EWG's Guide to Safer Cell Phone Use: Cell phone radiation alters brain activity

AUGUST 27, 2013 Brain activity accelerates near cell phone antenna Volunteer's brain scans, normal (LEFT) and after 50 minutes with an active cell phone on right ear, (RIGHT) show increased metabolic activity near phone's antenna. (ARROW) A team led by Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, used advanced imaging technology to monitor glucose...

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Playing, And Even Watching, Sports Improves Brain Function

Date: September 3, 2008 Source: University of Chicago Summary: Being an athlete or merely a fan improves language skills when it comes to discussing their sport because parts of the brain usually involved in playing sports are instead used to understand sport language, new research shows. Being an athlete or merely a fan improves language skills when it comes...

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Sport and physical activity enhance children’s learning

Dr Karen Martin, School of Population Health,  The University of Western Australia May 2010 Sport and physical activity participation are generally promoted for their positive impact on children’s physical and mental health.1 However, increased participation in sport and other forms of physical activity are also thought to lead to enhancement of cognitive...

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Are you eating away at your brain?

Grain Brain author David Perlmutter, M.D., reveals which eating habits may be toxic to your noggin By Robin Hilmantel It's estimated that 5.2 million people in the U.S. currently have Alzheimer's disease, and there is no cure -- but what if we told you that what you're putting on your plate could be increasing your risk of dementia, as well as a host of other neurological...

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Young Musicians Reap Long-Term Neuro Benefits

People who played instruments as children responded a bit quicker to complex speech sounds as adults, even if they had not played an instrument in many years. Erika Beras reports Feb 22, 2014 |By Erika Beras Those piano lessons you endured as a child, and those hours your parents made you practice, may benefit you in your later years. Even if you haven’t played...

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Midday naps may boost toddlers’ memory skills

“Afternoon naps' aid children's learning,” BBC News reports. A new study has found that toddlers who had Spanish-style siestas performed better in learning tasks compared to children who stayed awake. This headline is based on a small study from the US which examined the effect of a midday nap on children’s ability to recall the location of pictures on a grid, which they...

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Brain Teaser: Can you count?

By: SharpBrains Quick! Count the num­ber of times that the let­ter F appears in the fol­low­ing sentence: — “Fin­ished files are the result of years of sci­en­tific study com­bined with the expe­ri­ence of years.” — How many did you find? Answer: How many letters F did you count? Three? Wrong, there are six! It is no joke! Read again:...

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Test your Brain with these Top 10 Visual Illusions_ Part 1/2

By: Dr. Pascale Michelon The brain has two hemi­spheres, each divided into four lobes. Each lobe is respon­si­ble for dif­fer­ent func­tions. For instance the frontal cor­tex (in blue below) is respon­si­ble for deci­sion mak­ing and plan­ning; the tem­po­ral lobe (in green) for lan­guage and mem­ory; and the pari­etal lobe (in yel­low) for spa­tial skills. The occip­i­tal...

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Test your Brain with these Top 10 Visual Illusions_Part 2/2

Check your answers and learn about what was going on in your brain while you expe­ri­enced each of these illusions: 1. Can you put the fish in the fishbowl? Did you see a fish of a dif­fer­ent color in the bowl? You have just expe­ri­enced an after­im­age. In the retina of your eyes, there are three types of color recep­tors (cones) that are most sen­si­tive to either red,...

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Debunking 10 Brain Fitness and Brain Training Myths

Debunking 10 Brain Fitness and Brain Training Myths during Brain Awareness Week 2013 By: Alvaro Fernandez In honor of Brain Aware­ness Week 2013 let’s debunk ten myths about brain fit­ness and brain train­ing that remain sur­pris­ingly popular. Top 10 brain fit­ness and brain train­ing myths, debunked: Myth 1. Genes deter­mine the fate of our brains. Fact: Life­long brain...

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Growing number of chemicals linked with brain disorders in children

Date: February 14, 2014 Source: Harvard School of Public Health Summary: Toxic chemicals may be triggering the recent increases in neurodevelopmental disabilities among children -- such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dyslexia. Toxic chemicals may be triggering the recent increases in neurodevelopmental disabilities among children -- such...

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