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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| People slow to react are more likely to die prematurely, study finds |
| 2014-02-02 |
| Whether you're naked and hungry on the savannah, driving in traffic or at the controls of your favorite video game, being slow to react can get you eaten, injured or splattered across the screen. While we intuitively know this, a new study offers dramatic evidence of how much speed of response still matters: In men and women from ages 20 to 59, slower than average reaction time turned out to be a pretty good predictor of premature death. I heard about this a couple weeks ago. I put it in my desk drawer. I'm going to get to it. The new research, published this week in the journal PLoS One, was large, simple and highly revealing. Between 1988 and 1994, researchers gave 5,134 Americans adults under 60 a very straightforward test of reaction time: The participants, all part of a large federal study of American nutrition and health, were seated at a computer and told to push a button immediately upon seeing a 0 on the screen in front of them. There was no practice period; a participant's average over 50 trials was computed, and he or she had just a few seconds between those 50 trials. They computed a "standard deviation" -- a unit of measure that marks the extent to which an individual's performance departs from the group's average. They took note of the "variability" of each participants' response time -- how widely reaction time fluctuated in the course of their 50 tries. Then they waited close to 15 years to see who in this relatively young group of Americans would die, and of what. Because the participants had been recruited for an ongoing study of health and nutrition, the researchers had a wealth of health-related information on them. They could use that data to adjust for risk factors such as age, gender and ethnicity. In all, 378 of the participants died during a follow-up period that averaged 14.6 years -- 104 of cardiovascular deaths and 84 of cancer deaths. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #13 Here is something bringing up the same point |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-02-02 19:04 |
| #12 There is a graph somewhere, but I cannot find it, that shows cheese production in Wisconsin versus highway deaths. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-02-02 18:35 |
| #11 WATCH.....out..... |
| Posted by: Knuckles Lumplump6933 2014-02-02 14:52 |
| #10 Quick enough to not click to the BBC? :) |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-02-02 10:32 |
| #9 How fast are your reactions? Test at <LINK> |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-02-02 10:14 |
| #8 Half the deaths were heart attacks and cancer, WTH does that have to do with slaloming three deer in the road? Ship is right, you have to show up first. My son is really good about going from reading is great to pluggin headphones into the outlet is great in 1.5 seconds. That's quick on the ol decision making process. But in that case, its not his but my reaction speed which makes the difference. Gettin payaaiid! |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-02-02 10:14 |
| #7 What difference does it make? They got funded. |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-02-02 09:46 |
| #6 Did they correct for age distribution at the time of test? From the sounds of things they didn't bother. Therefore the study shows that If aging slows reactions then age is related to death-risk... |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-02-02 07:25 |
| #5 People slow to react are more likely to die prematurely, study finds Which is why every MO FPS player knows they want a landline and not satellite hookup. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-02 07:19 |
| #4 50 times no Banana pellet, it ain't reaction speed, it's brainz man. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-02-02 02:30 |
| #3 There are two kinds of bayonet fighters, the quick, and the dead. ~ SFC Pettus, 1969. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-02-02 02:27 |
| #2 ...great. Another test for my ever-curious doctor to order... 378 of 5,134, or 7.4%, went to the "harp farm" over the study period, but we are not provided an age of death distribution, an important piece of information...also do not see any means of employment data and other variables that may be germane to the cause and expectation of demise...if this is all there is, it needs qualified acceptance(imho)... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-02-02 00:40 |
| #1 Screw standard deviation. What was the error, and variance? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-02-02 00:34 |