This article reveals what modern neuroscience has learned about sleep as it applies to learning and memory. I believe this information can be of great benefit not only to students looking to improve their study skills, but to anyone interested in improving their memory and learning potential.

New research out of Northwestern University’s Neuroscience Laboratory drastically changes our understanding of the brain.

The study, to appear in the April issue of

One of the greatest misunderstandings people have about the brain is their belief in “free energy”.

Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words…

(Noever, R., J. Cronise, and R. A. Relwani. 1995. Using spider-web patterns to determine toxicity. NASA Tech Briefs 19(4):82. Published in New Scientist magazine, 27 April 1995.)

Reading through the latest issue of Neurology Today, came across some interesting tidbits on how beneficial exercise can be for your brain:

• As mentioned in earlier posts, exercise leads to the creation of new brain cells in the hippocampus

About 2 months ago, a study came out in the British Medical Journal claiming that breast milk had no effect on infant brain development and intelligence.

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 traveling this Thanksgiving holiday, we spent quite a bit of time on airplanes and long car trips. Usually we have a mini DVD movie player to keep the kids entertained (and quiet!), but several months ago it broke.

So my wife went out and got them the Leapster learning game system.

Today I received an email from someone who runs a memory and learning improvement internet business. It was the kind of email that gets blasted to thousands of inboxes simultaneously. Although I’ve never purchased any of their products, I always got the impression it was fairly reputable.

There have been several studies lately that reveal how bad sleep disordered breathing can be for your brain.

Now, a recent article published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine

This list was compiled by the founder of the Smartkit website- a fellowship trained, board certified neurologist who is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology

1. Children in elementary school need

Many are using Nintendo’s Brain Age game to boost their brain power.
Here are two more powerful tools, however, you can add to your brain
gym:

• Dance Dance Revolution
• In the Groove

[Two videos follow at the end of the article]

Dr. Marius Smuts from the Nutritional Internvention Research Center in South Africa found that primary school children given a daily spread of fish oil on bread showed improvements in learning and memory.

We’ll be hosting a Q & A article with “Scandanavia’s most intelligent man” Jola Sigmond (IQ 192). If you have any questions you’d like to pose to him, please click here.

Other info:

I personally believe there are many different kinds of intelligence, and that the idea of using one IQ number to summarize them all up is completely ridiculous.

For example, there is musical intelligence, linguistic intelligence, mathematical intelligence, social intelligence, athletic intelligence, artistic intelligence, spiritual intelligence, mechanical intelligence, etc…

Out of the July issue of Pediatrics we have yet more evidence that infants fed breast milk wind up with a higher IQ than if they are fed only formula. The more breast milk they got, the better their scores.

About 2 weeks ago, I posted how an “empty stomach” can improve memory and boost brain power via a stomach-made hormone called ghrelin.

Ghrelin travels to the hippocampus, the memory engine of the brain, and causes new connections to form between brain cells.

Now, a study has been published that shows

It turns out that falling in love may be a powerful way to crank up the bodily chemicals that boost brain power and enhance learning ability.

According to a new research study done at the University of Pavia (Italy) and published in Psychoneuroendocrinology

A recent article published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that when the stomach is empty, it makes a special hormone called ghrelin.

Amazingly, ghrelin travels to the hippocampus portion of the brain and causes new connections to form between brain cells there. As discussed in previous posts, the hippocampus is the memory engine of your brain.

A 2006 study out of the Division of Neuroscience and The Brain Research Center at University of British Columbia Hospital nicely summarizes one of the core teachings of brain enhancement:

• Regular doses of exercise can “massively increase” the growth of new brain cells in your brain.

The best part of it all, however, is the specific location

If your ability to concentrate and pay attention is bad enough to the point you’ve been told you have ADHD, the results from this new study may offer you some hope of brain enhancement without amphetamines.

The 2006 article from the journal Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids found that:

Tuna enjoys the reputation of being a good brain food. Many pregnant women eat it, hoping it will increase IQ of baby. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

Many college student rely on caffeine for accelerated learning. However, contrary to what most people think, caffeine does not simultaneously stimulate all regions of your brain.

New brain imaging technology reveals that it preferentially stimulates the Frontal Lobes and the Anterior Cingulum. These areas are important for:

Children in elementary and middle school typically need 9.5 – 10 hours of sleep per night (probably closer to 10). When they only get 8-9 hours of sleep, their brain function and ability to learn drops markedly. Surprisingly, research studies seem to indicate just this 1 extra hour of sleep a night can make a very large difference.

For years it was thought (and taught!) that the brain can not create and make new brain cells.

This is false. Numerous studies have now conclusively proven otherwise.

What is really interesting, however, is that new studies show that the hippocampus- the memory engine of your mind- can actually

Are you eating all organic yet? Organic foods taste much better. They’re vastly superior in nutrient content. But if these reasons aren’t good enough, here’s a fairly compelling one:

There have been numerous studies linking chronic, low-level pesticide exposure to