So maybe I missed it in the article, but it seems like they just tested a group of physically active students, and those who weren't. Does running have anything to do with the "functional connectivity" or is it just exercise in general? The article says we've known exercising is good for the brains of older people for some time now, the new study just tested the effects on younger people. Shouldn't the title be "exercise is good for the brains of young people too"?
Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
41–50 of 99 posts
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#42Here's a question. I have no desire to learn an instrument, so is it still possible to learn enough music theory to reap the mental benefits? As far as running goes, my knees don't allow for it.
> my knees don't allow for it
Start slow, buy shoes appropriate for your gait, work on technique. I have bad knees running in the family, had tendon injuries in both of them as a kid too. Used to get a lot of pain when running then I decided to focus on my technique, taking it slow (like, 2 mile runs at 10min/mile cause running longer or faster felt like the death)
Now 3 years later I run a 4hr marathon and the only time my knees hurt is when it's time to buy new shoes.
And yes, it is a great excuse if you don't actually want to run. My advice is for if you want to but think you can't :)
PS: start slow can mean "long leisurely walk" depending on your shape. Tendons and joints need to get used to being used
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#43I found that learning music unlocked pattern comprehensions that were very mathematical. Multiple layers of abstraction (rhythm or note points, derivatives of these two, overlay, non linear transformations, and the equivalent momentum phenomenons). Running is something that trigger creative mind activity for me. And a form of flow. I wouldn't be surprised if other physical activity would do the same: climbing, even b…
How old were you when you learned music?
I've been trying to learn to play guitar on and off for 25 years now. It's a huge struggle for me. For a while I'll practice daily, make very little progress, get frustrated and bored, then quit. A year later I start over and no progress is ever made. I've had different teachers and different instruments (I love the gear part of it) and I know what's really needed is grit.
I do get the feeling though that my 46 year old brain is a little calcified and doesn't want to learn something entirely new. That's part of the reason I think I really need to work on it.
My kids take music lessons and after the first week, they accomplished more than I had in years.
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#44This title is a little click-baity, but I think one of the nice takeaways from the article was the connectivity in the frontal cortex.
I've been researching how to improve CS education this past semester, and its taken me down a long road of cog. psych. Much of this information is "true", but shouldn't be read as "Runners and musicians are 'smarter'". Firstly, what's it mean to be 'smart'?
As expertise grows, that knowledge needs to be stored somewhere. In my studies, this led to Cambridge's Handbook Of Expertise [1], in which there is a chapter focusing on perceptual-motor expertise. In violinists, the neural plasticity of the cerebellum expanded similarly to the cerebellum's in chess players. As my link and this article sort of point out, mental and physical expertise cause the brain to expand.
There is some discussion about the brain being an "arena" for limited neural tissue; however, I am by no means an expert of the brain.
My interpretation of this information is that the same practices done in runners/musicians can be applied to other mental practices - ala CS. You get better at running by running; you get better at playing a violin by practicing your scales; what are the elements of CS that can be reduced to these solitary practices as a means to get better at them?
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t know if this is wha you mean, but when listening to music, the human brain is constantly making predictions about what will happen next. Jerry Coker explains that the quality of the experience lies in the balance between the familiarity of being right and the surprise of being wrong. Thus, when listening to syncopation, you constantly comparing what your brain hears to a steady 4/4 it ‘expects' to hear. And w…
I've heard this idea too. The inertia is the physical incarnation of the predicted motion. I'm talking about playing the music, not only listening, it makes a difference. Talking about syncopation in terms of overall time signature is only partially valid. You can syncopate by altering an accent place while still on the same time. Think a dead note on drum or bass. It totally alters the feeling. My understanding is t…
All this stuff can be precisely measured and explained (and has been - there are a million drum instructional videos that get academic about how to play various styles).
Swing feel isn't a closely guarded secret among jazz musicians - it just isn't quick to explain. There's a sliding scale of the ratio between the first and second eighth note, where at slow tempos it's 2:1, and at fast tempos it's 1:1. The exact ratio at a given tempo is something that's passed down aurally. There's also a harder articulation on the second eighth note. There are other nuances too, but those are the most important ones.
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdote: When I was in middle school I failed horribly at my first year of algebra classes and just couldn't seem to get a grip on the concepts (also I would often see "shortcuts" in the problems that would lead to horribly wrong answers). I would score about 50% on every quiz. I could tell my teacher thought I was an idiot. Around that time I started learning music theory and playing in the school band, and learnin…
Heh, the day I started to isolate overlapping melodies was a huge gift. Makes me happy to read your story. After formal training, and years of wondering what the hell chord progression were about.. the day I could parse harmony in my head and focus on one line in relation to the others, everything became clear. although I cannot measure what I feel in precise way (I couldn't name the intervals) I can improvise counte…
Is there anything in particular either of you did to learn this? I've been playing saxophone for decades and still can't really parse harmonies that I hear.
I sometimes wonder if it's because I play a single monophonic instrument rather than a polyphonic instrument.
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#47I found that learning music unlocked pattern comprehensions that were very mathematical. Multiple layers of abstraction (rhythm or note points, derivatives of these two, overlay, non linear transformations, and the equivalent momentum phenomenons). Running is something that trigger creative mind activity for me. And a form of flow. I wouldn't be surprised if other physical activity would do the same: climbing, even b…
How old were you when you learned music? I've been trying to learn to play guitar on and off for 25 years now. It's a huge struggle for me. For a while I'll practice daily, make very little progress, get frustrated and bored, then quit. A year later I start over and no progress is ever made. I've had different teachers and different instruments (I love the gear part of it) and I know what's really needed is grit. I d…
I had piano lessons for a year at 14. Stopped (learned nothing except 2 or 3 children melodies, and few ideas that I forgot in a week). Then started again around 19, drumsticks and bass. As I said I was almost dead wrong for 6 years. With mostly regressions.
All instruments are different though. Guitars require quite a large amount of time to adapt your left hand (neck). It's easy to never make progress there. Bass guitar is a tad easier because you play melodies and not a blend of this + chords, which are demanding in dexterity and stamina.
The frustration, abort, guilt cycle is hard to avoid. Even guys who took lessons as kids have off days. They told us on boards that when they struggle to play, they just take it easy and make it a rudiment day. Stupid patterns at slow pace, just to keep warm.
Do not ocmpare yourself to kids, it's mostly masochism. It's like comparing the speed of a fresh windows 95 install vs a 2 yo one. They have natural excitement and smoother fingers, I believe their brain is just a nasty pattern cruncher and most things end up intuitive the next day. That says nothing about your own ability to learn or take pleasure. One question, do you use a metronome ? everytime I struggle, 2 minutes of metronome backed practice suddenly realigns my hand and my ears and everything gets smoother. Not perfect but it helps to get properly warmed up and enjoy the feeling.
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#48I found that learning music unlocked pattern comprehensions that were very mathematical. Multiple layers of abstraction (rhythm or note points, derivatives of these two, overlay, non linear transformations, and the equivalent momentum phenomenons). Running is something that trigger creative mind activity for me. And a form of flow. I wouldn't be surprised if other physical activity would do the same: climbing, even b…
any book/website to recommend about music theory?
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#49I found a lot of my questions from the article were quickly explained by looking over the paper.
Re: Runners’ brains may be more connected, research shows
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've heard this idea too. The inertia is the physical incarnation of the predicted motion. I'm talking about playing the music, not only listening, it makes a difference. Talking about syncopation in terms of overall time signature is only partially valid. You can syncopate by altering an accent place while still on the same time. Think a dead note on drum or bass. It totally alters the feeling. My understanding is t…
All this stuff can be precisely measured and explained (and has been - there are a million drum instructional videos that get academic about how to play various styles). Swing feel isn't a closely guarded secret among jazz musicians - it just isn't quick to explain. There's a sliding scale of the ratio between the first and second eighth note, where at slow tempos it's 2:1, and at fast tempos it's 1:1. The exact rati…
Ha well, I didn't see them all, I did see quite a few and it was never explained at all. At best a few slowed down classical swing patterns. But it was all imitation and no deeper meaning.
The 1,2 ratio is nice, but I use to see response curves... a bit like interpolated splines...