Brilliant Blog

We finally had time to hear and enjoy the 35-minute interview with WSJ science writer Sharon Begley about her new book, Train Your Mind Change Your Brain. Highly recommended. (Thanks Beate!) Talk of the Nation, February 2, 2007: "For years, scientists believed the brain's structure couldn't be changed. The new science of neuroplasticity says that's not [...]

We have explained before how mental stimulation is important if done in the right supportive and engaging environment. Stanford’s Robert Sapolsky and others have shown that chronic stress and cortical inhibition, which may be aggravated due to imposed mental stimulation, may prove counterproductive. Having the right motivation is essential. A promising area of scientific inquiry for stress [...]

We are offering a limited-time deal for the rest of February 2007. If you buy any of the following brain fitness programs: Freeze-Framer, MindFit, Basketball IntelliGym, Cogmed Working Memory Training, or Exercise your Brain DVD, you will get Brain Fitness 101 included for free!

Here is question 18 of 25 from Brain Fitness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Questions.Question:Is physical fitness important?Key Points: Exercise improves learning through increased blood supply and growth hormones.Exercise is an anti-depressant by reducing stress and promoting neurogenesis.Exercise protects the brain from damage and disease, as well speeding the recovery.Answer:Yes. According to Fred Gage, PhD, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, “We now know that exercise helps generate new brain cells, even in the aging brain.”According to the research of Richard Smeyne, PhD at Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, with just two months of exercise there are more brain cells and that higher levels of exercise were significantly more beneficial than lower amounts, although any exercise was better than none.

The only possible answers are "left" or "right."... Okay, I'll tell you.When pre-school children were asked this question with this picture, they all answered "left."When asked why they said "left", they answered "Because you can't see the door."

Theory of Mind

A Special Issue of Social Neuroscience

• Edited by Rebecca Saxe, Simon Baron-Cohen

Investigations of the neural basis of theory of mind - the ability to think about other people's thoughts - only recently became feasible; now, the number of such investigations and the sophistication of the results are accelerating dramatically.

The articles in this special issue use a wide range of techniques (including fMRI, EEG, TMS, and psychophisiology) and subject populations (including children, twins, and patients with developmental or acquired neural damage) to address fundamental questions about the cognitive and neural structure of theory of mind.

Topics include: (1) the relationship between theory of mind and other, perhaps "precursor", social cognitive processes, such as empathy and the perception of biological motion; (2) the relationship between theory of mind and domain-general cognitive functions, such as executive function and language; and (3) how theory of mind is deployed in real social contexts, such as social exchange.

ISBN: 9781841698168

Published February 21 2007 by Psychology Press.

Several recent stories on brain training and SharpBrains: 1) New brain games may improve mind fitness by Kevin Kosterman (U of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Advance-Titan) "Anytime we learn, we are training, changing, our brain," Fernandez said. "The three key core elements for effective brain exercise are novelty, variety and constant challenge, similar to increasing the level in machines [...]

Alvaro and I had the good fortune to attend a great conference last week called Learning & The Brain: Enhancing Cognition and Emotions for Learning.... Some topics were meant to be applied immediately, but many were food for thought - discussions on where science and education are headed.Using dramatic new imaging techniques, such as fMRIs, PET, and SPECT, neuroscientists are gaining valuable information about learning. This pioneering knowledge is leading not only to new pedagogies, but also to new medications, brain enhancement technologies, and therapies. Discover how new adventures could change education, learning disorder interventions, and even society itself in the future.

  Welcome to the February 19, 2007 edition of brain fitness. Today we want to highlight an excellent Interview with Aaron Beck on the History of Cognitive Therapy submitted by the Beck Institute. Dr. Beck was 83 when he gave this interview. To the question "Do you have a view about ageing?", he responds "I can only speak for myself.  I [...]

Sharon Begley writes another great article on The Upside of Aging - WSJ.com (subscription required) "The aging brain is subject to a dreary litany of changes. It shrinks, Swiss cheese-like holes grow, connections between neurons become sparser, blood flow and oxygen supply fall. That leads to trouble with short-term memory and rapidly switching attention, among other problems. [...]

Press: see what CBS and Time Magazine are talking about. SharpBrains was introduced in the Birmingham News, Chicago Tribune and in a quick note carried by the American Psychological Association news service.Website and Blog Summary.We hope you enjoy our new Home Page.Cognitive NeuroscienceBrain Fitness GlossaryCognitive Reserve and LifestyleHeart Rate Variability as an Index of Regulated Emotional RespondingNeuroscience Interview Series: on learning and "brain gyms"EducationCounseling center offers biofeedback to help decrease stressLifelong learning, literally: neuroplasticity for students, boomers, seniors...Health & WellnessWant to Improve Memory?... Do I need anything else?Learning Slows Physical Progression of Alzheimer's DiseaseProfessional DevelopmentImproving Your Brain Tools: Reading Emotional Messages in the FaceEnhancing the Trader's Self-Control.Brain Teasers.Exercise Your Brains - Visual Logic Brain TeaserBrain Workout for Your Frontal LobesBlog Carnivals: collection of best blog articles around particular topics.We hosted Encephalon #15: Neuroscience and Psychology Blog Carnival.And launched Brain Fitness Blog Carnival #1.

BBC News reports that Brain creates 'new' nerve cells: "Researchers have discovered a type of brain cell that continuously regenerates in humans." "Experts said the findings, published in Science, opened up the potential for research into repairing brains in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease" "Dr Mark Baxter, Wellcome Trust senior research fellow at Oxford University, said: "This study [...]

Please do your part to help a starving graduate student. Recruiting willing parents (and kids) is a difficult assignment! Do you (or a friend of yours) have a child between the ages of 5-16?  Could you use a few hours of free babysitting ? Are you interested in helping out a desperate clinical psychology graduate student?  I am [...]

Here is question 16 of 25 from Brain Fitness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Questions.Question:Are yoga and meditation good for my brain?Key Points: Yoga, meditation, and visualization are all excellent ways to learn to manage your stress levels.Reducing stress, and the stress hormones, in your system is critical to your brain and overall fitness.Answer:Yes.... the zebra releases the stress hormones through life-preserving action, while we usually just keep muddling along, getting more anxious by the moment.Prolonged exposure to the adrenal steroid hormones like cortisol, released during the stress response, can damage the brain and block the formation of new neurons in the hippocampus, which is the key player in encoding new memories in your brain.

Two of the best blog carnivals: For education The Carnival Of Education For all things science: Tangled Bank And a very informative post via MindHacks on what Singularity is and a technical guide to key terms of transhumanism - "an optimistic movement that seeks to apply current and future scientific discoveries to extending human experience and abilities". aging, Biology, Brain based Learning, [...]

Some great posts: The Power (and Peril) of Praising Your Kids in New York Magazine (via Mind Hacks)  "One group was praised for their intelligence ("You must be smart at this"), while the others were praised for their effort ("You must have worked really hard"). This simple difference had a startling effect." "Children who were praised for their effort were [...]

New research findings now appearing online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology began with a professor’s desire to understand why her husband often seemed to ignore her requests for help around the house.”My husband, while very charming in many ways, has an annoying tendency of doing exactly the opposite of what I would like [...]

Northwestern University researchers have discovered men with an unusual form of dementia have a higher rate of vasectomy than men the same age who are cognitively normal. The dementia is Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), a neurological disease in which people have trouble recalling and understanding words. In PPA, people lose the ability to express themselves and [...]

First, here's the new edition of Encephalon hosted by MindHacks. Second, you can't miss this short clip: Colbert asks Steven Pinker, "How does the brain work...in 5 words or less". Think what you'd answer, while the video uploads... As brought to our attention by Edge.   In case you can't wait, in reverse order: (patterns in fire cells brain)   Biology, Cognitive [...]

So, Valentine’s Day is Wednesday, but you know he isn’t going to bring you any flowers. And instead of a cuddle and a kiss, you know she is going to dig up that old canard about your mother. Does your relationship feel like an endless rerun of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — Edward Albee’s grim [...]