It’s time to say happy birthday to our beloved crossword puzzle! The first one was published 100 years ago. In this short video about the crossword’s centennial, Mo Rocca interviews New York Times puzzle writer Will Shortz and Dan Feyer, four-time champion of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and the best solver in the country. (We’ve…
I’ve written about the brain benefits of certain kinds of nuts in the past, but a new study in over 100,000 people has found that eating all kinds of nuts may help you live longer. The study, from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, examined the nut consumption habits and death rates of…
A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience has found that people who have learned to play music–at any point in life, including young childhood–enjoy brain benefits that last a lifetime. Specifically, people who have studied music exhibit strengthened brain connections that can positively impact language abilities. According to lead researcher Dr. Nina Kraus of Northwestern…
Many researchers feel that interventions for Alzheimer’s patients don’t work well, because they offer too little, too late. But researchers at Johns Hopkins University have recently developed a new test that can predict Alzheimer’s years before the first symptoms appear, which could help at-risk patients take action to prevent or slow onset of the disease.…
You’ve probably heard about common “brain foods” like pomegranates, blueberries, dark chocolate, salmon, and red wine – but there are many other foods that offer brain benefits, and chances are you haven’t even heard about their brain-boosting powers. Here we present seven surprising brain foods! WATERMELON Watermelon was recently found to have high concentrations of…
Where were you when you found out that the Challenger had exploded? What do you remember about your wedding, or the wedding of a loved one? How much do you recall about that fateful day twelve years ago when two airplanes plowed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center? Emotionally charged events like…
Now here’s something I never thought I’d see in an academic journal: a study touting the memory-enhancing benefits of drinking champagne. But scientists in Britain recently published a study that shows that compounds in champagne can help with spatial memory and navigation. This is interesting news because research has previously shown that there are brain-boosting…
A few days ago, I heard a terrific radio program featuring an interview with Daniel Tammet. Tammet is an autistic savant who is probably best-known for being able to recite pi to over 22,500 digits by memory. (Side note: it takes him more than 5 hours to perform this feat!) But what fascinated me most…
I’m excited to announce that my brand new book Soft-Wired is now out and available in paperback or Kindle format. This book was a labor of love, and it took me many years and many iterations to say exactly what I wanted, how I wanted to say it. The result is a book that covers much of…
Scientists have long known that sleep is crucial for forming memories, but now they have evidence that taking breaks from learning–even while you’re awake–can help consolidate memories and “tune in” to what you have just learned. In a recent study published in Neuron, NYU researchers found that the subjects who took a break from learning retained more…
