Matt Killingsworth, Track Your Happiness, and the Wandering Mind

Matt Killingsworth wondered if staying in the present was important to being happy, so created Track Your Happiness to gather data to try to answer that question. As it turns out, a wandering mind is more likely to be unhappy. Just another reason to meditate!

Amy Cuddy On "Power Posing"

Amy Cuddy discusses the differences in high-power and low-power posing, how it affects confidence, and how it can change the levels of testosterone and cortisol in the brain.

iPad app measures brainwaves to see if couples are a good fit

The Tokyo Game Show had one company that showed off an iPad application that measures the brainwaves of a couple to see if they are a good fit.  This short video clip does not go into any detail about what brainwave measurements are taking place.  I wonder if it might be trying to see how similar the brainwaves are, as I have heard that couples can have their brainwaves synchronize, though I question how detailed the instrument for measuring brainwaves that they are using can get.  I wouldn't be surprised if instead they are measuring the part(s) of the brain that are responsible for things such as attraction.  Couldn't that just be verbalized instead?

Self-control, Cravings, and the Brain

Researchers have found that self-control is managed by the part of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.  They've also found that exerting a lot of self-control at one time will make it harder to exert self-conrol in the short term.  The article from Men's Health also gives some tips for using self-control resources more wisely.

Mapping the Mindful Brain

Episode 259 of the Buddhist Geeks podcast interviews Dr. Judson Brewer about his work of studying the effects of meditation on the brain.  The podcast also discusses meditators using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to get immediate feedback on their practice.  There's also discussion on using this to test the various products out there to see how effective they are.

The One Thing Holding You Back

For a while, I have felt that something was missing from the Witness method that Bill Harris of Holosync mentions.  Just watch the emotions, but there never seemed to be a finishing point to that.  I listened to a Sounds True podcast with Raphael Cushnir, the author of "The One Thing Holding You Back", was intrigued, and found that my local library had the book.

Raphael Cushnir touches on the witness with "Yeah, But" excuse number six, mentioning that emotions need more than witnessing and that they need to be felt and given complete awareness.  This actually seems to match what I recently read in Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" and feels more like the shadow work I've heard mentioned in various places.

Raphael Cushnir talks about emotional connection and the 2 x 2 method for accomplishing that and gives tips, examples, and stories of working with it.  It is something I am going to experiment to see what happens, but it does feel right to me.  I would definitely recommend checking his book out.

Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do

Joshua Foer describes an interesting technique for memorizing things.  The video kept my attention through out.  A good presentation.

Brain Scans Predict Math Errors

A University of Arizona doctoral student finds that an EEG brain scan can predict, with 80% accuracy, when SAT math students will make a mistake within 20 seconds of beginning the problem.

The student is looking at brain wave data, but the article does not go into details about which brain waves he is looking at or what kind of patterns predict the mistake.  I'm guessing that the beta wave is involved, but is the indicator the beta wave levels being different between the right and left sides of the brain?  Or is it a strengthening of one of the other brain wave types?

The Brain on Love

A New York Times opinion on the effects of love and relationships on the brain.

Where There's A Will

Episode 135 of Dr. Kiki's Science Hour discusses the science of will power, including how it relates to the brain and some discussion on how meditation affects the brain.

Dr. Jeffrey Thompson talks about brainwave entrainment

The Insights at the Edge podcast has an interview with Dr. Jeffrey Thompson on brainwave entrainment - a good episode if you are curious about brainwave entrainment or if you just like hearing more about it.

Ariel Garten - Redefining Consciousness

Ariel Garten discusses the meshing of brainwaves, computers, and games, explaining how they might be used to better "know thyself."  One interesting idea is the use of gaming to help children with attention deficit disorder - a game that is controlled based on the brainwaves of the player, giving awards for keeping focused.  The video shows a game for the iPad that is controlled with a brainwave reader.  It's interesting to see other potential games like this, as the only other game I can think of that came close to this was the Journey to Wild Divine.

Lucid dreaming can be used as a tool for learning

Recent research from Yale University suggests that lucid dreaming can be used as a tool for dreaming.

I've had two or three lucid dreams myself, but it is not something I can easily have happen on demand.  When it has happened, learning something is not the first thing on my mind, but enjoying the experience is.  It's an amazing feeling to have control over a dream but to also have experience the sense of touch as well.