• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Tracking Health and Wellness Applications of Brain Science

Spanish
sb-logo-with-brain
  • Resources
    • Monthly eNewsletter
    • Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle
    • The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness
    • How to evaluate brain training claims
    • Resources at a Glance
  • Brain Teasers
    • Top 25 Brain Teasers & Games for Teens and Adults
    • Brain Teasers for each Cognitive Ability
    • More Mind Teasers & Games for Adults of any Age
  • Virtual Summits
    • 2019 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • Speaker Roster
    • Brainnovations Pitch Contest
    • 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2016 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2015 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2014 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
  • Report: Pervasive Neurotechnology
  • Report: Digital Brain Health
  • About
    • Mission & Team
    • Endorsements
    • Public Speaking
    • In the News
    • Contact Us

nature

From forest bathing to urban parks: How nature helps protect our well-being during a pandemic

March 3, 2022 by Greater Good Science Center

St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin, cour­tesy of Aerial.ie

Liv­ing through the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic has had a severe impact on people’s men­tal health and well-being. Restrict­ed move­ment, loss, and iso­la­tion have led to increas­es in depres­sion, anx­i­ety dis­or­ders, stress, sleep dis­or­ders, and more. The effects have been even harsh­er for teens.

How can we help pro­tect our well-being dur­ing this par­tic­u­lar­ly dif­fi­cult time? Though a pub­lic health response is def­i­nite­ly called for, one way we might try to help our­selves this year is spend­ing more time immersed in nature. In the last decade or so, research on the health ben­e­fits of nature expe­ri­ences has explod­ed, con­firm­ing what many peo­ple know intuitively—that green spaces are good for men­tal well-being, whether you’re walk­ing out­doors, look­ing at beau­ti­ful views, or even just see­ing videos of nature. [Read more…] about From for­est bathing to urban parks: How nature helps pro­tect our well-being dur­ing a pandemic

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Education & Lifelong Learning, Peak Performance Tagged With: Covid-19 pandemic, forest bathing, mental health, nature, outdoors, psychological health, well-being

Becoming better mind-wanderers to boost problem-solving and mood

July 12, 2021 by Greater Good Science Center

I’m a big believ­er in day­dream­ing now and then—especially when I’m out hik­ing. There’s some­thing about being in nature that helps me let go of dai­ly cares and allows my mind to wan­der where it will, which feels great and often jump­starts my cre­ativ­i­ty as a writer and musician.

I admit, though, I’ve been trou­bled by research show­ing how mind-wan­der­ing could make me less pro­duc­tive or depressed—the last thing I need! But it turns out this gap between per­son­al expe­ri­ence and sci­ence may best be explained by how researchers have lumped togeth­er dif­fer­ent kinds of mind-wan­der­ing. Not all research has dif­fer­en­ti­at­ed between depres­sive rumi­na­tion (like replay­ing an ongo­ing dis­agree­ment with our spouse in our minds) and pleas­ant day­dream­ing (let­ting our minds wan­der freely). [Read more…] about Becom­ing bet­ter mind-wan­der­ers to boost prob­lem-solv­ing and mood

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Education & Lifelong Learning Tagged With: brain-activity, cognitive, cognitive-abilities, cognitive-skills, creativity, daydreaming, electroencephalogram, mind-wandering, nature, neural marker, problem-solving, productivity

Shape your environment, shape your mind

April 23, 2021 by Greater Good Science Center

One of the biggest con­trib­u­tors to our hap­pi­ness is some­thing we bare­ly pay atten­tion to: the voice inside our own heads.

As psy­chol­o­gist Ethan Kross describes in his new book Chat­ter, that voice is con­stant­ly ana­lyz­ing the sit­u­a­tions we’re in, reflect­ing on the past and future, and telling us who we are. While some­times friend­ly and optimistic—it’s OK, everything’s going to work out!—it can also be crit­i­cal and down­beat. Our inner voice can berate us for mis­takes or decide our life is ruined. It can rumi­nate on neg­a­tive emo­tions and expe­ri­ences, dredg­ing them up with­out any kind of con­struc­tive resolution.

Accord­ing to Kross, there are three main ways we can turn down the chat­ter in our heads: shift­ing our per­spec­tive so we’re not so immersed in our prob­lems, talk­ing with oth­ers to get sup­port, and chang­ing the envi­ron­ment around us. [Read more…] about Shape your envi­ron­ment, shape your mind

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Education & Lifelong Learning Tagged With: book, brain, calmer mind, chatter, clutter, declutter, environment, Ethan Kross, feelings, nature, rumination, thoughts

How feeling awe in nature can spur mental well-being and personal growth

October 12, 2020 by Greater Good Science Center

You might enjoy ski­ing or hik­ing. But do you feel at home in the moun­tains? Do you feel con­nect­ed to the wilder­ness? Accord­ing to a new study, that sense of being “home” in nature could be linked to your life sat­is­fac­tion and per­son­al growth, at least for young peo­ple. Anoth­er new study of old­er peo­ple finds that a con­nec­tion to nature seems to make them hap­pi­er and more will­ing to help others.

In the first study [Read more…] about How feel­ing awe in nature can spur men­tal well-being and per­son­al growth

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health, Education & Lifelong Learning, Peak Performance Tagged With: awe, Brain Teasers, brain-teaser, mental health, mental well being, nature, personal growth, well-being, wilderness

Elizabeth Frates, Director of Medical Student Education at the Institute of Life Medicine, to speak @ 2014 Sharp­Brains Vir­tual Summit

October 15, 2014 by SharpBrains

BethFratesWe are proud to announce that Dr. Eliz­a­beth Frates, Direc­tor of Med­ical Stu­dent Edu­ca­tion at the Insti­tute of Lifestyle Med­i­cine, will speak at the 2014 Sharp­Brains Vir­tual Sum­mit (Octo­ber 28–30th) about How front-line pro­fes­sion­als can incor­po­rate the emerg­ing brain health toolk­it to their prac­tices.

Dr. Eliz­a­beth (Beth) Frates is trained as a physi­a­trist as well as a health and well­ness coach. [Read more…] about Eliz­a­beth Frates, Direc­tor of Med­ical Stu­dent Edu­ca­tion at the Insti­tute of Life Med­i­cine, to speak @ 2014 Sharp­Brains Vir­tual Summit

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health Tagged With: Brain-health, coach, cognitive-stimulation, Eliz­a­beth Frates, emotion regulation, exercise, Harvard-Medical-School, health, Lifestyle Medicine, meditation, mindfulness, nature, Nutrition, sleep hygiene, social-engagement, stress-management, wellness

Neuroscientists: Develop digital games to improve brain function and well-being

March 1, 2013 by SharpBrains

interactivemediaAuthors: Devel­op dig­i­tal games to improve brain func­tion and well-being (UW-Madi­son News):

“Neu­ro­sci­en­tists should help to devel­op com­pelling dig­i­tal games that boost brain func­tion and improve well-being, say two pro­fes­sors spe­cial­iz­ing in the field in a com­men­tary arti­cle pub­lished in the sci­ence jour­nal Nature. In the Feb. 28 issue, the two — Daphne Bave­li­er of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Rochester and Richard J. David­son of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin-Madi­son — urge game design­ers and brain sci­en­tists to work togeth­er to design new games that train the brain, pro­duc­ing pos­i­tive effects on behav­ior, such as decreas­ing anx­i­ety, sharp­en­ing atten­tion and improv­ing empathy.”

To Learn More:

  • Nation­al Sci­ence Foun­da­tion report: Can inter­ac­tive media boost atten­tion and well-being? (open access)
  • Nature com­men­tary (requires subscription)
  • Learn­ing with Video Games: A Rev­o­lu­tion in Edu­ca­tion and Training?

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Education & Lifelong Learning, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: anxiety, attention, behavior, Daphne-Bavelier, Digital Games, empathy, games, improve well-being, improve-brain-function, nature, neuroscientists, Richard-Davidson, videogames

Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Top Articles on Brain Health and Neuroplasticity

  1. Can you grow your hippocampus? Yes. Here’s how, and why it matters
  2. How learning changes your brain
  3. To harness neuroplasticity, start with enthusiasm
  4. Three ways to protect your mental health during –and after– COVID-19
  5. Why you turn down the radio when you're lost
  6. Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle Is the Key to Self-Empowered Aging
  7. Ten neu­rotech­nolo­gies about to trans­form brain enhance­ment & health
  8. Five reasons the future of brain enhancement is digital, pervasive and (hopefully) bright
  9. What Educators and Parents Should Know About Neuroplasticity and Dance
  10. The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
  11. Six tips to build resilience and prevent brain-damaging stress
  12. Can brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
  13. What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?
  14. Eight Tips To Remember What You Read
  15. Twenty Must-Know Facts to Harness Neuroplasticity and Improve Brain Health

Top 10 Brain Teasers and Illusions

  1. You think you know the colors? Try the Stroop Test
  2. Check out this brief attention experiment
  3. Test your stress level
  4. Guess: Are there more brain connections or leaves in the Amazon?
  5. Quick brain teasers to flex two key men­tal mus­cles
  6. Count the Fs in this sentence
  7. Can you iden­tify Apple’s logo?
  8. Ten classic optical illu­sions to trick your mind
  9. What do you see?
  10. Fun Mental Rotation challenge
  • Check our Top 25 Brain Teasers, Games and Illusions

Join 12,620 readers exploring, at no cost, the latest in neuroplasticity and brain health.

By subscribing you agree to receive our free, monthly eNewsletter. We don't rent or sell emails collected, and you may unsubscribe at any time.

IMPORTANT: Please check your inbox or spam folder in a couple minutes and confirm your subscription.

Get In Touch!

Contact Us

660 4th Street, Suite 205,
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA

About Us

SharpBrains is an independent market research firm tracking health and performance applications of brain science. We prepare general and tailored market reports, publish consumer guides, produce an annual global and virtual conference, and provide strategic advisory services.

© 2022 SharpBrains. All Rights Reserved - Privacy Policy