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fMRI Celebrates its 20th Birthday

By , 11/9/2011 at 10:57 am

fMRI is a wildly popularly neuroimaging technique used in research and medicine, and it recently passed its 20th birthday. Very simply, fMRI measures the flow of blood by controlling the magnetic field which can affect the iron carried by your blood; from there you can tell what blood is iron rich and what is iron depleted and rom there you can determine the flow of blood. The general idea is that brain areas that are “active” require more blood, so blood will flow there and show up “BOLD.” If you are a physicist, please excuse my shaky explanation.

Read on for Mind Hacks’s history on fMRI: (more…)

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Check Out Brainscape’s 6 New Apps

By , 11/8/2011 at 8:14 am

What’s new at Brainscape? A whole bunch of new apps, that’s what! While Brainscape’s most popular subjects by far are Spanish and GRE Vocab, there are a new apps on the market that are gaining popularity.

You can now learn about Gourmet Foods, Astrology, and Sports. That’s not enough? You can also brush up on World Religions, Mythology, and the US Government. You want even more? Well, good thing there’s a ton more sports trivia is coming soon!

Additional information on the new subjects: (more…)

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Looking Back for a Better Memory

By , 11/7/2011 at 8:11 am

Lately I’ve been feeling like my short-term memory is nearly gone. Maybe it’s the stress of midterms, maybe it’s the ton of classes, homework, meetings, my job (meta), but I often find myself searching through my purse for something that is immediately necessary, but can’t remember what it actually is so I just hope that I’ll know it when I find it. I tried googling solutions to Adult Onset Stupidity, but sadly AOS isn’t recognized by the American Council on Mental Disabilities. Yet. Thankfully, Brainscape already compiled a list with memory improvement tips, but I would like to expand on my own strategy to ward off dementia in my early twenties; I’ve started writing down everything I do in a day. The ironically tricky part is actually remembering to do it. (more…)

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7 Web Tools to Enhance Your Language Learning

By , 11/3/2011 at 8:14 am

Let’s face it, when it comes to learning a language, many of us need all the help we can get. Language skills can boost your job prospects and make for more interesting travelling experiences, but it’s not always possible to study abroad. The good news is that, even if you can’t travel, there are other ways of immersing yourself in the language. You’ll be able to get your hands on newspapers and magazines in your target language without too many problems, but that’s not all. Luckily for students, the advent of the internet has provided a number of innovative new ways to navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of mastering another tongue… (more…)

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Iain McGilchrist: The divided brain

By , 11/2/2011 at 8:18 am

Psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist’s informative and entertaining talk on the real differences between the left and right hemispheres is animated here by the RSA. Of course our brain is not simply a creative right/logical left; the human brain is “far more complex” than that.

McGilchrist starts by pointing out the root of this incorrect theory, (“the division of the brain is something neuroscientists don’t like to talk about anymore,”) and then goes on to nicely illustrate the evolution of the human brain and what led to the asymmetry in function.

You can find the animated talk below! (more…)

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[Podcast] The Alexander Technique and ADHD

By , 11/1/2011 at 7:49 am

A couple weeks ago, Brainscape product guy, Mike Cavaliere, shared a post for ADHD awareness week about how the Alexander Technique helped his ADHD. Following the blog post, Mike was asked to be interviewed for an Alexander Technique podcast. Listen here to learn more about how Mike uses Alexander Technique to improve his posture and his concentration!.

 

 

 

 

 

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