Learning

Brainpower Newsletter

A bit of the science, and some speculation today. I love to see the scientific evidence, but I also like to venture beyond the current science. After all, vitamin C helped us before it was studied or even given a name. With that in mind, I watch for any potential brain enhancers that may work, and are not dangerous.

The science: Activities that involve timing and coordination have been shown to cause dendrite growth in the brain. More dendrites mean you can make more connections in your brain. With more connections, your thinking and learning can be more flexible and efficient. Some examples of activities that can improve your learning skills:

1. Athletic activities that require a lot of coordination and timing, such as basketball, soccer, or just tossing around a frisbee.

2. Playing musical instruments. It is probably especially helpful if it requires precise timing, as in piano playing.

3. Painting or drawing, which involve hand-eye coordination.

4. Travel. If you don't think this involves timing and coordination, you haven't used the city busses in South America (they don't even come to a complete stop). In any case, there's some evidence that experiencing other cultures is good for the brain.

Some Speculation

I haven't seen scientific evidence for this idea yet, but fully engaging in an activity you love seems to rest the brain and refresh it. You may have noticed that your mind is racing here and there all the time - except when you are focused on something you enjoy doing. This might include building a birdhouse, playing a game of chess, downhill skiing, or a hundred other activities.

I used to get my brain-rest by chopping wood. Afterwards, I always felt like I could think more clearly. The idea here is to take a break by doing something that fully engages your attention in an enjoyable way. Then you can get back to work, able to use what learning skills you have more effectively.

Another activity that I just can't find any studies on, but obviously boosts your learning skills, is talking. Socrates told his students to talk about what they were learning, and it's still good advice today. Talking can be thinking aloud, which may lead you to a deeper understanding of the material. The other benefit is that you remember things better when you talk about them.

To improve learning skills, or brainpower in general, I favor trying anything that is cheap, easy and safe. If I heard that spinning around for a minute could rev up my brain, I would try it. In fact, you can reply to this e-mail with any ideas you want to contribute.

You know that I am a fan of meditation for increasing brainpower. Well, the latest research shows that it not only makes your brain perform better, but may actually reduce the amount of sleep you need. This is good news for those of us who don't feel like we have the time for meditation. Perhaps we can just take the time from our sleep time if we want to.

A study at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, used the established "psychomotor vigilance task," which is used to quantify the effects of sleepiness on mental ability. Participants look at a LCD screen and press a button when they see an image pop up. Typical response time is under 300 milliseconds. Sleep-deprived people consistently take longer, or just miss the stimulus altogether.

Subjects had 40 minutes of sleep, meditation, reading, or light conversation before and after testing. All subjects tried all four pre-test activities in different tests. A 40 minute nap had already been proven to improve performance, when subjects are given an hour to get past the after-nap grogginess. The researchers were surprised to find, though, that only meditation caused an immediate improvement in performance. This was true even though none of the volunteers were experienced meditators.

Interestingly, every single subject showed improvement. When testing was done after a night without sleep, the improvement was even more dramatic. What was not determined, is why meditation improves brain performance.

Source: New Scientist

Eyebright has been used to help vision for at least 600 years. Studies have shown that it actually strengthens the optic nerve, protecting peoples eyes from glaucoma.

More recently, patients in Japan who have been given eyebright tea by their doctors have been noticing that it reverses their short-term memory loss. The same elements that are strengthening the optic nerve may be helping the nerve cells of the brain. I'll let you know when I find more research in this area.

If you want to try eyebright, you can sometimes find it in herbal teas found in health food stores. You can also get it as an extract in some of these stores. Apparently, it is also fairly easy to grow in your yard or as a potted herb.

Until next time,

Steve

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