Memory and thinking skills may decline rapidly for people who have mild cognitive impairment, which is the stage before Alzheimer’s disease when people have mild memory problems but no dementia symptoms, and even more rapidly when dementia begins, which is when Alzheimer’s disease is usually diagnosed.
“These results show that we need to pay attention to this time before Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed, when people are just starting to have problems forgetting things,” said study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
The study involved 1,158 people living in Chicago with an average age of 79. A total of 149 of the participants had Alzheimer’s disease, 395 had mild cognitive impairment, and 614 had no thinking or memory problems.
The thinking skills of those with mild cognitive impairment declined twice as fast each year as those who had no cognitive problems, while the skills of those with Alzheimer’s disease declined four times as fast as those with no cognitive problems.
Read full article here
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Our second Optical Illusion is called ‘Old and Young’.
What do you see in this picture?
Is it an old man staring into an old woman’s eyes or two men playing guitar?
Try squinting your eyes until more details come out of the picture.
Also, keep looking until you find: the young girl, the tequila bottle, and the giant vase!
Quite a surprising optical illusion, isn’t it?
A word from our psychological team:
Don’t worry if you don’t see the full effect of these optical illusions. There is a small percentage of people with perfectly normal vision who just don’t see it, for reasons currently unknown.
Every day we will publish a new Optical Illusion that will challenge your visual perception.
Our first Optical Illusion is called ‘The Hidden Tiger’.
When looking at an image, we try to perceive it in relationship to something we have experienced before. Our psychological team tells us that relying on this nature, optical illusions artists create various illusions that play tricks on the viewers.
The ‘Hidden Tiger’ is one of those optical illusions that trick the human eye, based on the way we organize visual sensory input.
When you first look at it, you will probably see a picture of a tiger in the woods. This is where our first impression can prove to be deceptive or incomplete.
Now look again and try to find ‘The Hidden Tiger.’
Still cannot find ‘The Hidden Tiger’? Try looking closely at the tiger’s stripes. Are you wondering how you missed it in your first attempt? Well, you are in good company. Most people looking at this optical illusion tend to see the “whole” picture, and not the hidden tiger. We perceive something by matching and generalizing it to something familiar stored in our memory.
Taking a first look at ‘The Hidden Tiger’ demonstrates that first impressions are seldom true; they are more accurately based on past perceptions and not just current stimuli. The human brain’s way of generalizing sensory information provides the source of optical illusion tricks, and encourages us to take a closer look at what we see in the world around us.
Primary school children up and down the country are today battling it out in an online head-to-head quiz to find which will be crowned Britain’s Brainiest School.
7,213 children aged 8 and 9 in 374 primary schools will take part in the pioneering competition, masterminded by Becta, the government’s agency for technology in education, and the National Education Network (NEN).
The questions will cover curriculum areas including history, science, citizenship, numeracy and literacy. Each question has been written by high profile partners including organisations such as Historic Royal Palaces, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Birdseye.
Brain training games are introduced in some schools around the globe. The games are proven to be highly effective in enhancing learning efficiency by improving memory, extending concentration span and more. We believe that this trend will grow stronger next year.
Read full article here
Tune in to the Afternoon Shmooze talk show on the Rusty Mike Internet Radio station this Thursday, Mar 11, 12:30 pm, where I will discuss with host Nettie Feldman how to boost your kids’ memory.
To listen, go to www.rustymikeradio.com and click on the “Listen Live” button.
Podcasts available after the show: http://bit.ly/13R2Lx
Improving cognitive skills is now creating better soldiers, finds a new US navy research.
The cognitive effects of certain video-game-style activities are not only impressive but can last a couple of years, a researcher for the Navy recently explained.
If gamers don’t want to believe that video games have an effect on them — at least any effect that will cause them to do antisocial things — will they accept research that suggests brain games make their work better?
Here’s Ray Perez, program officer for the Office of Naval Research’s warfighter performance department:
“We have discovered that video game players perform 10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than normal people that are non-game players…”
Read full article here
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Music training proved to have profound effects in shaping a growing child’s brain and sensory systems. So the experts in neuroscience advice music to be a main stay of K-12 education. They also advice the cash-strapped schools, not to make the major mistake by cutting music from K-12 Education.
Music training is beneficial for processing music stimuli. It will enhance the brain stems’ sensitivity to the speech sounds.
So music study can be an effective strategy in helping typically developing children who is healthy with the neural aspects. Music is equally helpful for the children with developmental problems like dyslexia or autism.
“Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice,” says Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology and Communication Sciences at Northwestern University.
Read full article here
Check out this intriguing new article from sharpbrains:
Working memory is the ability to hold information in your head and manipulate it mentally. You use this mental workspace when adding up two numbers spoken to you by someone else without being able to use pen and paper or a calculator. Children at school need this memory on a daily basis for a variety of tasks such as following teachers’ instructions or remembering sentences they have been asked to write down.
The main goal of our recent paper published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology was to investigate the predictive power of working memory and IQ in learning in typically developing children over a six-year period. This issue is important because distinguishing between the cognitive skills underpinning success in learning is crucial for early screening and intervention.
In this study, typically developing students were tested for their IQ and working memory at 5 years old and again when they were 11 years old. They were also tested on their academic attainments in reading, spelling and maths.
Read full article here
This is the new stuff! You can control your keyboard with your brain – it will also serve as a neural workout.
It is known for some time that specific brain activities, designed in a specific way can be effective for brain training.
A new and exciting area of research also indicate that we can control different devices with the “power” of our brain.
A new study, from the University of Washington shows that when watching a cursor respond to one’s thoughts prompts brain signals to become stronger than those generated in day-to-day life. Having a greater activity in a specific area of the brain is the essence of brain training. The visual feedback on the brain activity looks like a potential new brain training technology.
The study also indicates that after a period of “learning”, the people studied the mechanism of activating the cursor, and a lower effort was needed. This shows how quickly the brain adopted its new role. [Source: http://www.washington.edu/]
And until this technology becomes available for brain training in general, as well as for more areas of the brain – such as memory improvement, you are welcome to use our brain training games for the job…
Wise men say only fools rush in… Get smarter!
Train your brain with our special Valentine’s Day Matchmaking
memory training. Play cupid – It’s fun!
Why Do Men Forget Important Dates?
Watch this video and find out what to do with a forgetful spouse.
Don’t become a part of those statistics! Train your memory and avoid the most common relationship mistake of forgetting Important Dates.
Smart People Make Better Lovers!
Mind360 Wishes You a Happy and Loving Valentine’s Day.
