In the 1950s, apparently all kids in England got daily cod liver oil capsules at school.

Not sure when this stopped, but a recent article notes England is now considering giving every child a capsule of omega-3 oil before class.

Based on the overwhelming amount of research that’s been published over the last 5 years showing how beneficial omega-3 fats from fish oil are for your brain, I’d say this isn’t a bad idea. For reference you may want to read an earlier post I made about how fish oil improves learning and memory in children, as well as how omega 3 fish oil can improve focus and concentration.

Share This Post:

Just finished reading about another new “disorder” that, according to a recent study, up to 16 million Americans (7.3 percent of the population) may have: Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

I’m going to add this to a list of other bogus psychiatric diagnosis: (All found in the DSM-IV)

• Sibling Rivalry Disorder
• Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
• Mathematics Disorder
• Caffeine Related Disorder
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD)

The findings, released in the Archives of General Psychiatry, “show the disorder is much more common than previously thought”, said lead author Ronald Kessler, a health care policy professor at Harvard Medical School.

Do you get impulsively aggressive? Then you too may have a “disease” that needs to be treated with drugs.

Apparently, the $20 billion per year pharmaceutical companies make selling these antidepressants (the treatment for Intermittent Explosive Disorder) is just not enough.

I suspect most would be shocked to know that the psychiatrists who define the diseases for the bible of psychiatry- the DSM IV- are funded and on the payroll of pharmaceutical companies. For those who doubt, an absolutely amazing statistic was recently revealed by the Washington Post in April 2006:

• Of the 170 experts who contributed to the book that defines psychiatric diseases (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- the DSM), more than half had financial ties to the drug companies that sell medications for those illnesses

“I don’t think the public is aware of how egregious the financial ties are”, said Lisa Cosgrove, who published her findings in the journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

Share This Post:

As I’ve stated earlier, it is probably more accurate to think of the brain as made up of many different types of intelligence, as opposed to merely one trait that can be summed up by just one number (IQ).

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

Can one person have very high levels of intelligence across all domains? Doubtful.

Our brains are made up of many different modules. I suspect each intelligence is subserved by a specific brain module and this module in turn corresponds to a given area of brain real estate. Since our heads can only be so big, if one parcel is going to be very large (and therefore very intelligent), other parcels will have to accommodate and therefore be smaller in size.

If we’re all born with 100 points, the difference between our various levels of intelligence resides in how the points are spread.

And when nature decides to dump the majority of points into 1 module, prodigious ability arises.

Take the story of Derek Paravinci.

“Derek has the extremely rare gift of universal, absolute pitch and remembers every piece of music he has ever heard – not only the melody, but what each instrument is playing, just as Mozart could. He can identify every note he hears, much as we recognize colors. He can even perceive the different notes when they are played simultaneously. Derek’s brain is a perfectly programmed musical computer that processes incoming data at lightning speed and with absolute accuracy – his precision is greater than professional musicians… After listening to a melody once, he can play it without error.”

However, Derek:

• can not count to 10
• can not tell right from left
• is blind
• can not dress or feed himself
• has severely impaired communication abilities and can barely carry a simple conversation

Next week I’ll discuss how this concept plays itself out in terms of Albert Einstein’s brain.

Share This Post:

What’s in the Box
Apple 30 GB iPod (5.5 Generation) with Video Playback, earphones, USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter, case, and quick start guide.

Share This Post:

This is a little different from the usual “brain enhancement” info I’ve been posting, but nonetheless I suspect most of you will very much enjoy. Click here to see:

Share This Post:

Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera, Concerta, Metadate, Dexedrine, Focalin, Cylert, Attenade. All are stimulants used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD). They are also all drugs that have been tried or used by 15-30% of college students to get ahead academically.

Now a new warning about these drugs comes from Health Canada: All of these stimulant drugs can cause psychotic reactions. A psychotic reaction is characterized by one or more of the following:

• Hallucinations
• Paranoia
• Delusions
• Disordered Thought

In March 2006 in the U.S., the FDA learned that as many as 6% of children may develop a psychotic reaction to these drugs- including cases of “hallucinations, both visual and tactile, involving insects, snakes, worms”. There was even a case of a 6 year old boy who started licking the table one day after his treatment started.

Health Canada is therefore mandating that the labels for all the above drugs be changed by December.

Share This Post: