Blog
Review of 2015-2020 Meta-Analyses and Randomized Controlled Trails on Brain Training for Improving Cognition
Grades of evidence ‘Evidence-based’ brain training can mean many things. Cherry picking studies to back up claims for diets, health programs, and brain training is common place. Take virtually any claim and there will be some ‘evidence’ for it. The highest grade of evidence is the meta-analyses or systematic review of randomized controlled trials, followed by randomized control studies. […]
Circadian rhythms for cognition: Notes on the biochronology of health, resilience & performance
Cognitive performance and mood as well as variables of our physiology vary predictably over the daily, 24-h cycle. These rhythms are intimately linked with our cycle of sleep and wakefulness and are driven by our internal circadian clock, a biological pacemaker. Human’s performance and most biological functions express rhythmic fluctuations across a 24-h-period: an increase […]
The Gf-CODE Cognitive Training Framework
This article provides an introduction to the Gf-CODE cognitive training approach that I am adopting with my IQ Mindware apps. . It is inspired by a number of brain training studies published in late 2018 and 2019. Two of these are meta-analyses looking at all relevant studies to date. Meta-analyses enable us to draw ‘state […]
Principles of Effective Cognitive Training: Core Hubs Cognitive Training Framework
Core Hubs Cognitive Training Model The Core Hubs model depicts three overlapping ‘core hub’ functional networks – for fluid intelligence, self- regulation and incubation – distributed between the Executive (Cognitive Control) Network and the Default Mode Network as shown in these Venn diagrams. Core hubs training framework is designed for far transfer training […]
The Process Overlap Theory. A Unified Account of G and IQ Augmentation 2. Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence, Cognitive Workload and other Concepts Explained.
In Part1 of my extended account of Process Overlap Theory I explained how general intelligence (g) is a statistical fiction that doesn’t represent any real psychological processes or neural mechanisms in the brain. What is real in the brain when we take an IQ test or apply our intelligence are ‘domain general’ executive processes (with […]
The Process Overlap Theory. A Unified Account of g and IQ Augmentation 1. General Intelligence (g) Is Not Real!
Kovacs & Conway’s (2016) Process Overlap Theory (POT) is the latest general, unified theory of intelligence based on the current body of evidence, with profound implications for cognitive training and intelligence augmentation. . It is a good starting point for understanding the nature of intelligence and the human mind more generally, and is worth reading digested content here […]
Image Streaming and Intelligence
Image Streaming and Mindfulness Meditation Image streaming = mind-wandering / spontaneous thought + metaawareness (self-awareness of our own thoughts). Image streaming is actually a type of mindfulness meditation – both open-monitoring (of spontaneous thoughts) and focused attention (ensuring that mental content is only images, not other sensations or internal content). So the benefits of image […]
Psychometric IQ : Definitions
WHAT IS GENERAL INTELLIGENCE? Intelligence Definitions A good cognitive science definition of general intelligence is: “. . . that facet of mind underlying our capacity to think, to solve novel problems, to reason and to have knowledge of the world.” M. Anderson Note that the definition emphasizes abstract cognitive processes: thinking and reasoning and […]
Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis Review
What is Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis? In the 1990s Elizabeth Gould discovered that adult mammalian brains could engender new neurons, confined primarily to the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus – a brain region known to be a substrate for learning and memory. (New neurons have also been reported in the neocortex (ref, ref, ref) and hypothalamus […]
Circadian Rhythms for Cognition and Health
We have evolved an internal biological clock, called the circadian rhythm, to help our bodies adapt to the daily cycle of day and night (light and dark) as the Earth rotates every 24 hours. The term “circadian” comes from the Latin words for ‘about’ (circa) and ‘a day’ (diem). Circadian Rhythm Basics Our cells contain tiny molecular […]
Working Memory Brain Training Mechanisms
Neuroplasticity Mechanisms of Working Memory (WM) Training Transfer: How Brain Training Works Brain training neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to reorganize its structure, function and connections as a result of training. General principles Transfer can occur if the criterion and transfer tasks depend on shared networks. Working memory, attention control and fluid reasoning depend on […]
Notes on the brain’s functional networks using the graph-theoretic approach
Brain’s Functional Networks ➤Fronto-Parietal Network ➤Dorsal Attention Network ➤Salience Network ➤Cingulo-Opercular Network ➤Ventral Attention Network ➤Default Mode Network ➤Auditory Network ➤Visual Network ➤➤Somatosensory-Motor Network ➤Subcortical Network 3 additional networks, including… ➤Memory retrieval Network?~ ➤Post-retrieval monitoring Network? Brain Regions and Functions . . Fronto-Parietal Network Anterior dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (aDLPFC) Intra-parietal sulcus IIPS) and inferior parietal lobule […]
Meta-Analyses of Brain Training for Over 50s: A Review
Scientific interest in brain training designed to maintain or improve cognitive functions in the aging brain has been rapidly increasing over the last decade. Numerous studies have shown that neuroplastic change in brain connectivity and function is considerable up to very old age (1, 2, 3, 4). In this article I will be reviewing brain training for […]
Brief Review of 2015-2016 Studies on Brain Training for Depression, Anxiety and Burnout
Here I review the latest peer-reviewed studies and meta-analyses that look at the benefits of working memory and executive control brain training for depression and anxiety. For some quick definitions, working memory is our ‘mental workspace’ that stores and processes task-relevant information. It is the interface between the current focus of attention and long-term memories. Executive control is our ability to […]
Review of 2014-2015 Meta-Analyses on Working Memory Training for IQ and Working Memory
For some quick definitions, general intelligence (g) is how smart we are, a single factor underlying our general cognitive ability. Working memory is our ‘mental workspace’ that stores and processes task-relevant information. It is the interface between the current focus of attention and long-term memories. interface between the current focus of attention and long-term memories. Executive control is our […]
IQ, Working Memory, Cognitive Performance and Resilience Test Battery App
download free test battery app (no cost) To activate the app use: 1208-56e63d2d5e9d0f578d77ef5bf8bb1a60 Instructions This app is designed for pre and post- brain training measures of cognitive performance, using scientifically validated brain training apps such as i3 Mindware 2G+ It can also be used freely for valid measures of your IQ, working memory capacity and decision-making […]
Research Ethics For Computerized Cognitive Training Interventions
Stanford Center for Longevity and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, in Berlin, released “A Consensus on the Brain-Training Industry From the Scientific Community,” (2013) a statement objecting “to the claim that brain games offer consumers a scientifically grounded avenue to reduce or reverse cognitive decline.” 70 psychology, neuroscience, and gerontology professors in the […]
Fasting, Exercise and Mental Effort for Improved Health, Immunity and Brain Function
Fasting, Exercise and Mental Effort for Improved Health, Immunity and Brain Function.
Decision-Making Competence – What Improves Decision Making?
Decision Making Competence Study Decision-Making Study 1: Mark Ashton Smith & Matthew Checkley, 2012. In this study we construct a principle component analysis model of decision making competence.