From the category archives:

Neuroscience

Creativity and Novelty

by Stephen Mills February 14, 2010
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Optical illusions work because of the perceptual shortcuts your brain has developed from past perceptual experience. This tendency of your brain to make snap judgments and statistical predictions is a very good thing. It occurs in many different areas of your brain and it reduces by many magnitudes the amount of mental resources required to function in your every day life.

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The Science of Fear – Part II

by Stephen Mills January 13, 2010
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Most of our exposure to dangers or risk in the media leaves out a crucially important factor. What is the likelihood of it actually happening to you? If you are told taking a new kind of birth control increases your risk of breast cancer by 20% compared to an existing type, that may sound bad but you have learned nothing useful.

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Unconscious Decision Making

by Stephen Mills January 5, 2010
Light Bulb Brain

One of the most amazing and at the same time unsettling ideas emerging from research in the neurological and psychological sciences in recent decades, is the power and the pervasive nature of automatic unconscious (or nonconscious) thinking. It’s amazing because we have an incredible thinking and problem solving machine operating beneath the conscious level of our awareness. It’s unsettling because it is becoming apparent that some, and probably many, of our decisions are made by unconscious processing before we become consciously aware of them.

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May I Have Your Attention Please

by Stephen Mills December 19, 2009
Currency

What’s the point of me telling you all of this? What you pay attention to matters and it matters a great deal. It matters much more than you think. Even when you are not consciously aware of it, the biggest and most powerful part of your brain is cranking away on what you tell your brain is important. Your non-conscious brain decides what is is important based upon what you are pointing your attention towards. What you are paying attention to now in some degree determines what your non-conscious mind will be paying attention to in the future.

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Optimizing Your Working Memory – Part I

by Stephen Mills November 28, 2009
Working Memory

A lot of new research is showing that cognitive effort depletes your mental resources and you perform significantly worse on subsequent tasks. Make one difficult decision and your ability to make a second difficult decision is reduced. All conscious thinking uses up these resources and the more conscious effort it requires the more the resources are depleted. Will-power and self-control may not seem like the same thing as solving a complex problem, but they too rapidly deplete your brain’s thinking resources.

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How to Remember What You Learn

by Stephen Mills November 17, 2009
Brain Memory

A significant amount of memory loss occurs within the first few of hours after being exposed to new information. If you want to recall what you learn there are some things you can do to help.

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Blogging The Brain

by Stephen Mills June 18, 2009

Pardon my shameless self-promotion, but Jonathan Wells from Advanced Life Skills an I are collaborating on a new blog called BloggingTheBrain.  We’ve only published three articles but you should check it out.  I think you are going to like it.
Here is what we have published so far:
About BloggingTheBrain
Increase Your Working Memory
Vitamin D and Your Healthy [...]

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Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Serotonin

by Stephen Mills May 20, 2009
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Serotonin natures are happy, sensory, and live in the moment. Despite being calm they can be very impulsive and like to seek a wide variety of exciting new activities.

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Your Brain on Food and Supplements – GABA

by Stephen Mills May 18, 2009
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GABA calms and stabilizes the brain. It is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter of the brain. It smoothes you out and gives you a more constant mood and performance. According to Eric Braverman, 50% of the population are GABA dominant natures. GABA natures are sociable and remain calm amongst the chaos. They love organization and are dependable. GABA natures don’t have wild mood swings and love team or group activities.

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Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Acetylcholine

by Stephen Mills May 17, 2009
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Acetylcholine is important for memory and learning and is a neurotransmitter used throughout the body. It controls muscle contraction for example. Acetylcholine may be extremely important for long term memory. It determines your brain speed. If you have too little, your brain is going to slow down. The most extreme case of this is Alzheimer’s. You can think of acetylcholine as a lubricant for your brain and body. Acetylcholine along with dopamine are the neurotransmitters that turn your brain on. They allow it to work hard and fast. A lack of either one can lead to memory and attention problems.

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