Brilliant Blog

This is a very fun link to a series of 20 timed puzzles put together by the BBC. It should take you about 10 minutes or less to complete. The Senses Challenge You also might enjoy their Interactive Brain which allows you to explore both the structure and function of your brain. The functions will help you [...]

If you are based in the Bay Area, we hope to see you at this event! Below you have the invitation that our partners and us are starting to circulate. Feel free to forward to anyone you know who may be interested. ---------------------------------------- The growing movement for improving brain health has brought many interested professionals and interested community members [...]

Here is another mathematical puzzle from puzzle master Wes Carroll ... The Unkindest Cut Of All, Part 1 of 2.Difficulty: HARD.Type: MATH (Spatial).Question:The area of a square is equal to the square of the length of one side.So, for example, a square with side length 3 has area (3^2), or 9. What is the area of a square whose diagonal is length 5?

The Osher Lifelong Learning Intitutes (OLLI) at San Francisco State University and University of California, Berkeley, and SharpBrains offer this three-day workshop for educators and brain fitness practitioners seeking instructional certification in the SharpBrains course, Exercising Our Brains. SharpBrains (www.sharpbrains.com) has introduced the first science-based brain fitness center with information and programs to help people of all ages exercise their brains. They have offered the popular Exercising Our Brains course at SF State's OLLI since October 2005.

Here's a fun puzzle that a friend gave me over dinner a few days ago ... Describe how to cut a cake with only three cuts and yield eight equal pieces.

Are there specific brain fitness programs for kids? My kids have problems with math-why should they do these things that may distract them from math?Learning stress management skills can reduce test anxiety and improve learning readiness.If stress levels are too high, concentration and focus are negatively impacted.

Dr. Nasty's Giant Cube. Difficulty: HARDER. Type: HYBRID (Logic/Spatial). The diabolical Dr. Nasty has turned his Growth Ray on a perfect cube that used to measure one foot on a side. The new larger cube has twice the surface area of the original. Find the volume of the larger cube.

There are four essential pillars to maintaining a healthy brain that functions better now and lasts longer. Those pillars are: Physical Exercise, Mental Exercise, Good Nutrition, and Stress Management. Physical Exercise: If you can only do one thing, do something cardiovascular, meaning something that gets your heart beating faster.Mental Exercise: If you can only do one thing, learn something new every day. Good Nutrition: If you can only do one thing, eat more vegetables, particularly leafy green ones. Stress Management: If you can only do one thing, set aside 5-10 minutes to just breathe deeply and recharge

The goal of this contest is to connect high-school students and teachers of biology and psychology with science and psychology bloggers. Students will need to answer in 400-800 words: Based on brain research, what is learning and how do we learn?. Submissions are due by May 10, 2007.

We are delighted to introduce you to Puzzle Master Wes Carroll who has graciously created a few new puzzles to bend all those sharp brains out there! Wes aspires to the Renaissance ideal of excellence in multiple fields: he is the head of Do The Math private tutoring services, Puzzle Master for the Ask A Scientist lecture series, and an internationally touring performer and teacher of music. Find out more at wescarroll.com.Party For Polyglots.Question:Of the 100 people at a recent party, 90 spoke Spanish, 80 spoke Italian, and 75 spoke Mandarin.At least how many spoke all three languages?

A closely monitored, scientific study revealed that, in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress would find differences in the two dolphins.... Look at the photograph, and if you find more than one or two differences, you may want to take a vacation.

We have had another busy month behind us, and we’re looking forward to Brain Awareness Week March 12-18. Keep reading for the details (including a special offer in honor of Brain Awareness Week) … I. Press Coverage II. Events III. Program Reviews IV. New Offerings V. Website and Blog Summary. Set your DVRs – SharpBrains is coming to the small screen! Our television debut will be on CBS 13 West Sacramento’s “Good Day Sacramento” on Monday, March 12. La Opinion, the most prestigious Spanish-language paper in the US, featured SharpBrains in a recent article “Secreto para triunfar en los exámenes” (Secrets to Triumphing in Exams). Another great international publication was an article called “Training the Brain as Possible as Training the Body” in the prominent Arabic newspaper Annahar. And Mark Muckenfuss of The Press-Enterprise in Riverside writes in "Train Your Brain": "I would tend to believe that still we underestimate the brain," says Fernandez, whose background is in educational training and marketing. He notes that recent studies have shown when a brain is injured by a stroke, "those mental structures recreate themselves (with exercise). It means to me there are a lot of things we could really do and many times we are not aware of them. We cannot promise to people you will only keep getting better until you are 200 years old. But I think people still underestimate how flexible the brain really is."

Here is question 19 of 25 from Brain Fitness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Questions.Question:How can I improve my concentration and my memory?Key Points: Attention is among the most important components of our mental life.Reduce your stress to improve concentration and reduce distractions.Focus, take breaks, and elaborate in order to remember.Answer:Attention is among the most important components of your mental life. By choosing to attend to something and focus on it, you create a personal interaction with it, which gives it personal meaning, making it easier to remember.Focus.Separate.Elaborate.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Question 15 of 25 from Brain Fitness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Questions. I don’t want to ever retire. What can I do to remain sharp? Provide your brain with regular mental stimulation that is novel and challenging.Maintain your social network for both stimulation and stress reduction.Work out, eat well, stimulate your brain, and reduce chronic stress.Any good brain fitness program must provide you a variety of new challenges over time. Stress reduction is another major concern. Maintaining your exercise routine and social networks will help a lot in this regard. Make social appointments to go for a walk with a friend or family member.