Can Your Computer Make You Smarter

October 11, 2011 by  
Filed under Build Mind Power

DOES using your computer build your mind power?

A  study by UCLA neuroscientist Gary Small has clearly shown that using your computer changes your brain is some very beneficial ways, and can actually build your mind power and make you smarter.

In his new book, “iBRAIN: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,” Small tells us that the modern  shift in how we gather information and communicate with one another has touched off an era of rapid evolution that may ultimately even change the human brain.

This should not come as a surprise. Our amazing brain’s plasticity – its ability to change in response to different stimuli – is now well known. And the more time you devote to a specific activity (like using your computer), the stronger the neural pathways responsible for that activity become.

Professional musicians have more gray matter in brain regions responsible for finger movements. And athletes’ brains are bulkier in areas that control hand-eye coordination. So, of course, people who process a lot of digital information would have more neurons dedicated to handling that information.

To see how the Internet might be changing our brains to make us somehow smarter, Small and colleagues monitored the brains of 24 adults as they performed an online search, and again as they read a page of online text.

During the online search, those who reported using the Internet regularly in their everyday lives showed twice as much activity in brain regions responsible for decision-making and complex reasoning.

The findings suggest that Internet use enhances the brain’s capacity to be stimulated, and that reading on your monitor activates more brain regions than reading printed words. The research adds to previous studies that have shown that tech-savvy people:

1 Possess greater working memory: they can store and retrieve more bits of information in the short term,

2 Are more adept at perceptual learning: adjusting their perception of the world in response to changing information, and

3. Have better motor skills.

Researcher Small says these differences are likely to be even more profound across generations, because younger people are exposed to more technology from an earlier age than older people.

He refers to this as the brain gap. On one side, what he calls digital natives – those who have never known a world without e-mail and text messaging – use their superior cognitive abilities to make snap decisions and juggle multiple sources of sensory input.

On the other side, digital immigrants – those who witnessed the advent of modern technology later in life – are better at reading facial expressions than they are at navigating cyberspace.

Well, I have to say maybe, and maybe not. The thing to remember is this: Those of us who were not born with a computer on our playshelf STILL have brain plasticity going for us. So get Grandma and Gramps on the computer.

And as to those who say computer use is isolating youth, this too can be challenged. A 2005 Kaiser study found that young people who spent the most time engaged with high-technology also spent the most time interacting face-to-face with friends and family. Interesting.

There are now even online high tech programs especially designed to use your computer to build your mind power.

Your Computer Can Build Mind Power

October 27, 2010 by  
Filed under Build Mind Power

Your Computer Builds Mind Power.

A new study by UCLA neuroscientist Gary Small has clearly shown that using your computer changes your brain is some very beneficial ways, and can actully build  mind power.

In his new book, iBRAIN: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind, Small tells us that the modern dramatic shift in how we gather information and communicate with one another has touched off an era of rapid evolution that may ultimately even change the human brain and build whole new aspects of our mind power.

This should not come as a surprise. Our amazing brain’s plasticity – its ability to change in response to different stimuli – is now well known. And the more time you devote to a specific activity (like using your computer), the stronger the neural pathways (mind power) responsible for that activity become.

More Neurons = More Mind Power

Professional musicians have more gray matter in brain regions responsible for finger movements. And athletes’ brains are bulkier in areas that control hand-eye coordination. So, of course, people who process a lot of digital information would have more neurons dedicated to handling that information.

To see how the Internet might be rewiring us, Small and colleagues monitored the brains of 24 adults as they performed an online search, and again as they read a page of online text. The researchers were looking for any evidence that the experience tended to build mind power.

During the online search, those who reported using the Internet regularly in their everyday lives showed TWICE as much activity in brain regions responsible for decision-making and complex reasoning. WOW!

The findings suggest that Internet use enhances the brain’s capacity to be stimulated, and that reading on your monitor activates more brain regions than reading printed words. The research adds to previous studies that have shown that tech-savvy people:

1 Possess greater working memory: they can store and retrieve more bits of information in the short term,
2 Are more adept at perceptual learning: adjusting their perception of the world in response to changing information, and
3 Have better motor skills.

Researcher Small says these mind power differences are likely to be even more profound across generations, because younger people are exposed to more technology from an earlier age than older people.

The Mind Power Brain Gap

Small  refers to this as the brain gap. On one side, what he calls digital natives-those who have never known a world without e-mail and text messaging-use their superior cognitive abilities to make snap decisions and juggle multiple sources of sensory input.

On the other side, digital immigrants-those who witnessed the advent of modern technology long after their brains had been hardwired-are better at reading facial expressions than they are at navigating cyberspace.

Well — maybe, and maybe not. The thing to remember is this: Those of us who were not born with a computer on our playshelf STILL have brain plasticity going for us. So get Grandma and Gramps on the computer to build their mind power and stay sharp..

And as to those who say computer use is isolating youth, this too can be challenged. A 2005 Kaiser study found that young people who spent the most time engaged with high-technology also spent the most time interacting face-to-face with friends and family. Interesting.

A Faster Way to Build Mind Power

Want a higher level of mental performance? There are now some truly amazine online high tech programs especially designed to build your mind power.

 

Posted by Jill Ammon-Wexler
Amazing Solutions

6 Steps to Enter the Flow

April 17, 2009 by  
Filed under BEST POSTS, Life Mastery

mindYou’ve heard about how a musician loses herself in her music, or how a painter becomes one with his painting. Time stops, and only total focus on the activity remains.

This is called *being in the flow,* an experience that is both demanding and rewarding… and perhaps the most enjoyable and valuable experience you can have.

Hungarian-born psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, the father of the flow concept, describes the experience as being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.

He determined that flow occurs when we are totally absorbed in some activity that is neither too easy nor too difficult for us. If the activity is too easy, we fall into boredom — while if it’s too difficult, we become anxious or stressed.

But it the activity is just right we find ourselves in the state of flow, just like children at play.

Build Flow Mind Power
Learning how to enter into the flow has the potential to immediately improve the quality of your life and build your mind power. Csikszentmihalyi found that being in the flow actually increases your brain power, and that the longer you remain in flow, the more complex your mind power becomes.

The easiest way to understand how flow increases mind power is this: When you perform a task that is too easy, your mind wanders from your work, and you have low mental focus. When something is overwhelmingly too difficult, on the other hand, anxiety and frustration set in.

Neither boredom nor anxiety lead to good mental focus.

Most often we move in and out of flow without realizing it. Any stimulating activity that completely fills your conscious attention can put you there. But the minute you feel worry, boredom or insecurity creeping in, you are out of the flow.

Here’s a reliable step-by-step method to create a state of flow in your life:

Step 1. View your task as a game. Like any serious game, you need feedback to keep yourself challenged, and the most basic form of feedback is keeping score. Establish the objective of your selected task as an actual goal, recognize the challenges to be overcome, and decide on any rules and rewards.

Step 2. Decide on and focus on your purpose. As you play your game, constantly remind yourself of the underlying purpose that is driving you. This goes beyond the goal, it is the reason for the goal.

Step 3. Strengthen your focus. Become aware of your thoughts. If you find your mind drifting or filled with anxiety, you have moved away from the zone. Refocus on the task at hand, and adjust the difficulty until you become fully engaged in the details of the task.

Step 4. Surrender to the process. This is perhaps the greatest mystery of the flow process. As you practice Step 3, you will find yourself enjoying the process of simply focusing completely on the task without straining or undue efforting. As you do, you will begin to experience periods of timelessness.

Step 5. Embrace ecstasy. The most interesting part of this process is the natural result of the previous four steps. You are going to be suddenly hit by surprise with a feeling of ecstasy. You’ll recognize it. When it happens, you are solidly in the flow.

Step 6. Enjoy peak productivity. The state of ecstasy is actually a whole brain phenomenon in which your entire cortex vibrates at one coherent frequency. It is unmistakable. You will have the sensation of creating without thinking, and your productivity will attain unheard of heights.

Flow and The Zone
The state of flow has direct ties to the state of being athletes call *the zone,* and also to the desired end state of Zen Buddhism. But the experience applies equally well to any endeavor, however simple or complex. Think of the minute complexity of the Japanese Tea Ceremony, and the intense mental focus required to perform it correctly.

Increase Your Probabuility of Entering Flow
An excellent way to increase your probability of entering into the flow is to train your brain to release stress — since only then can you achieve the required clear focus.

Regular visits to the Quantum Brain Gym for brainwave training will get you into the FLOW painlessly. Join and spend 10 to 15-minutes a day with brainwave training. Try it! You’ll be amazed at the differences in your mental clarity and focus. Click here!

posted by Jill Ammon-Wexler
Amazing Success

Next Page »