A Memory Is Seen

Brainpower Newsletter

We start with some interesting brainpower news this week, and then a new page on solving word problems, using last week's riddle as an example. But first some news for subscribers:

I am creating a new web site, which will have a free email course on "radical thinking." I think readers of this newsletter will like it, and I might have it ready by the time the next newsletter goes out. I'll let you know.

The Guardian Newspaper recently reported (July 25 2007) that for the first time, scientists have witnessed a new memory being formed in the brain. In research done at the University of California, Irvine, high-resolution images showed how connections between adjacent brain cells changed when a memory was created. A team led by Gary Lynch used confirmed what psychology historian Theodore Ribot first postulated over a hundred years ago: a cellular basis for memory.

Three groups of rats were used in the study. The first was set loose in a maze for periods of thirty minutes. They soon learned their way around. The second was given a drug that blocks the formation of memories, and the last group was used as a control.

Sections of tissue in the hippocampus were examined. Fluorescent antibodies were used to highlight recently strengthened nerve connections. A new technique called restorative deconvolution microscopy was used to focus on one million synapses. 1% were enlarged, and with stronger connections with nearby brain cells.

Professor Lynch said this was the first time anyone had seen the changes in synapses that produce a memory. Further research may enable scientists to map the locations of memories. The study can be found in the Journal of Neuroscience.

It seems that one of the biggest challenges many people have in math, is how to solve word problems. After a recent newsletter I was reminded of this when a reader emailed me about a riddle in that issue, which was in the form of a word problem. He had used the "guess and test" method to arrive at the solution, but was wondering how to solve problems like this one that were more difficult.

With that in mind, here's the riddle/word problem, followed by a refresher lesson on algebra for those of us that have been out of school for a couple decades.

An Example Of A Word Problem

A pound of onions plus a pound of carrots...

Continued here:
http://www.increasebrainpower.com/solve-word-problems.html

- The world population reached 6.6 billion people in 2007.

- A moonbow results when the light of a full moon refracts through water droplets in the atmosphere, just as with a rainbow (and the sunlight). They are rare, and often appear to be black. The colors would be there if there were a blue sky to show them.

- There are blue sheep. In Adelaide Australia a farmer produced the first flock, with 100 sheep with light blue to navy fleece, after several generations of breeding.

Which of the following doesn't belong in this group?

Ibis, Ibex, Oryx, Sika, Zebu

(Answer is below)

Watch for your intuition and you'll have hunches and ideas more often. I bought a conversion van, and now I see them all over. Have you had a similar experience? The same process will happen if you watch for your intuition - you'll start to see more of it. Then you can watch it to see where it is most helpful and where it is less trustworthy. This is how you develop better intuition.

You can boost brain power by writing because to write is to learn. Have you ever noticed how much clearer an argument or opinion becomes to you once you express it? Talking or writing forces you to communicate, but not just to the other person. In the process of putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic behind what you "felt" or what you only partly understood. Actually, you are often bringing yourself to that understanding, or at least a better one. In other words, you can boost your brain power by exercising your "explain power."

Want to prove this to yourself? Choose an opinion you have about anything. Consider for a moment how clear this is in your mind. Now...

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http://www.increasebrainpower.com/boostbrainpower.html

Economic theories might seem like boring reading to some. Maybe so. With that in mind, I won't have any new methods for figuring the gross national product here, or even ideas for new inflation indexes. This section of the web site is to introduce you to ideas and theories that are new to you, and to do so in a way that makes them easy to understand and interesting.

Have you heard of the new science of behavioral economics? If not, watch out! Marketing experts and sales people have, and they're using the new discoveries from this science on you. Find out why you may be paying more than you should and buying things you don't need on the page...

Continued here:
http://www.999ideas.com/economic-theories.html

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Until next time,

Steve

www.IncreaseBrainpower.com

Riddle Answer:

The Ibis, because it is a bird - all the rest are mammals.

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