Update: Four tips to practice good mental hygiene during the coronavirus outbreak

By SharpBrains | March 25, 2020

__ Time for a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing this time 14 time­ly news and resources for men­tal health and brain health inno­va­tion. First of all, let’s remain safe, healthy, and cen­tered dur­ing the cur­rent health cri­sis by fol­low­ing these tips pro­vid­ed by the Greater Good Sci­ence Cen­ter at UC Berke­ley: 1. Stay calm and…

Read More

Does music facilitate or impair cognitive task performance? It depends…

By SharpBrains | March 6, 2020

__ Does Music Boost Your Cog­ni­tive Per­for­mance? (Sci­en­tif­ic Amer­i­can): “Music makes life bet­ter in so many ways. It ele­vates mood, reduces stress and eas­es pain. Music is heart-healthy, because it can low­er blood pres­sure, reduce heart rate and decrease stress hor­mones in the blood. It also con­nects us with oth­ers and enhances social bonds. Music…

Read More

Update: Large study highlights the limited role of genetics in mental health and the importance of effective early interventions

By SharpBrains | November 30, 2018

___ Dear read­er, Time for Sharp­Brains month­ly e‑newsletter, dis­cussing the lat­est inno­va­tions for brain health and men­tal health, and open­ing in this occa­sion with a fas­ci­nat­ing study track­ing 2,232 twins over 10+ years. New research: Large study with twins high­lights the lim­it­ed role of genet­ics in men­tal health and the impor­tance of effec­tive ear­ly inter­ven­tions for ADHD How…

Read More

How do you respond to unfamiliar music?

By Greater Good Science Center | November 26, 2018 |

Music seems to be a social glue. Think of how love songs enhance our roman­tic feel­ings, how march­ing bands inten­si­fy our affin­i­ty for the home team, or how huge rock con­certs make us feel one with a crowd of thou­sands. Music has some spe­cial pow­er to increase our sense of con­nec­tion and help us affiliate…

Read More

Brain imaging show that patients with Alzheimer’s disease can still remember and enjoy their favorite songs

By SharpBrains | April 30, 2018 |

___ Music Acti­vates Regions of the Brain Spared by Alzheimer’s Dis­ease (Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah): “Ever get chills lis­ten­ing to a par­tic­u­lar­ly mov­ing piece of music? You can thank the salience net­work of the brain for that emo­tion­al joint. Sur­pris­ing­ly, this region also remains an island of remem­brance that is spared from the rav­ages of Alzheimer’s disease.…

Read More

Study: Questioning the cognitive benefits of music classes

By SharpBrains | December 18, 2013

The ‘Mozart effect’ of hav­ing kids study music? It’s only a myth, researchers find (Wash­ing­ton Post): “Chil­dren get plen­ty of ben­e­fits from music lessons: Learn­ing to play an instru­ment can be a great out­let for a child’s cre­ativ­i­ty, and the repeat­ed prac­tice can teach much-need­ed focus and dis­ci­pline. What’s more, the pay­off, whether it’s learn­ing a…

Read More