A new study has found that both halves of the brain may disagree about how much they want something, and that motivation can happen in one side of the brain at a time.

As a previous study showed that motivation wasn’t necessarily conscious, and the brain could decide how much it wanted something without input from the conscious mind, the purpose of the new research was to find out if one side of the brain could be motivated at a time.

The researchers asked the participants of the test to focus on a cross in the middle of the computer screen.

Then a motivational coin (one euro or one cent) appeared on one side of the visual field.

The participants were only subliminally motivated when the coin appeared on the same side of the screen as hand holding the mouse.
For example, if the coin was on the right and they were squeezing with the right hand, they would tighten their squeeze for a euro than for a cent.

But if the coin appeared on the left and they were squeezing on the right, they wouldn’t squeeze any harder for a euro.

The conclusions of the research present a possibility for only one side of the brain, and thus one side of the body, to be motivated at a time.

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Photographer: Salvatore Vuono

The benefits of sleep affect every area of our daily life. Most people do not realize just how much we actually NEED to sleep.

We all feel so much better after a good night’s sleep. Our thoughts are clearer, our reactions faster and our emotions are more stable.

There are many other, less obvious but just as important, benefits of sleep that you may not know about such as: Encouraging weight loss, helping emotional and developmental health and fortifying the connections between nerve cells in the brain, thus strengthening the ability to understand and remember experiences.

Don’t take sleep for granted – Read here about all the good things it can do for you and for your brain health.

During February-March 2010, MIND360 conducted a pilot session for the students of Reali high-school in Haifa, Israel. 40 participating students trained in a dedicated site, playing MIND360’s engaging brain training games as an enjoyable way to strengthen key cognitive functions, including memory, attention, executive functions, thinking/reasoning and visual perception of the students. MIND360 and the school’s mutual aim was to evaluate brain fitness technology contribution for improving the learning skills of students.

Methodology: in this 8 weeks pilot, assessment questionnaires were handed out to both students and teachers participating in the pilot. The students were asked to assess their scores in math, computer science and foreign language, motivation to learn and ability to focus in school. The teachers were asked to give their opinion about each student’s abilities, concentration and potential. After the benchmark setting, the same set of questionnaires was handed to both students and teachers in order to examine improvement in the students’ studies.

The students were given login access to the site’s brain games, and each week another brain trainer was added to the program. The program’s goal was to examine the student’s cognitive skills throughout and following their completion of the brain training program. The students’ progress was monitored and reported each week to the pilot manager.

While the brain games were released gradually according to the program stage, the best trainee of the week and the “Challenge” mechanism maintained the inherent students’ motivation. Also, the site was functioning as a mini social network where students could contact their classmates via email, and challenge each other to gain cognitive scores in the various games.

Pilot results: The results of the teachers’ questionnaires indicate a general 11% improvement in concentration, 17% improvement in the students’ persistence, 11% improvement in their relative scores as compared to the class. The student’s improvement was especially apparent in Computer science and Math. The students’ questionnaires indicate a 6% improvement in concentration and a 22% improvement in understanding.

These encouraging results support the theories relating to cognitive training and learning skills, relating to memory improvement and concentration improvement as a result of brain training – showing the value of incorporating brain training games into syllabus to improve student’s achievements. The students enjoy the learning experience and the opportunity to succeed in their studies, while the educators are able to follow the students’ progress and recommend a brain training program to maximize their achievements.

Based on this activity, the Reali school and MIND360 will conduct a larger scale pilot for the junior high students. In addition, a new pilot using MIND360’s brain training games will be evaluated for improving ADD/ADHD symptoms with ADHD diagnosed students.

A newly released study of the connection between cellphone use and brain health is raising more questions than answers to this controversial matter.

The report is called Interphone, a series of multi-national case-control studies to assess the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields and whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer.

The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours. In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use, information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for these tumours.

The study results, published in The International Journal of Epidemiology, waited four years to be released, due to a disagreement between the researchers over how to present the results. The final paper shows no distinctive link between cellphone use and brain tumors. However, the investigators report that study participants with the highest level of cellphone use had a 40 percent higher risk for a type of brain tumor called a glioma. That risk, though, is discounted because of potential “biases and errors” that “prevent a causal interpretation,” said the investigators.

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Avoid these 10 brain damaging habits to maintain a strong and healthy brain:

1. No breakfast
Skipping breakfast decreases blood sugar level, leading to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain, ultimately causing brain deterioration.

2 . Overeating
Overeating hardens of the brain arteries, hence weakening mental power.

3. Smoking
Smoking causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High sugar consumption
Consuming large amounts of sugar disrupts the absorption of proteins and nutrients. The brain suffers malnutrition brain development is interrupted.

5. Air pollution
Effective brain functioning requires oxygen. Inhaling polluted air cuts down the supply of oxygen to the brain, reducing brain efficiency.

6 . Sleep deprivation
When we sleep our brain rests. Long term sleep deprivation accelerates the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Covering the head while sleeping increases the level of carbon dioxide and lowers the level of oxygen that may cause to brain damage.

8. Straining your brain during illness
Working hard or studying during sickness may reduce the effectiveness of the brain as well as lead to brain damage.

9. Not engaging in thought-provoking activities
The best means to train our brain are thinking. Avoiding thought-provoking activities may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Keeping silent
Stimulating conversations will encourage brain efficiency.

One person every 70 seconds is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Although doctors are seeing growing numbers of folks being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, they attribute the growing numbers to folks growing older. In fact age is the largest risk factor for dementia of any kind.

But contrary to popular belief, Alzheimer’s and dementia isn’t just genetic, it also has to do with how you live. The brain is tied intimately to how you take care of the rest of your body.

Use it or lose it. That’s the phrase to sum up how to keep up on your mental and physical health. Just like a muscle in the body, if your brain isn’t challenged or exerted, it gets weaker. That’s the word from Neurologist Dr. Linda Johnson with Quincy Medical Group.

Dr. Linda Johnson said, “It’s really important for people to use their brain power in reading, puzzles, games, things that challenge you. You’re keeping pathways open and keeping them in practice and you do better.”
Amy Voss with the Alzheimer’s Association said, “That’s because without mental challenges, nerve connections in the brain aren’t being made.”

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After we hit 40, many of us begin to worry about our aging brains. Will we spend our middle years searching for car keys and forgetting names?

The new book “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind,” by Barbara Strauch, has the answers, and the news is surprisingly upbeat. Sure, brains can get forgetful as they get old, but they can also get better with age, reports Ms. Strauch, who is also the health editor at The New York Times. Ms. Strauch, who previously tackled teenage brains in her book “The Primal Teen,” spoke with me this week about aging brains and the people who have them. Here’s our conversation:

Q. After exploring the teenage brain, why did you decide to write a book about grown-ups?

A. Well, I have a middle-aged brain, for one thing. When I would go give talks about “The Primal Teen,” I’d be driven to the airport or back by a middle-aged person, and they’d turn to me and say: “You should do something about my brain. My brain is suddenly horrible. I can’t remember names.” That’s why I started looking into it. I had my own middle-aged issues like going into an elevator and seeing somebody and thinking, “Who are you?”

Read here the full interview with the author

A man in a bar asked the bartender for the following items:
A juice glass, a dinner plate, water, a match, a lemon wedge.

The man poured water onto the plate until it was covered.
“If you can get the water on the plate into this glass without touching or moving this plate, I will give you $100,” the man said. “Feel free to use the match and lemon to do this.”
A few minutes later, the bartender had $100 in his pocket. How did he get the water into the glass?

Click here for the solution

Arrange the ten digits 0 to 9 in three mathematical phrases, using three of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division).
Please use only the ordinary signs of those operations.

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Try solving this 3X3 crossword puzzle. Each word is filled in both horizontally and vertically. In other words, the answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc.

1. family vehicle
2. tavern beverage
3. fresh or young

Go ahead!

Click here for the solution