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Golden Oldies: Expand Your Mind: Brain Exploration

Monday, March 30th, 2020

Poking through 14+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

I used to do a feature called Expand Your Mind with links to apropos topics and quick, sometimes snarky, comments. Hmmm, may do it again in the future…dee

Read other Golden Oldies here.

There’s a lot of exciting exploration going on these days in space and under the sea, but some of the most exciting is the ongoing exploration of the human brain.

Most people recognize a certain validity in the old maxim ‘clothes make the person’, but would you believe that clothes can actually improve cognitive ability?

If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention increases sharply. But if you wear the same white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will show no such improvement.

Oh, goody; once again corporate America is hijacking brain research to sell more (just what we all need) stuff.

…neuromarketing…helped researchers decode secrets such as why people love artificially colored snack food and how to predict whether a pop song will be a hit or a flop.

This next essay looks at how love affects your brain and you might wonder about its business application, but the information on how relationships change brain chemistry is as applicable to you and your boss and business colleagues as it is to you and your romantic partner—more so, perhaps, considering the hours spent in work-related relationships exceeds those spent on personal ones.

A RELATIVELY new field, called interpersonal neurobiology, draws its vigor from one of the great discoveries of our era: that the brain is constantly rewiring itself based on daily life.

Have you ever wondered why you acted/reacted a certain way? Could it be because of a cat you have, had or visited at some point?

Jaroslav Flegr believes a “latent” parasite may be quietly tweaking the connections between our neurons, changing our response to frightening situations, our trust in others, how outgoing we are, and even our preference for certain scents.

And before you start laughing, consider the words of Stanford’s Robert Sapolsky,

“My guess is that there are scads more examples of this going on in mammals, with parasites we’ve never even heard of.”

Finally, an all natural, fully organic, multi-useful way to improve brain function—and it’s free! Additional benefits include potentially improved business functions and a myriad of benefits to your social life from more ways to meet chicks/guys to choosing restaurants and enjoying vacations.

Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

But Only If You Have A Brain…

Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

First, a disclaimer: this post is in no way a recommendation for the University of Phoenix. In fact, I have long been against for profit education, especially UP, which is not only the largest, but one of the worst.

That said, I’d like to strip the logos from the new ad running on national TV and make it required watching for every boss in every business, whether large or small.

Pay particular attention to the last spoken line.

Do you have a brain?

Video credit: University of Phoenix

Entrepreneurs: the Power of Power Napping

Thursday, September 4th, 2014

Entrepreneurs are notorious for their 80 to 100 hour weeks.

In fact, many of them see that work schedule as a badge of honor; an initiation by fire to an exclusive club.

What they ignore is that as time goes by each week, the quality of the work produced goes down.

Because, much as they want to be superman, entrepreneurs are human and humans require food and their brains require rest to function at their best.

Many have tried napping, but often feel worse afterwards.

The good news is that there is a scientific reason why naps that exceed 30 minutes have the opposite effect as desired.

The secret to revitalizing a tired brain and juicing creativity is not found in grabbing an hour’s sleep here and there.

It’s found in the practice of Power Napping.

Try it; it works!

YouTube credit: AsapSCIENCE

Expand Your Mind: Brain Exploration

Saturday, April 7th, 2012

There’s a lot of exciting exploration going on these days in space and under the sea, but some of the most exciting is the ongoing exploration of the human brain.

Most people recognize a certain validity in the old maxim ‘clothes make the person’, but would you believe that clothes can actually improve cognitive ability?

If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention increases sharply. But if you wear the same white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will show no such improvement.

Oh, goody; once again corporate America is hijacking brain research to sell more (just what we all need) stuff.

…neuromarketing…helped researchers decode secrets such as why people love artificially colored snack food and how to predict whether a pop song will be a hit or a flop.

This next essay looks at how love affects your brain and you might wonder about its business application, but the information on how relationships change brain chemistry is as applicable to you and your boss and business colleagues as it is to you and your romantic partner—more so, perhaps, considering the hours spent in work-related relationships exceeds those spent on personal ones.

A RELATIVELY new field, called interpersonal neurobiology, draws its vigor from one of the great discoveries of our era: that the brain is constantly rewiring itself based on daily life.

Have you ever wondered why you acted/reacted a certain way? Could it be because of a cat you have, had or visited at some point?

Jaroslav Flegr believes a “latent” parasite may be quietly tweaking the connections between our neurons, changing our response to frightening situations, our trust in others, how outgoing we are, and even our preference for certain scents.

And before you start laughing, consider the words of Stanford’s Robert Sapolsky, “My guess is that there are scads more examples of this going on in mammals, with parasites we’ve never even heard of.”

Finally, an all natural, fully organic, multi-useful way to improve brain function—and it’s free! Additional benefits include potentially improved business functions and a myriad of benefits to your social life from more ways to meet chicks/guys to choosing restaurants and enjoying vacations.

Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

Quotable Quotes: Intelligence, Smarts and Wisdom

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Several of the links yesterday related to intelligence, smarts and wisdom, so I thought that would be a good topic today, too.

Einstein is considered a genius, but it seems that he had a different view, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

According to Ralph Waldo Emerson being intelligent or smart isn’t everything, “Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.”

Alan Alda adds a dimension to that with his observation regarding being smart, “Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart.”

Voltaire said,”Common sense is not so common;” actually, I think it’s rarer than intelligence.

Some people equate intelligence to education and believe that filling one’s mind with book learning is a valid goal, but I tend to align with Plutarch words, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.”

Perhaps it’s the fire that leads E. B. White to believe that “Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one.”

Throughout history there has been much debate and varying opinions regarding intelligence in the different races, but John Fowles thinking seems to offer the final word, “There are only two races on this planet – the intelligent and the stupid.”

Stock.xchng image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1254880

Wordless Wednesday: Analyzing The Wall Street Brain

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Or is this more accurate?

Your comments—priceless

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