Too much thinking not that good

While introspection is a good thing, but too much "thinking about your thinking" might not be as beneficial as you thought.

A new study found that in people who are good at turning their thoughts inward and reflecting upon their decisions, the size of a specific region of the brain is larger than those who do not.

This act of introspection—or "thinking about your thinking"—is a key aspect of human consciousness, though scientists have noted plenty of variation in peoples' abilities to introspect.

Based on the findings, the researchers, led by Prof. Geraint Rees from University College London, suggests that the volume of gray matter in the anterior prefrontal cortex of the brain, which lies right behind our eyes, is a strong indicator of a person's introspective ability.

However, the researchers found that some people think too much about life.

These people have poorer memories, and they may also be depressed.

In addition, they say the structure of white matter connected to this area is also linked to this process of introspection.

It remains unclear, however, how this relationship between introspection and the two different types of brain matter really works.

The findings establish a correlation between the structure of gray and white matter in the prefrontal cortex and the various levels of introspection that individuals may experience.

In the future, the discovery may help scientists understand how certain brain injuries affect an individual's ability to reflect upon their own thoughts and actions.

With such an understanding, it may eventually be possible to tailor appropriate treatments to patients, such as stroke victims or those with serious brain trauma, who may not even understand their own conditions.

"Take the example of two patients with mental illness—one who is aware of their illness and one who is not. The first person is likely to take their medication, but the second is less likely. If we understand self-awareness at the neurological level, then perhaps we can also adapt treatments and develop training strategies for these patients," said one of the study's authors, Stephen Fleming from University College London.

"We want to know why we are aware of some mental processes while others proceed in the absence of consciousness. There may be different levels of consciousness, ranging from simply having an experience, to reflecting upon that experience. Introspection is on the higher end of this spectrum—by measuring this process and relating it to the brain we hope to gain insight into the biology of conscious thought," said Fleming.

2011 could be Tendulkar's World Cup

"Mushy, bas ye ek hi wicket hai," bellowed Pakistan's combative wicket-keeper Moin Khan as Sachin Tendulkar arrived at the crease in the World Cup clash at Sydney in 1992. Despite the presence of other stalwarts in the team, Moin felt it prudent to alert leggie Mushtaq Ahmed about the benefits Pakistan would reap if they dismiss the then 18-year-old Tendulkar early. That Pakistan couldn't and Tendulkar scored a match-winning 54, is mere statistic. What was more revealing was the attention he commanded even at such a young age.

Circa Centurion 2003, a raging Tendulkar was making a mockery of a sizeable target of 274 and a potent Pakistan bowling attack, en route to a regal 98. The knock wasn't without alarms though. While on 46, Akram deceived Tendulkar with a slower ball and the batsman checked his drive but Abdul Razzaq at mid-off jumped too late and dropped the catch. "B*****d, tereko pata hai batsmen kaun hai," was Akram's furious response to Razzaq.

Twelve years and three World Cups later, Tendulkar remained the man to get.

After graduating from a middle-order batsman to opening in ODIs, he was breaking records out of habit and had become the biggest scalp for bowlers and India's pulse. A Tendulkar ton had the potential to prompt even the most corrupt babu to work without accepting a bribe!

His legend though had started to gain root just before the 1996 World Cup came to the sub-continent for the second time. Tendulkar had just signed a $10million deal with World Tel. In the World Cup, he justified the hype and the billing, scoring the tournament's highest run tally (523 runs in 7 matches).

India's dependence on him was growing. And no where was it more prominent than in the semifinals .

Till he was at the crease, the Eden Gardens pitch appeared docile. The moment he fell for 65, the pitch metamorphosed into a minefield where every Sri Lankan bowler appeared to be hurling a bomb and India crashed out.

As the 1999 edition in England drew closer, Tendulkar had gone past Desmond Haynes' record for most centuries in ODIs. He had had by far his best year in international cricket (1998). He had gained and lost captaincy and had been introduced to injuries. An attacking and talented opening partner, Sourav Ganguly, had been unearthed along with a solid middle-order batsman in Rahul Dravid. The team's over-reliance on Tendulkar though remained a constant. But he failed to get going, barring the game against Kenya where he scored an emotional century after his father's death. Not surprisingly, India exited at the Super Six stage.

After another failed dalliance with captaincy post the World Cup, his game blossomed under the John Wright-Ganguly regime.

Success chased India and Tendulkar in the West Indies and England, but just months before the 2003 World Cup, a disastrous tour of New Zealand followed.

With Dravid being asked to keep wickets and acting as a finisher along with Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag finding his feet as ODI opener, Tendulkar was asked to bat at No. 4. Although he scored runs there, he was happier at the top. Post India's loss to a second-string South African side in a warm-up game, coach Wright sought a one-on-one with Tendulkar and restored his opening spot. The Kiwi realized that a happy Tendulkar was key to India's fortunes.

Tendulkar's massive stature prompted the team management to request him to address the nation prior to the match against Zimbabwe at Harare after fans attacked players' homes and families following India's humiliating defeat against Australia in the group stage at Centurion.

His reassuring words calmed them and India's campaign was up and running. Tendulkar ended the World Cup with a mammoth 673 runs and pocketed the man-of-the-series award.

In the Chappell era, insecurity and injuries didn't get the best out of the legend and the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies proved to be a shambolic campaign.

But the pieces have been put together now. The Master, now semi-retired from the ODI game, picks and chooses his tournaments. New strokes have been added and every move he makes is with keeping in mind the World Cup.

To achieve that, he's changed a few things. The crouched stance has given way to a more upright one, easing the pressure on his back. He doesn't play pre-meditated shots. While batting in the powerplays there is no more the reluctance to play lofted strokes, an affliction he suffered from between 2005 to 2007. His bat too appears lighter and that could be a reason why he is playing more horizontal bat strokes.

2011 could be Tendulkar's World Cup. Yes, India as hosts will be under pressure and the media will keep gloating over the fact that he is close to a hundred international hundreds. But hasn't Tendulkar lived his entire life meeting expectations?

Sachin at World Cups

1992: Still only 18, Tendulkar came to grips quickly on the bouncy surfaces of Australia. He won the man-of-the-match award in back-to-back games against Pakistan and Zimbabwe in winning causes.

M: 8; Runs; 283; Hs: 84; Avg: 47.16; 50s: 3

1996: At the peak of his powers, Tendulkar mastered most bowling attacks and led the team to the semis. His counter-attacking 90 against Australia and his ton at the Kotla against Sri Lanka were absolute gems. Finished as top-run-getter.

M: 7; Runs: 523; Hs: 137; Avg: 87.16; 100s: 2; 50s: 3

1999: Came to the tournament after a lengthy injury lay-off and had to rush to India after the first match against India after his father died. He scored a hundred on return against Kenya, but wasn't his fluent self.

M: 7; Runs: 253; Hs: 140*; Avg: 42.16; 100s: 1; 50s: 0

2003: With his opening spot restored, was at his very best. His knocks against Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka were the highpoints of the edition.

M: 11; Runs: 673; Hs: 152; Avg: 61.18; 100s: 1; 50s: 6

2007: Scored a scorching 50 against Bermuda, but looked insecure and scratchy at No. 4.

M: 3; Runs: 64; Hs: 57*; Avg: 32; 50s: 1

Total: M: 36; Runs: 1796; Hs: 152; Avg: 57.93; 100s: 4; 50s: 13.

Rupee falls 13 paise against dollar

The Indian rupee depreciated by 13 paise against the dollar on Friday, as the American currency strengthened against other major currencies.

The domestic unit in early morning was trading at Rs 45.70 a dollar, 13 paise lower from the yesterday's close at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

Yesterday, it snapped five-session long losing spree to close 14 paise higher at Rs 45.57/58 a dollar following a heavy dollar sale by exporters and some banks.

Dealers said dollar's gains against other currencies overseas and month-end demand for the American currency weighed on the rupee sentiment.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex recovered by 36.44 points at 18,720.87 points in the opening trade.

Paes-Bhupathi enter Australian Open final

Reliving their old magic, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi earned a chance to complete their Grand Slam cabinet by reaching the men's doubles final of the Australian Open on Thursday.

The third seed Indian Express, as they are known, pipped the second seed pair of Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor of Canada 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in the semifinal at Melbourne Park.

They will play against top seed American twins and double defending champions Mike and Bob Bryan in the summit clash.

The Bryan brothers eased past unseeded duo of Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-3, 6-2 in 54 minutes in their semifinal.

Paes and Bhupathi decided to rejoin the forces after nine years to win that elusive Australian Open trophy, at the start of the season.

They came into Australian Open in a good nick as they clinched the Chennai Open at home.

Paes has won 12 Grand Slam titles and Bhupathi 11 in their respective careers but they have never won Australian Open men's doubles trophy.

Interestingly, Bhupathi has not won a men's doubles Grand Slam title since 2002 US Open with max Mirnyi.

Paes and Bhupathi last played together at a Grand Slam at Australian Open in 2002 when they reached the second round.

Paes and Bhupathi had to sweat a lot against Mirnyi and Nestor as both the pairs fought tooth and nail before the Indians prevailed.

There was hardly anything to separate the two teams as they broke each other twice in the opening set, which was decided through a tie-break in the favour of the Indians.

Paes and Bhupathi had their chances to clinch the issue in straight sets but squandered two breakpoints and dropped their own serve once to allow their rivals to take the match to the third set.

They did not repeat the mistake in the deciding set and converted the first available chance to open up lead and end on the right side of the result after two hours and 20 minutes.

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AR Rahman bags 2 Oscar nominations

The 83rd Academy Award nominations are out with Rahman bagging two Oscar nominations once again.

Two years back at the 81st Academy Awards, AR Rahman bagged three Oscar nominations for Slumdog Millionaire out of which he won two Oscars. When the 83rd Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday, the music maestro pleased his fans as he yet again managed to bag two Oscar nominations for his work in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours.

Rahman has been nominated in two categories this year. Best Original song for 'If I Rise' from 127 Hours and Best Original Score for 127 Hours.

Lets hope Rahman brings the coveted trophy home this year too!

SRK, Big B & Dench to work together

It cannot get any bigger or better than this! Two icons of Bollywood and a heavyweight Hollywood A-lister are coming together to support the cause of education among the underprivileged in India.

Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Judi Dench will be working in tandem to promote education among the low-income groups of the country with the sole aim that when these kids become bread-winners, they will have a better life and in turn provide better opportunities to their children.

And bringing these top actors together is none other than the Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty. His foundation has been silently working towards bettering the socio-economic conditions of the poverty struck groups but he believes that the time has come to go top gear. "It is unimaginable that even in the 21st century there is rampant illiteracy in India. We are making our presence felt in the world and this aspect is something that should definitely be tackled. Along with economy and cultural boom, India should not be spoken as a country that is also illiteracy stricken," Resul told TOI.

He added, "Without Amitabh Bachchan's blessing, my project would have not started at all. He has helped me with funds and goodness. It is time to implement new things. Just when I was planning different things, Judi Dench came to my rescue. She had spent eight weeks in the country while shooting her Hollywood project in Rajasthan. She saw the rich and the poor and was touched by the work that we were doing."

According to Resul, Judi will play a very active role in the project. "Judi has told me to draw plans and just tell her what is to be done and she will try her level best to do more than what has been asked of her," he said. SRK's inclusion certainly bolsters the plans further. "I have met Shah Rukh while working on his movie Ra.One. I told him all about our charity that is being supported by two big luminaries and he was more than keen to support. SRK is a silent benefactor and he too will be with us in this cause," Resul added.