Posts under ‘working memory’

Government Funds Promote Failing Secondary Schools
People say stimulus money simply creates new layers of bureaucracy that prolong broken secondary school programs. My question is: How will the White House Campaign to Promote Science and Math Education support teens to climb new mental  peaks?  Will successful schools proliferate through fast growing charters?
President [...]

Ever notice how Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to bring out blues in some and blessings in others? Or how lonely people see vast spaces between themselves and others – even at festive  holiday tables?
First glances  show people blessed with close family and  friends feel blessed over holidays while those alone feel abandoned. Not so. Loneliness [...]

Written By Ellen Weber, PhD and Robyn McMaster, PhD
Higher Education and Brain Based Benefits

Challenges of Change
Renewal is to the university community today what Renaissance was to the Middle Ages. Both encompass a resurgence of learning. Both tap into more potential from the human brain. To reconfigure university teaching for a rebirth [...]

Have you every thought of practicing to be a genius at anything? Several gurus in intelligence, claim that endurance and hard work get higher grades than raw intelligence scores from IQ tests. Do you agree?  Einstein claimed he was no more intelligent than others – but he stayed with problems longer. You?
Ericsson calls this the [...]

Heaven or Havoc?

Which of these characters work with or in you?

Serotonin Sam:

“Feelin’ good – hey guys you’re welcome to share, anytime.”

Cortisol Carol
“Touch my stuff and you die!”

Plasticity Patty:
“Glad to know I can still nail this new knack at any age.”

Amygdala Arnie:
“They keep changing the freakin’ formulas so I it [...]

When you rev up mental equipment daily to either sink or swim, you discover how creativity and curiosity will trump criticism and intimidation. How then can you experience mental power in settings where no brain is left behind?
One friend and fellow leader Dave Caiazza, put it this way:

Work against the dangerous twins of jealousy and [...]

On each new day your brain offers equipment to lose or win. The choice is yours, and brain activity can now be observed to show how winning or losing selections work, in spite of external conditions.
So why do some people pick winning equipment while others settle for the loser’s pick where the chips go down?
Here [...]

Spot any gaps in your life, where  adventure leaks out like water trickles through a sieve?
Your brain’s working memory leads you to spot faulty traditions at work, or to see speed bumps that slow down progress in your day. But there’s more to change than finding flaws.
For instance,  two-footed questions can catapult you beyond [...]

Have you experienced mental power that bubbles over in circles where no brain is left behind? Interactive sessions where creativity trumps criticism, and diversity’s the handmaiden of dignity and innovative virtue?
If so, would you agree that brilliant solutions tend to flow from pools just outside of the prevailing thought – where:

1. No Brain Left [...]

Take advantage of recent neuro-discoveries and that illusive growth you’re looking for tends to follow far faster. Have you seen it happen?

Brainpower-tools create new landscapes -from mental resources immune to recession:

With a little help from you – an amygdala offers calm under pressure, even when old socks buck change or when few folks tend to [...]

It’s now believed that you have both angel and devil brain parts and these two forces stay in consistent battle for your actions. Do you agree? Researchers looked at activity in the brain for healthy and unhealthy food choices and what they found may surprise you.
Angel brain parts help people to consider abstract decisions such [...]

Each step to renew your workplace ethically and with the brain in mind – casts lights on mental barriers that prevent change in stagnant organizations. How so?
To rethink old approaches is also to take a stand against Hebbian hardwired thought that defaults back to ruts and routines.
To upgrade motivation and achievement at secondary or higher [...]

Surprisingly, human brains tend to outperform themselves in reverse, rather than in forward motion.  Comfortable  traditions or routines can cause your brain to default to ruts, that only reverse brainpower can surpass. How so?  
Let’s say you wake up out of sorts – discouraged about a hectic schedule or a disorganized workplace. Take an active [...]

Only after you hit unethical walls raised by scorn from the cynic, do you value freedom flights toward its opposite – the curious mind. I’m speaking of that chronically negative person, who expresses disdain for innovative ideas, where stressed brains rely on habit and distrust reigns.
For Russel Lynes, cynicism’s the pseudo-intellectual’s substitute for intelligence. For [...]

What tactics would you engage to solve conflicts, if war or violence was no longer an option? Perhaps a better way of asking is, “What marks of a peace plan could trump your next battle plan?”
Consider those who act on deep seated beliefs, such as generosity, service and social justice, when pushed into tough places. [...]

In spite of great books about memory and the brain’s amazing ability to remember, we still search frantically for keys as we fly out the door. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Books such as, How to Develop a Perfect Memory, by Dominic O’Brien, work well for those interested in remembering things like an entire deck of [...]

Most people hope at some time or another to move from where they stand at that moment, into a better place for their future. Especially if following predictable schedules is holding back personal progress.
Yet have you noticed that strong traditions rarely yield to finer approaches in many workplaces, even when rejuvenated practices prove superior? Or [...]

To learn new skills, move past distractions, or take risks, research shows that  it pays to draw on more working memory.  Ready to propel your life and leadership to new heights? Then it’s time to tap into the wonder of  working memory. How so?
This unique mental capability not only increase focus, it also offers you the brief facts you need most at [...]

If you find yourself protecting your turf or stuck in a rut with boring routines, you’ve likely defaulted to your basal ganglia. No need to stay there, once you see how your brain can create neuron pathways beyond these potholes. Probably you’ve observed how static lives come from dull daily routines where people settle into the cortisol that comes with status quo, and no longer seek [...]