Posts by Dr. Pascale Michelon
Brain teaser to exercise your cognitive skills: Where do words go?
Words are stored in the temporal lobe of your brain (in green on the cerebral cortex image to the right). But on which brain hemisphere, right or left? As you know, your brain has two sides (two hemispheres) connected by the corpus callosum. You have one temporal lobe on each side of the brain. If you…
Read More10. Quick brainteaser to test your mental rotation skills
Visuospatial skills are used everyday in many ways, ranging from going from one room to another in your house to navigating in a new city. Let’s take an example. Can you picture in your mind an arrow pointing to the right? Now, turn this arrow so it points to the left. Done?
Read MoreBrain teasers to understand and boost cognitive abilities
First of all, what is cognition? Cognition has to do with how a person understands and acts in the world. It is a set of mental processes that are part of nearly every human action. For instance, answering the telephone involves perception (hearing the ring tone), decision taking (answering or not), motor skill (lifting the receiver),…
Read MoreTest your Brain with these Teasers and Visual Illusions
Are the two orange circles of the same size? One way to understand more about the brain is to look at how we can trick it, that is, to look at how the brain reacts to teasers and visual illusions. Here are 10 visual illusions to combine fun and learning about the visual system. We know you…
Read MoreCan cinnamon prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?
You may have come across several headlines like this over the last few weeks, based on a new study apparently showing that the compound that causes that bright cinnamon smell may help prevent the development of tau protein tangles, the tangles that notoriously form in brains affected by Alzheimer’s Disease. Are we to conclude that
Read MoreWhat is the combined effect of physical and mental training?
Physical exercise and mental exercise are both beneficial for the brain. Each can improve brain functions and decrease risks of cognitive decline over time. This raises the question of their comparative and combined effects: Is one better than the other? Are their benefits additive (1 + 1 =2) or perhaps even synergistic (1 + 1…
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