My Prospective Memory didn’t let me down.

Prospective memory is one of the three affected by ageing so using strategies to keep ‘remembering to remember’ strong, are very important. We emphasize this skill in our Brainfit for Life classes and in the online course, Memory Tune Mary had such an...

Why does my brain get tired?

Chess players exert a lot of cognitive effort. After hours of play, they make more mistakes. It takes them longer to make decisions. The question is, why? Why does your brain get tired? Research suggests the answer lies somewhere in the left lateral prefrontal cortex...

Age vs. Genetics: which matters most in aging?

Age itself plays a bigger role than genetics in gene expression and susceptibility to specific diseases as we age. Amid much speculation and research about how our genetics affect the way we age, a University of California, Berkeley, study now shows that individual...

An Argument Against Ageism

Companies need crystallized intelligence. Older workers are your source. Stephen Chamberlin, August 2022 Psychologist Raymond Cattell developed the concept of fluid and crystallized intelligence in 1963. From Wikipedia: Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve novel...

Have you tried the “Slow” Diet, yet?

The Mediterranean diet is praised by its proponents as one of the healthiest eating styles around. Dominated by fruits and vegetables, it is considered well suited for the prevention of heart disease, stroke, cancer and even mental decline. What gets rarely mentioned,...

Are face masks a problem for emotion recognition?

Not when the whole body is visible Source: Durham University   The rise of COVID-19 virus has made face masks commonplace items around the globe. Recent research found that face masks significantly impair emotion recognition on isolated faces. However, faces are...

Good ageing starts before 55

 (and it’s not as simple as eating well and working out)   As a population, we’re ageing well. Research shows most older New Zealanders enjoy good physical, mental and social health, but there’s no secret to good ageing – academics say growing...

Breakthrough in Search for Tinnitus Cure

August 11, 2022 Source: University of Auckland After 20 years searching for a cure for tinnitus, researchers at the University of Auckland are excited by ‘encouraging results’ from a clinical trial of a mobile-phone-based therapy. The study randomised 61 patients to...

Has the shape of the human brain changed over time?

[From the New Scientist] An analysis of fossils suggests changes in the shape of the brain case during human evolution were linked to alterations in the face, rather than changes in the brain itself Amazing: The shape of human brain has barely changed in past 160,000...

Is Wordle really brain training?

Do you play Wordle? (An addictive word game popular with New Zealanders.) The big question is: Do puzzles or “brain training” games work?   Along with many of its other tips, Dementia UK emphasises that “taking part in hobbies, learning a new...

Struggling to Recognize Different Racial Faces?

Cognitive psychologists at the University of Exeter believe they have discovered the answer! Decades of debate since the 1960s resulted in social scientists taking the view that people, particularly those with more prejudiced racial attitudes, are less motivated to...

Which memory training works best as we age?

It depends, a new study from the University of Michigan suggests. But your fourth-grade  mathematics teacher may have been onto something with that phrase to help you remember how to work out a complicated problem: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.   Do you...

Taking the Driver Test with your Doctor.

‘What has drawing a clock and remembering an address got to do with actual driving on the road?’ This is a question I was asked at a recent 60s-Up presentation. And it’s a good question! One of the things I do at my Brainfit® classes is teach people like...

Playing a duet? What your brain needs to do.

Making music together is a unique challenge: Not only must a musician plan and execute the sounds made by their own instrument, but they have to coordinate their actions with those of others. This is an extraordinary accomplishment on the part of the brain, one that...

How to Write your Life Story.

Have you ever considered putting pen to paper? (Or fingers to keyboard?) There are few better ways to activate your brain connections than writing your life story or memoir. A memoir maps an aspect of your journey, turning it into a written narrative of a moment in...