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News and Analysis

Computerized Cognitive Assessments: opportunities and concerns: health companies and the military are starting to use new tools to assess brain functions in contexts that neither neuroimaging nor traditional neuropsychological testing can reach. This is a critical piece of the brain fitness puzzle that is worth keeping track of, full of opportunities, but also privacy concerns.

Cognitive Health News Roundup: recent news covering studies on mental training and DNA, on nutrition and the brain, and more. Read the rest of this entry »

A reader (thanks Mike!) sends us this fun article, titled A matter of training, on how to train our memory. Some quotes:

“It’s a skill, not a talent. It’s something anyone could have picked up … I’m not born with this. It’s about training and technique,” he says, explaining his unusual ability. Anant holds the Limca Record – the Indian equivalent of the Guinness Record – for memorising 75 telephone numbers, along with the names of their owners, in less than an hour. He is recognised as “the man with the most phenomenal memory in India.”  

“Unfortunately, most people think that memorising is very difficult. The moment they see someone demonstrate something like this, they think it’s out of this world.”

If you want to remember something, you have to link it to something you already know. Association is the natural principal. For example, if you need directions to a place, a landmark is often used as a point of reference. And if you derive pleasure from something you do, there’s a good chance you’ll remember it. Since the brain already works in this manner, why don’t we take control of it?” 

“To me, an intelligent person is someone who is able to put together more of his skills to solve a problem. Intelligence is about using strategies.” 

The key concept here is that memory, as well as other cognitive skills, can be trained through Read the rest of this entry »