Learning, The Gravy Way

Brain Fitness Carnival: August 2007

Joshua Hwang — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:30:52 +0000

UPDATE: There was some mixup in the submissions that actually hit my inbox, so six wonderful posts were left out of this edition of the brain fitness carnival. They have now been placed at the top under “Education and Professional Development”.

Alvaro from SharpBrains (who has a post in this carnival) has graciously let me host the August 2007 edition of the Brain Fitness Carnival. For those of you new to carnivals, this is simply a collection of links from around the web on topics related to brain fitness, neuroscience, mental development and a bit more. I hope you enjoy!

Education and Professional Development

Charles H. Green presents Deer in the Headlights Decison-Making, saying, “When faced with surprise sebacks the way most people react is to just do the same thing - they freeze, and can’t adapt. Some people, however, can. Why?” (posted at Trust Matters)

Brett presents When Traders Lose Confidence - Part Three: Structuring Your Experience; this advice on redefining ourselves is not only useful for traders, but for all of us (posted at TraderFeed).

Dr. Simon Evans presents Harry Potter and the Unfit Brain: some thoughts on various intelligences that even muggles can understand (posted at The Brain Code).

Anna Farmery discusses the positive effects of genuine acknowledgment in The Value of Recognition (posted at The Engaging Brand).

Charles H. Green presents Is Neuroleadership More Than Reinventing Wheels?, saying, “Is neuroleadership doing more than just codifying common sense? If not, how should it move forward?” (posted at Trust Matters)

Stephanie West Allen discusses the implications of neuroplasticity on self-motivated human potential in “There’s a great future in [neuroplasticity]. Think about it. Will you think about it?” (posted at Brains On Purpose™).

Brain and Personal Development

Vahid Chaychi shows us how we can Use Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Build Self-Esteem. Awareness of one’s self and reactions seems to be the pervading theme. (posted at Healthoma)

Alvaro posts a very well laid-out interview in Yaakov Stern: Build Your Cognitive Reserve. This neuroscientist reveals his thoughts on the causes and prevention of dementia. (posted at SharpBrains)

Andreas Engvig points out why moving our hips may be as helpful as it is entertaining in Judson Laipply’s Dancing Brain (posted at SharpBrains)

Greg presents What Is Mild Cognitive Impairment, And Why Should You Be Worried About It?, with plenty of links for the curious (posted at LifeTwo blogs).

MDB shows How to Increase Your Self Confidence in 3½ minutes, because we can all use a little pick-me-up at times (posted at the Million Dollar Blog)

Joshua discusses a seemingly unlikely relationship in Getting smarter through emotional mastery (posted at The Gravy Way)

Brain News

Sudip Ghosh discusses endocannbinoids (”the brain’s own marijuana”) in the long and hilariously entitled I grow my own in the brain, thank you. Endocannabinoids and marijuana. (posted at GNIF Brain Blogger)

Brain Foods

GrrlScientist discusses recent findings in JavaJive: The Older You Get, the More that Coffee Helps Your Brain. Much to the joy of coffee lovers everywhere. (posted at Living the Scientific Life)

Jeremy Burman continues on the subject of caffeine with a throwback to research from 1911, where motives and results were quite different in Caffeine and mental deficiency (posted at Advances in the History of Psychology)

Laura Milligan reveals an immense list of the Top 100 Foods to Improve Your Productivity (posted at Bootstrapper). Some of the items on the list might even surprise you.

Millionaire Mommy Next Door discusses a surprising link between credit cards and eating habits with Fast Food For Thought (posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door).

I have not died.

Danny Dang — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:12:03 +0000

Sorry for not posting for a while, the last month has been pretty hectic for me as I had dozen of assignments due, ICE week, and then finals. Good news is that exams are done, and I should have something nice and ready to go in the next couple of days. Good thing Josh picked up the slack ;) Anyway, until then.

Deadline for Carnival submissions is today!

Joshua Hwang — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:36:02 +0000

Update: Ok, so I was confused and you can continue to submit until the end of Friday. Sorry about the confusion. Just ignore the stuff below until Friday.

I just wanted to let you know that the deadline for submissions to the Carnival of Brain Fitness is today at 11:59 PM (GMT) -4. So for those of us using Eastern Standard Time that should be -5 hours, so 6:59 PM. (If I understand this time conversion correctly.)

If you are worried that I have not received your submission, you can email me. But only if you submitted quite close to the deadline, I’d prefer not to see a torrent of emails

If you have any interesting links related to (even loosely) to the following, we’d love to see them: brain fitness, science, medicine, health and wellness, education and professional development, news about the field, personal stories and techniques, and finally brain teasers.

You can submit any interesting content with this handy-dandy submission form.

Getting smarter through emotional mastery

Joshua Hwang — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:17:36 +0000

Science backing up emotional mastery? What?
In their new book The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better, Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee describe how emotional awareness and physical sensation are both integrated in the same brain structure (the right frontal insula).

Excerpts from the August/September 2007 issue of Scientific American Mind, caught my attention with the implication that such seemingly distant realms could be related in the brain. They describe how researchers have found that “people who are more aware of their heartbeats are also more emotionally astute.”

My first inclination is to ask which way the river flows: is it that emotionally astute people become more physically self-aware, or that physically self-aware people become more emotionally astute?

While this question may seem trivial initially, it may have implications to how we live our lives.

In spiritual and other realms, often it is said that a mastery of the emotions must precede any lasting changes in the physical world. As someone who has lost a lot of weight over the past few years, I can attest that a revolution in thought (regarding fitness and diet) must take place before any meaningful improvements to health can begin, then remain.

Of course the argument can swing the other way. Ritual plays a huge role in reaching new levels of spiritual awareness.

While some have downplayed its importance in their lives, these actions pervade many religions. Prayer is typically down with a reverent head down, or even with the whole body bowing, hands may come up as if to directly connect with this unseen Being. Yoga also brings physicality to the spiritual realm (or is the other way around?) Certain rites are preserved not merely as a throwback to previous generation, but because they are believe to help facilitate a deeper awareness.

As this is mainly a site on education and academics (with frequent tangents), what does any of this have to do with getting smarter and performing better?

I mentioned this scientifically-based article at the beginning to set a more concrete backdrop for the idea that expanding in many other ways — spiritually, emotionally, physically, etc. — will directly aid us in becoming smarter better people.

Again this is not a particularly new message; however, since I know many are hesitant to believe “airy-fairy” talk of emotional mastery and its benefits (myself included at times), I cite this article to suggest that even science is beginning to point in this direction. I know the inference may be a little large, but when the Dalai Lama speaks at a neuroscience conference, realms are quickly emerging.

This is what it’s like when worlds collide.

Accepting submissions for Carnival of Brain Fitness (still)

Joshua Hwang — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:50:44 +0000

Just as a reminder, I’ll be hosting the August 20th edition of the Carnival of Brain Fitness!

If you have any interesting links related to (even loosely) to the following, we’d love to see them: brain fitness, science, medicine, health and wellness, education and professional development, news about the field, personal stories and techniques, and finally brain teasers.

You can submit any interesting content with this handy-dandy submission form.

10 Steps Towards Better Research (LifeHack)

Joshua Hwang — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 03:06:44 +0000

Sorry I haven’t been posting again, these medical applications are a little more cumbersome than I expected. (However, they are coming along nicely. I’ve completed my American application and have started the Ontario one.)

If you are involved in research at all — a thesis, dissertation, big project of any variety — then this link will provide you will valuable tips regarding focusing, scheduling and finding more sources: Advice for Students: 10 Steps Toward Better Research

One of my favourite tips in this post was asking librarians for help. I’ve found that librarians are among the most highly-trained yet under-utilized staff on campus. Their research methods and tips will double the speed of your research and will also let you find hard-to-get sources.

5 Tips to increase everyday productivity

Joshua Hwang — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:50:51 +0000

These classic simple tips will help us improve our day-to-day productivity right now.

1) Emancipate yourself from email and phones

We have email and telephones to keep connections alive and do business, not to ensnare us together. If we can choose times when we check our email or answer the phone, then we are free to handle these tasks when we wish.

Tips to accomplish this:

let your voice mail take some messages (specify times when you check your messages)
only check email once or twice a day, at regular times (less if you can handle it)

2) Batching

Create a to-do list and perform similar tasks together. If you have to call people, just call all of them in one sitting. If you have to read a few magazine articles, read them all in one sitting. Often it can take 5-15 minutes to start a task after interruptions. By batching tasks you can get and keep your flow.

3) Schedule breaks

Not all of these tips are about pushing yourself. Sometimes we can push ourselves too hard and tire ourselves out. In order to keep our energy levels at an optimal level, scheduling small breaks for ourselves will help us stay focused during the times when we are working. I think of it like this: we can work at 100% efficiency for 4 hours or we can work at an average of 40% accuracy for 6 hours (2.4 effective hours).

4) Eat well

I find that eating too much or eating really heavy foods at lunch is the surest way to decrease productivity. One of Benjamin Franklin’s tips for success was to eat a light lunch; while he was working hard through the afternoon, his compatriots were taking a nap. As excited as I can get about some projects, when I am sleepy and bloated, I just don’t work well.

5) Schedule self-improvement time

This is more of a long-term tip for productivity. By scheduling some time for self-improvement we are able to improve our efficiency, productivity or simply happiness in the long run. While at times we are pressured to deal with urgent tasks, taking time to improve ourselves will give us the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day, week or month. Read a novel (fiction or non-fiction), pick up an instrument, go for a swim. You’ll be happy you did.

Posting later today

Joshua Hwang — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:07:38 +0000

Sorry for my absence the past few days, I’ve been feeling a little burnt out with medical applications, work, a driving test and updating this site. This weekend has refreshed and rejuvenated me and I am ready to post again!

Thanks for your patience.

Accepting submissions for Carnival of Brain Fitness

Joshua Hwang — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:01:37 +0000

Alvaro from SharpBrains.com is graciously letting me host the August 20th edition of the Carnival of Brain Fitness!

If you have any interesting links related to (even loosely) to the following, we’d love to see them: brain fitness, science, medicine, health and wellness, education and professional development, news about the field, personal stories and techniques, and finally brain teasers.

You can submit any interesting content with this handy-dandy submission form.

I’d like to thank Alvaro for this wonderful opportunity.

Random Interesting Fact: Qualia

Joshua Hwang — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:48:18 +0000

Qualia (singular: quale) [pronounced: KWAH-lee-ah / KWAH-leh] is a philosophical concept which tries to describe the “what it is like” character of mental states.

Qualia are knowing what red is like, what pain feels like, what a rose smells like. A quale is a single unit of sensory perception.

These words are used to describe the connection (or disconnection) between the mind and body. For example, if one could create a perfect molecule by molecule copy of you (affectionately called a “zombie“), they may perceive the same things as you, but would they feel pain just as you do? Would they understand the smell of a rose as you do? Would their red-ness be the same as yours? Would they have the same qualia?

This is actually a very hot philosophical debate. If you interested in hearing more, here are the sources I checked out:

Qualia from the University of Waterloo: A quick little definition.
Quale - Wikipedia: A little more detail.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Qualia: Almost too much information (not that there is such a thing).