■ Do you love doing crossword puzzles or playing sudoku because you think it keeps your mind sharp? Well, think again. “Most of those things... »
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Summertime and the learning should be easy
■ American students continue to fall behind their counterparts in the rest of the industrialized world in mathematics and science, according to the most recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Our high school reading and writing scores produce similar downward trending data. What can we do? How do we produce the best minds during a child’s elementary... »
Character Development and the Brain
The story that began a course in Character Development A 16-year-old, 250-pound athlete stood before a classroom of doctoral students at an eastern university. His mother, the class’s professor, had invited him to speak about the impact of self-perception on a person’s life. The young man looked the part of the self-assured football player and track star. However, the class learned,... »
Winning Attitudes
■ Yogi Berra once said, “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.” Though his math might’ve been off, he was on the right track. The mind plays a crucial role in an athlete’s success. How else do you explain Steve Blass being a World Series hero, a 19-game winner, and then suddenly unable to find the plate? Or... »
Brain Power
■ From neurons to brain wiring, Dr. David Walsh gives an easy-to-understand tour of children's and teens' brain development and the impact of experience on the "wiring' of their brains. Children are shaped by the stories they see and hear from parents, relatives, and teachers which pass on values, attitudes, and affect emotional and physical... »
Personalities: Daniel Levitin
■ Daniel Levitin’s life has been a strange one. Perhaps that’s one reason why it’s so entertaining to read his books, which are mixtures of cutting-edge neuroscience and good-natured storytelling. A studio musician and engineer, Levitin played with musicians from the Grateful Dead to Chris Isaak before earning a PhD and writing two best sellers: This is your Brain on... »
Personalities: Howard Gardner
■ Throughout the 20th century, the American educational system was gripped by what one might call an IQ mania. If you studied in a public school, you probably remember the tests, and possibly your scores (in my school, scores were hidden, but we broke into the teacher’s desk during recess to find them). Before the age of neuroplasticity, mental capabilities... »
Keeping Their Marbles
■ One year ago, Chicagoan Lindsay Gaskins opened the doors to her new shop, Marbles: The Brain Store, offering all manner of toys, games, and software programs designed to stimulate the brain. Laid out like a playground for adults, with tables and computers inviting customers to explore and experiment, the store has hundreds of products, each devoted to one of... »
Colorful Language
“Until very recent years, it was supposed by philosophers that there was a typical human mind which all individual minds were like… Lately however, a mass of revelations have poured in which make us see how false a view this is.” —William James, 1890 ■ As far back as the 19th century, the psychologist and philosopher William James concluded that human minds... »
A (Very) Brief History of Neuroscience
■ The great Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle believed that our consciousness, imagination and memory was rooted in the human heart. It was a belief he shared with the ancient Egyptians, whose Book of the Dead endorses carefully preserving the heart of a mummy, but recommends scooping out and discarding the brain. Today, the supreme role of the heart lives... »
Brain Concepts
Frontal Lobe Part of the cortex, the frontal lobe is a key area in the brain involved in memory, problem solving, language, judgment, impulse control, social behavior and motor function. In a sense, this is where much of our “self” and personality is located. It is also home to executive function—the ability to control and regulate our actions. Broca’s area, which... »