Arts education influences learning and other areas of cognition and may deserve a more prominent place in schools, according to a wave of recent neuroscience research.One recent study found that children who receive music instruction for just 15 months show strengthened connections in musically relevant brain areas and perform better on associated tasks, compared with students who do not learn an instrument.

A separate study found that children who receive training to improve their focus and attention perform better not only on attention tasks but also on intelligence tests. Some researchers suggest that arts training might similarly affect a wide range of cognitive domains. Educators and neuroscientists gathered recently in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., to discuss the increasingly detailed picture of how arts education changes the brain, and how to translate that research to education policy and the classroom. Many participants referred to the results of Dana Foundation-funded research by cognitive neuroscientists from seven leading universities over three years, released in 2008.

“Art must do something to the mind and brain. What is that? How would we be able to detect that?” asked Barry Gordon, a behavioral neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University, who spoke May 8 during the “Learning and the Brain” conference in Washington, D.C. “Art, I submit to you without absolute proof, can improve the power of our minds. However, this improvement is hard to detect.”

Study links music, brain changes

Among the scientists trying to detect such improvement, Ellen Winner, a professor of psychology at Boston College, and Gottfried Schlaug, a professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, presented research at the “Learning, Arts, and the Brain” summit May 6 in Baltimore. Their work measured, for the first time, changes to the brain as a result of music training.

For four years, Winner and Schlaug followed children ages 9 to 11, some of whom Read the rest of this entry »

Quick: say the color in which each word in this graphic is displayed (don’t just read the word!):

Here you have a round-up of some great recent articles on memory, aging, and cognitive abilities such as self-control:

1) How to Boost Your Willpower (New York Times).

- “The video watchers were later given a concentration test in which they were asked to identify the color in which words were displayed. (Note: now you see why we started with that brain exercise…) The word “red,” for instance, might appear in blue ink. The video watchers who had stifled their responses did the worst on the test, suggesting that their self-control had already been depleted by the film challenge.”  

- “Finally, some research suggests that people struggling with self-control should start small. A few studies show that people who were instructed for two weeks to make small changes like improving their posture or brushing their teeth with their opposite hand improved their scores on laboratory tests of self-control. The data aren’t conclusive, but they do suggest that the quest for self-improvement should start small. A vow to stop swearing, to make the bed every day or to give up just one food may be a way to strengthen your self-control, giving you more willpower reserves for bigger challenges later.”

Comment: learning, building abilities, are processes that require practice and growing levels of difficulty. Like training our muscles in the gym. So the advice to start small and progressively do more makes sense. Many times the enemy of learning is the stress and anxiety we provoke by trying to do too many things at the same time…

 

2) Jogging Your Memory (Newsweek) Thanks Chris for alerting us!

- “No one should expect miracles soon, if at all. But the deeper scientists peer into the workings of memory, the better they understand Read the rest of this entry »

Quick! say aloud the color you see in every word, DON”T simply read the word.  The Stroop test is used in neuropsychological evaluations to measure mental vitality and flexibility, since performing well requires strong impulse-control capability. This is one of the Top 10 Brain Teasers and Games we profile here. Want more teasers? You can check our collection here. Enjoy.

 

Please enjoy this brain teaser compliments of puzzle master Wes Carroll. He found this one in the Mensa publication Number Puzzles for Math Geniuses by Harold Gale.

The Empty Triangle

Question:
Which figure should be placed in the empty triangle?

This puzzle works your executive functions in your frontal lobes by using your pattern recognition, hypothesis testing, and logic. Let us know how you do!

Click here to read the Answer and Solution.

Here is a new brain teaser from puzzle master Wes Carroll. He found this one in the Mensa publication Number Puzzles for Math Geniuses by Harold Gale.

Tipping the Scales

Question:
The top two scales are in perfect balance. How many diamonds will be needed to balance the bottom set?

This puzzle works your executive functions in your frontal lobes by using your pattern recognition, hypothesis testing, and logic.

Click here to read the Answer and Solution.

Here’s a quick quiz to test your memory and thinking skills which should work out your temporal and frontal lobes. See how you do!

1. - Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.
2. - What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
3. - Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
4. - What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
5. - In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn’t been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
6. - Only three words in Standard English begin with the letters “dw” and they are all common words. Name two of them.
7. - There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?
8. - Name the one vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.
9. - Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter “S.”

Click here for the answers.

Here is new brain teaser written by puzzle master Wes Carroll.

The Really, Really, Really Big Number

Difficulty: HARDER
Type: MATH (Numerical/Abstract)
Intimidation Factor: HIGH — but don’t be scared!

Question:
When you divide 12 by 5, the remainder is 2; it’s what’s left over after you have removed all the 5s from the 12.  When you raise 4 to the fifth power (that is, 4⁵), you multiply four by itself five times: 4×4x4×4x4, which equals 1,024.

What is the remainder when you divide 100¹⁰⁰ by 11?

Click to read the Solution and Explanation.

If you missed Part 1, also written by puzzle master Wes Carroll, you can start there and then come back here to Part 2.

Concentric Shapes:
The Unkindest Cut of All, Part 2 of 2

Difficulty: HARDER
Type: MATH (Spatial)

Question:
Imagine a square within a circle within a square. The circle just grazes each square at exactly four points. Find the ratio of the area of the larger square to the smaller.

In this puzzle you are working out many of the same skills as in Part I: spatial visualization (occipital lobes), memory (temporal lobes), logic (frontal lobes), planning (frontal lobes), and hypothesis generation (frontal lobes).

Click to read the Solution and Explanation.

In honor of Mathematics Awareness Month 2007: Mathematics and the Brain, here is another mathematical brain bender 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 (3²), or 9. What is the area of a square whose diagonal is length 5?

In this puzzle you are working out your spatial visualization (occipital lobes), memory (temporal lobes), and hypothesis generation (frontal lobes).

Click to read the Solution and Explanation.

Go on to Concentric Shapes: The Unkindest Cut of All, Part 2 of 2

Here is another mind-bender created by Wes Carroll for the SharpBrains readers.

Presenting …
Dr. Nasty’s Giant Cube

Difficulty: HARDER
Type: HYBRID (Logic/Spatial)

Question:
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.

Click to read Hint #1.

Click to read Hint #2.

Click to read Hint #3.

Click to read Hint #4.

Click to read the Solution and Explanation.