It’s far too early for us to talk about results, but I can say that our first four participants have been very enthusiastic about working with us. We are using a combination of software packages for each condition, and participants have been very positive about working in our small computer lab.

We’re looking forward to the chance that our cognitive training battery has positive effects on our participants. We are not only looking at cognitive abilities but also the effects of training on self-efficacy and mood.

In people, the size of the brain decreases as they get older. The deep grooves on the surface of the brain (called sulci) get bigger, and the fluid-filled areas inside the brain (ventricles) get larger. It all amounts to loss of brain tissue, and many people believe that this loss of brain tissue may be related to cognitive changes that also occur with aging, like problems in remembering things.

That’s why a recent study about brain size in chimpanzees is interesting. It shows that chimpanzees, who in many respects are similar to humans, have brains that don’t get smaller as they get older. Chimpanzees also don’t live as long as humans. The authors of the study argue that the decrease in brain size with increasing age that is seen in humans may have something to do with how long humans live. They suggest that the longer life span of humans may be in part the result of an evolutionary trade-off in which increased life span may have the cost of increased age-related neurodegeneration.

Reference:

Sherwood CC et al. Aging of the cerebral cortex differs between humans and chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS early edition (online) DOI: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1016709108

Follow that? Metacognition is the idea that we can understand not only the content of our thinking, but the different processes that go into it. And understanding the ways that the default mode network and focused attention (both ways of thinking) interact are the subject of several interesting article.

The default mode network is a group of brain structures that become more active when someone’s attention is focused inward, thinking about what happened in the past or what might happen in the future. When a person’s attention is focused on the outer world, a different set of brain structures is activated.

A recent article in Neuroimage (click here for link) suggests that people who are less efficient in making the transition between the two sets of structures may be more creative. It’s as though the person’s internal world intrudes on reality. This finding has some appeal, because it helps us understand how creative persons can look at everyday life and see something radically different. It also helps us understand how someone’s unique individual vision can be so compellingly imposed on existing reality.

You don’t have to look very far to find examples. My personal favorites are Stanley Kubrick’s vision of the future in 2001, Fritz Lang’s in Metropolis, and the entire Dr. Who series from the BBC. Take an ordinary telephone call box, the vision of a sexy robot in the future, or a nghtmare of artificial intelligence, and extrapolate.

How do you apply this to your own brain fitness? Research shows that creativity, or at least its close relative, divergent thinking, can be taught, even to kindergarten-aged children. Jonah Lehrer wrote a recent article in the Wall Street Journal and a related blog post about the virtues of distractibility.

For optimal brain fitness, consider training yourself in divergent thinking.

In an article published online on January 31st in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers show again that regular walking can make a difference in cognition. This study is new because the researchers also looked at the volume of the hippocampus with imaging techniques and looked at BDNF levels.

Exercise and BDNF levels may also be related to the way that antidepressants work to reduce depression, and we know that for many individuals exercise improves mood. While we think of the hippocampus most often because of its role in memory, it also has important effects in regulating emotion.

You can find the abstract here. The full article is available to subscribers only.

Having said that, here are 5 ways to cope with stress:

1. Before setting out for an activity (shopping, parties, family gatherings) stop and think. Have a game plan for coping with the things that may crop up. If you know that Uncle Bernie is going to ask you about your job, have a ready answer (or a way to change the subject).
2. Spend some time breathing. There’s nothing mystical about this one: If you focus on your breathing, you are more likely to relax.
3. Set aside 10 minutes every day for your self. Break into the holiday headlong rush through days and nights and give yourself the chance to reflect.
4. Be sure you include activities that you like as well as those you feel you have to do. Torn between going to a family gathering and a friend’s party? Set a time limit on the family gathering, be ready for any negative fallout about leaving, and then go to your friend’s party, guilt free.
5. Take the time to consciously enjoy the things about the holidays that you like. Whether it’s time with friends or family, or giving presents, or holiday music, don’t allow the time slide buy while you focus on the day to day craziness.