Smart-Kit Puzzles and Games » Brain Art

Charlie Chaplin Optical Illusion

RK — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:29:45 +0000

Here is a mask of Charlie Chaplin that rotates. Notice that, no matter how hard you try, the hollow and concave rear of the mask eventually becomes a convex golden face that spins counterclockwise. Pretty cool, give it a try:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s another great optical illusion that will play major tricks on your mind. And if you haven’t seen some of Felice Varini’s work yet, check out this brain art.

Truth Tellers and Tricky questions

RK — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 05:04:12 +0000

The puzzle ‘Captured in the Forest‘ (just prior to this post) reminds me somewhat of this earlier brain teaser, ‘A fork in the road‘. If you haven’t tried it yet, take a look before reading the comic below

From www.xckd.com:

Your Brain on Alcohol

RK — Thu, 24 May 2007 04:55:08 +0000

Alcohol’s toxic effect on the brain is readily communicated by this MRI scan comparing a normal brain to that of an alcoholic:

As you can see, the alcoholic brain on the right is massively shrunken due to brain cell loss.

While visiting Chicago recently, was reminded just how much alcohol is a part of young people’s lives. As you drive through Wrigleyville, Downtown, Lincoln Park, Andersonville you can’t help but notice bars are everywhere. Unfortunately, when many students drink, they do it to excess- i.e., they binge. What I wish I could tell all students is that the overwhelming amount of research clearly indicates binge drinking is very bad for your brain and will seriously impair your ability to learn and get good grades- both in the short and long term. From a 2007 study that appeared in the European Journal of Neuroscience:

These findings indicate that binge pattern exposure to ethanol during adolescence induces brain damage by inflammatory processes and causes long-lasting neurobehavioural consequences.

Here’s the conclusions from another study looking at binge drinking in young adults [Reference 2 below]:

…differences can be seen in mood and cognitive performance between those that binge drink and those that do no

And it’s not just college students. According to the National Institutes of Health, almost 1 out of 10 Americans meet standard diagnostic criteria for an alcohol use disorder.

The latest bit of alcohol-brain atrophy research comes from Carol Ann Paul (of Wellesley College) and colleagues. They looked at MRI brain scans of 1839 people aged 34 to 88, and their findings (presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 59th Annual Meeting in Boston May 2007) indicate the more you chronically drink, the more your brain volume decreases. The results held true even for moderate drinkers.

According to Carol:

There is a continuous negative correlation between alcohol consumption and total brain volume. It seems that there is not a beneficial effect of even small amounts of alcohol on brain volume.

For an earlier story about how alcohol knocks the teenage brain off its growth trajectory, click here.

Another bit of research released May 10, 2007 reveals alcohol can also induce atrial fibrillation, a very common heart arrhythmia which is a very strong risk factor for strokes.

Reference 1: Paul CA et al. "The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Total BrainVolume: The Framingham Heart Study." Abstract P05.030, presented May 2.

Reference 2: Townshend JM, Duka T. Binge Drinking, cognitive performance and mood in a population of young social drinkers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2005 Mar;29(3):317-25.

Cool optical illusions by Felice Varini

RK — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 03:16:00 +0000

Haven’t done a brain art post in a while, so figured I’d put up some pictures of Felice Varini’s incredible work. Note that these images were not ‘photoshopped’, nor do they use painted glass.

Click here to see an animation of a large scale Varini illusion done in a warehouse type setting, and then click here to see the secret behind the amazing effect.

If you’d like to view more of his work, you can visit his website here.

Stereographic projection of an equirectangular image

RK — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:54:43 +0000

“A Hole in the Ground” by Seb Przd:

Find the seven hearts picture puzzle

RK — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 06:28:34 +0000

Recently corresponded with Jim Warren, who was not only kind enough to provide the official answer to his “Find the Seven Horses” puzzle posted about a month ago, but also to provide another great brain art picture challenge.

[Click here to go to "Seven Horses" puzzle, answer is in comments section]

This new puzzle is entitled, “Seven Hearts…”; can you find them?

Please feel free to post the heart locations below

3d color optical illusion by MIT professor

RK — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 05:07:54 +0000

Wow, this optical illusion really messes with your brain.

Hard to believe, but the squares marked A and B are the same shade of gray.

For an explanation and proof, click here.

Cool Optical illusion and mind trick

RK — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 03:08:03 +0000

Crazy as this may seem, those little beans below are not moving!

(found here: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Pages)

On the Upswing, painting by Robert Gonsalves

RK — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 13:18:46 +0000

Haven’t added a post to the “Brain Art” category for quite some time, so here’s a nice painting by Robert Gonsalves. His works very much remind me of the dream world, where unlikely segments can sometimes fantastically blend into each other.

(Much Thanks for Saper Galleries for permission to display)

If you’d like to see additional images of Robert Gonsalves work, click here.

If any readers would like to contribute to the brain art section(or any other section), please feel free to email me at info (at) smart-kit (dot) com

Very unique bands

RK — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 03:50:07 +0000

What’s special about the bands in the picture below?

(picture courtesy of Cliff Pickover & Teja Krasek)

Cliff Pickover has a book dedicated to these unique structures. Actually, if you ever want to witness a massively creative scientific mind in action (40 patents, 37 published books), head on over to his website for lots of interesting stuff. Just ordered his latest book A Beginner’s Guide to Immortality: Extraordinary People, Alien Brains, and Quantum Resurrection

Stereograms: Overide Normal Brain and Eye Function

RK — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 04:02:09 +0000

Can you find the hidden image in this stereogram?

Copyright (c) Gary W. Priester-Image used by permission of the artist.

Here are Gary’s recommendations for detecting the hidden image:

The best advice for viewing Stereograms is RELAX. This is not a contest! Try to look beyond the Stereogram and focus your eyes at a distance behind the image. For example, if you are viewing these images on the screen, pretend you are focusing on something on the wall behind your monitor. Gradually, your eyes will focus on the image and your brain will pull it together.

Gary can also create a custom stereogram for you or your company; check out his website www.custom-stereograms.com

How Mozart K448 can increase your IQ – Listen & Try

RK — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 03:51:26 +0000

Does listening to Mozart make you smarter? According to a landmark neuroscience research study out of the University of California, Mozart’s sonata for two pianos K448 (which you can listen to below) can increase your spatial-temporal IQ scores by 9 points. While the duration of the effect on your brain is only about 10-15 minutes, the findings are nonetheless fascinating.

Spatial-temporal intelligence allows you to perform 3-D type manipulations on a mental image. It’s thought to be important for problems that arise in areas such as “mathematics, engineering, architecture, science, art, games (e.g. chess) and everyday life”. (ref: wikipedia)

This original study, published by Rauscher in the journal Nature, has given birth to what is now known as ‘The Mozart Effect‘. While many people have used the research to peddle exaggerated claims and products (like Mozart music tapes for parents to play in their child’s nursery), I think there is clearly something noteworthy going on with this type of music and the brain.

For example, further research shows that K448:

Significantly increases the speed & ability of rats navigating through mazes
Strikingly diminishes the number of seizures in patients with epilepsy

What is so special about K448? How might it power up your brain? According to one Mozart authority, K448 is “one of the most profound and most mature of all Mozart’s compositions”.

A more scientific explanation, however, may have been uncovered by the work of Neurology Professor John Hughes. As he comments in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine:

…we have found a long-lasting periodicityin the power of Mozart’s music, seen also with JS Bach and hisson JC Bach. Furthermore we have just analyzed the melodic lineand find that Mozart repeats his melodic line far more frequentlythan other well-known composers, but often in an ingenious mannerreversing the notes. We feel that periodicity is the key orsecret here and characterizes many brain and bodily functions.

In other words, Mozart’s K448 is characterized by a high degree of long-term periodicity. The music cycles, with elements recurring at regular intervals.

While I do think that certain types of music can have interesting and significant effects on brain function, I do not believe merely listening to Mozart can drive long term gains in brain power. (And if you look at the findings of the original ‘Mozart Effect’ research paper, the authors never claimed such).

If you are looking to utilize music as a way to boost brain function long-term, the path you’ll need to pursue is learning how to play an instrument. Here the research shows convincing and significant benefits, and I refer you to this great webpage that summarizes them. [As to the possible mechanism by which music instruction improves brain power, you may enjoy reading one of the first posts I made on the Smartkit website here].

If you’d like to read more about Mozart K448 and its varied effects on the brain, I recommend this excellent summary article by Dr. J S Jenkins, which can be found here.

O lny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

RK — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 04:03:02 +0000

My wife’s friend just sent this over via email:

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,

it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs psas it on !!

Spinning Pinwheels

RK — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 05:32:40 +0000

This neat little optical illusion comes courtesy of www.coolopticalillusions.com.

Probalby one of the cooler optical illusions I’ve seen in awhile.

Note that the picture below is not animated!

The Zoomquilt

RK — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 11:16:40 +0000

Here’s a great piece of interactive art that’s worth at least 30 seconds of your time.

You can view the Zoomquilt in Flash, HTML, or even download the screensaver, but I liked the Flash effect the best.