News on how the brain changes over time, how to clear foggy brains, how to multitask (or not), and more

Wel­come to a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing time­ly brain & men­tal health news and a fun brain teas­er to test the lim­its of mul­ti-task­ing. #1. Col­lab­o­ra­tive neu­roimag­ing ini­tia­tive Brain­Chart helps chart how brains change across the lifes­pan. Among the many fas­ci­nat­ing find­ings: “The vol­ume of grey mat­ter (brain cells) increas­es rapid­ly from mid-gestation…

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On brain folding and fitting 86 billion neurons inside our 1400 cc crania

The human brain has been called the most com­plex object in the known uni­verse. And with good rea­son: It has around 86 bil­lion neu­rons and sev­er­al hun­dred thou­sand miles of axon fibers con­nect­ing them. Unsur­pris­ing­ly, the process of brain fold­ing that results in the brain’s char­ac­ter­is­tic bumps and grooves is also high­ly com­plex. Despite decades of…

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The NeuroGeneration and Humankind’s Quest to Enhance the Brain

Some peo­ple may be uneasy with the idea of “brain enhance­ment,” but the quest to boost our brain­pow­er is noth­ing new; it is an essen­tial part of human nature. Ever since Homo sapi­ens emerged near­ly 200,000 years ago, we have been search­ing for ways to upgrade the hard­ware and wet­ware in our heads, and we’ve…

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Dance training: The ultimate way to delay brain decline by combining physical, cognitive, and social engagement

Study: Danc­ing may off­set some effects of aging in the brain (CSU release): “A new study led by a Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty researcher shows that kick­ing up your heels can actu­al­ly be good for your nog­gin. The research team demon­strat­ed for the first time that decline in the brain’s “white mat­ter” can be detect­ed over…

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