Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#1

Post by brahmwg » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 12:30 PM UTC

Ways to maximize your cognitive potential
blogs.scientificamerican.com

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#2

Post by dom2 » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 12:48 PM UTC

> In order to keep your brain making new connections and keeping them active, you need to keep moving on to another challenging activity as soon as you reach the point of mastery in the one you are engaging in.

Mastery may be too strong of a word here but the intention is definitely clear. It seems to me that certain activities are more suited to naturally force novelty on someone. Musicianship comes to mind, as when one finishes learning a piece, they can advance to a more challenging one, which would be considered 'novel'.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#3

Post by jobvandervoort » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:05 PM UTC

The 5 ways listed are:

1. Seek Novelty

2. Challenge Yourself

3. Think Creatively

4. Do Things The Hard Way

5. Network

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#4

Post by johnloeber » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:09 PM UTC

jobvandervoort wrote: post #3

The 5 ways listed are: 1. Seek Novelty 2. Challenge Yourself 3. Think Creatively 4. Do Things The Hard Way 5. Network

They appear to have mistaken "increase your capacity to do cool stuff" for "increase your intelligence."

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#5

Post by robbiep » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:10 PM UTC

I thought dual n-back had been discredited as a method of increasing cognitive performance. I know there must be some experts on here - would you care to comment?

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#6

Post by panglott » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:12 PM UTC

It is one thing to improve the IQ of rapidly-growing children who have developmental disorders, and quite another to improve the fluid intelligence of adults.

Brain training games don't boost IQ http://www.vox.com/2016/6/22/11993078/brain-training-games-d...

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#7

Post by koolba » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:15 PM UTC

Since when has Scientific American resorted to listicles?

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#8

Post by slig » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:17 PM UTC

robbiep wrote: post #5

I thought dual n-back had been discredited as a method of increasing cognitive performance. I know there must be some experts on here - would you care to comment?

See this very thorough article on gwern's [1] website: https://www.gwern.net/DNB%20meta-analysis

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=gwern

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#9

Post by CuriouslyC » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:19 PM UTC

One of the most consistent ways research has demonstrated to increase connectivity in the brain is to learn new physical skills. Controlling the body in space appears to be particularly good at stimulating the growth of new synapses (and possibly new neurons as well, though the research is not conclusive here outside the hippocampus). Yoga is a good start. Modern dance, breakdancing, capoeira and gymnastics are all excellent if you're slightly more athletic.

Beyond that, practicing thinking in different ways really helps your brain develop. One thing that most people neglect is geometric/mechanical intelligence. Get some 3D puzzles, and once you get really good at them, start building simple machines. If you never got good at math, trying to pick up some advanced mathematics can be a good exercise as well.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#10

Post by tatool » Thu, Jun 30, 2016, 1:20 PM UTC

As the article is pretty old I suggest looking at a more recent discussion of the topic: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v531/n7592_supp/full/53...