Build Middle-Age Brain Power?

Are you a middle-age or older adult? Then you might want to spend more time searching the internet to build your brain power.

Scientists at UCLA have found that for middle-age and older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search activity may help stimulate and  improve brain function and cognitive ability.

“The study results indicate that emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential (improve brain power) benefits for middle-aged and older adults,” said principal investigator Dr. Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. Small found that searching the internet engages complicated brain activity, and “may help exercise and improve brain function.”

As the brain ages, a number of structural and functional changes occur, including atrophy, reductions in cell activity, and increases in deposits of plaques and tangles – all of which impact cognitive function. Small noted that pursuing activities that keep the mind engaged helps preserve brain health and cognitive ability.

The UCLA team worked with 24 neurologically normal research volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half of the study participants had experience searching the Internet, while the other half had no experience. Age, educational level and gender were similar between the two groups.

Study participants performed Web searches and book-reading tasks while undergoing brain scans that measured the level of cerebral blood flow during the cognitive tasks.

All study participants showed significant brain activity during the book-reading task, but internet searches revealed a major difference. While all participants demonstrated the same brain activity that was seen during the book-reading task, the Web-savvy group also registered activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain controlling decision-making and complex reasoning.

“Our most striking finding was that Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading — but only in those with prior Internet experience,” said Small, who is also the director of UCLA’s Memory and Aging Research Center. In fact, researchers found that during Web searching, volunteers with prior experience registered a twofold increase in brain activation when compared with those with little Internet experience.

Compared with simple reading, the Internet requires making decisions about what to click on in order to pursue more information — an activity that engages cognitive circuits in the brain.”Searching the Web appears to enhance brain circuitry in mid-age and older adults,” Small said.

Small added that the minimal brain activation in the less experienced Internet group may be due to participants not quite grasping the strategies needed to successfully engage in an Internet search.

Does Instinct Find the Best Answer?

You’re more likely to perform well if you do NOT think too hard, and instead trust your instincts. Research shows that in some cases, instinctive snap decisions are more reliable than decisions reached using higher-level cognitive.

Participants at University College London (UCL) were asked to identify the odd symbol on a screen covered with over 650 identical symbols. They performed better when they were given no time at all to linger on the symbols, and were forced to rely entirely on their subconscious.

Dr Li Zhaoping of the UCL Department of Psychology, said: “This finding seems counter-intuitive. You would expect people to make more accurate decisions when given the time to look properly. Instead they performed better when given almost no time to think. The conscious or top-level function of the brain apparently vetoes our initial subconscious decision — even when it is correct — leaving us unaware or distrustful of our instincts and at an immediate disadvantage. Falling back on our inbuilt, involuntary subconscious processes for certain tasks is actually more effective than using our higher-level cognitive functions.”

Given only a tiny fraction of a second to observe the target, subjects performed with 95 per cent accuracy. With over a second to scrutinize the image, subjects were only 70 per cent accurate. With more than four seconds when subjects had time to engage their higher-level functions, their decisions were more likely to be wrong.

Dr Zhaoping said: “Often our instincts and higher-level functions are in conflict, and in this case our instincts are often silenced by our reasoning conscious mind. Participants would have improved their performance if they had been able to switch off their higher-level cognition by, for example, acting quickly.”

Intuition is also connected to effective use of the law of attraction. A great guide to this is =>The Personal Mastery Blueprint

Can Emotions Boost Your Immunity?

You’re familiar with your 5 basic physical senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. And you also know about your sixth sense – intuition. But… scientists now tell us we have a 7th sense –  our immune system. And it actually talks directly to the brain. Here’s how it works, and how to use your emtoions to boost your immunity.

A Very Brief History
Back in the 1970’s a Harvard study provided the first scientific evidence that our immune system is directly affected by moods and emotions. The evidence came in the form of the discovery that our immune cells contain neuropeptides – the brain chemicals connected to our emotions.

Immune system research has since taken off, and is today known as psychoneuroimmunology PNI.

A Surprising Two-Way Highway
Today PNI research has confirmed that every part of our immune system is connected to the brain in some way -either by a direct nerve connection, or through the brain’s chemical language of neuropeptides and hormones.

There is actually a two-way highway between the immune system and brain. The immune system acts as an emotional sensory system. It receives information about our emotions FROM the brain, and also sends its own signals back TO the brain. And these immune system signals then directly alter our behavior, thoughts and moods.

The brain and the immune system are actually part of a single, fully integrated defense mechanism. Dr Candice Pert, a neuroscientist who pioneered early body-mind research, says: I can no longer make a clear distinction between the brain and the body.

Moods and our Immune System
As a result of this two-way highway, what happens in your mind has an immediate effect on your immune system. We all know, for example, that certain stressful experiences increase our risk for disease, and even death.

Jane Goodall, the famed primate researcher, says this same phenomenon occurs in other animals. Goodall saw one chimpanzee become listless after the death of its mother, and then die in less than a month.

Several major studies have determined how our mental states influence our immune system. The results are conclusive: Negative mental states, chronic stress, and low self-esteem dramatically reduce our immunity.

Proven immune reducers include: Chronic stress, bereavement, pessimism, low self-esteem, depression, divorce, poor marital or intimate relations, loneliness, and financial loss.

Want to increase your immunity? And there is likewise proof that positive mental states and activities can increase your immunity. Proven immune boosters include: Aerobics, humor and laughter, a sense of hope, relaxation, physical exertion, social support, and satisfying relationships.

The Surprising Issue of Self Confidence
Do you often find your moods and emotions less positive than your would prefer? Most of us would rather feel up than down. But emotional ups and downs are a normal part of life.

But the chronic emotional lows that go hand-in-hand with low self-confidence are different. Low self confidence is NOT just a psychological issue. It sets you up for chronic stress. And chronic stress damages the ability of your immune system to resist disease, infections, and even heart disease.How can you win over chronic low-level stress, and the resulting weakened immune system? Obviously, one important move would be to take steps to=> Boost Your Self-Confidence.

A PROVEN IMMUNE BOOSTER
There is NEW SOLID scientific evidence that subliminal messages absolutely DO register in our brains, and go straight into our powerful subconscious mind. Give yourself a self-confidence mental edge.  Click here to=> Put subliminals to work in YOUR life.

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