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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

This beautifully binary edition of the carnival of education is brought to you by the Education Wonks. I’d like to extend a hearty thanks to them as it seems like this is one of the hardest (largest) carnivals to post. Not only that, it looks like they’ve read every post for this. Quite a feat considering the number of entries (roughly 45).
 
I would also like to thank Education Wonks because they have graciously linked to my previous post on Knowing your history to learn more. It is about how we need to go back to the basics to help understand the tough stuff.
 
The posts I found most interesting were the following:

• If you can’t fly, walk - I thought Vivek’s comment on how we accept challenges in our life were cute and a little touching. A quick little post to make you think about the nature of hardship.
• Out of Africa - Lesson’s from a 15-year-old boy who built a windmill to help his community.
• 5 Habits: Habit 4 - Personal Procedure - While directed at teachers, these personal habits can be used by us all to keep us sane in a seemingly insane world.
• How to figure out your learning style - While I have a lot to say about how we over-compartmentalize ourselves, it is important to think about how we learn and what learning styles suit us best. This post discusses the implications of this a bit, and has a link to a learning styles quiz. Everyone loves quizzes!
• My life would be better if… - A college professor asks his students what they think would make his life better. The video (youtube) is a slow format of showing this, but the answers are cute and candid making them worth the wait.
• The Vicious Circle of Misery and Company - I often wonder to myself if complaining/venting to someone will actually makes me feel better, or is just reminding me of some bad times. Dr. Deb suggests its the latter, and describes how this fits in with young girls.
• Worst…Regression…Ever - Only because I love lies and damned lies, I like seeing when the media screws with statistics to force a point. This is a bit of a complicated but delicious example.
• Did you know? v2.0 - Another YouTube movie, this one discussing the importance of educating our youth in this rapidly changing world. Again the pacing is a little slow, but the effect is nice.

Thanks again to Education Wonks, and I hope everyone enjoys this carnival!

Talia Mana at the Centre for Emotional Well-Being is graciously hosting the July 2007 edition of the Brain Fitness Carnival. I’d like to thank her for taking the time to get everything together and linking to my previous post on Education from a Buddhist perspective.

Of all the posts, I thought the following were the most interesting:

• Working Out Your Brain - Exercise may actually make you smarter.
• Don’t Get Glad, Get Mad! - An interesting theory that being angry actually makes us more able to make rational decisions. Personally, I can see some flaws in this, but it’s still good to think about.
• Bridging the Gap Between Hot and Cold Cognitive States - Thoughts on how our predictions of how we will act when “hot” or emotional on how we act can change based if we are “hot” or “cold” (analytical).
• Mind advice? Bring attention to the conflict - After a string of Buddhists posts (No vacations, Stonecutter, and Education from a Buddhist perspective), it is always nice to see others talking about the benefits of bare attention in learning.
• Apes, Speedy Learners, and new Brain Fitness Channel
  - Discusses the evolution of learning and shows a cool video from New Scientist about an ape figuring out how to get a peanut.
• Keep your mind active - Nothing to revolutionary here, but I like being reminded that we should try novel things in our lives to help us grow. Some suggestions are on that page.
• Five foods for your brain - As good as supplementation can be, I prefer the idea that our brains (and bodies) can be nourished with wholesome eating. Here is a list of 5 common foods to help you stay smart.

I hope you will enjoy the carnival just as much as I did.

After a lot of hilarity, the move to the new server and platform is complete. Well, there are actually a few more changes that need to be made, but they will be made over the next couple of days. (Finish the About section, and the contact page could use an email form.)

If you made the jump, good to see you! If you are new to the site, good to see you too!

Now we can get back to some real posting.

Again, I am not posting regularly. I’m very sorry.

If you are wondering what I am up to, here is a short list:
Creating new layout for site
Writing an essay for the Queen’s Purpose of Life Essay Competition
Working as a research assistant

It doesn’t seem like much, but those three things take up more time than I would have expected. So bear with me, more posts will be coming. After this week, the pace should pick up!

Even though this is the umpteenth time I’ve had to do this, I would like to apologize for my hiatus. As a result of exams and an overabundance of Korean food (don’t ask), I have been shirking my duties to you. This summer will be filled with change.

A new post is coming later tonight.

I am going to create more pillar posts. Personally, I like when people offer specific plans for implementing ideas, but this site has been lacking in that department. Although high level thinking is important for setting priorities and understanding your goals, sometimes it helps to have those little specific tips that make studying easier. I will be analyzing what successful students do to succeed, and I will post my findings here over the summer.

As well, I’d like to continue to post about random things that I find interesting. In an attempt to fill the void that Collision Detection has left in my heart, I would like to post about cool/crazy/weird science topics that I read about, or anything else that strikes my fancy. I promise that it will not take away from the core postings, this will merely be icing.

In other news, I plan on purchasing a real hosting plan in the near future and redesigning the site. I’d like to make this site more accessible to new visitors, and have people more easily find topics important to them. While the new blogger layout tools allow for more flexibility, they are still lacking in many areas (namely technical ones). This move, however, may be slow in coming as I haven’t programmed for a while, and I don’t have much experience in the non-basic scripting languages. But a lack of knowledge never stopped me from trying before!

Sorry if you just fell asleep in the previous paragraphs, but now you up-to-date on my plans for this site over the summer. If you have any input, suggestions, concerns or really good math jokes, I’d love to hear them. You can email me at: joshua[at]gravyway[dot]com (remember to replace the [at] and [dot]) or just comment below.