Recently we noticed a lot of traffic to our informative page about autobiographical memory. We quickly realized this was a consequence a recent episode of 60 Minutes–a fascinating program called  “Endless Memory”. The episode profiles six people, including Taxi actress Marilu Henner, who can remember literally everything about their lives. Their talent has been labeled “superior autobiographical memory” and is now being studied in depth by neuroscientists. I highly recommend you watch the episode online.

Why does this happen? Why are there just a tiny number of people in the world who have the remarkable ability of remembering, in great detail, every day of their lives? The researchers aren’t exactly sure, but none of the six people appear to be impaired in any other way. MRI scans of the six people are currently being analyzed. While results are preliminary, they have found that some brain regions in these folks are huge compared to you or me. Both the temporal lobe (a key area for memory) and the caudate nucleus (an area implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder and habit formation) appear to be involved. The question is: are these brain regions large because these folks have trained their brain to do this? Or can they do this because they have abnormally large brain regions? More research will need to be done before we can unravel this mystery completely.

Continue reading "Superior Autobiographical Memory and Memory Bumps " »

A common science trend is to study the connection between obesity and the brain, in hopes of discovering neuroscience-based therapies and treatments to help people lose weight. A new study has shown that people who are overweight or obese have a lower pleasure response to delicious foods like milkshakes, versus their normal-weight counterparts. Human and animal studies have shown that this is something that happens as a consequence of the weight gain, as it does not precede the weight gain but only starts to happen once the weight is on.You can read more details about the research here.

For someone who tries to stay fit and healthy but also loves to splurge on a decadent meal, this is a very interesting finding. It may be motivating for people to have the knowledge that the more weight they gain, the less pleasure they will derive from tasty food. Since I don’t want anything to stand in the way of my enjoyment of milkshakes and french fries and other delicious but calorie-rich foods, this is an excellent neuroscience-based reason to have them just once in awhile as a very special treat!

According to scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, eye movement can teach you a lot more about politics than you might guess. These scientists studied how liberals and conservatives respond to “gaze cues,” and found dramatic differences. The short version: the liberals generally followed the cues, the conservatives did not. Read about the study here.

According to one of the authors, the study “basically provides one more piece of evidence that liberals and conservatives perceive the world, and process information taken in from that world, in different ways.”

Might such perceptual differences help explain the difficulty liberals and conservatives have in finding common ground, especially in Congress?

I welcome your thoughts!

The NY Times recently ran a great article on the possibility of harnessing the engaging power of games to create meaningful progress in the real world.  The article speaks with a number of people who are experimenting and innovating to make that happen.  Jane McGonigal is mentioned as urging the application of a gaming mindset to achieve noble outcomes and goes deep on this topic in her TED talk Gaming Can Make A Better World.  Another insightful thinker in the article is Nicole Lazzaro, who named the concept of challenging fun ”fiero”.  The idea is that when you work at something and succeed, you have a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment.  You can read her presentation on the key emotions in social gaming from the Game Developers Conference.

Posit Science has been thinking since its inception that we can use gaming to help people improve brain performance.  We started with single player games like the Brain Fitness Program, giving progress feedback and regular rewards to motivate usage.  Those elements worked to create ongoing engagement as many customers who start training see benefits in their everyday lives.

Continue reading "Gaming for Good: How Can We Play with a Purpose?" »

What’s even better than training your brain with Posit Science software? Training your brain while incorporating brain healthy habits into your everyday life! This year, we are introducing the 360˚ Brain Health Kit: a fun, creative way to enhance your whole brain health. This unique kit makes a great gift on its own, or as an add-on gift to our clinically proven brain fitness software.

It includes:

• The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
  This award-winning New York Times bestseller about brain plasticity will change your life—and how you think about your brain.
• ThinkFood: Recipes for Brain Fitness
  A unique cookbook with 50 recipes featuring the best foods for your brain, plus information on the research behind brain foods.
• Whole Sage and Curry Powder Spice Jars
  Turmeric-rich curry powder and whole sage are great brain foods, used in recipes in ThinkFood! These top-quality, hand-blended spices come from Whole Spice.
• Triple Chocolate Almonds from Charles Chocolates
  Decadent, delicious, and brain-healthy dark chocolate-coated almonds from local San Francisco chocolatier Charles Chocolates.
• Brain Tip Magnets
  Five colorful magnets, each with a suggestion from our scientists to help remind you to add brain-healthy activities to your day life—like using your “other” hand and walking on uneven surfaces!

Continue reading "This Holiday Season Only: Introducing The 360˚ Brain Health Kit" »

A few days ago, the New York Times reviewed what looks to be both a beautiful and fascinating book for brain fans:  Portraits of the Mind:  Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century.  This is an art book featuring images of the brain, its neurons and structures along with commentary from neuroscientists and Carl Schoonover, the book’s author and a neuroscience PhD candidate from Columbia University.

As both a photography and brain enthusiast, I was intrigued by the review.  We often struggle to find appealing images of the brain for our work here at Posit Science.  I confess to being the person at the table who frequently comments on what an ugly organ the brain is.  The Times article pointed out that I’m not alone; Aristotle believed the rational soul existed in the heart and the brain’s coils served only to cool that more important organ.

Continue reading "Brains and Beauty, Together at Last in a New Book" »

If you’re like me, you have a neuroscientist in your family who’s hard to shop for. So perhaps, when you get desperate, you find yourself wondering (as I did this morning) if there are any brain-themed holiday gifts out there.

It turns out there are. A lot.

Zazzle.com has over 800 (!) neuron/brain/neurotransmitter-themed items, including but in no way limited to:

• Keds shoes decorated with synapses and other brain-themed patterns
• Many choices in mugs, often with sayings like “If I’m not paying attention, blame my neurotransmitters!”
• Psychedelic brain and neuron skate decks (for the brainy skateboarder you know)

At CafePress, you can find everything from holiday-themed “braindeer” cards, to dopamine (pleasure!) boxer shorts, to t-shirts saying “I love my neuropsychologist” for yourself, your friend, or even your dog. Just search under “cognitive neuroscience” or “brain” or something similar on the site.

And you can order a cartoon about the brain as a print, t-shirt, tote bag, and more at the Cartoon Stock site. My personal favorite has a doctor looking at a man’s brain scan, saying, “Your car keys are under the sofa and you like to wear women’s shoes.”

Continue reading "Brain-Themed Gifts for the Neurophiles on Your List! " »

I usually think of of physical pain and emotional pain as fairly separate phenomena. Physical pain is caused by certain things (like a wound), and cured by certain things (like a pain medication). Emotional pain is usually caused by a totally different set of things (like a bad breakup) and cured by different things (like talking to friends over a bottle of wine).

But I came across a couple of recent studies that suggest that physical pain and emotional pain might be more enmeshed in the brain than I knew. Here they are:

• A pilot study done at the University of Florida found that acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) may work for hurt feelings as well as a hurting body. The researcher hypothesizes that “social pain piggybacks onto physical pain and the two systems sort of bleed into each other,” which would explain why study subjects who took acetaminophen showed less activity in areas of the brain associated with social rejection, even though it’s designed as a treatment for physical pain.
• An article in Scientific American on “nonsuicidal self-injury” (NSSI)–such as cutting yourself–also draws out the connection between physical and emotional pain. It describes  a series of studies that show the physical pain of NSSI and the relief associated with the end of the pain both lead to LESS activity in the parts of the brain where negative emotions reside. In other words, there’s a direct connection between physical pain and relief, and emotional pain and relief.

The research is early, but it’s interesting stuff!

Something very cool to visit in New York City now through next August at the American Museum of Natural History is Brain: The Inside Story.  It combines art inspired by the brain, interactive exhibits (a few using Posit Science technology), and models of the brain that bring you different perspectives on the brain: sensing, thinking, emotional, changing and 21st century brain (looking at brain to computer/machine interaction).

It was exciting to be a part of the creation of a small part of the show as the museum staff worked out the themes, elements to bring those themes to life for visitors, and now see Posit Science’s contribution of technology be available to hundreds of thousands of visitors in New York.

If you’re in the New York metro area, it’s worth a visit!

Last year during the holiday season, we partnered with OneSight—a terrific charity organization that provides eye care to those in need through outreach, research and education. Our 2009 holiday donation allowed OneSight to recycle more than 51,600 pairs of glasses for people in need. This year we hope to match that—or do even better!

For each brain fitness purchase made between now and December 14, we’ll donate a portion of the proceeds to OneSight, a charity that provides eye care for people who can’t afford it. To learn more about our partnership, visit this page.

Over 300 million people worldwide suffer from poor vision simply because they do not have access to or cannot afford care. Poor, uncorrected vision can inhibit a child’s ability to learn and can rob adults of independence and quality of life. One of our scientists, Dr. Peter Delahunt, has written on this blog before about the problems of having incorrectly prescribed glasses and discusses a study that shows that correctly prescribed glasses can improve quality of life. In some countries, a pair of eyewear costs more than a month’s salary.

Over the past 22 years, OneSight’s volunteers have provided free eyewear and vision care to more than seven million people. In addition to our monetary donation, we will once again host an eyeglass drive at our office. (Last year we donated 53 pairs.) Those old glasses in the back of your drawer can be recycled into a life-changing gift for someone in need! To learn more about where to donate your old glasses, or to find resources to help you set up a drive to collect eyeglass donations, visit the glasses donation page on OneSight.org or see this article for other organizations that recycle used glasses.