13 replies to this topic

[ex_banana_eater]

To what degree would thirty minutes of some type of general mental training per day increase intelligence, memory, attention, and drive compared to a nootropic regimen?

Does anyone have any games or exercise suggestions for each area? For example, logical thinking, drive, or increasing attention span. I would like to start a daily routine. If you already have daily routine, please post it.

[Lufega]

Sudoku. Has a similar effect to using blueberries, except that it takes a lot of effort

Also, there are other things you can do to stimulate your mind like bathing with your eyes closed, brushing with the opposite hand, etc.

I think I also read that socializing can make you a point of two smarter.

Edited by Lufega, 27 December 2008 - 01:29 PM.

[burungnasar]

Does anyone have any games or exercise suggestions for each area? For example, logical thinking, drive, or increasing attention span.

This site has quite a few interesting exercises:

cognitivefun.net

[rwac]

To what degree would thirty minutes of some type of general mental training per day increase intelligence, memory, attention, and drive compared to a nootropic regimen?

Does anyone have any games or exercise suggestions for each area? For example, logical thinking, drive, or increasing attention span. I would like to start a daily routine. If you already have daily routine, please post it.

I try to play Dual-N-Back everyday. I don't always remember, but thats a different issue.

[ex_banana_eater]

I have a feeling using nootropics does not help as much as training your brain. There are studies that show mental training improves performance on IQ tests beyond just test taking skills. I wonder why that's not emphasized on this board--I can't seem to find much on it.

[bigsend]

Mental exercise is great, and don't discount physical exercise. I don't do puzzles, but I get a lot of benefits just from reading novels. Clearer thinking, better vocabulary, and better at structuring sentences. Practicing a musical instrument helps too.

[HereInTheHole]

Except for the powerful nootropics like modafinil, I doubt you'll see anything but a placebo effect from piracetam and the like.

Research does keep popping up that exercise is the single most powerful thing you can do for your brain.

The mental puzzles can be entertaining. They're probably better for your brain than watching TV. But if you really want to improve your mental abilities, the task has to be almost uncomfortable and repeated for many months. Have you ever learned a new language or how to draw? In the beginning, the training (like intense exercise) makes you question what the heck you're doing, whether it's worth it. Then your brain adapts. That adaptation is the new power you want. You want even more power, you push yourself farther.

The puzzles in their simplicity probably aren't going to teach logic or drive. For logic, you need to read good books, talk to better people, keep yourself emotionally detached, and give yourself time to think about it all. And drive is something that's a combination of emotions, outlook, and physical and mental energy that would be better served by meditiation or by actively immersing yourself in projects and social groups.

Edited by NarrativiumX, 29 December 2008 - 06:34 PM.

[NDM]

Mental exercise is like moving furniture in a building; the problem is with the building itself; I read more than 6 ho /day highly difficult academic stuff and I arrived on this forum precisely because my focus, retention, and ability for mental crossfertilization among disparate domains has declined and led me to question the worthiness of keeping reading in this dreadful biological state. It's like spraying oneself without taking a shower.

To understand what is wrong with all the research on mental exercise you need to read the best guy in the field of cognitive aging: Tim Salthouse. To understand wishful thinking Freud remains the best.

Here is Salthouse:
Salthouse, T.A. (2006). Mental Exercise and mental aging: Evaluating the validity of the use it or lose it hypothesis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 68-87

ABSTRACT—It is widely believed that keeping mentally active will prevent age-related mental decline. The primary prediction of this mental-exercise hypothesis is that the rate of age-related decline in measures of cognitive functioning will be less pronounced for people who are more mentally active, or, equivalently, that the cognitive differences among people who vary in level of mental activity will be greater with increased age. Although many training studies, and comparisons involving experts, people in specific occupations, and people whose mental activity levels are determined by their self-reports, have found a positive relation between level of activity and level of cognitive functioning, very few studies have found an interactive effect of age and mental activity on measures of cognitive functioning. Despite the current lack of empirical evidence for the idea that the rate of mental aging is moderated by amount of mental activity, there may be personal benefits to assuming that the mental-exercise hypothesis is true.

[ex_banana_eater]

Mental exercise is like moving furniture in a building; the problem is with the building itself; I read more than 6 ho /day highly difficult academic stuff and I arrived on this forum precisely because my focus, retention, and ability for mental crossfertilization among disparate domains has declined and led me to question the worthiness of keeping reading in this dreadful biological state. It's like spraying oneself without taking a shower.

How do you know that supplementation is the answer to your problem? Incremental reading software like Supermemo could help you out so enormously, it would surpass the effect of the best nootropic invented 100 years in the future.

[Shepard]

I don't have a daily routine, but I like the following:

Basic brain training program
Racquetball (or other quick sport)
Aerobic exercise
Crossword puzzles
Juggling (attempts)
Music (more attempts to remember my piano training)
Meditation (when I remember)
And, diet is crucial, either ketogenic or ensuring stable BG with careful carb consumption.

And, my math classes keep me in a narrow window between completely going insane and almost feeling intelligent.

[JLL]

To what degree would thirty minutes of some type of general mental training per day increase intelligence, memory, attention, and drive compared to a nootropic regimen?

Does anyone have any games or exercise suggestions for each area? For example, logical thinking, drive, or increasing attention span. I would like to start a daily routine. If you already have daily routine, please post it.

I try to play Dual-N-Back everyday. I don't always remember, but thats a different issue.

Thanks for the tip. I've been playing Dual n-Back for two weeks now to see if it improves my IQ. Admittedly, I don't have a control group here, so I just took two IQ tests before starting to play the game, and I'm going to re-take the same tests after I've played one more week or so.

I can handle 3-Back pretty well now, but 4-Back is still very difficult for me. How about you?

[rwac]

To what degree would thirty minutes of some type of general mental training per day increase intelligence, memory, attention, and drive compared to a nootropic regimen?

Does anyone have any games or exercise suggestions for each area? For example, logical thinking, drive, or increasing attention span. I would like to start a daily routine. If you already have daily routine, please post it.

I try to play Dual-N-Back everyday. I don't always remember, but thats a different issue.

Thanks for the tip. I've been playing Dual n-Back for two weeks now to see if it improves my IQ. Admittedly, I don't have a control group here, so I just took two IQ tests before starting to play the game, and I'm going to re-take the same tests after I've played one more week or so.

I can handle 3-Back pretty well now, but 4-Back is still very difficult for me. How about you?

I just graduated from 3-back yesterday, but it still needs a fair bit of focus, and 4-back is hard.
I missed about 10 days, though. I guess we're in about the same place.

[RighteousReason]

re-take the same tests

You would score better retaking the same tests whether or not you did anything to improve your IQ.

[arvcondor]

Not sure why this thread fell into the back pages. Bump to keep this discussion going.