Thinking Clearly and Analytically

A new study has found that gaining weight as a result of poor diet is linked to impaired cognitive functioning and developing symptoms of anxiety, adding to the growing body of evidence that there's an intrinsic biological link between our gut health and mental health.

For the stu­dents in the inter­ven­tion group of the recent­ly pub­lished Berg­er et al. study, a brief com­put­er­ized work­ing mem­o­ry inter­ven­tion seems to have been able to divert the usu­al school­ing “train” onto a dif­fer­ent and bet­ter line: trans­fer effects mea­sured at the three-year fol­low-up indi­cate a sig­nif­i­cant improve­ment in aca­d­e­m­ic per­for­mance and track assignment!…

One secret everyone should know much sooner:

The 20-minute walk rule:

This completely changed how I work. 
And I know it will do the same for you.

Forget powering through brain fog. 
Forget staring at the screen, hoping for a second wind.

Our brains aren't built for constant output.
They're built for rhythm, movement, and recovery.

I came across a study recently that backed this up.

A simple 20-minute walk works on your:

1. Memory 
2. Mood
3. Focus

They found that the document format students used did not impact their ability to identify the main ideas of each extract, but it did affect their comprehension of particular facts; students found it much harder to pick out specific details in each passage when read on a screen. This was especially true when details were included in the visual elements. They also found that students took significantly longer to finish reading the extracts when they were read on a screen compared to when they read them in print.

Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to CHANGE throughout life. The brain has the amazing ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections between brain cells.

___ As I was work­ing on the drafts of my lat­est book, my own brain was very active, to say the least. Seri­ous­ly! How was I ever going to write an intro­duc­tion to the brain, the most com­plex organ in the human body, that you, my read­er, would want to read, and that you would understand?…

What does it mean to add value? Adding value arises not just from solving a problem, but from solving the right problem, in ways that no one expected, to arrive at an even better outcome. These kinds of solutions don’t come from our everyday ways of thinking. They come from expert thinking, critical thinking, strategic thinking, and systems thinking—skills that consistently make it on those ubiquitous lists of things leaders at every level have to be really good at to meet the challenges of the future.

Everyone knows that a breath of fresh air feels great. But research shows that spending time outside can also boost your mood, memory, and cognition.

If you need an excuse to turn off the laptop over the weekend or rein in overtime, scientists have found that working extended hours actually changes parts of the brain linked to emotional regulation, working memory and solving problems. While we know the toll that "overwork" takes physically and…

The human brain is wired to seek safety, predictability, and routine. In times of disruption or ambiguity, our default response isn’t progress, it’s preservation.

For years, scientists believed that our first memories vanished because the brain wasn’t developed enough to store them. But groundbreaking Yale research suggests otherwise. Infants can encode and recall memories—even if we can’t access them later in life. By using brain scans and eye-tracking, r

French scientists have uncovered an odd superpower triggered by tapping your finger to a rhythm – it can help you hear and understand someone talking to you in a noisy environment, such as a party or a busy cafe. While it may sound a little woo-woo, there is a reason for it.

Apply neuroscience-based strategies to unlock innovative thinking, problem-solving, and breakthrough ideas in yourself and your team. …Read More

How far away is your phone right now? When did you last look at it? For many of us, these digital devices are almost constantly in our hands, and a new study highlights the effects on brain activity that can happen when we cut back on using them.

The world's first "biological computer" that fuses human brain cells with silicon hardware to form fluid neural networks has been commercially launched, ushering in a new age of AI technology. The CL1, from Australian company Cortical Labs, offers a whole new kind of computing intelligence – one…

ChatGPT’s documentation sets out how it plans to answer ethical questions. Here’s the thing: it shouldn’t answer them.

If you're feeling stuck in your thinking, Amber Johnson offers five questions to help you start moving forward.

What risks or unintended consequences do you see if we move forward with this approach?

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has transformed numerous aspects of daily life, yet its impact on critical thinking remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between AI tool usage and critical thinking skills, focusing on cognitive offloading as a mediating factor. Utilising a mixed-method approach, we conducted surveys and in-depth interviews with 666 participants across diverse age groups and educational backgrounds.