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Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

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Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#31

Post by henry_flower »

sage_joch wrote: post #30
henry_flower wrote: post #28

Bad: - reading news, fiction books (99.99% of them are crap); - programming in boring languages (Java); - chatting drunk in a bar; - watching any movies (youtube included), tv; - blogging about nonsense (life, politics, etc); - listening to a podcast while doing nothing (like sitting on a sofa); - participating in any social network (livejournal, facebook); - living in the countryside (I don't really know this, but i…

What's wrong with running on a treadmill? I've found the measurability to be useful.

Maybe it's personal, but looking on the screen (while running) with a dumb simulation of the nature makes me feel blue.

Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#32

Post by adammichaelc »

jonbischke wrote: post #23

I've read a ton in this area so let me offer some of my findings. If I get time this weekend I'll put together a blog post and link to it from here so I can include references, etc: Generally thought to be good for the brain: Fish oil (Omega 3 in general but fish oil is tough to beat) Exercise (Read the book Spark for more details) Meditation (While this needs to be studied more some of the studies on long-time medit…

I've also done a lot reading in this area and the overall topic is really interesting to me.

I met a guy at Hackers and Founders (SF) and the topic of Vitamin D came up. We discussed some of the research that I've found lately about how much good it can do you in terms of general health/brain health/immune health, etc., and how more-than-likely most hackers are deficient because they stay out of the sun during the hours when your body produces Vitamin D (generally thought to be 10am - 3pm).

Then we got on the topic of how it would be cool to have some kind of Health for Hackers meetup to discuss this and other things hackers can do to have optimal brain and general health.

jonbischke (or others with an interest in this topic), if you're interested in putting on something like this with me in the Bay Area shoot me an email (see my bio). I'm curious if this would be of interest to anybody else who is in the area. Send feedback if anybody's interested in attending or help put on something like this.

Edited for clarity

Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#33

Post by eainla »

jonbischke wrote: post #23

I've read a ton in this area so let me offer some of my findings. If I get time this weekend I'll put together a blog post and link to it from here so I can include references, etc: Generally thought to be good for the brain: Fish oil (Omega 3 in general but fish oil is tough to beat) Exercise (Read the book Spark for more details) Meditation (While this needs to be studied more some of the studies on long-time medit…

Great post, Jon!

Saving Your Brain is a fantastic book by Jeff Victoroff, M.D. He reviewed 14,000 medical research studies to write that book. He's also the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for Nolan Bushnell's new company, Anti-AgingGames.com.

I would add to your list above: not smoking; being within 5-10 lbs of your ideal weight; partnering with a doctor who is both proactive and focused on prevention; getting an annual checkup with tests that can spot if you have Vitamin D, E, B12, calcium, or iron deficiency; maintaining regular social contact with your friends; buying cars with a good safety rating (in one study the chance of getting Alzheimers was 4x higher in people who sustain head injuries after the age of 39; doing activities that are new and mentally engaging (helps keep the brain's plasticity). You said this but I wanted to stress that the activity should be new because that's what helps the most.

Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#34

Post by sayemm »

Great video by Google Tech Talks here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyPrL0cmJRs&feature=chann...

Mentat Wiki has a ton of interesting articles/tips: http://www.ludism.org/mentat

And the Memoriad Competition Software is awesome and challenging; it's great practice every day: http://www.memoriad.com/memoriadsoftware.asp

Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#35

Post by da5e »

pohl wrote: post #6

Novelty is good for your brain. But then repitition (a.k.a. "practice") can be too. Caveat: practice makes permanent -- not perfect. Malpractice makes malperfect.

I like that: "practice makes permanent". Also "perfect practice makes perfect" although lousy practice is pretty good for developing "perfect practice." And turning practice into "your practice" in the yogic sense is good for the brain too. Routine doesn't have to be routine.

Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#36

Post by da5e »

limist wrote: post #26

Be sure to take a look at "Brain Rules" by John Medina. http://brainrules.net/ The short version: EXERCISE | Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power. SURVIVAL | Rule #2: The human brain evolved, too. WIRING | Rule #3: Every brain is wired differently. ATTENTION | Rule #4: We don't pay attention to boring things. SHORT-TERM MEMORY | Rule #5: Repeat to remember. LONG-TERM MEMORY | Rule #6: Remember to repeat. SLEEP | Rule…

Good stuff! But just for fun: 1. Sitting on your ass programming for long periods of time develops brain power too. 2. We've held on tightly to our lizard brains too. 3. Faulty wiring can be creative if it's faulty in the right way. 4. We do pay attention to annoying boring things. 5-6. Imagine to remember 7. Sometimes it takes an all-nighter to get your brain over the hump. 8. True, although not always a bad way. 9. Or isolate to concentrate and build myelin. 10. Only if you're a visual learner. 11. Viva la difference 12. We are also inveterate couch potatoes.

Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#38

Post by da5e »

pavs wrote: post #29

Ear massage. Wet your hands with cold water and twist and turn your ear with two finger (not too hard, the idea is to generate blood flow so they get warm. You are not trying to hurt yourself). It jolts my attention for about 20-30 minutes. When I was writing this, I thought to myself if there is any science behind it. Turns out this seems like a fairly well-known thing to some people. I found this out myself. Now I…

Interesting. I do a bastardized form of shiatsu. Pressing on my eyebrows etc with thumb and forefinger in a pattern. That wakes me up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiatsu

Re: Ask HN: List everything you know that is good/bad for our brains.

#39

Post by brettnak »

pohl wrote: post #6

Novelty is good for your brain. But then repitition (a.k.a. "practice") can be too. Caveat: practice makes permanent -- not perfect. Malpractice makes malperfect.

On the practice subject - in college I studied in the double bass studio for a few years. He always said that his goal was to teach us how to practice. He told us that we'd probably forget everything that he actually said, but if he taught us how to practice properly we'd be able to learn anything if only we knew the proper way to practice. He'd also make us tell him exactly what we were going to do after each lesson in order to be ready for the next lesson. A lot of what he taught us, i've found, could be applied to other areas of life.
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