Blaming

Brainpower Newsletter

This week we have a new addition to the "better life" section of the website (the article below), as well as the usual departments. Enjoy!

What do you win when you play the blame game? If you could convince others that your parents are to blame for the way you are, what good would it do? If your business failure could be blamed on something that really wasn't your fault, would that help? Can blaming our personal problems on outside factors ever be helpful?

Possibly. There is some evidence that assigning failure to things outside our control may be useful for maintaining self esteem and motivation. An example is when someone says "Oh, the rain ruined the event," then adds, "I'll have to plan for that next time." The truth is, though, that many would just blame the rain without adding the second part of the thought.

Focusing on outside factors that contribute to our problems de-motivates us. Even if it was true that a friend made you late for an interview and you lost the job, it just can't...

Continued here:
http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com/blame.html

- A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

- The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

Which sound occurs in the English language but has no letter to represent it?

(The answer is at the bottom of the page)

Practice breathing through your nose more. You will notice that you actually take in more air this way, because your diaphragm becomes more involved. More air equals more oxygen - and that is generally good for your brain.

One of the ways that some people use to improve their brainpower is to control the temperature at which they do mental work. Slightly cool seems to be best for most people. After mentioning this in a previous newsletter, a subscriber wrote the following to me:

"Regarding the best temperature, for working behind a computer without much activity, I'd suggest 21.7 Celsius at 55% humidity."

Thanks Dan. I hope there is some basis for these figures (your own experiments?), but in any case, I am passing it on because playing with the thermostat sure won't hurt anyone.

(Many subscribers are not aware of all the pages of the site. This section is a reminder of useful pages you may have missed. You can just ignore this part if you have read the following pages.)

Can you have better brain function with exercise? Yes, according to studies reported on at the annual Meeting Of The Society Of Psychophysiological Research in Montreal recently. Findings showed immediate benefits from exercising, as well as long-term effects. It seems that exercise helps your brain work more efficiently and actually makes you smarter.

The thinking ability of subjects was tested in one of the studies. After taking tests, participants ran on a treadmill for thirty minutes. Once their heart rates returned to normal resting levels they took the follow-up tests. The subjects were connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG), in order to track their brain waves.

Researchers noted that exercising had sped up...

Continued here:
http://www.increasebrainpower.com/brain-function.html

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Until next time,

Steve

www.IncreaseBrainpower.com

Riddle Answer: The sound found in the following words: vision, version, treasure, pleasure.

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