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5 tips for creating great flashcards By not using Brainscape, you are actually killing baby seals The secret to learning more while studying less

What is the best time of day to use Brainscape?

By , 3/22/2013 at 3:21 pm

According to Brainscape’s recent data, it appears that our millions of users tend to study with roughly equal frequency at various times throughout the day.  Some study when they wake up in the morning. Some study on their commutes.  Some study while watching TV after dinner.  And – if Brainscape users are like most smart phone users – some probably study on the toilet as well.

But is there a time of day where our Brainscape study sessions are most likely to be effective?  A recent study in the journal Public Library of Science One may have found the answer to this question. (more…)

How to Control Your Dreams [Infographic]

By , 1/23/2013 at 11:05 am

Sleep and dreaming are two topics we love to discuss on the Brainscape blog. We know that sleep is important for consolidating learning, and, in particular, dreaming’s role in learning in memory is huge. I also know that a great dream is sometimes the most fun I can have all day. So, why not learn how to control our dreams? This phenomenon is known as lucid dreaming, and we’d love to learn how to do it.

Some folks put together a little infographic with tips for learning how to control your dreams. (more…)

5 Rules for Real Language Learning

By , 1/3/2013 at 7:53 am
year of english Guest Post by Aaron Knight:
Aaron Knight is the creator of Year of English, a free daily email course for English learners who want to become fluent in 2013. He’s also the Founder of the English-learning site PhraseMix.com.

It’s pretty easy to get started learning a new language. Becoming truly fluent, though, is difficult. I’m often asked for advice by English learners who have been studying the language for years but haven’t improved as much as they would have liked. This is the advice I give them:

Stay Sharp! 7 Tips For Your Productive AND Relaxing Winter Break

By , 12/18/2012 at 1:09 pm

shell research labs 1945Guest Post from Sam Seidenberg:

Have your finals week dreams of being caught pantless in the classroom of the one exam you forgot to study for have finally been replaced by dreams of reindeer-meat latkes sizzling in the kitchen and sugar plum rabbis doing the hora around a dreidel-adorned Christmas tree?

Then it would seem that winter break has arrived.

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Take a Break; Save Your Life

By , 11/27/2012 at 2:41 pm

Guest post from LearnStuff.com:

If you think working overtime, skipping your lunch hour and staying chained to your desk will make you more productive, you need to cut yourself some slack and take a break.

Working non-stop without taking a break can increase your chances of weight gain, heart disease and worse. Staring at a computer screen for more than 2 hours per day can cause Computer Vision Syndrome, a real affliction, which causes blurry vision, headaches, dry eyes and can lead to long-term nearsightedness. However, getting up and away from your desk for just 5 minutes can alleviate eye strain and reduce fatigue in addition to making you feel better. The mere act of standing at your desk instead of sitting at it can help you burn up to 2500 calories per week. Not bad for just standing around.

Work hard and break hard; doing so will make you a healthier, happier and more productive employee. (more…)

How’d the Brainscape Team Make it Through Sandy

By , 11/15/2012 at 3:32 pm

As you have been hearing in the news, Hurricane Sandy ripped through New York, New Jersey and the East Coast nearly three weeks ago. She left millions without power or heat for days, and thousands more are still without power, heat or even homes. If you can help out, here is a good resource to help you get started.

Thankfully, the Brainscape team was unharmed, and we’ve been back in our office the past two weeks. Those of us who lost power had it restored a week later, and none of us suffered major damages. The one thing about Sandy that affected the team most was the lack of transportation, leaving us working virtually for an entire week.

Luckily, the Monday morning before the hurricane hit, we were still able to squeeze in our weekly meeting…even without being able to take the subway to work. Thank you Google Hangouts for saving our meeting! Take a look at the NINE of us hanging in our Google Hangout right before we lost power. (more…)

Systems-Based Learning

By , 11/13/2012 at 10:49 am

Q: What do Candy Land, law school, and computer programming all have in common?

A: They all require us to learn a series of rules comprising a system.  No single rule in any of those situations would have helped us succeed unless we understood how the various rules fit together into a complete system.  In fact, no matter how complex a game, profession, or hobby, it could be said that every important human activity requires us to understand a system.  Systems-based learning is arguably the single most important component of education – from infancy through adulthood.
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Learn To Focus And Improve Your Memory

By , 11/5/2012 at 7:01 am

Guest Post by Julie Bismuth:

As a kid, I wanted superpowers. I wanted them to make life easier, convenient, exciting, and well… “cool”. I remember going to bed hoping I’d wake up with super powers the next day: extra strength, speed, flying, anything. I thought I’d do anything for a superpower. Obviously, that dream faded away once reality kicked in. Yet, ten years later during the high school years, I started dreaming of a new superpower: super memory. Ten years later, that dream hasn’t faded away for one bit. Now the good news is that’s a super power I can create. That’s actually something we can all create. While we’ve already given you an infographic on how memory works and tips on how to improve long-term memory, we share today an article from The Education Blog, teaching us how to train our brains into becoming the “super memory” we all crave for.

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What Should Schools Take Away from Churches?

By , 10/30/2012 at 7:37 am

Alain de BottonGuest Post from Sam Seidenberg:

Alain de Botton is a Swiss writer, entrepreneur, and longtime proponent of the relevance and practical benefits of philosophy. He is the author of several bestsellers, including How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, Status Anxiety, and The Architecture of Happiness. In his latest work, Religion for Atheists, de Botton argues that while the mystical aspects of religion may be false, religions still have useful features that secular society would benefit from appropriating.

Why, you ask, is this book being featured on a blog about brains and studying? Well, here at Brainscape, we’re also very interested in the future of education, and de Botton renders an intriguing portrayal of a University of the future in the Education chapter of Religion for Atheists.

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In One Ear and Out the Other

By , 10/29/2012 at 7:44 am

I was baby-sitting this week when the boy asked me “Can you tell a joke?”. After focusing for 3 straight minutes, I was able to remember two of the least funny jokes I’ve probably ever heard. That’s when I started wondering: why dont’t we remember the jokes we heard a month ago, a week ago, or that really funny one a co-worker told at lunch today? We remember complicated lyrics, movie scenes, funny SNL skits, stories, but jokes (and more specifically the good ones) always seem to disappear like information our brains will no longer grant us access to. We’ve already discussed how looking back can help improve one’s memory and suggested apps that could strengthen your cognitive abilities. Today we share a fascinating article by Natalie Angier from The New York Times, explaining how our brains will process jokes differently than any other types of information, tremendously impacting our cognitive abilities.

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