The Human Brain. A guest post by Cynthia Ball.

     This week I enjoyed the presentation from our quest speaker, Professor Jackson, who did an excellent job of explaining various aspects of the brain that relate to neuroscience and cognition. It was the first time that learning about parts of the brain was not boring, but rather quite interesting. He explained various parts of the brain and their functions as relating to various defects in the physiology of the brain.

     What intrigued me most, and inspired me to write this, was the last section about “Myth Busting the Brain.” How mortifying!  I was one who believed in all of them, so naturally I was beside myself.  I thought, how was I now going to justify those beliefs to myself now? The left brain/ right brain theory was the first to baffle my mind. When he explained where the myth began, I was able to readily understand that it is the whole brain that is used and that either side may be more activated at various times.

     Another myth was one regarding how “puzzles boost brains.”  An example of such being the website Luminosity, as it claims to help you “reclaim your brain.” This also took me by surprise. I recently considered investing in the website and actually participated in one of their trials. The program’s intention was to have us believe that one’s cognitive skills would be greatly improved by using their website and playing their mind games. No doubt, as explained by Professor Jackson, the action of practicing these puzzles is the means for doing better at them as time progresses – but does not have an actual effect on your cognitive function or the “strength” of your brain.

     A similar program that I indulged in with my daughter during my pregnancy and after she was born and preached to other parents about is the Baby Einstein series of tapes and DVDs. They alleged their ability to greatly improve children’s cognitive development. It’s even been stated that by playing Mozart or any classical music to developing fetuses that they would get a head start on better cognitive skills.  The idea that listening to classical music can increase your brainpower has become so popular that it's been dubbed "the Mozart effect." I was one of those parents who actually fell for this and took part in it. How silly do I feel now? This particular myth started in the 1930’s when an ear, nose, and throat specialist had suggested that people with auditory disorders could have improved speech by listening to Mozart. Then in 1990, a study had been done regarding IQ tests in which it was suggested that listening to Mozart prior to taking the test resulted in higher test scores. Hence, “the Mozart effect” was born. (http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/10-brain-myths.htm#page=2)

     The world of commercialism has and continues to apparently dupe a large majority of people into believing such myths to sell products. I recently came across an article entitled, “Age-Proof Your Brain” in Healthy Living Magazine. This article goes on to state, “So-called senior moments can be unsettling and frustrating, but we tend to accept them as a non-negotiable result of aging. In fact, researchers now believe that we don’t have to just sit back and let our gray matter fizzle over time.” Gray matter was something that Professor Jackson had also discussed with us in his presentation, so I thought this was quite interesting to now be reading this article. The article further claims, “New imaging technologies are revealing that the brain is far more elastic than we believe.” It suggests that through the use of “Brain Trainers” and Mind Games such as Sudoku, Rubik’s Cubes, and Crossword Puzzles, the brain is more likely to have neuroplacticity, according to researchers, and that will make the brain more resistant to disease because these games work areas of the brain responsible for memory in the hippocampus and for language in the left temporal lobe. This information was given by a Dr. Hall who also says, “They [the games] also encourage different parts of the brain to work together.”

     So, what are we all supposed to believe after a pitch like that? As Professor Jackson explained, those behind such myths claim as fact that they are “built on proven neuroscience,” yet it now makes more sense to me that it is more likely a result of practicing these so called mind games over and over again (Practice Effects) as stated previously. And also according to Professor Jackson, we all know that things are showed and demonstrated, not proven, and it’s about “science not magic.”