This post isn't about promoting the benefits of crying (we've already covered that in another blog post ). Instead, my main focus will be on the feeling of "It's All Over", and how to bounce back from such moments. Do you ever feel like you spend so much time, so much hard work over something and suddenly it's over? Countless hours working towards a particular goal and it's done. Like khatam?  And this feeling is even more prominent when it's something you've had on your personal bucket list for the longest time; it's a passion; or a dream. (Okay enough with the emphasis - you get it) This feeling - I have no better way of putting it - sucks. This blog (I hope) serves as the much-needed pep talk w