How many differences can you spot?
You have seen and maybe tried that exercise or game in the Sunday paper many times: find 5 differences between the two images.
You may like it or not. You may think it is only for kids. But it is a GREAT brain exercise!
Let’s see what cognitive processes and which brain areas are involved in this exercise:
As you have probably noticed, a growing number of Expert Contributors are writing in our blog, so that we can collectively discuss the latest research and trends on cognitive and brain health, and the implications of brain research in general for our everyday lives.
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Below you have the profiles of some of our Contributors and links to their best articles with us so far. Enjoy!
Do you know where words are stored in your brain...?
In your temporal lobe! Here is a drawing of the brain so you can see where your temporal lobe is (in green) on a profile view of the right side of your brain.
As you know your brain has two sides (two hemispheres) connected by the corpus callosum. So you have one temporal lobe on each side of the brain.
If you are right-handed, your language is stored mostly in your left temporal lobe. If you are left-handed, you are not so lateralized and your language is stored a bit on both sides of your brain in the temporal lobes.
Words in the brain are not stored randomly. They seemed to be quite organized. Research has shown that words that are often heard together (such as salt and pepper) or words that share some meaning (such as nurse and doctor) are connected or associated in the brain. Once you hear one, the other is activated.
Here is a brain exercise whose aim is to stimulate the connections or associations between words in your temporal lobe.
In the left column you have a Continue Reading »
Today we have the pleasure to have Dr. Pascale Michelon, one of our new Expert Contributors, write her first article here. Enjoy, and please comment so we hear your thoughts and engage in a nice conversation.
(Btw, if you notice some similarity between the colors in the fMRI scan below and the look & feel of this site...well, the reason is that those orange-grey fMRI colors were our inspiration! the orange color denotes the most brain activation).
- Alvaro
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You have probably heard about CAT and MRI scans (produced thanks to machines like the one to the top right). So you know that these are techniques that doctors and scientists use to look inside the brain.
You have probably also heard about brain fitness and how important it is to keep a healthy brain to be protected against age-related and disease-related brain damages.
The question we ask here is the following: Can we use brain scans to evaluate how fit the brain is? Before we try to answer this question let’s start with the basics and try to understand how brain scans work.
Brain imaging, also called neuroimaging, allows one to Continue Reading »
Dr. Robert Sylwester is an educator of educators, having received multiple awards during his long career as a master communicator of the implications of brain science research for education and learning. He is the author of several books and many journal articles, and member of our Scientific Advisory Board. His most recent book is The Adolescent Brain: Reaching for Autonomy
I am honored to interview him today.
Alvaro Fernandez: Let's start with that eternal source of debate. What do we know about the respective roles of genes and our environment in brain development?
Robert Sylwester: Genetic and environmental factors both contribute to brain maturation. Genetics probably play a stronger role in the early years, and the environment plays a stronger role in later years. Still the mother's (environmental) use of drugs during the pregnancy could affect the genetics of fetal brain development, and some adult illnesses, such as Huntington's Disease, are genetically triggered.
Nature and nurture both require the significant contributions of the other in most developmental and maintenance functions. We typically think of environmental factors as things that happen to us, over which we have little control.
Can't our own decisions have an effect in our own brain development? For example, what if I choose a career in investment banking, vs. one in journalism or teaching?
We make our own career decisions in life, and most of us make a combination of good and bad decisions, which influence our brain's maturation.
My father was very unusual in his career trajectory in that he worked at one place throughout his entire adult life, and died three months after he retired at 91. I've always thought that it's a good idea to make a change every ten years or so and do something different – either within the same organization or to move to another one.
It's just as good for organizations to have some staff turnover as it is for staff to move to new challenges. The time to leave one position for another is while you and your employer are Continue Reading »
We are a brain fitness center because we want to offer the best information, tools and support on how to exercise our brains. Same way you join the gym to stay in shape and find the best machines and personal trainers.
One of the "tools" or "machines" we offer was designed under the scientific supervision of Professor Daniel Gopher and his team for basketball players: click here to read our interview with him. And here for a fun clip with the Memphis Tigers.
Our partner ACE just issued this press release:
Fighter Pilots Help Purdue and Long Beach State Reach the Tournament
The Basketball IntelliGym™ Improves Decision-Making
STUDIO CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The same technology initially developed to train Israeli fighter pilots on the cognitive, brain level has been an integral part of the training regimen for both Long Beach State and Purdue, two teams earning their first NCAA tournament births since 1995 and 2003 respectively.
The innovative Basketball IntelliGym™ software program has been proven to improve real-time decision-making and execution for thousands of basketball players worldwide and players on more than a dozen college basketball teams. Continue Reading »
