Studies show that fewer positive non-verbal behaviors exchanged between you and your partner-- including smiling, leaning in, a pat on the back, and a wink -- may portend trouble in your relationship. Indeed, "how" you say something appears to reveal more than "what" you say.  Chances are, you've heard over the years that most communication is nonverbal, and this study bears that out. An analysis of the predictive power of non-verbal and verbal behaviors demonstrated that positive non-verbal behaviors predict higher relationship satisfaction later on.  This should come as no surprise. After all, people can conceal their true motives and feelings by lying (verbal), but it isn't as easy to fake their body language (nonverbal). Our gestures (or lack thereof) and overall posture tend to give away whether we're feeling happy and engaged or bored and dissatisfied. If few to no positive non-verbal behaviors are evident, it likely suggests a fissure in the relat...

A lot of us are constantly on the lookout for ways to boost our mental focus. But many of the suggested techniques for doing so -- like listening to classical music -- haven't been borne out by science.  However, research supports the claim that chewing gum -- yes, gum -- offers various cognitive benefits. The mint in gum increases blood flow to your brain, which in turn improves your memory. In fact, studies show that chewing a stick of gum can improve your short-term memory by as much as 35 percent. People performed better on math and verbal problems -- from repeating numbers backwards to solving complex logic puzzles -- and were about 10 percent more alert when chomping away. (It's important to note that after 20 minutes or so, the benefits of gum chewing essentially dissipated.) One reason may have to do with the fact that chewing mint or caffeinated gum has been shown to reduce sleepiness. Eat your heart out, coffee! A mood boost, too, may await you when you chew gum. One ...

Lying . We all do it almost daily, though in varying degrees. Some of us have made a habit of lying through our teeth, while others are masters in the art of little white lies that often go unnoticed. Whatever one's propensity for lying, we can usually detect lies through certain verbal and non-verbal cues, some of which I elaborate on below: 1. Eye contact : If a person is having a hard time maintaining eye contact while talking to you, it usually means they're hiding something. For example, let's say the person you're chatting with routinely looks at the floor or ceiling during the conversation. Yes, this can be indicative of sheer boredom or a lack of self-confidence, but in most cases, it signals that the individual can't deliver his or her words with conviction. Instead, he or she is displaying the kind of sheepishness characteristic of a person caught in a lie -- or about to be caught in one. 2. Speech patterns : When someone is lying, they're more...