Response to an article relating Psychology

I liked essay, "Brain Scans Can Predict Weight Gain and Sexual Activity, Research Shows," from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120417221952.htm
because it proves how the brain is related to pretty much everything you do in life and how you function daily.

I'm learning more about psychology right now, and in particular what I'm wondering about is: How can the function of the brain trigger physical appearances. I was researching this question online, and this article caught my attention because it showed by using brain scans, you can even predict the amount of weight someone could gain. I thought this was very amazing, because first of all, scientists were able to discover this and second of all that, the brain can be the key to so many factors of the human body.

"At a time when obesity has become epidemic in American society, Dartmouth scientists have found that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans may be able to predict weight gain. In a study published April 18, 2012, in The Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers demonstrated a connection between fMRI brain responses to appetite-driven cues and future behavior.
"This is one of the first studies in brain imaging that uses the responses observed in the scanner to predict important, real-world outcomes over a long period of time," says Todd Heatherton, the Lincoln Filene Professor in Human Relations in the department of psychological and brain sciences and a coauthor on the study. "Using brain activity to predict a consequential behavior outside the scanner is pretty novel."

Dartmouth College. "Brain scans can predict weight gain and sexual activity, research shows." ScienceDaily, 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012.

The quote I chose here is basically saying how the scanning of specific parts of the brain can lead to much more information on the characteristics of the human body. The researchers surveyed many people and thought this new idea was accurate enough to be considered.

I think this is just amazing how your brain can correlate with so many other things. It makes me wonder if scientists will ever discover anything else and maybe discover secrets on psychology and the behavior of humans.

Another sentence that wrote that stands out for me is: "The researchers note that the first step toward controlling cravings may be an awareness of how much you are affected by specific triggers in the environment, such as the arrival of the dessert tray in a restaurant.
"You need to actively be thinking about the behavior you want to control in order to regulate it," remarks Kelley. "Self-regulation requires a lot of conscious effort."" I think this is very interesting because it shows how behavior using the brain is the key of making decisions and being successful, as well as healthy.

What I appreciate about this writer's work is that he supports facts with advice and easy to undersand example while dealing with complex things like brain scanning. I look forward to seeing what he writes next, because subjects like these are not only interesting, but important. Its great to learn more about the human body and basically, understand the full meaning and behavior of different people.