The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains

By: Alvaro Fernandez

Lets review some good lifestyle options we can follow to maintain, and improve,
our vibrant brains.
.
1. 1. Learn what is the It in Use It or Lose It. A basic understanding will
serve you well to appreciate your brains beauty as a living and constantly-
developing dense forest with billions of neurons and synapses.
2. Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2%
of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we
intake? As a general rule, you dont need expensive ultra-sophisticated nutri-
tional supplements, just make sure you dont stuff yourself with the
bad stuff.
3. Remember that the brain is part of the body. Things that exercise your
body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances
neurogenesis.
4. Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your
default mindset and you look forward to every new day in a constructive way.
Stress and anxiety, no matter whether induced by external events or by your
own thoughts, actually kills neurons and prevent the creation of new ones.
You can think of chronic stress as the opposite of exercise: it prevents the
creation of new neurons.
5. Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges. The point of having a brain
is precisely to learn and to adapt to challenging new environments. Once
new neurons appear in your brain, where they stay in your brain and how
long they survive depends on how you use them. Use It or Lose It does not
mean do crossword puzzle number 1,234,567. It means, challenge your
brain often with fundamentally new activities.
6. We are (as far as we know) the only self-directed organisms in this
planet. Aim high. Once you graduate from college, keep learning. Once you
become too comfortable in one job, find a new one. The brain keeps devel-
oping, reflecting what you do with it.
7. Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more atten-
tion to your environment. Make new decisions, use your brain.
8. Dont Outsource Your Brain. Not to media personalities, not to politi-
cians, not to your smart neighbour Make your own decisions, and mis-
 takes. And learn from them. That way, you are training your brain, not your
neighbours.
9. Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are social animals,
and need social interaction. Which, by the way, is why Baby Einstein has
been shown not to be the panacea for children development.
10. Laugh. Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor, full of twists and
surprises. Better, try to become the next Jon Stewart
Now, remember that what counts is not reading this article-or any other-, but prac-
ticing a bit every day until small steps snowball into unstoppable, internalized
habitsso, pick your next battle and try to start improving at least one of these 10
habits today. Revisit the habit above that really grabbed your attention, and make a
decision to try something different today!

Six tips to build resilience and prevent brain-damaging stress

By: SharpBrains

These days, we all live under considerable stress

economic challenges, job demands, family tensions, always-on technology and the
24-hour news cycle all contribute to ceaseless worry. While many have learned to
simply live with it, this ongoing stress can, unless properly managed, have a seri-
ous negative impact on our ability to think clearly and make good decisions, in the
short-term, and even harm our brains in the long-term.

Recent studies show that chronic stress can also lead to depression, and even to a
higher risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimers disease symptoms. Why? Under
stress, the brains limbic system responsible for emotions, memory and learning
triggers an alarm that activates the fight-or-flight response, increasing the pro-
duction of adrenaline (epinephrine) and cortisol, which work together to speed
heart rate, increase metabolism and blood pressure, enhance attention, the
immune system and anti-inflammatory response, and lower pain sensitivity all
good things when your very survival is on the line. When the stressful situation is
over, the body resets back to normal.

However, under constant stress, the body is unable to reset. High adrenaline and
cortisol levels persist, potentially causing blood sugar imbalances and blood pres-
sure problems, and whittling away at muscle tissue, bone density, immunity and
inflammatory responses. These events block the formation of new neural connec-
tions in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for encoding new mem-
ories. When these new connections are blocked, the hippocampus can actually
shrink in size, hindering memory.

Too much stress can almost make us forget how to make changes to reduce that
stress, limiting the mental flexibility needed to find alternative solutions and trigger-
ing general adaptation syndrome (GAS) better known as burnout which
makes us feel unmotivated and mentally exhausted. This is why, next time you for-
get someones name at a party, try to not obsess about remembering it. Instead,
make fun of your DNA (we are all human, arent we). The name in question is then
more likely to appear in your mind when you less expect it.

What Can You Do?

Rather than simply living with stress, learning how to effectively master our stress
levels and build emotional resilience can not only help you feel and perform better
on a daily basis, but also protect your brain from the long-term damaging effects of
stress. Heres how to do it:
1. Get some exercise: Studies show that aerobic exercise helps build new
neurons and connections in the brain to counteract the effects of stress. In
fact, a 2012 study found that people who exercised very little showed
greater stress-related atrophy of the hippocampus (the part of the brain that
stores memories) compared to those who exercised more. Regular exercise
also promotes good sleep, reduces depression and boosts self-confidence
through the production of endorphins, the feel-good hormones.
2. Relax: Easier than it sounds, right? But relaxation through meditation,
tai chi, yoga, a walk on the beach, or whatever helps to quiet your mind and
make you feel more at ease can decrease blood pressure, respiration
rate, metabolism and muscle tension. Meditation, in particular, is tremen-
dously beneficial for managing stress and building mental resilience. Studies
also show that getting out into nature can have a positive, restorative effect
on reducing stress and improving cognitive function. So move your yoga mat
out into the yard, or turn off that treadmill and take a walk in the park. Your
brain will thank you for it.
3. Socialize: When your plate is running over and stress takes over, its easy
to let personal connections and social opportunities fall off the plate first. But
ample evidence shows that maintaining stimulating social relationships is
critical for both mental and physical health. Create a healthy environment,
inviting friends, family and even pets to combat stress and exercise all your
brains.
4. Take control: Studies show a direct correlation between feelings of psy-
chological empowerment and stress resiliency. Empowering yourself with a
feeling of control over your own situation can help reduce chronic stress and
give you the confidence to take control over your brain health. Some
videogames and apps based on heart rate variability can be a great way to
be proactive and take control of our stress levels.
5. Have a laugh: We all know from personal experience that a good laugh
can make us feel better, and this is increasingly backed by studies showing
that laughter can reduce stress and lower the accompanying cortisol and
adrenaline levels that result. Having fun with friends is one way to practice to
two good brain health habits at once. Even just thinking about something
 funny can have a positive effect on reducing stress and the damage it
causes to your brain.
6. Think positive: How you think about what stresses you can actually make
a difference. In one study at Harvard University, students were coached into
believing that the stress they feel before a test could actually improve perfor-
mance on graduate school entrance exams. Compared with students who
were not coached, those students earned higher scores on both the practice
test and the actual exam. Simply changing the way you look at certain situa-
tions, taking stock of the positive things in your life and learning to live with
gratitude can improve your ability to manage stress and build brain
resilience.
Living with high levels of sustained stress can have a profound negative impact on
your psychological and brain health. While often there is little we can do to change
the stressful situation itself, there are many things we can do to alter or manage
our reactions to it. Managing stress and mastering our own emotions through sim-
ple lifestyle changes and the use of basic techniques that anyone can do can help
reduce stress-related damage to the brain, improve emotional resilience and thwart
cognitive.
Brain Plasticity: How learning changes
your brain.
By: Dr. Pascale Michelon

You may have heard that the brain is plastic. As you know the brain is
not made of plastic! Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity refers to the
brains ability to CHANGE throughout life. The brain has the amazing
ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections between brain
cells (neurons).

In addition to genetic factors, the environment in which a person lives, as well as

the actions of that person, play a role in plasticity.

Neuroplasticity occurs in the brain:

1 At the beginning of life: when the immature brain organizes itself.

2 In case of brain injury: to compensate for lost functions or maximize remaining

functions.

3 Through adulthood: whenever something new is learned and memorized

Plasticity and brain injury

A surprising consequence of neuroplasticity is that the brain activity associated with

a given function can move to a different location as a consequence of normal expe-
rience, brain damage or recovery.

In his book The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from
the Frontiers of Brain Science, Norman Doidge describes numerous examples
of functional shifts.

In one of them, a surgeon in his 50s suffers a stroke. His left arm is paralyzed. Dur-
ing his rehabilitation, his good arm and hand are immobilized, and he is set to
cleaning tables. The task is at first impossible. Then slowly the bad arm remembers
how too move. He learns to write again, to play tennis again: the functions of the
brain areas killed in the stroke have transferred themselves to healthy regions!
The brain compensates for damage by reorganizing and forming new connections
between intact neurons. In order to reconnect, the neurons need to be stimulated
through activity.

Plasticity, learning and memory

For a long time, it was believed that as we aged, the connections in the brain
became fixed. Research has shown that in fact the brain never stops changing
through learning. Plasticity IS the capacity of the brain to change with learning.
Changes associated with learning occur mostly at the level of the connections
between neurons. New connections can form and the internal structure of the exist-
ing synapses can change.

Did you know that when you become an expert in a specific domain, the areas in
your brain that deal with this type of skill will grow?

For instance, London taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus (in the posterior
region) than London bus drivers (Maguire, Woollett, &Spiers, 2006). Why is that? It
is because this region of the hippocampus is specialized in acquiring and using
complex spatial information in order to navigate efficiently. Taxi drivers have to nav-
igate around London whereas bus drivers follow a limited set of routes.

Plasticity can also be observed in the brains of bilinguals (Mechelli et al., 2004). It
looks like learning a second language is possible through functional changes in the
brain: the left inferior parietal cortex is larger in bilingual brains than in monolingual
brains.

Plastic changes also occur in musicians brains compared to non-musicians. Gaser

and Schlaug (2003) compared professional musicians (who practice at least 1hour
per day) to amateur musicians and non-musicians. They found that gray matter
(cortex) volume was highest in professional musicians, intermediate in amateur
musicians, and lowest in non-musicians in several brain areas involved in playing
music: motor regions, anterior superior parietal areas and inferior temporal areas.

Finally, Draganski and colleagues (2006) recently showed that extensive learning
of abstract information can also trigger some plastic changes in the brain. They
imaged the brains of German medical students 3 months before their medical
exam and right after the exam and compared them to brains of students who were
not studying for exam at this time. Medical students brains showed learning-
induced changes in regions of the parietal cortex as well as in the posterior hip-
pocampus. These regions of the brains are known to be involved in memory
retrieval and learning.

To go further: Q and A about Brain plasticity

Q: Can hormones change my brain?
A: It seems that the brain reacts to its hormonal milieu with structural modifications.
Read more: Can the pill change womens brains.
Q: Can new neurons grow in my brain?
A: Yes in some areas and throughout your lifetime. Learn how and read about what
happens to these new neurons here: New neurons: good news, bad news.
Q: Where can I find more information?
A: Read the answers to 15 common questions about neuroplasticity and brain
fitness
Q: Can you recommend a good book to learn more about all this and how to
apply it?
A: Sure! We published The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: How to Opti-
mize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age (April 2013; 284 pages) to pro-
vide a comprehensive and accessible entry into the research AND how to apply it.
And were happy to report that its gettingrave reviews!
Why do You Turn Down the Radio When Youre Lost?
By: Caroline Latham
Youre driving through suburbia one evening looking for the street where youre
supposed to have dinner at a friends new house. You slow down to a crawl, turn
down the radio, stop talking, and stare at every sign. Why is that? Neither the radio
nor talking affects your vision.
Or do they?

In talking about using a cell phone while driving, Steven Yantis, a professor in the
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences atJohns Hopkins University,
had this to say:

Directing attention to listening effectively turns down the volume on input to the
visual parts of the brain. The evidence we have right now strongly suggests that
attention is strictly limited - a zero-sum game. When attention is deployed to one
modality - say, in this case, talking on a cell phone - it necessarily extracts a cost
on another modality - in this case, the visual task of driving.

He's talking about divided attention, or the ability to multitask and pay attention to
two things at once. It's generally much harder than selective, or focused, attention.
The factors that come into play are yourattentional capacity and the processing
requirements - essentially how much of which areas of your brain are needed to
process the input.
Your attentional capacity can be taken up by inhibiting (tuning out) distractions,
dividing your attention across multiple things, or even sustaining your attention on
one thing (vigilance). Fatigue takes a big toll on attention. If you're tired, it's harder
to concentrate. Depression has a similar effect. In fact, many memory
complaints may be actually depression- or fatigue-related reduced attentional
capacity. And guess what? Getting older both reduces your attentional
capacity andincreases your processing requirements. Basically, it takes more and
more inhibition skill to tune out distractions and stay focused. But all is not lost;
there are steps you can take to multitask better!
How to Divide Your Attention More Effectively
o Do very different tasks. It's much harder to do two very similar tasks
(read and talk) at the same time than it is to do two very different tasks (run
and talk). If you can use separate areas of the brain, that will help, but
warning: the brain doesn't always segregate perceptual information as
clearly as you might think.
o Practice. If you're better at each task independently, you'll be better at
doing them at the same time (even if you don't do them as well
simultaneously as when you do each one separately).
o Keep it simple. If you have to multitask, multitasking simple tasks will be
more successful than trying to prove Fermat's Last Theorem in your head
while simultaneously writing a novel.
o Train your brain. Torkel Klingberg, of the Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm, Sweden said we have shown that working memory can be
improved by training and that such training helps people with attention
deficits and it also improves reasoning ability overall.

So, youre not nuts to turn down the volume when youre lost. By doing that, you
are allowing more of your brain to focus on your mission to find dinner!
11 datos importantes para la salud y el
rendimiento del cerebro
1. Cada da se crean varios miles de neuronas en nuestro cerebro. El
ejercicio aerbico incrementa ese nmero y el estrs no bien regulado lo
disminuye.
2. Nuestros genes no determinan el destino de nuestro cerebro. La neu-
roplasticidad a lo largo de la vida permite a nuestras acciones y estilo de
vida jugar un papel muy importante en cmo se desarrolla nuestro cere-
bro fsica y funcionalmente.
3. Debemos pensar ms all de la memoria y la inteligencia. Las fun-
ciones cerebrales ms importantes para el xito personal y profesional,
segn una encuesta de SharpBrains, son la capacidad para manejar situa-
ciones estresantes, el poder de concentracin para evitar distracciones y
ser capaces de reconocer y manejar nuestras emociones.
4. El amplio anlisis patrocinado en 2010 por el National Institute of Health
(NIH), revisando centenares de estudios cientficos hasta la fecha, propor-
ciona un excelente punto de partida para entender qu factores benefician
la salud cerebral. Basado en estudios con el mayor rigor, el anlisis encon-
tr un efecto beneficioso por parte del ejercicio fsico y cognitivo,
seguidos por la dieta mediterrnea, por encima de cualquier otra inter-
vencin, incluidos los frmacos.
5. De todos los tipos de ejercicio fsico, es el ejercicio cardiovascular, que
hace que el corazn lata ms rpidamente, es el que presenta un
mayor beneficio cerebral.
6. El cerebro necesita mucha energa. A pesar de suponer slo alrededor del
2% de la masa corporal, consume un 20% del oxgeno del cuerpo y el 25%
de la glucosa. Por eso la nutricin es importante.
7. Lo que importa es la dieta en su conjunto: tomar suplementos vita-
mnicos no parece reducir el riesgo de deterioro cognitivo o Alzheimer.
8. La nica actividad de ocio que ha sido asociada con una disminu-
cin de la funcin cognitiva es ver la televisin. Las actividades pasivas,
rutinarias, no desafan al cerebro. Mantener el reto requiere intentar algo
nuevo con un nivel significativo de dificultad.
9. La vida misma puede ser el mejor gimnasio para el cerebro si este se
utiliza de la manera correcta. Una buena manera de empezar es abordar
todo lo que implica novedad, variedad y desafo, que lleva fuera de la rutina.
Un ejemplo, la educacin bilinge. Tambin lo son el trabajar como volun-
tario o la ocupacin laboral en s misma, que puede ayudar a reducir tasas
de mortalidad, depresin y el deterioro cognitivo.
10. El entrenamiento mental con mayores garantas, basadas en la investi-
gacin actual, consiste en la meditacin, la terapia cognitiva, la bior-
retroalimentacin y el entrenamiento cognitivo. Estas tcnicas estruc-
turadas para formar diferentes msculos mentales incluyen herramientas
 de software especializadas que se estn poniendo en marcha en el entorno
online.
11. Del mismo modo que no todos tenemos las mismas necesidades o priori-
dades a la hora de invertir nuestros ahorros, no todos tenemos las mismas
prioridades a la hora de invertir en nuestros cerebros. Las oportunidades de
mejora ms significativas dependen de nuestro estilo de vida y rendimiento
mental a da de hoy. Por eso, Cmo invertir en su cerebro presenta una
metodologa para pasar de la teora a la prctica de un modo personal-
izado.
Why Agile Minds Deploy Both Rational
and Intuitive Problem-Solving
By: Judith C. Tingley, PhD

A rare aha moment in 2011 set me chasing new problem-solving research. The
study Rational Versus Intuitive Problem-Solving: How Thinking Off the
Beaten Path Can Stimulate Creativity published in Psychology of Aesthetics,
Creativity, and the Arts stung me out of a spot of intellectual arrogance. From my
perspective, John Deweys 19th century step-wise formulation of the rational
problem-solving process, and its later adaptations, supplied the one and only, the
best thinking process on hand. Rational thinking was king. Intuitive thinking was
court jester. I was wrong.

The journal research validated the significance of an intuitive style of problem-

solving thinking and proposed that individuals have a preference for either the intu-
itive or rational style. I definitely knew my preference. However, the Off the Beaten
path lab study found that using both styles in tandem produces more creative
solutions than using either alone. I felt my brain boggle.

About the same time, Daniel Kahnemans book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, came
out, focused on two ways of problem-solving thinking labeled System 1 and 2,
roughly equivalent to intuitive and rational. Each thinking style has strengths and
weaknesses; factors that determine the type of problem best solved by each. For
example, the fast, unconscious, intuitive style might work to determine what one
word fits with the three words, park, volley, and boy to make three new words. A
slow, conscious rational style might seem to work better to read an
electrocardiogram.

Because of the differences and individual preferences for each style, competition
reigns at times. When I spoke to a group of mid-life men and women about intuitive
versus rational problem-solving, I discovered that bias ran rampant. Those who
preferred the rational dismissed the intuitive style. Far out there somewhere,
often accompanied with a slight eye roll. The intuitive ones barely held back ho-
hum sighs referencing the rational types. Boring, limiting, no fun. Men in the
group comprised the majority of the rational problem-solvers; women the majority
of the intuitive problem-solvers, a finding reflected in academic research also.

Alvaro Fernandez, founder of SharpBrains.com, says that he has believed for

years that the intuition versus rationality debate is misguided. It is not about one or
the other: they each are valuable tools that we must learn to use in the appropriate
context. Noting the intrinsic reciprocal influence between abstract thinking and
emotions, Fernandez says, What Kahnemans work is really about is the cognitive
and perceptual biases that prevent us from being rational/ logical even when we
think we are. In other words, many people, much of the time, have the illusion of
rationality when in truth they are being nothing of the sort, simply following their
biases, in an intuitive way, and believing they are being rational/ logical problem-
solvers of the situation at hand.

The final nail in my rational problem solving is king coffin arrived withThe Agile
Mind, by Wilma Koutstaal, Ph.D. Her conclusions about problem-solving thinking
leap away from the starting line of intuitive versus rational. She demonstrates that
highly effective problem solvers move rapidly and flexibly from intuitive to rational
and back again and from specific to abstract thinking and back again regard-
less of what type of problem is addressed. Koutstaal quotes a study showing that
untrained undergraduate students who were instructed to use both intuition and
logic in reading electrocardiograms achieved levels of accuracy similar to those of
2nd year medical residents. Mental agility is best promoted by equally valuing intu-
ition and analysis along with attention to detail and the big picture. She soundly
convinced this reader that the collaboration of intuitive and rational thinking keys
problem-solving success.
A nimble, ambidextrous mind, dealing effectively with thinking, emotion, and action,
might be a more envious asset than a flexible body and perhaps harder to achieve.
Because the rational style of problem-solving is conscious, it can be learned in
standard ways. The intuitive style however is unconscious, reliant on stored memo-
ries and loose neural connections over time, thus requiring a more random and
patient process for acquisition. Especially by rational thinkers like me. Oops. Ive
got lots of work to do at the brain gym.
Debunking 10 Brain Fitness and Brain Training Myths during Brain
Awareness Week
By: Alvaro Fernandez

In honor of Brain Awareness Week, lets debunk ten

myths about brain fitness and brain training that remain surprisingly popular.
Top 10 brain fitness and brain training myths, debunked:
Myth 1. Genes determine the fate of our brains.
Fact: Lifelong brain plasticity means that our lifestyles and behaviors play a
significant role in how our brains (and therefore our minds) physically
evolve.
Myth 2. We are what we eat.
Fact: We are what we do, think, and feel, more than what we eat.
Myth 3. Medication is the main hope for cognitive health and enhancement.
Fact: Non-invasive interventions can have comparable and more durable
benefits, and are also free of side effects.
Myth 4. Theres nothing we can do to beat Alzheimers disease and cognitive
decline.
Fact: While nothing has been shown to prevent the pathology of Alzheimer s
disease, there is abundant research showing we can delay the onset of
symptoms for years a very meaningful outcome which is often overlooked.
Myth 5. There is only one it in Use it or Lose it.
Fact: The brain is composed of a number of neural circuits supporting a vari-
ety of cognitive, emotional, and executive functions. Using or exercising just
one (like memory) is unlikely to be of much help.
Myth 6. Brain training can help reverse your brain age 10, 20, or 30 years.
Fact: Brain age is a fiction. Some brain functions tend to improve, and
some decline, as we get older. And there is considerable variability across
individuals, which only grows as people get older.
Myth 7. Brain training doesnt work.
Fact: Brain training, when it meets certain conditions, has been shown
to improve brain functions in ways that enhance real-world outcomes.
Myth 8. Brain training is primarily about videogames.
Fact: Real, evidence-based brain training includes some forms of meditation,
cognitive therapy, cognitive training, and biofeedback. Interactive media
such as videogames can make those interventions more engaging and scal-
able, but it is important to distinguish the means from the end, as obviously
not all videogames are the same.
Myth 9. Heart health is brain health.
Fact: While heart health contributes significantly to brain health, and vice
versa, the heart and the brain are each crucial organs with their own set of
functions and preventive and therapeutic interventions. What we need now is
for brain health to advance in a decade as much as cardiovascular health has
advanced over the last several decades.
Myth 10. As long as my brain is working fine, why should I even pay attention to it?
Fact: For the same reasons you should add gas to your car and change the
oil regularly so that it works better and performs longer.
> To learn more, order and read the new book The SharpBrains Guide to Brain
Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age (April
2013; 284 pages). This user-friendly, how-to guide cuts through the clutter of media
hype about the latest magic pill for better brain health, offering proven, practical
tips and techniques that anyone can use to enhance and maintain brain function
throughout life and even ward off cognitive decline.
8 Tips To Remember What You Read
By: Dr. Bill Klemm

Despite television, cell phones, and Web twitter, tradi-

tional reading is still an important skill. Whether it is school textbooks, tech manu-
als at work, or regular books, people still read, though not as much as they used to.
One reason that many people dont read much is that they dont read well. For
them, it is slow, hard work and they dont remember as much as they should. Stu-
dents, for example,may have to read something several times before they under-
stand and remember what they read.

Why? You would think that schools teach kids how to read well. Schools do try. I
work with middle-school teachers (see http://peer.tamu.edu) and they tell me that
many students are 23 years behind grade level in reading proficiency. No doubt,
television, cell phones, and the Web are major contributors to this problem, which
will apparently get worse if we dont emphasize and improve reading instruction.

Some of the blame can be placed on the fads in reading teaching, such as phonics
and whole language, which sometimes are promoted by zealots who dont
respect the need for both approaches. Much of the blame for poor reading skills
can be laid at the feet of parents who set poor examples and, of course, on the
youngsters who are too lazy to learn how to read well.

For all those who missed out on good reading skills, it is not too late. I summarize
below what I think it takes to read with good speed and comprehension.

1. Read with a purpose.

2. Skim first.
3. Get the reading mechanics right.
4. Be judicious in highlighting and note taking.
5. Think in pictures.
6. Rehearse as you go along.
7. Stay within your attention span and work to increase that span.
8. Rehearse again soon.
1) Know Your Purpose

Everyone should have a purpose for their reading and think about how that pur-
pose is being fulfilled during the actual reading. The advantage for remembering is
that checking continuously for how the purpose is being fulfilled helps the reader to
stay on task, to focus on the more relevant parts of the text, and to rehearse con-
tinuously as one reads. This also saves time and effort because relevant items are
most attended.

Identifying the purpose should be easy if you freely choose what to read. Just ask
yourself, Why am I reading this? If it is to be entertained or pass the time, then
there is not much problem. But myriad other reasons could apply, such as:

o to understand a certain group of people, such as Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc.

o to crystallize your political position, such as why a given government policy
should be opposed.
o to develop an informed plan or proposal.
o to satisfy a requirement of an academic course or other assigned reading.
Many of us have readings assigned to us, as in a school environment. Or the boss
may hand us a manual and say Here. We need you to read this. Whether the
order comes from a teacher or boss, we need to ask, What do you want me to
learn from this? In the absence of such guidance, you should still formulate your
best guess about what you should learn and remember from the reading.
2) Skim First

Some reading tasks require no more than skimming. Proper skimming includes
putting an emphasis on the headings, pictures, graphs, tables, and key paragraphs
(which are usually at the beginning and the end). Depending on the purpose, you
should slow down and read carefully only the parts that contribute to fulfilling the
reading purpose.

Even material that has to be studied carefully should be skimmed first. The benefits
of skimming first are that the skimming: 1) primes the memory, making it easier to
remember when you read it the second time, 2) orients the thinking, helping you to
know where the important content is in the document, 3) creates an overall sense
and gestalt for the document, which in turn makes it easier to remember certain
particulars.

Browsing on the Internet encourages people to skim read. The way content is han-
dled on the Web is even causing writers to make wider use of Web devices, such
as numbered or bulleted lists, sidebars, graphics, text boxes and sidebars. But the
bad news is that the Web style makes it even harder to learn how to read in-depth;
that is, the Web teaches us to skim, creating bad reading habits for in-depth
reading.

3) Get the Mechanics Right

For in-depth reading, eyes need to move in a disciplined way. Skimming actually
trains eyes to move without discipline. When you need to read carefully and
remember the essence of large blocks of text, the eyes must snap from one fixa-
tion point to the next in left to right-sequence. Moreover, the fixations should not
be one individual letters or even single words, but rather on several words per fixa-
tion. There are reading-improvement machines that train the eyes to fixate prop-
erly, but few schools use them. I know from personal experience with such
machines that they can increase reading speed markedly without a cost in lower
comprehension. Poor readers who stumble along from word to word actually tend
to have lower comprehension because their mind is preoccupied with recognizing
the letters and their arrangement in each word.That is a main reason they cant
remember what they read. Countless times I have heard college students say, I
read that chapter three times, and I still cant answer your questions. When I ask
thought-provoking questions about the material, they often cant answer the ques-
tions because they cant remember the meaning of what they read. Even with
straightforward simple memorization questions, they often cant remember,
because their focus on the words themselves kept them from associating what
their eyes saw with their own pre-existing knowledge and thus facilitating remem-
bering. In short, to remember what you read, you have to think about what the
words mean.

I am not arguing against phonics, which in my view is vital for the initial learning of
how to read. But phonics is just the first step in good reading practice. At some
 point, the reader needs to recognize whole words as complete units and then
expand that capability to clusters of several words.

Among the key tactics for good mechanics of reading, I list the following:

o Make eye contact with all the text not being deliberately skimmed
o See multiple words in each eye fixation
o Strive to expand the width of each eye fixation (on an 8.5 width, strive for three
fixations or eventually two per line). This skill has to be developed in stages. First,
learn how do read at five or six fixations per line. Then work on four per line. Then
three.
o Snap eyes from one fixation point to another (horizontal snaps on long lines, ver-
tical snap if whole line in a column can be seen with one fixation).

Learning how to do this takes practice. If you cant do it on your own, consider for-
mal training from a reading center.

Keep reading

: Simple Solutions Can Heal the Masses

Alvaro FernandezBecome a fan

Retooling Brain Care With Low-Cost, Data-Driven Technologies

374
111

71
21
Posted: 01/25/2013 9:00 AM
Updated: 01/25/2013
Click here to read an original op-ed from the TED
speaker who inspired this post and watch the
TEDTalk below.
While sophisticated neuroimaging techniques such as
fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) provide a
 significant boost in our understanding of the brain -- and
sexy research frequently reported all over the media --
they are extremely costly. This makes it difficult to reach
the mass scale required to conduct clinically meaningful
research and to improve the brain care of millions if not
billions of individuals around the globe.

Good news is, we are witnessing an explosion of new

methods that make use of low cost, already ubiquitous
technologies to inform brain health prevention, diagnoses
and treatments on a wide scale.

Max Little's great five-minute TEDTalk, "A Test For

Parkinson's With A Phone Call" provides a great example.
Assuming the 10,000-subject experiment run by the
Parkinson's Voice Initiative is successful, we will soon
have a new disease measure that is both accurate and
accessible. The brain may be an amazingly complex
organ, but with the right tools and some ingenuity, we
can build on that complexity to find new ways to improve
brain health across the full lifespan.

A surge of innovation is already taking place in Internet-enabled

digital platforms designed to monitor and enhance cognitive and
emotional functioning.- Alvaro Fernandez
Parkinson's, as Little points out, afflicts over 6 million
individual worldwide, but it's just one of a number of
neurological conditions that together take a terrible
collective toll. Think about ADHD, concussions,
depression, Alzheimer's Disease, and more. Improving
prevention and care for all these conditions faces one
common obstacle: the lack of scalable assessments that
can help objectively assess and monitor the continuum
between health and disease. Without them, we need to
rely exclusively on very expensive medical equipment and
clinical evaluations, which means too few people, and too
late, access them.

So what are some alternatives? Little's experiment is

based on the phone. Others are researching blood tests. A
surge of innovation is already taking place in Internet-
 enabled digital platforms designed to monitor and
enhance cognitive and emotional functioning. For
example, in our latest market report, titled "The Digital
Brain Health Market 2012-2020: Web-based, mobile and
biometrics-based technology to assess, monitor and
enhance cognition and brain functioning," we predict that
by the end of 2013:
More than one million adults in North America alone will take a self-
administered annual brain health check-up via their iPad or Android tablet.

iPad-based cognitive screenings will inform more diagnoses of Alzheimer's

disease and MCI than neuroimaging.

More than one million amateur athletes will better manage possible
concussions by taking cognitive baseline tests via a mobile device.

Biometrics-aided meditation will become the next big thing in corporate and
consumer wellness.

More than 150,000 teenage and adult AAA members will access web-based
brain training to become safer drivers.
These tools are especially powerful when used, as we also
saw in Little's talk, in combination with large datasets
that provide researchers and developers with an
unprecedented amount of information used to hone their
diagnostic and predictive abilities. Over the course of this
decade, we will likely see Big Data applications that will
enable truly personalized brain health solutions, based on
an individual's brain characteristics and progression over
time. If we are to meet a massive and growing need, we'll
need to disrupt today's status quo in which research is
based on small and fragmented clinical trials, and where
active brain care is often left for patients whose problems
have grown until it is too difficult to manage them.
 Now, tools bring no value without users. What is truly
exciting is the confluence of factors making brain health
and fitness a priority for the general population. Eighty
three percent of respondents to a 2012 SharpBrains
survey of 3,000+ decision-makers and early adopters said
that "adults of all ages should take care of their 'brain
fitness,' without waiting for their doctors to tell them to"
and also that they "would personally take a brief
assessment every year as an 'annual mental check-up.'" At
the same time as the idea of brain fitness starts to go
mainstream (contrast where physical fitness was fifty
years ago with where it is now), equipment that used to
be expensive and cumbersome is becoming user-friendly
and inexpensive.
While brain health innovation still has a ways to go before
reaching the level of development as physical fitness and
cardiovascular health, it is hundreds of pioneers like Max
Little who are pushing things forward at an ever
quickening pace and often under the radar. What seems
unconventional today may well look conventional by as
near as 2020.

Related resources:
-- TEDtalk: "A Test For Parkinson's With A Phone Call"
-- 10 Predictions on How Digital Platforms Will
Transform Brain Health in 2013
-- Infographic on Digital Brain Health trends
-- The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful
people, they morph and adapt into their most potent
form. TEDWeekends will highlight some of today's most
intriguing ideas and allow them to develop in real time
through your voice! Tweet #TEDWeekends to share
your perspective or
emailtedweekends@hufngtonpost.com to learn about
future weekend's ideas to contribute as a writer.

Mindfulness and Meditation in Schools: Mindful Kids, Peaceful Schools

By: Greater Good Magazine
Mindful Kids, Peaceful Schools
With eyes closed and deep breaths, students are learning a new method to
reduce anxiety, conflict, and attention disorders. But dont call it meditation.

By Jill Suttie

At Toluca Lake elementary school in Los Angeles, a cyclone fence encloses the
asphalt blacktop, which is teeming with kids. Its recess time and the kids, who are
mostly Latino, are playing tag, yelling, throwing balls, and jump-
ing rope. When the bell rings, they reluctantly stop and head
back to their classrooms except for Daniel Murphys second
grade class.

Murphys students file into the school auditorium, each carrying a round blue pillow
decorated with white stars. They enter giggling and chatting, but soon they are
seated in a circle on their cushions, eyes closed, quiet and concentrating. Two
teachers give the children instructions on how to pay attention to their breathing,
telling them to notice the rise and fall of their bellies and chests, the passage of air
in and out of their noses. Though the room is chilly the heating system broke down
earlier that day the children appear comfortable, many withMona Lisa smiles on
their faces.
What did you notice about your breath this morning? one teacher asks.
Mine was like a dragon, says Michael, a child to the teachers right. Albert,
another child, adds, Yeah, I could see mine. It was like smoke.

The teachers lead the children through 45 minutes of exercises focused on breath-
ing, listening, movement, and reflection. At different points, the kids are asked to
gauge their feelings calm, neutral, or restless. There are no right or wrong
answers, just observation. The session ends with the children lying quietly on their
backs, stuffed animals rising and falling on their stomachs, as they contemplate
peace within themselves and in their community. Later, sevenyearold Emily
sums up her experience. I like the class because it makes me calm and soft
inside. It makes me feel good.

Toluca Lake is one of a growing number of schools that are using mindfulness
trainings in an effort to combat increasing levels of anxiety, social conflict, and
attention disorder among children. Once a week for 10 to 12 weeks, the students at
Toluca take time out from their normal curriculum to learn techniques that draw on
the Buddhist meditative practice of mindfulness, which is meant to promote greater
awareness of ones self and ones environment. According to mindfulness educator
Susan Kaiser, bringing this practice into schools is really about teaching kids how
to be in a state of attention, where they can perceive thoughts, physical sensations,
and emotions without judgment and with curiosity and an open state of mind.

That such an unconventional practice with its roots in a religious tradition, no less
has made its way into public schools may come as a surprise to many people. But
schools have been turning to mindfulness for very practical rea-
sons that dont concern religion, and their efforts have been sup-
ported by a recent wave of scientific results.

Steve Reidman first introduced mindfulness practices to Toluca

Lake about six years ago. Reidman, a fourth grade teacher at the school, had been
experiencing problems with classroom management first for him, after many years
of teaching. Conflicts on the playground were escalating and affecting his students
ability to settle down and concentrate in class. When he confided his problems to
Kaiser, a personal friend, she offered to come to his class to teach mindfulness, a
technique shed taught to kids as a volunteer at a local boys and girls club.

I noticed a difference right away, says Reidman. There was less conflict on the
playground, less test anxiety just the way the kids walked into the classroom was
different. Our state test scores also went up that year, which Id like to attribute to
my teaching but I think had more to do with the breathing they did right before they
took the test.

Keep reading
Does brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
By: SharpBrains
 In a modern society we are confronted with a wide
range of increasingly abstract and interconnected problems. Successfully dealing
with such an environment requires a highly fit brain, capable of adapting to new sit-
uations and challenges throughout life. Consequently, we expect cross-training the
brain to soon become as mainstream as cross-training the body is today, going
beyond unstructured mental activity and aiming at maximizing specific brain func-
tions. The goal of our new book is to help you navigate the growing landscape of
lifestyle and brain training options to enhance brain health and performance across
the lifespan.
How is brain training different from mental stimulation?

Anything we do involving novelty, variety, and challenge stimulates the brain and
can contribute to building capacity and brain reserve. For instance, learning how to
play the piano activates a number of brain functions (attention, memory, motor
skills, etc.), which triggers changes in the underlying neuronal networks. Indeed,
musicians have larger brain volume in areas that are important for playing an
instrument: motor, auditory and visuospatial regions. However, we need to recog-
nize that such an activity may take thousands of hours before paying off in terms of
brain fitness. It constitutes a great and pleasurable mental effort, and helps build
cognitive reserve, but it is different by nature from more targeted, efficient, and
complementary brain training interventions. To take an analogy from the world of
physical fitness, it makes sense to stay fit by playing pickup soccer games and also
by training specific muscle groups and capacities such as cardio endurance,
abdominal muscles, and thigh muscle. It is not one or the other.

Under what conditions can brain training work?

This is the million dollar question. Evidence is growing that brain training can work.
The question remains, however, how to maximize the likelihood of transfer from
training to daily life.
Why do we still often hear that brain training does not work? Because of the differ-
ent understandings of what brain training and work mean. A machine to train
abdominal muscles probably wont work if what we measure is blood pressure. A
plane wont fly if it wasnt a plane to start with, but a donkey.

The most critical factor in determining whether a brain training method or program
works is the extent to which the training effects transfer to benefits in daily life.
We know from common experience that practice usually triggers improvement in
the practiced task. Based on our analysis of documented examples of brain train-
ing techniques that work or transfer, we propose that these five conditions must
be met for any kind of brain training, from meditation to technology-based pro-
grams, to translate into meaningful real world improvements:
1. It must engage and exercise a core brain-based capacity or neural
circuit identified to be relevant to real-life outcomes, such as executive
attention, working memory, speed of processing and emotional regulation,
as well as others discussed throughout the interviews with scientists in this
book. Many supposed brain training games fail to provide any actual brain
training because they were never really designed to target specific and rele-
vant brain functions.
2. It must target a performance bottleneck otherwise it is an exercise in
vanity similar to building the largest biceps in town while neglecting the rest
of the body. A critical question to ask is: Which brain function do I need to
optimize? With physical fitness, effective training begins with a target in
mind: Is the goal to train abdominal muscles? Biceps? Cardio capacity? So it
goes for brain fitness, where the question becomes: Is the goal to optimize
driving-related cognitive skills? Concentration? Memory? Regulating stress
and emotions? The choice of a technique or technology should be driven by
your goal. For instance, if you need to train your executive functions but use
a program designed to enhance speed of processing, you may well con-
clude that this program does not work. But this program may work for
somebody whose bottleneck is speed of processing (as often happens in
older adults).
3. A minimum dose of 15 hours total per targeted brain function, per-
formed over 8 weeks or less, is necessary for real improvement. Training
only a few hours across a wide variety of brain functions, such as in the
BBC brain training experiment, should not be expected to trigger real-world
benefits, in the same way that going to the gym a couple times per month
and doing an assortment of undirected exercises cannot be expected to
result in increased muscle strength and physical fitness.
4. Training must adapt to performance, require effortful attention, and
increase in difficulty. This is a key advantage of computerized brain train-
ing over pen-and-paper-based activities. Think about the number of hours
 you have spent doing crossword or Sudoku puzzles, or mastering any new
subject for that matter, in a way that was either too easy for you and became
boring or way too difficult and became frustrating. Interactive training has the
capacity to constantly monitor your level of performance and adapt
accordingly.
5. Continued practice is required for continued benefits. Just as you
wouldnt expect to derive lifelong benefits from running a few hours this
month, and then not exercising ever again, you shouldnt expect lifelong
benefits from a one-time brain training activity. Remember that cells

that fire together wire together while the mini-

mum dose described above may act as a threshold to start seeing some
benefits, continued practice, either at a reduced number of hours or as a
periodic booster, is a final condition for transfer to real-world benefits
over time.
This is an adapted excerpt from the new book The SharpBrains Guide to Brain
Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age (April
2013; 284 pages). This user-friendly and thought-provoking how-to guide cuts
through the clutter of media hype about the latest magic pill for better brain
health, offering proven, practical tips and techniques that anyone can use to main-
tain and enhance brain function throughout life and even ward off cognitive decline.
Be Sociable, Share!
What are Cognitive Abilities and Skills, and How to Boost Them?
By: Dr. Pascale Michelon
 First of all, what is cognition? Cognition has to do with how a
person understands and acts in the world. It is a set of abilities, skills or processes
that are part of nearly every human action.

Cognitive abilities are brain-based skills we need to carry out any task from the
simplest to the most complex. They have more to do with the mechanisms of how
we learn, remember, problem-solve, and pay attention rather than with any actual
knowledge. For instance, answering the telephone involves at least: perception
(hearing the ring tone), decision taking (answering or not), motor skill (lifting the
receiver), language skills (talking and understanding language), social skills (inter-
preting tone of voice and interacting properly with another human being).

Mental functions or cognitive abilities are based on specific neuronal networks or

brain structures. For instance memory skills rely mainly on parts of the temporal
lobes and parts of the frontal lobes (behind the forehead).

In the table below, you can browse through the main brain functions involved in
cognition. You will also find brain teasers that will help you exercise the cogni-
tive abilities described. Learn, and have fun!
COGNITIVE ABILITIES ARE BRAINS FUNCTIONS
Cognitive Ability/Brain
Skills involved
Function

Recognition and interpretation of sen-

sory stimuli (smell, touch, hearing, etc.)
Perception
Brain challenges:
o Is this a circle?
o Catch the number
Attention Ability to sustain concentration on a par-
ticular object, action, or thought.
Ability to manage competing demands in
our environment.Brain challenges:
o Count the letters
o Spot the differences
 o Awareness test
Short-term/ working memory (limited
storage).
Long-term memory (unlimited
Memory storage).Brain challenges:
o Can you do better than
a chimp?
o 5 games to test your memory
Ability to mobilize our muscles and bod-
ies.
Ability to manipulate objects.

Brain challenges:
Motor o Tap your right hand on the
table. At the same time, make a
circular movement with your left
hand (as if you were cleaning
the table)
o Switch hands
Skills allowing us to translate sounds
into words and generate verbal output.

Language Brain challenges:

o Words associations
o What is the word?
Ability to process incoming visual
stimuli.Ability to understand spatial rela-
tionship between objects.Ability to visu-
Visual and Spatial alize images and scenarios.
Processing
Brain challenges:
o Build the box
o Which piece is missing?
Executive Functions Abilities that enable goal-oriented
behavior, such as the ability to plan, and
execute a goal. These include:
Flexibility: the capacity for quickly
switching to the appropriate mental
mode.
Theory of mind: insight into other
peoples inner world, their plans, their
likes and dislikes.
Anticipation: prediction based on pat-
 tern recognition.
Problem-solving: defining the problem
in the right way to then generate solu-
tions and pick the right one.
Decision making: the ability to make
decisions based on problem-solving, on
incomplete information and on emotions
(ours and others).
Working Memory: the capacity to hold
and manipulate information on-line in
real time.
Emotional self-regulation: the ability to
identify and manage ones own emotions
for good performance.
Sequencing: the ability to break down
complex actions into manageable units
and prioritize them in the right order.
Inhibition: the ability to withstand dis-
traction, and internal urges.

Brain challenges:
o Sunday afternoon quiz
o Which way is the bus going?
o Tipping the scales
o The empty triangle
o The Tower of Hanoi
.
COGNITIVE ABILITIES CAN IMPROVE IF EXERCISED
With age, some cognitive abilities decline, especially the executive functions. In
addition, cognitive abilities that are not used regularly tend to diminish over time.
This may happen at any age but is mostly observed in older age. Fortunately,
these skills can also be improvedat any age with regular practice.

Useful resources:
- The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and
Performance at Any Age (284 pages; April 2013)

- Short posts on what can boost cognitive abilities:

o
o
o
o How learning can change your brain
o Does coffee boost cognitive functions
over time?
o Fitter bodies = fitter brains. True at all ages?
o Are mentally stimulating activities good or
bad for the brain?
o Does cognitive training work?
o Nutrition and supplements
Be Sociable, Share!


inShare49
What are Cognitive Abilities and Skills, and How to Boost Them?
By: Dr. Pascale Michelon

First of all, what is cognition? Cognition has to do with how a

person understands and acts in the world. It is a set of abilities, skills or processes
that are part of nearly every human action.

Cognitive abilities are brain-based skills we need to carry out any task from the
simplest to the most complex. They have more to do with the mechanisms of how
we learn, remember, problem-solve, and pay attention rather than with any actual
knowledge. For instance, answering the telephone involves at least: perception
(hearing the ring tone), decision taking (answering or not), motor skill (lifting the
receiver), language skills (talking and understanding language), social skills (inter-
preting tone of voice and interacting properly with another human being).
Mental functions or cognitive abilities are based on specific neuronal networks or
brain structures. For instance memory skills rely mainly on parts of the temporal
lobes and parts of the frontal lobes (behind the forehead).

In the table below, you can browse through the main brain functions involved in
cognition. You will also find brain teasers that will help you exercise the cogni-
tive abilities described. Learn, and have fun!
COGNITIVE ABILITIES ARE BRAINS FUNCTIONS
Cognitive Ability/Brain
Skills involved
Function

Recognition and interpretation of sen-

sory stimuli (smell, touch, hearing, etc.)
Perception
Brain challenges:
o Is this a circle?
o Catch the number
Ability to sustain concentration on a par-
ticular object, action, or thought.
Ability to manage competing demands in
Attention our environment.Brain challenges:
o Count the letters
o Spot the differences
o Awareness test
Short-term/ working memory (limited
storage).
Long-term memory (unlimited
Memory storage).Brain challenges:
o Can you do better than
a chimp?
o 5 games to test your memory
Motor Ability to mobilize our muscles and bod-
ies.
Ability to manipulate objects.

Brain challenges:
o Tap your right hand on the
table. At the same time, make a
circular movement with your left
hand (as if you were cleaning
the table)
 o Switch hands
Skills allowing us to translate sounds
into words and generate verbal output.

Language Brain challenges:

o Words associations
o What is the word?
Ability to process incoming visual
stimuli.Ability to understand spatial rela-
tionship between objects.Ability to visu-
Visual and Spatial alize images and scenarios.
Processing
Brain challenges:
o Build the box
o Which piece is missing?
Executive Functions Abilities that enable goal-oriented
behavior, such as the ability to plan, and
execute a goal. These include:
Flexibility: the capacity for quickly
switching to the appropriate mental
mode.
Theory of mind: insight into other
peoples inner world, their plans, their
likes and dislikes.
Anticipation: prediction based on pat-
tern recognition.
Problem-solving: defining the problem
in the right way to then generate solu-
tions and pick the right one.
Decision making: the ability to make
decisions based on problem-solving, on
incomplete information and on emotions
(ours and others).
Working Memory: the capacity to hold
and manipulate information on-line in
real time.
Emotional self-regulation: the ability to
identify and manage ones own emotions
for good performance.
Sequencing: the ability to break down
complex actions into manageable units
and prioritize them in the right order.
 Inhibition: the ability to withstand dis-
traction, and internal urges.

Brain challenges:
o Sunday afternoon quiz
o Which way is the bus going?
o Tipping the scales
o The empty triangle
o The Tower of Hanoi
.
COGNITIVE ABILITIES CAN IMPROVE IF EXERCISED
With age, some cognitive abilities decline, especially the executive functions. In
addition, cognitive abilities that are not used regularly tend to diminish over time.
This may happen at any age but is mostly observed in older age. Fortunately,
these skills can also be improvedat any age with regular practice.
To Harness Neuroplasticity, Start with Enthusiasm
By: Dr. Helena Popovic

We are the architects and builders of our own

brains.

For millennia, however, we were oblivious to our enormous creative capabilities.

We had no idea that our brains were changing in response to our actions and atti-
tudes, every day of our lives. So we unconsciously and randomly shaped our
brains and our latter years because we believed we had an immutable brain that
was at the mercy of our genes.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The human brain is continually altering its structure, cell number, circuitry and
chemistry as a direct result of everything we do, experience, think and believe. This
is called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity comes from two words: neuron or nerve
cell and plastic, meaning malleable or able to be molded.
The implications of neuroplasticity are enormous: we have the ability to keep our
brains sharp, effective and capable of learning new skills well into our 90s, if we
protect our brains from damaging habits and give them ongoing stimulation and
appropriate fuel. One way to illustrate this is to think of the brain and mind as a
large boat, complete with captain and crew, sailing the ocean blue.

The captain makes the decisions and gives the orders, which the loyal crew follow.
Without a captain, the boat would be directionless. Without a crew, the day-to-day
running of the boat would be impossible. The crew know their role and dont need
the captain to tell them how to do their job or to remind them of their job on a daily
basis. Theyre very well trained. The captain only notifies the crew if he or she
wants something to change and takes charge whenever leadership is required. As
for the boat, it needs to be kept in good nick and fuelled on a regular basis.

The captain, the crew and the boat form a single, interdependent unit, each party
influencing the other two. If the captain and crew dont do their job properly, the
boat can get damaged and end up in disrepair. If the boat is damaged, the journey
is more arduous; in particular, rough seas are more difficult to handle. If the captain
is apathetic, incompetent or drunk, there is an absence of leadership. And if the
captain and crew are in constant disagreement, they wont get very far.

How does this relate to the brain and mind? The captain represents the conscious
mind; the crew represent the subconscious mind; the boat is the brain; and the
ocean is life.

The conscious mind is the thinking part of ourselves. It sets goals, makes decisions
and interprets experiences. The subconscious mind is the part of ourselves
beneath our conscious awareness that keeps us alive and running. Its what keeps
our hearts pumping, our lungs expanding and our hair growing. We dont con-
sciously say to ourselves, Pump, breathe, grow!these things are handled sub-
consciously, through the autonomic nervous system. The number one priority of
the subconscious mind is our survival: physical, emotional and psychological. This
is why our subconscious plays a powerful role in dictating behaviour. It prioritises
our emotional wellbeing over our conscious wants. Its why sometimes we con-
sciously think we want one thing, but still end up doing another. One reason that
diets dont work is they dont address subconscious issues that may be at play. We
always sabotage our efforts if the subconscious pay-offs for not changing override
the conscious desire to lose weight. Finally, the brain is the vessel through which
our conscious and subconscious minds operate.

Based on the analogy of boat, captain and crew, the following is an overview of
how we can boost our brains.

1. Dont damage the boat.

On day one in medical school, I was taught Primum non nocereFirst do no
harm. No boat owner would knowingly damage their boat, so it follows that no
human would knowingly damage his brain. Apart from the obvious injury caused by
falling off ladders and falling into illegal drugs, things which harm the brain and
reduce our cognitive abilities include smoking, stress, sleep deprivation, soft drinks,
sedentary lifestyles, excessive alcohol, junk food, high blood pressure, high choles-
terol levels, obesity, loneliness, pessimism and negative self-talk. Goal number one
is to avoid these damaging entities.
2. Dock the boat in stimulating surroundings.
Our brain function improves in every measurable way when we find ourselves in
environments that are mentally, physically and socially stimulating. Adventure pre-
vents dementia!

Keep reading
By: Dr. Helena Popovic
3. Fuel it the finest.
Our dietary choices affect not only the health of our bodies but also the health of
our brains. In fact our brains consume one fifth of all the nutrients and kilojoules we
ingest. What we eat has a significant impact on our neurotransmitters (chemicals
that carry messages between neurons across synapses), our alertness, our mood
and our cognitive functioning.
4. Keep the cargo light.
Obesity is a major risk factor for dementia.
5. Run the motor.
Without physical exercise our brains waste away as much as our muscles waste
away. Exercise actually induces the growth of new brain cells.
6. Learn the ropes and keep on learning.
Having a good education and engaging in lifelong, active learning help to protect
us from dementia and contribute to our developing cognitive reserve. This
reserve acts as a buffer against mental decline as we age.
7. Sail to new shores.
Boredom and monotony are poisonous to our brains. We need to get out there, get
exploring and get out of our comfort zones. We need to sail to new shores to find
riches outside our usual boundaries. We need to change our routines, do things
differently and give ourselves ongoing challenges.
8. Use it or lose it.
This applies to every function of the brain and body, from studying to socialising to
sex. In order to maintain our capacity for learning new skills, we need to engage in
learning new skills on a regular basis. In order to become creative, inventive and
re-sourceful, we need to give ourselves tasks that require creativity, inventiveness
and resourcefulness. In order to have a good memory, we need to make a con-
scious effort to pay attention. In order to remain socially adept, we need to remain
socially active.
9. Train it and regain it.
If we lose a specific brain function, all is not lost. Progressive, persistent, goal-
focused practice can help us regain the lost function.
10. Charge the battery.
Stilling the mind is as important as stimulating the mind. Getting adequate sleep
and pressing the pause button on our mind chatter are essential for peak perfor-
mance on a day-to-day basis, as well as preservation of brain function as we age.
11. Connect with fellow travellers.
Lifelong social interaction and meaningful connection with others is vital for a
healthy brain.
12. Choose the destination.
The brain is a teleological deviceit is fed by having goals to strive for and aspira-
tions to work towards. The clearer we are about where we want to go and what we
want to achieve, the more effective the brain is in accomplishing the required tasks.
This is analogous to the captain giving the crew clear instructions about where
theyre going and what is expected of them.
13. Command the crew.
Having decided on what we want, we need to direct our self-talk to support our
goals. Our internal dialogue is a constant stream of instructions to the subcon-
scious mind. Uplifting, solution-focused self-talk switches on brain cell activity; neg-
ative, discouraging self-talk dampens it.
14. Communicate gratitude.
When we think about what were thankful for, we wire our brains to continue finding
things to be thankful for. Our brains are designed so that we see whatever were
looking for. We are never objective, even when we make a concerted effort to be
so. Subjectivity always enters our perceptions. We dont see things as they are; we
see things as we are. Therefore, by regularly reflecting on things that were grateful
for, we construct a filter through which we see the world and we create more expe-
riences for which to feel grateful.
15. Practise perfectly.
When we practise a skill in our imaginations, the same neurons are firing as if we
were performing the skill in real life! If we see ourselves executing a task perfectly
in the minds eye, we become better at it in the real world because every mental
rehearsal increases the efficiency of electrical transmissions between the involved
nerve cells. Mental practice turbocharges our progress.
16. Bon voyage!
Enjoy the journey! Get excited about where youre going. Passion, enthusiasm and
excitement are the most powerful brain fuels of all. The word enthusiasm comes
from the Greek entheos, meaning to be divinely inspired or possessed by a god.
Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, Nothing great has ever been achieved
without enthusiasm.

Dr Helena Popovic MBBS is an Australia-based medical doctor,

researcher, fitness trainer, international speaker and author of In Search of My
Father: Dementia is no match for a daughters determination.
> To learn more about neuroplasticity, read these 15 FAQs on Neuroplastic-
ity and Brain Fitness.
> How to Submit a Guest Post to SharpBrains.com.
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affect our perceptions of the world, Scientific American February 2011, 6265.

3. Barbara L Frederickson PhD. Positivity: Top-notch research reveals the 3-to-1

ratio that will change your life. Three Rivers Press 2009.

4. Y. Freund-Levi et al. Omega-3 fatty acid treatment in 174 patients with mild to
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5. John Medina. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for surviving and thriving at work, home
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6. John J Ratey and Eric Hageman. Spark! How exercise will improve the perfor-
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10 Brain Tips To Teach and Learn
By: Laurie Bartels

My natural rhythms are in cycle with the school calendar. January 1st takes a back
seat to my new year, which gets ushered in with the month of September when
there is crispness in the air that gradually shakes off the slower, more relaxed pace
of summer.Conveniently, my career in teaching meshes with my natural cyclical
year. And as this year draws to a close, I am re-energized by the pace of summer,
knowing that anything may pop in to my mind as I engage in activities not directly
related to school. But before that happens, Id like to reflect on this past year, in
particular as it was my first year of blogging about the brain.

My interest in the brain stems from wanting to better understand both how to make
school more palatable for students, and professional development more meaning-
ful for faculty. To that end, I began my Neurons Firing blog in April, 2007, have
been doing a lot of reading, and been attending workshops and conferences,
including Learning & the Brain.
If you agree that our brains are designed for learning, then as educators it is
incumbent upon us to be looking for ways to maximize the learning process for
each of our students, as well as for ourselves. Some of what follows is simply com-
mon sense, but Ive learned that all of it has a scientific basis in our brains.
1. Review and 2. Reflection are two means for thinking about what is being
learned. Review can be done in the moments after a question is posed, a comment
is made, a passage is read, an activity is done, or directions are given, providing
ample time to think about what has taken place, process the information and
respond accordingly. Review is also what should be done periodically over the
course of the year, so that students have the opportunity to revisit, relearn, clarify
and consolidate their learning to memory. Marilee Sprenger, based upon research
by Jeb Schenck, notes that spacing reviews throughout the learning and increas-
ing the time between them gradually allows long-term networks to be strength-
ened the timing between repeated reviews can significantly affect how much
information is retained.
Reflection encompasses not only a response to actual material but also thinking
about how one learns. It is 3. Metacognition, and with each iteration you learn
more about yourself as a learner. We empower our students and ourselves when
we take the time for reflection, because the more we understand about how we
each learn, the better we can become at learning. According to Sprenger,
Metacognition involves two phases. The first is knowledge about cognition or
thinking about our thinking. The second is monitoring and regulating cognitive
processes.

For me, blogging has been a continual process of review and reflection. In the
course of over 170 posts to date, I continually revisit topics, make connections, and
write about my own course of learning. As teachers, ideally we should be reviewing
and reflecting on lessons, course materials, and interactions with students, both as
a means of improving them as well as learning from what worked or did not work.

4. Sleep is another way to consolidate learning, which is one reason getting a full
night of uninterrupted sleep is important. Of course, doing so also helps us the next
day to have more energy and patience, which then helps us with our attention con-
trol. In fact, couple sufficient sleep with waking up to a healthy breakfast, and you
are prepared to tackle the day.
Proper 5. Nutrition keeps our systems functioning closer to their peak by stabiliz-
ing various levels of hormones and chemicals. All of this holds equally true for stu-
dents as well as teachers!
We all have our own life stories, and being exposed to something new tends to
stick better if we have something else to associate it with or if it is sufficiently
unusual that it stands out on its own. Taking advantage of student 6. Prior Knowl-
edge probably requires minimal effort on the part of the teacher, but yields big
returns by engaging student interest as students consider new information as it
pertains to them and their experiences. This, in turn, can 7. Engage Emotions,
which is the largest hook into learning. We all tend to remember things that get our
blood boiling for better or for worse. The parts of the brain engaged in emotions
include the small yet mighty amygdala, the hippocampus and the hypothalamus.
The amygdala deals with our emotions, helps process our memories, and gets
totally absorbed in managing our response to fear and stress. Combined, these are
biggies, so the hippocampus and hypothalamus chime in with some assistance.
The hippocampus handles factual information, while the hypothalamus monitors
how your body is doing internally and directs the pituitary gland to release hor-
mones on the basis of functions such as body temperature, appetite, and sexual
functioning.
8. Novelty is another big hook. As information presentation blends between teach-
ers or stays the same by one teacher, it becomes difficult to see patterns and stu-
dents may tune out the sameness. But change it up a bit, introduce something
radically different or in a radically different manner, and all of a sudden it is like a
quick-pick-me-up in the middle of a lesson, a brain snack. Students refocus their
attention, and it can even enliven your presentation and wake you up! One way to
incorporate novelty is to add some 9. Movement to reenergize the body and brain
cells. Movement can shake the sillies out or wake up sluggish bodies and brains; it
can be an antidote to the time of day or the climate. Movement is also a close rela-
tive of 10. Exercise, and it has been shown that exercise is especially helpful in
keeping our adult brains healthy, so remember to participate in that movement with
your students (and they will probably consider your participation a bit novel!).
Novelty and movement can also effectively be used to assist kids with sharpening
control of their executive function, which is managed by the frontal lobes in the
neocortex. Executive function is how we control our attention, create plans, and
carry out those plans. Too often in school, kids are required to sit still and quiet
down, yet these are the very basics of being a kid! Consider harnessing that nat-
ural kid energy to help students manage their own functioning. Indeed, in a recent
Newsweek article, Wray Herbert notes that an executive function curriculum has
emerged to help students manage effortful control and cognitive focus but also
working memory and mental flexibility the ability to adjust to change, to think out-
side the box. My next post will share some of the many resources I have found to
be particularly useful, including the Learning & the Brain conference, which is a
must attend if you can swing it!
 Laurie Bartels writes the Neurons Firing blog to create for herself the
the graduate course Id love to take if it existed as a program. She is
the K-8 Computer Coordinator and Technology Training Coordinator at
Rye Country Day School in Rye, New York. She is also the organizer of
Digital Wave annual summer professional development, and a frequent attendee of
Learning & The Brain conferences.

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