"When we looked at people who were heavy-drinking smokers, we found that for every 10 years that they aged their brains aged the equivalent of 12 years," Hagger-Johnson said. "Our research shows that cognitive decline was 36 per cent faster in those people who reported both cigarette smoking and drinking alcohol above the recommended limits (14 units per week for women, 21 units per week for men)," said lead researcher Dr Gareth Hagger-Johnson. Among smokers, cognitive decline was found to be faster as the number of alcohol units consumed increased. This was equivalent to an age effect of 12 years - an additional two years over the 10-year follow up period. The research team found that in current smokers who were also heavy drinkers, cognitive decline was 36 per cent faster than in non-smoking moderate drinkers. The adults were part of the Whitehall II cohort study of British civil servants.Īll the participants were asked about their cigarette and alcohol consumption, and their cognitive function (including verbal and mathematical reasoning, short-term verbal memory and verbal fluency) was then assessed three times over 10 years. We clearly can’t be trusted.The research team assessed 6,473 adults (4,635 men and 1,838 women) aged between 45 and 69 years old over a 10-year period. Or, better yet, take your dumb stupid brain out of the picture entirely and automate your finances entirely. That suggests that if you’re only spending money using crisp, fresh from the bank $20 bills, you’ll be more careful with your money. Clean, crisp feels feel less contaminated.
That study was published in the Journal of Consumer Research, and found that when money is more worn, we’re more likely to be reminded of how dirty and gross it is. A dollar is a dollar, after all, but if the dollar is all crumpled up, then we’re more likely to be willing to spend it. The actual look and feel of our money might also affect how inclined we are to spend it, which is also very dumb if you think about it. Another study suggested that having to pee makes us better at lying, too. It’s an effect that’s called inhibitory - ahem - spillover, and the concept is that when we have our guard up against one thing, like not peeing all over ourselves, our guard is also up against other unrelated things, for example making impulse purchases. Just like flashing lights and sounds make us more impulsive with our money, for example, having to pee makes us better at resisting temptation. Unsplash / Benoit Dare Channel Weird Psychology Toward Money Greatnessįortunately, there are also ways to trick ourselves into being smarter with our money, too. If you're going to gamble, stick with the table games. “Using eye-tracker technology, we were able to see that people were paying less attention to information about the odds of winning on a particular gamble when money imagery and casino jingles accompanied the wins.”
“While sound and light stimuli may seem harmless, we’re now understanding that these cues may bias attention and encourage risky decision-making,” explains Catharine Winstanley, the paper’s lead author, in a statement. Their findings were published earlier this week in JNeurosci, the journal for the Society for Neuroscience. In fact, a recent study from researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada found that the flashing lights and jingles that are so ubiquitous in casinos encourage riskier decision making as well. That’s not the only strange psychological factor that can affect our financial decision-making. On the other hand, if people keep telling you you’re too timid, the argument is strong for springing for the penthouse. If poker night keeps sending you home with empty pockets, you might consider motioning for a change of venue to a place on the ground-floor. Were you aware, for example, that being in a tall building makes you more inclined to take bigger risks? It makes sense in a way, being lofty increases your sense of power. People are irrational creatures which, of course, can make managing our money and preparing for the future a challenge, whether or not we’re bringing in the big bucks.
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