The knowledge, techniques, and practice of meditation are no longer mystic secrets that are exclusive to Tibetan monks, held up in the Himalayas, or the holy men or shaman of India. Clinical psychologists and more medical practitioners have begun to prescribe meditation as an alternative means to ease illnesses like depression and high blood pressure.

Fret not. If you still believe that all the nerve cells you're ever going to have come with birth, and once they deteriorate, they're gone, that is so 60's. As reported in The New York Times, Molly V. Wagster, chief of the Neurophyschology of Aging branch of the National Institute on Aging said these "assumptions have been challenged and put by the wayside."

Adult neurogenesis is the new rave in the scientific world. Experts have established that the brain continues developing new neurons, even during the later stages of a mammal's (specifically human's) lifetime. Another concept, Neuroplasticity, is also a recent breakthrough in brain science - your brain constantly adapts throughout your lifetime.

A study involving sedentary adults aged 60 to 75, showed that those assigned to a program of aerobic exercises, walking, and thrice a week meetings have shown improvements in cognitive functions compared to the control group who have undergone anaerobic stretching and toning.

Arthur F. Kramer at the University of Illinois said, "Six months of exercise will buy you a 15 to 20 percent improvement in memory, decision-making ability and attention."

The same New York Times report identifies the following as common recommendations from brain scientists to keep your brain stimulated:

1. Regular physical activity - rid of that remote control and get off the couch. Exercise, even just in the form of walking, improves brain functions by increasing blood flow to the brain and stimulates neurogenesis.

2. Avoid too much stress - chronic stress affects the brain's functions involving emotions, memory, and decision-making.

3. Mind stimulating endeavors - learning a new language, learning to play a musical instrument, continuing education, interesting job (or community volunteer work), travel, and staying socially connected, are some of the best ways to fight off stress.

4. Good diet - check out brain foods like fish (fish, being food for the brain, is no longer an old wives tale) and nuts that are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, fruits and vegetables.

5. Avoid pesticides and other chemicals containing neurotoxins. Drinking excessively also "pickles" the brain.

6. Remain flexible and be willing to try new things. Expect that things will shift over time and won't be the same as when you were young. As K. Warner Schaie said, "Those who manage to roll with the punches, and enjoy change rather than fighting it, tend to do well."

 

Video games is a multi-billion dollar industry, and brain-boosting computer games are making it handsomely on the business. Not without reason-- For one, the best brain-help games in the market were developed by some of the most brilliant neuroscientists. If we believe and subscribe to what these geeks-in-white write about in scientific journals, why not play the brain-boosting games they developed? Makes sense, right?

Scientific American, however, is asking an interesting question in "Brain Games: Do They Really Work?" The report asks, "Are these claims true when it comes to human brain performance and aging? Can they really make brain faster and stronger? Are there really better than the tried-and-true approach: remaining healthy, active, and engaged in the world around you?"

While science has shown that some of these games can produce results, the same results can also be had from doing "real-life" activities like learning how to juggle, reading, socializing or even talking a walk. And they cost less, or nada.

The report said, "Should you decide to try one or more commercially sold brain games, be forewarned that you may not see big improvements in your scores if you are already cognitively fit - a phenomenon referred to as the ceiling effect - or you may max out soon due to frustration due to boredom."

Oh, no, we're not saying brain training games don't work! In fact, they do! There is accumulating evidence that says these games don't only improve targeted skills, they also tend to "generalize to other cognitive abilities," and they do have some long-lasting benefits. If you have these games, they're good for your brain.

Norman Doidge, a psychiatrist who shuffles his time between the University of Toronto and Colombia University, writes "the brain, far from being a collection of specialized parts, each fixed in its location and function, is in fact a dynamic organ, one that can rewire and rearrange itself as the need arises."

The brain not only can fix itself when physically damaged, but it can also change its structure to adapt to even the most challenging neurological conditions. Doidge, in his book, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, shares some very inspiring stories about real people who have been saved or have their lives improved through training based on the theories of brain plasticity.

The brain, "doesn't simply learn; it is always ‘learning how to learn'," Doidge explains.

Here's a video that poignantly demonstrates brain plasticity.

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

Ajan Raghunathan of psychology4all.com cites de Bono with the following list of most important misconceptions regarding thinking:

Misconception No.1:  The present education system develops and enhances thinking and so the more educated you are the better thinker you are.

Fact:

Actually, education suppresses free thinking. Creative thinking has almost no place in current education. Moreover, education even destroys creative thinking abilities by its over emphasis on logical thinking and critical thinking which are relatively lower types of human thinking.

Since argument, reasoning, and problem solving are given over importance, students develop a need to become correct and successful all the time. Again, because our present education system is so information oriented that it gives ready-made answers, this kills the student's natural tendency to explore, experiment and to experience. Thus, the highly educated person ends up having lesser ability to think creatively although he/she may have a lot of information at his/her disposal, and also have admirable abilities in logical and critical thinking.

Misconception No.2: Less Educated or Uneducated can never become good thinkers.

Fact:

Actually, those with less education, display higher abilities in creative thinking. This is because they do not have an inflated ego that demands correct answers or success in all endeavors. Again, they do not have ready-made-answers (i.e., book-answers) and so are forced to explore, experiment and experience things themselves. This empowers them to go through less explored answers and even find original answers.

Misconception No.3: IQ and thinking ability are the same. The more IQ one has, the better thinking ability one has. On the contrary, those who have lower IQ have only low thinking abilities.

Fact:

It is true that those who have greater thinking ability, as a rule, have high IQ. But this does not mean that all those who have high IQ are good thinkers. Usually high IQ people use their thinking skills for logical thinking, arguments, critical thinking. They very rarely use creative thinking. Thus high IQ is actually a blockage to creative thinking. It has also been found that those who have average IQ can become better thinkers.

Misconception No.4: Thinking ability, decision making ability and problem solving ability are inherent and there is very little we can do to develop these.

Fact:

This is the most terrible misconception regarding thinking. In fact, Dr.Edward de Bono (and also many others) have proven that thinking is a skill that can be enhanced by training and practice. Thus decision making, problem solving and creative thinking can be developed and improved.