London Study Suggests Brainteasers Have No Effect On Making Brain Smarter

Who doesn't love a good brainteaser? A fun game that is fun to play and makes you smarter at the same time is a great way to pass the time while improving your mind. We've all played these type of games and have done brainteasers that we all thought were making us smarter, but a new study shows that these games may be nothing more than just, well, games.

A London study has shown that people who play games on the computer that are said to make you smarter don't make you any smarter. In fact, they don't do anything at all. Over 8,500 people from the ages of 18 to 60 took part in the study by playing online games that told them would increase their intelligence, memory, and other cognitive aspects of their brains. They were told to play these games for about 10 minutes a day and to do this for three weeks. These numbers were then contrasted with over 2,000 other test subjects who acted as a control group by not playing the games at all. This group just went on the Internet the same amount of time that the other group was playing the brain games. Each set of test subjects were given I.Q. tests before the study to see if their brains improved over time.

What the results showed was that the subjects that played the online games and brainteasers didn't perform any better on I.Q. tests compared to the control group that simply went online. Even in some areas of the test, the people who didn't play the games scored higher. This goes to show that brain games could really just be a waste of time if they don't in fact make you any smarter. However, just with any exercise regime, it would be interesting to see how brain teaser exercises effect the brain over a much longer period of time, as three weeks isn't usually a sufficient amount of time to see significant results from any exercise routine.

New Research Shows That Relaxation May Be The Key To Improving Memory

Everyone knows that being relaxed clears the head, but scientists have shown that there's a certain link behind being relaxed and having good memory. Having good memory can be a fickle thing, but scientist have found that people who are relaxed have brain waves that easily link up with memory related brain functions and neurons. This shows that cognitive aspects of the brain are associated with the emotional and behavioral aspects of it. As stated before, research has already showed that a relaxed mind works more efficiently than a stressed one, but now science has shown where those connections are.

Research showed that the more stressed an individual was the less memory they could maintain during certain learning processes and objectives. This was caused by brain waves being unable to sync up with memory related neurons in the brain with the right timing. Using an EEG, it was found that, once the brain was put into a relaxed state, memory improved. The emotional reaction of relaxing helped the brain function at a greater rate, which brought on improved recall and memories showing a clear connection between emotions and functions of the brain.

While the research showed improved memory resulting from a clear connection between the behavioral areas of the brain and cognitive areas, this research can do the most good helping people with learning disabilities. The studies showed that many learning disabilities could be based off bad timing in the brain brought on by harmful emotional responses like stress. All of these can now be treated with new therapies from the research. At the very least, the study should remind us to take it easy so we can improve our memory.

Cutting Calories May Help Maintain Memory

Cutting calories is a great way to keep the body in shape, but research has now shown that it may also be a way to improve memory and mental health. Cutting down on calories and having a healthier diet has always been seen as a way to help the brain function more efficiently, but what researchers found through a study was a possible connection between dieting and improved memory. A study was conducted with three different groups of individuals with an average age of around 60. The first group cut their daily intake of calories by 30%, the second group increased their calorie intake day to day, and the third group acted as a control and didn’t change anything regarding their diets.

Participants had their memories tested before changing their diets and then again months after completing the study. The research showed that the seniors who cut down on their calorie intake had higher scores regarding verbal memory than the other groups. This presents and interesting link between a good diet and improved memory, but some scientists are still skeptical. Many argue that the testing group was still too small and that the testing didn’t show if the memory improvement lasted over time or just day to day. However, aside from this study, cutting down on calories is generally linked with a higher level of physical fitness and ultimately a healthier lifestyle which includes a healthy brain.