What is mental self rotation? It is the ability to imagine yourself in different locations in space and imagine your body moving in space. This is an ability that is used in different everyday activities such as navigating in an environment or reading a map.
- Ability involved: egocentric spatial transformations (yes, that is the scientific expression) or mental self rotation.
- Brain areas involved: mostly parietal lobes.
Let’s take an example. Imagine that you plan to go to a new Walgreens’ location. You wonder whether going North on Big Bend Avenue you would have to make a right or a left turn onto Forsyth Blvd to get to Walgreens. You then look at the map that your spouse has laid out on the table. It turns out that the map is upside down so your perspective is not aligned with the one shown on the map (see Figure 1 just below, Box A). How do you get the answer to your question? Continue Reading »
Dr. Pascale Michelon recently shared with our readers which brain areas and cognitive functions are engaged as we solve the type of brain teaser known as Spot the Difference, where we have to find the differences between two versions of one image: Continue Reading »
Readers have contributed a good number of haikus on brain-related topics. Below you have my Favorite 7, and many other fun ones...which ones do you like the most?
Also, Can you write a haiku describing anything crossing your mind now? Remember the simple rules: write 3 lines,
which don't need to rhyme, containing 5,7, and 5 syllables. You can leave your haiku as a comment for extra points...
My Favorite 7 Brain and Mind Haikus
- Techne, the philosopher, wonders:
Solve the big questions:
How do I know when I know?
Who knows the knower?
- Steve, the environmentalist, requests:
Neuroplastic good.
Plastic, though lasts forever.
Always recycle!
Continue Reading »
You know your weight. And your physical fitness. And a variety of health-related metrics.
What about your brain fitness?
Two recent announcements bring out how the assessment of cognitive abilities, or brain functions, is increasingly being done thanks to new computerized options:
1) Last week, OptumHealth announced an exclusive 3-year agreement (estimated at $18m) with the Australian company Brain Resource. OptumHealth will be embedding the Brain Resource platform into their overall Behavioral Solutions program.
- OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions will work with Brain Resource to provide clinicians with a Web-based assessment that measures general cognition (how people process information) and social cognition (how people manage their emotions). This 40-minute assessment is based on well-known and validated tests of memory, attention, executive function, and response speed, and mood, social skills and emotional resilience.
Continue Reading »
Here you have 4 of the most popular brain games in our blog, plus a bonus stress management tip.
Brain Teaser 1. In which direction is the bus pictured below traveling?
Continue Reading »
Consider Linda, a 31-year-old woman, single and bright. As a student, she was deeply concerned with discrimination and social justice and also participated in anti-nuclear protests.
Which is more probable? (a) Linda is today a bank teller; (b) Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist movement.
Quick, what's your answer?
Continue Reading »
How many differences can you spot?
You have seen and maybe tried that exercise or game in the Sunday paper many times: find 5 differences between the two images.
You may like it or not. You may think it is only for kids. But it is a GREAT brain exercise!
Let’s see what cognitive processes and which brain areas are involved in this exercise:
Continue Reading »
Language in the brain is processed in the temporal lobes. These are on the sides of your brain, next to you temples.
Different areas in the temporal lobe (mostly on the left side of your brain) deal with different aspects of language. For instance, the Wernicke area is the one that allows you to understand words. The Broca area, on the other hand, is the one that allows you to produce language or articulate words.
Damage to Wernicke's area causes Wernicke's aphasia, a condition in which people can hear language being spoken, but cannot understand it. Damage to Broca's area causes Broca's aphasia, a condition in which people have trouble producing language.
Below you will find a brain exercise that targets the neurons in your language areas. Continue Reading »
(hat tip: Mind Hacks).
Please try this experiment, conceived by Simons and Chabris for their now classic study, and now packaged in a nicer video production. You will watch a brief video clip showing two teams, and your challenge is to count the TOTAL number of times that the basketballs change hands.
Click Here to view the Basketball Experiment clip.
You can read about the fascinating results here, and read the full study on sustained inattentional blindness (PDF).
Credit for pic: Haines World
Boost your visuospatial skills and learn about your brain
-- By Dr. Pascale Michelon
Visuospatial skills are used everyday in many ways, ranging from going from one room to another in your house to solving a jigsaw puzzle and navigating in a new city. 
One specific visuospatial skill has to do with moving spatial information around in your head. It is called mental rotation.
Let’s take an example. Can you picture in your head an arrow pointing to the right? Now, turn this arrow so it points to the left. Done?
Continue Reading »
