Gloomy days are good for Brain!!

These days, when a person sets out to research something, you can be assured that s/he can prove anything after spending a few days with the data collected. One of my hardcore beliefs about statistics and 'scientific' research is best expressed by this following quote:

"Numbers are also like people. If you torture them enough, they will tell you what you want to hear..."

So, our researchers come out with vague findings and sprinkle their report with numbers, percentages, percentiles and what not, and you have to admit that probably, what they are saying is true. Or, at least, you can't put your finger what is incorrect - on the face of it.

Recently, just last week, I read this research article, which says that gloomy days and sadness are good for brain. Read it below.

"
Every cloud seems to really have a silver lining, for a new study has claimed that gloomy days are good for the brain.

An international team has carried out the study and found that while wet weather makes people feel gloomy, it also sharpens the memory and improves recall power -- while those who feel good as it's sunny are able to remember less well.

"It seems counter-intuitive but a little bit of sadness is a good thing. People performed much better on our memory test when the weather was unpleasant and they're in a slightly negative mood. On bright sunny days, when they were more likely to be happy and carefree, they flunked it," Prof Joe Forgas, who led the study, was quoted by the Daily Mail.

For their study, the researchers at the University of New South Wales School of Psychology carried out tests on on shoppers at a store in Sydney.

They randomly placed ten small ornamental objects on the check-out counter, which included plastic animal figures, a toy cannon, a pink piggy bank and four small matchbox-sized vehicles, including a red London bus and a tractor.

On rainy days, sad music was played in the store including requiems or slow pieces by Chopin. And, when it was bright and sunny, customers heard cheery music such as Bizet's Carmen and Gilbert and Sullivan tunes.

This was done to further influence them towards negative or positive moods. After shopping, customers were asked how many of the objects they could remember. The scores were three times higher when the weather was bad and they were feeling grumpy, compared with those tested on sunny days.

"We predicted and found that weather-induced negative mood improved memory accuracy. Shoppers in a negative mood showed better memory and higher discrimination ability," Prof
Forgas said.

The findings have been published in the 'Journal of Experimental Psychology'."

Now, all we have to do to improve the memory of our kids before they go for these exams is to make them gloomy and play sad songs? Rubbish. I am cancelling my subscription to this journal of experimental psychology...