The emotions in music help create frames that help the brain group and remember better Music makes you smarter, they say, and playing certain types of music helps you perform better. That’s right isn’t it? Yeah, there was this phase for playing Mozart decades ago now, after it was found to boost cognitive performance, and worried parents started playing Mozart to their babies hoping to…

Your weekly roundup on all things in the brain Your Taste-Brain-Gut-Eating Connection The season of goodwill is fast approaching — and Thanksgiving has just passed in the USA — that means a lot of goodwill…and a lot of stuffing our faces with all types of food. Healthy eating advice has often recommended eating more consciously and slower. Sometimes difficult when faced with…

How hunger impacts hormones to to turn on action circuits in the brain A hungry man is an angry man — as they say! Yes, and this may also apply to women, but the point is that hunger changes the way we process information to make different decisions. Has this actually been proven? Well, as I keep pointing out — if we feel…

Different personality types and how they mix dramatically increases the chances of success for start-ups Andy, I know you have been measuring start up personalities — how does this research tie into your work? Yes, indeed, we have measured startup personality for a number of years now and this research matches our work — but also comes up with some interesting insights. Not to mention…

You wrote about virtual meetings a few day ago — how is this different? Yes, indeed, I wrote on recent research that showed that the social part of our brains responds differently to virtual and in-person meetings. Basically our social brains are less engaged and this ties in to this…

A roundup of some fascinating research into the human brain This week a review of some of the fascinating stories that have come out of the world of neuroscience. How Childhood Fitness Influences Brain Fitness in Adolescence A study over eight years by Petri Jalanko and colleagues of the University of Eastern Finland looked at physical fitness levels and the volume of the cerebellum in the brain. The…

A lot of evidence points in the direction of lack of autonomy and independence in children leads to an increase in mental health issues Well now, that is a big statement to make! Yes, it is but it’s only my rewording of just such a dramatic statement by a group of researchers in February of this year — I seemed to have missed this at the time. So, if I get this right, the…

Virtual meetings generate different patterns in the brain compared to in-person meetings Doesn’t the rule apply, that you always say, that if it feels different, it is different in the brain? For sure, but in the context of virtual video meetings, or even various online interactions there is evidence that similar areas of the brain are activated as in social exchanges. Secondly…

A critical threshold for being alone and age differences in loneliness Isn’t being alone kind of instrumental to loneliness? Yes, we would think so — but this distinction is not as obvious as it sounds. Consider the concept of the wise man sitting alone in a cave. Indeed, as I reported before (see links below), wisdom seems to make us almost…