The Role of Genetics in IQ and Intelligence
Your brain, your nervous system, your entire body is constructed according to instructions received from the genes that you have inherited from your parents. It would seem reasonable that superior genes would provide a child with superior intelligence capacity. And in fact, researchers have discovered that parents with high IQ’s tend to have children with high IQ’s, while parents with low IQ’s tend to have children with low IQ’s.
Read MoreThe Fantastic Plastic Brain
It’s one of the most extraordinary discoveries of the 20th century. Named neuroplasticity, it’s the finding that the brain can change, new brain cells are constantly being born and die, new connections can form and that the internal structure of the existing synapses can change...
Read MoreAgeing and Your Brain: The Secret to Staying Sharp
Ageing may seem unavoidable, but that's not necessarily so when it comes to the brain. So say researchers in the April 27th issue of the Cell Press journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences based on counterintuitive evidence that it is what you do in old age that matters when it comes to maintaining a youthful brain rather than what you did earlier in life.
Read MoreBrain Region Holding Objects in Memory Until They Are Spotted Identified
Imagine you are looking for your wallet on a cluttered desk. As you scan the area, you hold in your mind a mental picture of what your wallet looks like. MIT neuroscientists have now identified a brain region that stores this type of visual representation during a search.
Read MoreMemory Is Not a Gift. It’s a Skill
Advertisers tout supplements. Organic growers push blueberries. But, because memory is a skill and not a gift, for true memory improvement you must train your brain.
Read MoreCognitive Development Is Not an Automatic Process
Cognitive development focuses on how children learn and process information. It is the development of the thinking and organising systems of the mind. It involves language, mental imagery, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and memory development.
Read MoreAuditory Memory: The Overlooked Learning Skill Deficiency
A weakness in auditory memory can have serious consequences in the realm of learning for students, states educational therapist Addie Cusimano in her book "Learning Disabilities: There is a Cure."
Read MoreWhy Is Logical Thinking Essential?
Logical thinking is the process in which one uses reasoning consistently to come to a conclusion. Problems or situations that involve logical thinking call for structure, for relationships between facts, and for chains of reasoning that “make sense.”
Read MoreLong-Term Memory: What It Is and Tips to Improve It
Long-term memory is the relatively permanent memory storage system that holds information indefinitely. In it we store last year’s Currie Cup score, the image of an elephant, and how to ride a bicycle. We also appear to be storing information that we can’t consciously retrieve, but which still affects our behaviour.
Read MoreMemory Fundamental to Reading, Spelling and Learning
Although the word memory may conjure up an image of a singular, "all-or-none" process, it is clear that there are actually many kinds of memory: sensory register, short-term memory, long-term memory, visual memory, auditory memory, and sequential memory, to name but a few.
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