cognitive-flexibility

Mapping ‘psychedelic trips’ in the brain to better direct their therapeutic effects

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Image cred­it: Shutterstock

For the past sev­er­al decades, psy­che­delics have been wide­ly stig­ma­tized as dan­ger­ous ille­gal drugs. But a recent surge of aca­d­e­m­ic research into their use to treat psy­chi­atric con­di­tions is spurring a recent shift in pub­lic opinion.

Psy­che­delics are psy­chotrop­ic drugs: sub­stances that affect your men­tal state. Oth­er types of psy­chotrop­ics include anti­de­pres­sants and anti-anx­i­ety med­ica­tions. Psy­che­delics and oth­er types of hal­lu­cino­gens, how­ev­er, are unique in their abil­i­ty to tem­porar­i­ly induce intense hal­lu­ci­na­tions, emo­tions and dis­rup­tions of self-aware­ness. [Read more…] about Map­ping ‘psy­che­del­ic trips’ in the brain to bet­ter direct their ther­a­peu­tic effects

Report calls for wide classroom-based adoption of ten brain fitness programs designed to improve foundational executive functions

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Nation­al Non­prof­it Releas­es Report Call­ing for Brain Fit­ness Inter­ven­tions in All U.S. Schools (press release):

“Brain­Fu­tures released a report today that makes a clear case for inte­grat­ing proven brain fit­ness pro­grams into all U.S. class­rooms. Over a decade of research has shown that evi­dence-based pro­grams can improve stu­dents’ exec­u­tive func­tion skills and proso­cial behav­iors, which are more accu­rate pre­dic­tors of aca­d­e­m­ic readi­ness and life suc­cess than IQ or any oth­er per­for­mance mark­ers. [Read more…] about Report calls for wide class­room-based adop­tion of ten brain fit­ness pro­grams designed to improve foun­da­tion­al exec­u­tive functions

Update: Trained older brains can outperform untrained younger ones at demanding cognitive tasks

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Time for Sharp­Brains e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing the lat­est research, tools and think­ing for life­long brain health and men­tal well-being — and a cou­ple fun brain teasers 🙂

New brain research:

New neurotech and digital health:

New thinking on brain and mind:

And a couple fun brain teasers:

 

Have a great month of September,

 

The Sharp­Brains Team

Test your cognitive flexibility with this fun brain teaser

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Ready to test your cog­ni­tive flex­i­bil­i­ty and con­cen­tra­tion pow­ers? Try this clas­sic brain teas­er, fun for kids and adults alike.

Quick! Say aloud what col­or you see in every word. Don’t read the word — say the color 🙂

Tougher than expect­ed, right? This brain teas­er is actu­al­ly called the Stroop Test and is often used in neu­ropsy­cho­log­i­cal eval­u­a­tions to mea­sure exec­u­tive func­tions such as cog­ni­tive flex­i­bil­i­ty, inhi­bi­tion and self-reg­u­la­tion capability.

For more brain teasers and also visu­al illusions:

Study: One-week brain training can increase cognitive flexibility and reduce OCD symptoms

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OCD symp­toms could be reduced with ‘brain-train­ing’ app, study says (UPI):

“Peo­ple with obses­sive com­pul­sive dis­or­der could man­age their symp­toms, includ­ing exces­sive hand­wash­ing and con­t­a­m­i­na­tion fears, by using a “brain train­ing” app, accord­ing to its developers.

Researchers from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cam­bridge in Britain, who test­ed [Read more…] about Study: One-week brain train­ing can increase cog­ni­tive flex­i­bil­i­ty and reduce OCD symptoms

Trend: School-based programs to enhance resilience and emotional/ cognitive flexibility

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Dozens of pro­grams to encour­age resilience have been intro­duced in schools all over the world, both to help chil­dren recov­er from trau­ma, but also cope bet­ter with their day-to-day stress­es. Many use tech­niques such as [Read more…] about Trend: School-based pro­grams to enhance resilience and emotional/ cog­ni­tive flexibility