Are You A Left Handed or Right Handed Person?

Recently, scientists at the University of Oxford have gathered enough evidence to identify a novel gene for handedness. Even more astonishing, their research suggests that there is a link between handedness and language-related disorders.

Handedness

So then, what implications does this hold for right-handed and left-handed individuals? It is a well-known fact that most people are right-handed. 

Since the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body (and vice versa), then it is safe to assume that language is dominant in the left hemisphere of the brain for most people. 

From this theory, we should conclude that left-handed individuals hold language regions in their right hemisphere; however, left-handed individuals also display evidence of language in their left hemisphere, too.

In left-handed patients with aphasia (a language disorder that impairs language function as a result of a brain injury), symptoms tend to be milder than right-handed aphasic patients. This is strong enough evidence to suggest that left-handed individual hold more language regions than right-handed individuals.

Many questions remain about how language processing works in the brain. If left-handed individuals do in fact have a greater ability to retain language, could they also have a greater ability to acquire language than right-handed individuals? 

In addition, can the link between hand preference and disorders affect language development? Exploring new avenues of neuroscience can one day help us further understand ways in which the brain plays a powerful role in language development.

- Team Shirsa

So I Can Feel More Healthy And More Creative!!!

Enjoy Your Vacation

Too much time in sealed homes and offices saps your brain of fresh oxygen, which is essential to clear thinking, Howard says. 

So get outside for frequent breaks or at least open a window. Just spending time in nature and sunshine can boost brain health by improving mood and creating calm. 

It also provides vitamin D, and people with low levels of the “sunshine vitamin” have a greater risk for cognitive decline, according to a 2010 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. 

II recently read a somewhat unscientific article that talked about why vacation is good for your brain, and it mentioned the work of Adam Galinsky and William Maddux. 

 I found there is a fascinating body of work about how traveling affects creative thinking. Maddux et al have published research findings showing that multicultural learning experiences enhance creativity, and that living abroad improves creativity measures of insight, association, and generation.

Further research shows that vacation can have recuperative health benefits. A study in middle-aged men at high risk for heart disease showed that those who took annual vacations had a significantly lower mortality rate (over a 9 year period) than a non-vacationing cohort.

Optical illusion

optical illusion

What did you see in this picture?

"Puzzles for you brain!"

Children love to play. It’s how they learn.  Creating block towers teaches spatial reasoning and motor skills.  Playing Crazy Eights and Monopoly help develop logical reasoning abilities.  Adults need to play too but don’t seem to get enough of it.  Our brains are stimulated by the unique challenges and problems that games and brain teasers offer.

Research is finally demonstrating that our brains do better in the long term if they are exposed to novel activities including brain teasers, brain games and logic puzzles.  Publishers seem to get that point too, that it’s always a good time for a puzzle.

So what are the benefits of brain teasers? 

•    Boosts brain activity
•    Provides emotional satisfaction and sense of accomplishment
•    Enhances memory and processing speed
•    Helps slow the decline and reduce the risk for dementia
•    Improves concentration
•    Reduces boredom

Remember that variety is important to maximize the benefit you get from working logic puzzles. Just don't focus on crosswords or Sudoku.  Instead change up your brain workout by trying a variety of brain teasers.  Even if you can’t solve a puzzle your brain will still receive an excellent and much-needed workout.

- Team Shirsa

Interesting secrets of brain!!!

While doing research for Shirsa, i came across to an interesting article from Glamour Magazine’s February 2008 issue talks about 5 secrets of your brain.  The article was based on the content written by neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt, Ph.D., coauthor of Welcome to Your Brain, speaks about in her book.

While I question whether any of them are really a ‘secret’, I do find Secrets #2 and #3 interesting and relevant for those interested in Brain Fitness.

Secret #2: Because of sex hormone’s in a woman’s brain, women tend to be able to recall objects’ locations better than men – such as where you parked your car or left your glasses.  The ability to recall locations relies on what is often referred to as Visual Working Memory.  One of our products, actually focuses on improving visual working memory.

Secret #3: Human brains do have a memory peak in their thirties.  And unfortunately, as we age, our memories do get weaker.  Dr. Aamodt suggests physical exercise as the best way to stay sharp as exercise increases blood flow to the brain.  However, we also have proven that brain fitness exercises like those in The Brain Fitness Program can also keep your memory sharp well into your later years.

- Team Shirsa

Want to burn calories? Think hard!

Are you aware that  thinking burns calories? I wasn’t knowing about  that till now, and today while doing some research for Shirsa,  I came across a Q&A article in New Scientist on this topic. According to behavorial neuroscientist Ewan McNay, who has conducted research in some particular area,

“A rough calculation suggests that thinking hard about a task for 30 minutes might burn about 1/30th of a gram of fat. Thinking is not likely to turn an intellectual couch potato into a lean machine.”

Some other neuroscientist  ‘Roger Hicks said it in a simpler way :

“It appears that the thinking part of brain function,  consumes a relatively small amount of extra energy and is therefore of little use in weight loss-unless, of course, some of that thinking is aimed at producing exercise.”

My  suggestion is, better sign off your computer and hit the gym. As there’s lots of evidences  shows  that  physical exercise is good for your brain too, instead thinking hard!!!!

-  Team Shirsa

Good news for Music lovers!!!

New research published in Neuropsychology shows that kids who take music lessons get a brain boost that lasts even into old age.

Researchers looked at a group of older adults between ages 60 and 83, and compared them based on how much experience they had playing music. Those who knew music or had practiced an instrument performed better on a variety of cognitive tests.
The head researcher Dr. Brenda Hanna-Pladdy mentioned that because music practice can be “a challenging cognitive exercise” it may help in “making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of aging.” She added, “Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older.”
So thanks  mom-dad,  now I know that, all that torturous practice might help me keep my marbles as I age!

- Team Shirsa