Out of Sync and Synchronized Brains

Interesting FYI post at the Eide Neurolearning Blog re: the "Out of Sync Brain." Readers of the IQ Brain Clock will notice a similarity to my hypotheses re: the importance of mental/interval timing in synchronizing various parts/networks of the brain for effective cognitive performance (check out my IQ Keynote address PPT show from this past year)


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, brain, synchrony, mental timing, interval timing, brain clock, IQ Brain Clock, mental time-keeping

Highlights of Sharp Brains brain fitness software report

More on the Sharp Brains first report on the status of the brain fitness software market...a list of highlights over at the Brain Injury News and Information Blog.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, aging, neuropsychology, neuroscience, brain fitness, neurotechnology, Sharp Brains

Music helps with stroke recovery

Interesting post at the BPS Research Digest re: study suggesting that listening to music may help people recover better from strokes.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, nueropsychology, neuroscience, brain injury, stroke, rehabilitation, music therapy

State of the Brain Fitness Software Market - Sharp Brains 2008 report.

As I've mentioned previously, and also at IQ's Corner (click here), the Raph Nader of the emerging field of brain fitness software is Sharp Brains. I love their blog so much that I provide a feed of all their topic posts on the right-hand side of my IQ Brain Clock blog.

Sharp Brains just released their first "State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008" report. I would love to read it, but @ $495 the price is too step for me.

Kudos to the folks at Sharp Brains.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neurotechnology, brain fitness, Sharp Brains

Time to think. When to think. Our 24 hour clock

[Double click on image to enlarge]

When do you think the best...and why? I started skimming the article below and quickly realized that it was more than I wanted to know about the circadian pacemaker. Maybe I was trying to read it at a time when my cognitive processes where not functioning at their optimal level (due to my circadian clock).

As noted in prior posts, research has suggested that human beings have multiple timing systems that are active over more than 10 orders of magnitude. At the top is the 24 hour circadian pacemaker/oscillator system, a level far removed from the focus of IQ's Brain Clock on interval and milisecond timing systems. However, the title of this article grabbed my attention...which quickly wanned....zzzzzzzzzzzzz....I need a nap (this is not a reflection on the scholarly merits of the article...just my capacity to sustain interest, arousal, motivation, etc. to read the digest it.)

However, I did find a very nice conceptual figure (and I love conceptual model figures) the authors used to organize their literature review re: cognitive functions impacted by our circadian rhythms. The figure is above (double click to enlarge).

I decided to make this article available to readers in hopes that someone may take the time to read it and summarize it in layman's terms. If anyone would like to make a guest post re: this article, let me know via the "comment" feature. Maybe my fellow blogger at "A blog around the clock" might eventually post something regarding this article (if he has not already).

• Schmidt, C. & Collette, F. (2007). A time to think: Circadian rhythms in human cognition. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 2007, 24(7),755–789 (click here)

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, circadian, brain clock, interval timing, sleep, cognitive performance

Brain fintess: Posit Science Brain Fitness Impact study video

I just ran across a video on You Tube reporting on the Posit Science Brain Fitness Impact study with adults 65+ years of age. Check it out. The brain fitness movement continues to accelerate.



Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, brain fitness, aging, Posit Science, IMPACT study, neurotechnology

Brain Blogging Blog Carnival # 28

The 28th edition of the Brain Blogging Carnival is now available via the GNIF blog.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, brain, brain blogging, brain carnival, mind blogosphere

Encephalon #40 blog carnival

Encephalon # 40 blog carnival is now available.


Technorati Tags: psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, Encephalon, blog carnival, neurotechnology

Research Byte: Wearden's "slowing down the brain clock" article published

A previous post listed an "in press" article (by Wearden) on slowing down the brain clock. The article is now officially published (click here to view)

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuroscience, neuropsychology, brain clock, temporal processing, IQ brain clock

Executive function primer

In my posts and presentations, I've hypothesized that executive functions, which are generally believed to be seated in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, play a pivotal role in mental/interval temporal processing (the brain clock). If you want to read a decent primer on EF and the prefrontal cortext, check out Deric Bownd's Mindblog.

Thanks to Mind Hacks for the tip...and leading me to discovering this new blog...which I will add to my blog roll.




Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, school psychology, IQ brain clock, mental timing, interval timing, executive function, prefrontal cortex

Alan Burdick on the human brain clock: The mind in overdrive

As I continue to traverse the various disciplines studying various aspects of temporal processing or mental timing, I often get confused and drown in the conceptual, empirical and theoretical depth of the empirical articles from such a diverse array of disciplines. Trying to put together an understandable explanation of the human brain clock is difficult....I often doubt my abilities to distill this information. I often wonder if my brain clock speed is insufficient to understand this complex and rich array of diverse research.

I find hope when I run across professional writers who have attempted to understand and explain these phenomena to the general public. Hope was renewed the other day when I ran across a brief article (The mind in overdrive: Can we increase productivity by revving up the neural pacemakers in the brain?) in Discover magazine by the well-known NY free-lance author, Alan Burdick, where he attempted to tackle the difficult issue of understanding the human brain clock. Kudos to Burdick for working on bringing this knowledge to the awareness of the general public. I hope that Burdick continues to work on translating the complex literature of mental timing for general consumption. I wish I had such skills and could write similar articles, book chapters, or books about this important topic.

His 2006 Discover publication can be found by clicking here. I'm going to add a link to his web page to the IQ Brain Clock blog roll.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuroscience, neuropsychology, mental timing, brain clock, temporal processing, Discover Magazine, Alan Burdick

Random tidbits from the mind blogosphere 2-20-08

Check out the following from the mind blogosphere

• Music, Your Brain and Attention at the Eide Neurolearning blog
• Being married to my lovely auburn-head wife (a natural red-head), I find the continued speculation on the possible extinction of red-headed humans of interest. Thanks to Brain Blogger for the post.
  
• Thanks to Mind Hack for the post regarding five interesting auditory illusions.
• Check out an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education dealing with research on SES and brain development. Thanks to Neuroethics and Law Blog for the tip.

Technorati Tags: psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, music, attention, red-heads, Ga, auditory processing, SES

Brain fitness overview: US News and Word Report

I just learned that the most recent issue of U.S. News and World Report is devoted to brain fitness. It is an excellent overview of the status of what we know and don't know. Information can be found by clicking here.

Technorati Tags: brain fitness, intelligence, IQ, aging, developmental, psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology

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On the road again - brief blogging break

My posting has been slowing down the past few weeks as I've been busy preparing for the NASP convention in New Orleans this week. Blog posts will likely be zero for the next week. I shall return.

Brain fitness merger info - preventing car crashes

Check out Posit Science press release regarding its acquisition of Visual Awareness, Inc., the company that developed the UFOV assessment and cognitive speed of processing programs.

The brain fitness movement is here and growing.


Technorati Tags: psychology, neuropsychology, neurotechnology, brain fitness, Posit Science, UFOV, processing speed, Gs

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Misc - martial arts program for children with epilepsy

I found the post (at the GNIF Brain Blogger) re: the positive effects of a martial arts intervention program for children with Epilepsy very interesting.


Technorati Tags: psychology, intervention, marital arts, Beyond IQ, self-concept, self-efficacy, motivation, epilepsy, psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, special education

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"Tools of the mind" executive function training

A very interesting post at the Developing Intelligence blog re: research reports that the "Tools of the Mind" cognitive intervention can produce significant gains in executive function in children.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, education, neuropsychology, neuroscience, executive function, Gf, fluid intelligence, Vgostsky, cognition, intelligence

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Brain injury - perseveration

An example of brain injury related perseveration....not really a laughing matter. Check out the Brain Injury blog for up-to-date information related to BI. It is an excellent blog

Impulsivity and time perception

An interesting "in press" article (Trends in Cognitive Sciences; Willmann & Paulus) that links the pacemaker accumulator model (PAM) of mental time-keeping and impulsivity and decision making.

The bottom line is that individuals that focus more attentional resources on time ("watching the clock") and/or who may be in increased arousal states (due to emotional distress), experience time differently. Such individuals overestimate time durations, and thus have a harder time waiting for rewards or delaying gratification needs. According to the author's modification of the predominant PAM model (see addition of "mood states" oval in figure above), the pacemaker of impulsive individuals may run at a higher clock speed, due to increased arousal or attention.

Interesting hypothesis and expansion of the PAM.

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Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, pacemaker accumulator, IQ Brain Clock, brain clock, time perception, temporal processing, impulsivity, ADHD

Tech tidbit - 2007 and software (MIT Tech Review)

Interesting post from the MIT Tech Review regarding their perception of significant developments in software during the past year (2007)

Technorati Tags: technology, internet, software, web, psychology

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BPR3 - Blogging about Peer-Reviewed Research Reporting

I just stumbled across BPR3 (Bloggers for Peer-Reviewed Research Reporting). GREAT idea. As readers of my blog know, the majority of my posts deal with comments about published journal articles.

Count me in. I'm going to try to get into the habit of using the BPR3 icon in such posts...hopefully their system will do what it says it will.

Kudos to the BPR3 concept.

Mental timing and dyslexia - another study

Another article (Jamkowski & Rusiak, 2008; Psychological Research journal) investigating the role of temporal processing in reading and reading disabilities (click here for prior related posts). The literature review (intro) is worth a read just to get a quick overview of the potential role of temporal processing in a number of clinical disorders and human cognitive functioning.



Abstract (italics added by the Time Doc blog dictator)

• Hari et al. (Brain 174:1373–1380, 2001) demonstrated that dyslexics showed a sluggish attention capture in both visual hemiWelds. Additionally, they indicated a left–right asymmetry in the perception of temporal order of two visual stimuli (they performed worse than controls only if the stimulus in the left hemiWeld preceded that in right hemiWeld). They suggested that a left-sided minineglect is associated with dyslexia. We hypothesized that if a kind of neglect syndrome is responsible for the asymmetry they found, dyslexics should not only show a left–right asymmetry in temporal order judgment of two laterally presented stimuli but also perform equally well as controls when the stimuli are vertically aligned. Our results indicated that in both tasks dyslexics performed generally worse than normal readers. The results suggest that dyslexics suffer from a more general problem of order discrimination.

Technorati Tags: psychology, education, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, temporal processing, brain clock, reading, dyslexia, learning disabiilities, reading disability, intelligence, IQ, brain clock, mental time keeping

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IQ's Corner random tidbits from mind blogosphere 12-21-07

Check out my semi-consistent "random tidbits from the mind blogosphere" over at my sister blog...IQ's Corner.

The important brain clock strikes again: RAS training and Parkinsons

I recently made a post about the impact or RAS (Rhtymic Auditory Stimulaltion) on improved gait (check out this link for a great animation of walking gait) performance in patients with CP. Someone just sent me a link to a boat-load of similar article abstracts, most dealing with the positive benefits of RAS with individuals with Parkinson's disease. The references and abstracts can be found by clicking here.

As I've blogged before, there is a considerable body of evidence linking temporal processing (mediated by the internal brain clock) and Parkinson's disease. RAS is clearly dealing with underlying temporal processing/brain clock mechanisms.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, rehabilitation, neuropsychology, neuroscience, RAS, rhythmicity, rhythm, gait, Parkinsons, brain clock, mental time keeping, temporal processing

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Improved brain clock improves student performance: Media coverage

Today's edition of the Daytona Beach News-Journal includes an interesting report on a private schools use of a synchronized metronome tapping (SMT) intervention (viz., Interactive Metronome) with elementary school-age children. The article speaks for itself, with the staff reporting positive improvement in behavior and academics for students using the IM method.

As you will notice, myself, and my friend/colleague (Dr. Gordon Taub) were interviewed for the article. We were interviewed as the reporter read our recent journal publication in Psychology in the Schools, an article that reported positive reading improvement after the IM intervention.

This is one of my handful of experiences in being interviewed by a reporter. After spending at least one hour on the phone with the reporter, and sharing all kinds of information, it is interesting to see what comments I (we) made the survived the final cut. I'm pleased that the information attributed to Dr. Taub and I was accurate.

Be sure to watch the video that accompanies the article...it will give you a good feel for the basics of the IM (SMT-based) intervention.

As I've reported before, my involvement in the IM study with Dr. Taub was the impetus for my recent interest in temporal processing, mental/interval time-keeping, and the concept of an internal brain clock. It is why I started the IQ Brain Clock blog.

[See conflict of interest disclosure statement re: my role as a Scientific Advisor to IM]

Just in case this on-line article is ever pulled from the net, I've made a pdf copy available for viewing.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, brain clock, Interactive Metronome, mental time keeping, temporal processing

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Can brain games prevent Alzheimer's?

The GNIF Brain Blogger has made an interesting pro/con post on the potential benefits of the brain fitness "brain game" (neurotechnology) market.

If readers want more information, I recommending visiting what I think is the best web resource on the whole brain game/fitness market/research. Check out one of my favorite blogs at Sharp Brains.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, school psychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, brain fitness, brain games, Alzheimers, aging

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More on basal ganglia

The basal ganglia have been implicated to play a major role in the internal (temporal processing) brain clock. The Mouse Trap just had a nice post that explains more about the bg.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, basal ganglia

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Brain Blogging blog carnival # 23

Brain Blogging blog carnival #23 is up.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, brain carnival, brain blogging

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Brain clock misc.--nice overview of select concepts

• Temporal processing
• Frontal-striatal circuits
• Scalar Timing Theory
• Internal Pacemaker.
• Interval timing and Parkinson's Disease
• Dopamine

What do these terms have in common? They have all been mentioned, at one time or another, in my blog posts and brain clock related presentations for being involved and/or related to the idea of a central temporal processing internal brain clock (check out term index for this blog for these terms and links to prior posts). Also, they are all mentioned in a very nice literature review in an article dealing with mental timing and Parkinson's Disease. Although the guts of the article was not that important to my current activities, I found the introduction to this article to be a very nice overview of some of the central constructs/concepts in the brain clock literature. Readers might want to check out this article for the same reason. Those with a specific interest in Parkinson's and temporal processing may find the entire article of great interest. The article is by Smith et al. (2007) and was in a recent issue of Brain and Cognition.

Technorati Tags: psychololgy, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, Parkinsons, brain clock, dopamine, scalar timing theory, pacemaker model, temporal processing, temporal g

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Controlled attention, working memory and brain clock

Central to my thinking regarding the temporal brain clock is the notion of working memory. A number of models of working memory have been proposed, with the first and most prominent being the working memory (WM) model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974).

Myself....I've been very interested in the controlled executive attention (CEA) model of WM of Engle, Kane, and Conway. For readers who have kept up with this blog, and/or those who have heard me present on the IQ Brain Clock (see on-line viewable PPT slide section of this blog page), it is clear that I believe that there is a strong link between the brain clock's temporal processor and the construct of working memory....esp. the shared link in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the central role that CEA plays in the brain clock, working memory, and temporal processing based timing interventions.

Today I skimmed a very nice and concise explanation/definition of the CEA model of WM. The following was in the introduction of an article by Colflesh and Conway (2007) Psychonomic Bulletin and Review:

• According to the CEA model of WM "there is a domain-general component of WM responsible for guiding attention as well as domain-specific components responsible for maintenance of task-relevant information. Individuals who score high on tests of working memory capacity (WMC) therefore may do so because of greater controlled attention and/or because of better use of domain-specific skills and strategies to aid maintenance. Engle and colleagues have argued that the domain-general controlled attention ability is related to both higher-level cognition, such as fluid intelligence, reading comprehension, and problem solving, and lower level cognition, such as performance of simple visual and auditory attention tasks that require cognitive control."

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, mental timing, interval timing, brain clock, temporal processing, Gsm, working memory, attention, executive function

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