Might this explain the weird reasoning of many leftists?

Marijuana and soap-opera watching may fog the human brain, but catnip and food watching only focus the brains of our feline familiars. The Babe looks up at our cat calls, above, before resuming an inter-prandial cat nap this afternoon.

You've probably already heard the one about scientific studies linking the watching of soaps and daytime talk shows to cognitive impairment in women past un certain age. Our first thought was -- what else? -- these old geezers gals should surf to C-Span and start blogging. The heart that blogs is forever young. Here's the bottom line:

Researchers stress that it's not clear if watching these TV shows leads to weaker brainpower, or vice-versa. And they say it's possible that another explanation might be at work.

But there's definitely "something going on with those two types of television programming."

From old girls to old hippies, now comes scientific evidence [via David Thomson of YARGB] that "Long-term marijuana use may fog the brain":

Long-term users of marijuana gradually become worse at learning and remembering things, a new study suggests.

“Long-term users found it very difficult to learn through new information given verbally,” says Messinis. “It’s not to do with lack of attention but more the encoding process of memory.” Separate tests to probe attention span found that long-term users were able to pick up information immediately, without trouble . . .

“Importantly, we don’t know if it’s reversible,” he says. To find out, he and his colleague plan to re-test the same subjects after abstinence periods of at least a month.

We love David Thomson's rhetorical question:

Might this explain the weird reasoning of many leftists? Are they functioning on a lower level than their more conservative opponents?

Looking for a hook to hang your next scholarly research proposal upon? How about a scientific search for the missing link between aging Oprah fans and over-the-hill pot heads?

Comments

[Teresa]

Hmmm... watching talk shows and soaps I feel brain cells commiting suicide as soon as they come up on the screen.

I think the study is too inconclusive, but it's interesting. *grin*

As for the pot smoking - well it's been known for a long time that there is a lack of focus in heavy pot users. I have to think that this lack of attention to detail would certainly work in great favor of those who appeal to emotion instead of actual fact.

[GayleMiller]

Thanks for yet another picture of the exquisite Baby! I won't say I ONLY read your blog to see these pictures - but they don't hurt!

[Simply Coll]

Oh no.. is it possible.. could I be categorized as an aging Oprah fan. :-)

Love the kitty photo!