neurodiversity

Latest brain research, tools and teasers to think outside the mental health status quo box

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Time for a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing a range of  research find­ings, resources, brain teasers and rid­dles to help trans­late emerg­ing neu­ro­science into real-world appli­ca­tions and improve our col­lec­tive brain & men­tal health.

New thinking:

New research:

New tools:

Fun brain teasers:

 

Have a great month of March,

 

The Sharp­Brains Team

What’s normal? When it comes to the brain, it’s hard to say, and that’s why we need to study global neurodiversity

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In a small vil­lage in India—a place so remote it has no elec­tric­i­ty, no telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion sys­tem, and no cars or buses—a research work­er pre­pares to place an EEG head­set on a female villager’s head. The woman, who earns $3.75 a day labor­ing in a near­by rice pad­dy and who has nev­er ven­tured out­side her vil­lage, eyes the futur­is­tic device with trepidation.

“Is it going to hurt my head?” she asks.

Sathish, the research work­er, has heard this ques­tion before. In fact, he’s heard sev­er­al sim­i­lar queries from anx­ious vil­lagers who have got­ten scared when they saw the brainwear.

“Will it give me a headache?”

“Is it going to give me an elec­tric shock?”

He assures the woman the head­set is pain­less and explains that all she has to do is sit qui­et­ly and allow her mind to wan­der. Sathish gen­tly adjusts an array of elec­trodes on the woman’s head and [Read more…] about What’s nor­mal? When it comes to the brain, it’s hard to say, and that’s why we need to study glob­al neurodiversity

Trend: Celebrating neurodiversity in the workforce to harness all brains for good

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Fight­ing Cyber­crime with Neu­ro-Diver­si­ty (Project Syndicate):

“Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty is one of the defin­ing chal­lenges of the dig­i­tal age. Every­one, from house­holds to busi­ness­es to gov­ern­ments, has a stake in pro­tect­ing our era’s most valu­able com­mod­i­ty: data. The ques­tion is how that can be achieved…

The key to suc­cess is diver­si­ty of tal­ents and per­spec­tives. This includes neu­ro­log­i­cal diver­si­ty [Read more…] about Trend: Cel­e­brat­ing neu­ro­di­ver­si­ty in the work­force to har­ness all brains for good

Next in Human Resources: Seeing cognitive diversity as an asset to build on, not a problem to avoid

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brains_neurodiversityNeu­ro­di­ver­si­ty: The Ben­e­fits of Recruit­ing Employ­ees with Cog­ni­tive Dis­abil­i­ties (Har­vard Busi­ness School’s Work­ing Knowledge):

There’s a new fron­tier in diver­si­ty pro­grams focused not on race or gen­der but on cog­ni­tive ability.

The grow­ing inter­est in neurodiversity—hiring peo­ple with cog­ni­tive dis­abil­i­ties like Autism Spec­trum Dis­or­der (ASD)—is moti­vat­ed by com­pa­nies look­ing to tap into [Read more…] about Next in Human Resources: See­ing cog­ni­tive diver­si­ty as an asset to build on, not a prob­lem to avoid

Study: Are neuromarkers on the cusp of transforming education and mental health?

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brain-activity.

Brain Scans May Help Pre­dict Future Prob­lems, And Solu­tions (NPR):

“Brain scans may soon be able to help pre­dict a per­son­’s future — some aspects of it, anyway.

Infor­ma­tion from these scans increas­ing­ly is able to sug­gest whether a child will have trou­ble with [Read more…] about Study: Are neu­ro­mark­ers on the cusp of trans­form­ing edu­ca­tion and men­tal health?