Volition Thought House Introduces iMusic Brain Igniting Music featuring IMAGINCE^TM Neuro Technology to Prospective Retail Partners at CES 2009

Next-Generation Mental Muscle Flexing Music Combines Advanced, Patented Neuro Technology and Psychoacoustic advancements for Natural and Non-medicinal Mental Enhancements

LAS VEGAS- January 8, 2009

Zone in the brain, invigorate the mind and boost gray matter at the press of one button, with iMusic brain igniting music.

Volition, a leading human performance and neuro research boutique firm, today introduced the new iMusic retail line, with music CDs for focus, IQ, energy, memory, fitness, relaxation, sleeping, reading and more.

iMusic is advanced audio technology engineered by top brain experts and doctors, that stimulates and optimizes your neurons and brainwaves. All while you're enjoying beautiful music.

How well people think and perform is largely governed by their state of mind, which is determined by their brainwaves. Research has uncovered which brainwaves create peak performance mental states for learning, thinking, feeling great and even sleeping. With different iMusic CDs, users can now dial their brains into special peak performance brain states for life's rigors and demands.

People often report feeling their mind stall and sputter while trying to write, learn, recall information or just talk with someone, and it's not because they lack smarts. In fact, the problem isn't with their mental abilities at all. The problem is how their brain works and for the mass majority of people, it's in a low performance state & it's simply not performing for them.

iMusic fixes that by activating and training the mind just like weight training activates and trains muscles. Muscles need exercise to grow strong and practice to do something as simple as catch a ball; and in much the same way, the brain needs exercise to stay sharp and instruction to properly focus and zone in to learn, work and think in the most effective manner.

iMusic is a life changing performance tool for senior citizens looking to stay sharp in their old age, for students looking for added focus, and for professionals looking for more energy and acuity throughout their work day.

The IMAGINCE^TM neuro technology was originally developed by Volition for enterprise applications to enhance mental acuity, creativity and turn on peak performance among work forces and was originally available beginning in 2004 in limited markets. IMAGINCE^TM consists of a highly scientific digital modulation process that inserts nearly undetectable pulses, beats and modulations into music with finely tuned parameters- packing the acoustics with multiple harmonized layers of subtle brain piquing tones and waves that testing and laboratory trials have proven create a calculated and predictable change in the electrical activity of the brain. Unlike any other music that has brain enhancing claims, iMusic does not require headphones, or focused and dedicated listening to guide the brain into a peak performance state and will:

- Act as a neuro speed performance aid: iMusic will introduce the brain to an accelerated, peak-performance state (the science of brainwave entrainment at work); pulling the user out of their mental comfort zone and propelling them to a higher level of operation, giving their brain a tremendous, science-driven workout.

- Induce whole brain thought: iMusic will create new and in time, permanent neural connections between the left and right brain hemispheres, perpetuating an increase in balance-what neuroscientists call Brain Synchronization. Brain Synchronization allows the user to think with both sides of their brain at once, an event that is often referred to as whole-brain thinking and is closely associated with genius level thinking and supreme intellectual performance.

- Enhance energy levels: Users can now easily combat mental fatigue and lack of focus by dialing up their energy levels at the push of a button.
Whether users want to work harder in the office or simply have the energy & vitality for the days events, this is their answer.

- Focus in like a laser: iMusic will propel users into a super focus state, empowering them in academic and work pursuits.

"iMusic is the first neuro activating music that, because of its technological properties, puts even the busiest people in the world into the peak performance zone," said Dr. Neal Alpiner, director of research, Voliiton Thought House. "Imaging devices such as the EEG tell the real story, giving a profound glimpse of the impact iMusic has on the brain. Just push play and within minutes, the brain lights up like a Christmas tree."

"The vision for iMusic is unique. We endeavored to make that do anything moxy, that super sharp genius state, that fire in your pants attribute available to everyone, in the form of a medium that we already love," said Taylor Andrew Wilson, president, Volition Thought House. "We've accomplished that. The ground swell of feedback we've generated over the past 5 years is flooring and we are going to continue acting as passionate ambassadors for this neuro technology until it becomes a de facto standard. What we're really trying to do here is set a new bar for human performance, and we're doing it."

About Volition
Volition Thought House was founded in 2002 by president Taylor Andrew Wilson. Volition proudly employs over 50 talented and exceptional people in over 15 different countries, united in their passion for performance. Volition debuted iMusic, a patented brain training, performance peaking and lifestyle enhancing audio technology , in 2004. Volition's first consumer product, The Mind Accelerator book, was published in 2002 and was distributed by Chapters, Barnes and Noble and major book stores nation wide. Volition is a privately held corporation.

While their initial research (still to be published in Neuron magazine) succeeded in reproducing simple images, they're creepy enough already. They're no longer just scraggly lines on an fMRI scrap of paper but actual images!

Their experiment involved figuring out the test subjects' brain patterns by showing them 400 images then they were shown the letters of the word "neuron." Neuroinformatics Department's Yukiyasu Kamitani and Yoichi Miyawaki's technology reproduced the same perceived images to the computer screen. You see, your retina converts the image that you see into electrical signals that are then sent to your brain's visual cortex. The scientists sort of "tapped" into this electrical brain connection and reconstructed the signal to the PC screen.

"It was the first time in the world that it was possible to visualize what people see directly from the brain activity," the Tokyo-based researchers said in a statement. Take this: With a higher accuracy rate of the decoding of the brain (calibration), "images can be translated in color." Whoa!

Dr. F. Krueger (not from Elm Street) said this technology could be developed as a means to hack into your dreams. Kaleidoscopic dreams, dudes.

We can't help thinking about Christopher Walken's "Brainstorm," or help in the cartographic sketch of a crime witness account, or... Tom Cruise's "Minority Report," (read: self-incrimination). The ramifications are endless. What are your thoughts? Use the comments section below....

Not so fast, honey! Two studies; one conducted by the Division of Neurosurgery researchers at Lund University, in Sweden and another one conducted by the University of Washington Bioengineering Department showed that the memory of rats are negatively affected by mobile phone radiation or microwaves "similar to those emitted by cellphones."

Here are the experiments:

Henrietta Nittby at Lund University reports in their research that rats were exposed to cell phone radiation for two hours per week for more than a year. The result, the poor rats fared poorly in memory tests. They tied this experiment with an earlier study that showed microwave radiation from mobile phones, can pose an immediate damage to the barrier that prevent the leaking of albumin into brain tissue. Another finding also showed that after four to eight weeks of exposure could result to nerve damage to the cerebral cortex and the brain's memory center, the hippocampus.

Henry Lai at University of Washington, on the other hand, reports that their experiment links loss of long-term memory in rats exposed to cellphone microwave radiation. This study will be published in the journal of Bioelectromagnetics in January 2009.

...But don't take our word for it.  However, these are two separate reports, from two groups of scientists coming from opposite sides of the globe. Wouldn't you rather pop popcorn than pop your memory? Check out the report as published at Science Daily. And, uh, Henrietta Nittby? She has a mobile phone. She never holds it to her ear.

We have been talking about intelligence, memory, and brain health, and how we can improve brain performance. We have pointed out the hippocampus, the cerebellum, the frontal lobe, and other brain areas as we talk about different brain functions. however, for most of our readers who are not experts on the brain or its parts, but only seek information on improving IQ, memory, and general aptitude, etc., these anatomical references to the brain could be quite a pain.

What exactly happens when your brain processes what you see? Which part of the brain is activated? How are information stored? What happens to the brain that we forget things?

We thought that you could gain more from these posts if we can help you brush up on some of the basic understanding of the brain. Don't worry, these are going to be surprisingly easy to digest -- and then we can appreciate and digest more of these brain turbo-charging posts....

So if you are one of those who find "these anatomical references to the brain quite a pain," or would like to refresh your understanding of the brain, check out this awesome interactive presentation in 3D from National Geographic which clearly explains the workings of the brain in plain simple terms -- and understand the mechanics of memory.

While at it, you may also try an interesting test of your memory skills here.

This brings us to the brain's powers: memory and intelligence. We may have the intelligence and sharp memory, but if we do not defend ourselves against stress, we may lose the battle to memory decline.

New studies point out that stress can literally shrink and destroy your hippocampus--the brain region associated with memory. Bruce McEwen, neuroendocrinology head at the Rockefeller University in New York City said experiments with rats showed that repeated exposure to stress actually shrinks the neurons in the hippocampus and, "the same thing happens in the brain region called the prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for decision-making and attention."

Don't get us wrong. We also need to be stressed out every now and then to keep us alert, on edge, and, in the case of Manny Pacquiao, to psyche himself up to the adrenaline-pumping level of defence and aggressiveness. Stress could be man's instinctive response for self-preservation -- it could give you a quick burst of energy for survival reasons.

It is the constant unmanaged stress, that produces high levels of cortisol, that could knock your brain power down. Cortisol impairs cognitive performance (your thinking), higher blood pressure, lower immunity, and increased abdominal fat, among others. Come to think of it, stress could make you a pot-bellied jerk. Not to mention senile.

Seriously now, some people's means of dealing with stress could actually worsen things for them. Drinking after a hard day's work, if not done in moderation (meaning, not every night) could lead to more health, domestic problems and negative effect on one's work performance.

So, before you develop that habit of chain-smoking, over-eating, impulse shopping, or other (conscious or unconscious) self-destructive means, we would recommend the following as just a few of how to effectively deal with stress:

* Sweat it out - live an active lifestyle, hit the gym, engage in sports. Haven't you noticed that when you get a good workout, you feel more energized than tired? It's actually the result of endorphins, the happy hormones, that our body produces when we exercise.

* Embark on a new hobby - grow a garden, build miniature airplanes, go trekking or fishing, etc. One of these must catch your fancy. You know how getting engrossed in something you like doing could be therapeutic.

* Drink water - surprised? Dehydration causes fatigue, and it is more difficult to handle stressful situations when you are tired.

* Get a massage - light up aromatherapy candles and lighten up your day. A good massage loosens tense muscles and circulates blood circulation. Pamper yourself and feel like a king.

* Meditate - it has been said that meditation could be the most powerful healing tool against stress. It clears your mind of negative thoughts by concentrating on tranquility. Think of Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) mouthing "Yawzah...." between deep breaths to calm himself while freaking out over Marcus Burnett's (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowry's (Will Smith) misadventures in the movie "Bad Boys."

* Sex - OK, this might already been at the back of your mind, but doctors actually recommend sex as a good remedy to release pent-up rage or bad vibes that you get from stress. Having a loving relationship with your significant other actually would do wonders.

* Sleep - stress could be directly related to being tired. Sleep deprivation would actually affect your performance and it could be directly related to stress. Proper diet, exercise, and iMusic could help you get that good night's sleep. Sleeping also gives your brain the time to do its "housekeeping" functions, i.e., memory consolidation.

* Therapy - if all else fails, a psychiatrist or a life coach could help you figure out the means to get out of your chronic stress problem.

Like Manny Pacquiao, you should not only focus on improving your game (intelligence and memory), you should also develop a good defense against one of your brain's worst enemy --- stress.

(photo courtesy of the LA Times)

We reported in our August 29, 2008 post that moderate coffee drinking is good for the health, and may improve short-term memory. Standing by our commitment to give you the "latest," here goes: a December 1, 2008 article from the New York Times reports that an afternoon nap works better than your cup of strong coffee.

This was the finding of a study "Comparing the benefits of caffeine, naps and placebo on verbal, motor and perceptual memory," by a group of researchers at the University of California in San Diego.

61 people were tested to compare the declarative verbal memory, procedural motor skills, and perceptual performances of those who had caffeine, to those who only took a nap, and to those who were given a placebo. For verbal tasks, the group was asked to memorize a list of words, for motor skills, they were trained to tap a keyboard in a specific sequence, and for the perceptual task, they were trained to discriminate shapes on a computer screen. After the training, the participants were then randomly divided into three groups: one group was given a 200-milligram caffeine pill, another group took a nap from 1 to 3 pm, and the third group was given placebo.

The result: Those who took a nap scored better in the verbal tasks (word recall) compared to those who took caffeine and placebo pills. Motor skills are significantly impaired for those who took caffeine compared to those who took a nap and those who were given placebo. In perceptual learning tests, those who were given placebo (but did not nap and didn't get caffeine pills) fared poorly compared to those who took a nap or who were given a placebo.

Sarah C. Mednick, research team leader and assistant professor of Psychiatry said, "People think they are smarter on caffeine," but, as the research's abstract says, "These findings provide evidence of the limited benefits of caffeine for memory improvement compared with napping."

Do we hear a collective protest from coffee lovers over this?

P.S. Check out "How to Boost Your Energy Without Caffeine"

This video is nothing new but we have noticed the resurgence of this spinning girl among the social networks and the responses to this "test" are quite revealing, er.... at least some of them:

* "Wo-hooo! I can see the girl spin clockwise, then opposite. I'm a balanced person!"

* "The girl is programmed to spin clockwise, then counter-clockwise. It's a fake."

* "I'm a left-brained person through and through but why do I see the girl spinning clockwise?"

* "Please anyone, help! All I can see is a silhouette spinning clockwise!"

The truth is, it is simply an optical illusion (not a test) of how our visual system reconstruct the image (which is not actually "spinning" -- it's a series of 2-dimensional gif images animated in 34 frames). It is our brain's visual processing that interprets the video as a 3-D spinning image. You can actually force your visual system to perceive it as moving to the direction you wish it to by focusing on the shadow, or some other part.

Below are the differences between people with left and right brain functions:

While being logical and practical seem to be the more dependable choice than being "subjective" the right-brain dominant person's creativity and daring are equally appealing. For a "real" test to see whether you are a right-brained or left-brained person, check out this link or this one .

Please feel free to post your comments below.

image source: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22535838-5012895,00.html

Have you ever wondered why, despite being the class genius, you still feel the class buffoon is way smarter than you are? Oh yes, you score perfect on exams while everyone barely makes it to the passing grade, but outside the classroom everyone else seem smarter. Later in life you are the company's star programmer but, you stand in awe at how quick-witted that guy in the mail room is.

Sadly, sometimes your spectacular IQ score does not seem to manifest itself in your daily interactions with people around you. What you need actually is fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence is the measure of your skill at adapting to new or unfamiliar situations without relying on "crystallized intelligence" (or the skills that you have learned or memorized like grammar, math, or vocabulary). The good news is you can actually become smarter than you are right now. Neuroplasticity has debunked the belief that people are either "smart" or "not smart" - and the belief that you could not change it.

The truth is, a "smart" person can become less smart and someone who isn't could, with the right training and tools like iMusic, develop a blazing peak-performing brain. And, oh yes, you can also improve your IQ as a result. Martin Buschkuehl, a psychology researcher at the University of Bern in Switzerland, reports in his research which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that test subjects who were trained on a different memory task have shown a significant improvement on answering IQ tests.

Our brain is like a muscle (see "Brain Plasticity: Use it or Lose it"). In their report "Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory" Buschkuehl's team states that "the extent of gain in intelligence critically depends on the amount of training: the more training, the more improvement in fluid intelligence."

Dr. Thomas Elbert, professor of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology at the University of Konstanz, Germany said that it was a belief 20 years ago that the brain develops only during childhood and then it stops growing. Dr. George Wittenberg at Wake Forest University Medical Center in Winstons-Salem, N.C. said that it was a belief that neuron formation for adults is only limited to specific areas of the brain.

Both experts say these beliefs have been proven otherwise: Brain plasticity happens 1) at the beginning of life as the immature brain organizes itself; 2) after a stroke or injury to adapt to changed circumstances, e.g. to compensate for lost or remaining functions and 3) through adulthood when you try to learn a new skill like juggling, memorize something, learn a new language, etc.

Let us take juggling, for example.

German researchers, led by Dr. Arne May at the University of Regernsburg in Germany, took 24 non-jugglers and divided them into two groups-one group to learn how to juggle for three months. The study showed that those who did not learn how to juggle did not show any difference in their fMRI over a three month period, while those who learned the new skill showed "an increase in gray matter in two areas of the brain involved in visual and motor activity..."

What makes this study understand us more about brain plasticity is their finding that when those who learned new skills stopped practicing for another three months, they "lost their gained brain power," and the enhanced regions of the brain decreased in volume. Use it, or lose it!

Our brain is like a muscle. We need to constantly exercise it. Just like our muscles, constant brain activity such as learning a new hobby, problem-solving, learning to play a musical instrument, etc., would provide growth benefits to the brain.

A little help from iMusic

There are a lot of instances when despite your desire to flex your "brain muscles," the going is tougher than you thought. Trying to learn new things, or even trying to concentrate becomes an uphill climb. iMusic can enhance neuroplasticity. It is a doctor-approved, and scientifically proven, brain-performance enhancer, through neuron and brainwave stimulation.

If you believe your brain is already giving you your peak performance, wait till you try iMusic. "Using iMusic is akin to plugging yourself into a machine that instantly transforms you into a productive, effective and energized android with amazing capabilities," Duncan Reynolds, a movie executive, says.

Brain plasticity becomes at its peak usefulness when one needs to relearn or compensate for some lost function due to injury, or to learn to maximize whatever is left. iMusic has been proven to help. David Solomonian, a coma and brain injury survivor, has this to say: "After a serious car accident left me in a coma for nearly 3 weeks with a serious brain injury, I awoke with almost no short term memory, terrible focus and diminished mental capability. I began using iMusic and the immediate improvements in my concentration, attentiveness, and mental acuity were powerful. After a week of use I could feel noticeable changes in my intelligence and mental sharpness... I was thinking faster, feeling more energized and even talking with more confidence. I am now an honors economics/mathematics university student and with iMusic, I know I am going to continue achieving and improving."

Two of the methods mostly preferred by management training workshops are the Merrill-Reid method and the Myers-Briggs personality test. Some of these schools of thought would try to simplify by being more descriptive like "powerful," "popular," "spirited," or "perfect." Some would guide you to your personality using different personalities from cartoon characters like Snoopy, or Winnie the Pooh, or Charlie Brown - no Loony Tunes character? It would be nice to know if your office bully's a Tasmanian Devil, or Daffy perhaps?

Medical NewsToday, reports a new development in the science of personality testing, (which will appear in the next issue of Nature Neuroscience) through the use of modern MRI. Michael X. Cohen and Dr. Bernd Weber at the University of Bonn conducted a study on the "wiring" of the striatum and the hippocampus (see this blog's previous reference to these brain areas at "Why your brain goes autopilot and makes you forget to drop off the dry cleaning").

The report states that innovation-oriented people have their striatum and hippocampus apparently interacting particularly well. The results of their tests suggest that people who have "(the) stronger connection between frontal lobe and ventral striatum, the more distinctive the desire for recognition by that person's environment.' This is not quite unexpected, Weber says, as "it is known that people with defects of the frontal lobe violate social norms more frequently."

Personality testing is a thriving $400 million a year-industry as businesses, from major corporations to mom-and-pop operations use these tests to assess prospective employee's strengths and weaknesses. While German scientists are conducting more studies to confirm these results, a personality test done through getting strapped inside a lab could be more compelling than test questionnaires. "Oh, I'm psychotic! I won't let them know -- I'll fake my written exam answers."

Note:  Check out Designer Brain Blog group's
wacky 'personality test' -- proceed to our discussion area and guess
the personality of the person above you (last picture posted) and find
out how others "see" you as they describe your personality based on
your picture.  This is nothing serious -- just for fun.  If you haven't
joined the group yet, now would be the best time.  Cheers!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=43742314047