GETTING SMARTER WITH GOOGLE TRENDS

Google has many tools, some more commonly known and used than others.  Each in its own way can help us to get smarter.

One of Google’s tools that can keep us informed about current events and let us stay on top of popular trends is called – not surprisingly – "Google Trends" .  This tool permits us to research and analyze topics.  For example, it can tell us what subjects are being searched on Google and where the searchers are. A graph will show the level of “interest over time” in a subject over a designated period of time.  In addition, it will list “related searches” and variations of “queries”.

For example, enter “Cleveland Cavaliers” in the search box at “Trends” and see a graph that shows that the level of interest in the basketball team since 2005 has fluctuated, with peaks in May 2009 and July 2014, no doubt due to announcements concerning its star, LeBron James.  See also that the regional interest was highest in the United States, followed by the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Canada. Related searches were focused on the “city of Cleveland” and on “LeBron James”, and the most queries were for “cavaliers”, followed by “cavs”, “cleveland” and “cavaliers cleveland”.

Another example could be "stock market".  Researchers would find a graph indicating a spike in interest in the last quarter of 2008 - not surprising due to the economic crash that began then.  What might be surprising, however, is that generally the highest level of regional interest in the stock market is not in the United States.  In fact, the U.S. is third, behind Myanmar (Burma) and India.

Explore.  As it says on the site when the cursor clicks into the search box - "Look up search interest in any topic".

Within Google Trends there are layers of research and analysis tools.  “Hot Searches” will tell about the most popular topics of the day.  “Top Charts” will permit deeper looks by breaking broad topics into smaller sets.  “Explore” will help to compare search topics across various social media, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

Next time there is a topic that gets your attention (now?), use Google Trends and see what you learn.

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NEW STUDY SAYS CHOCOLATE IMPROVES MEMORY

The results of a study published in the online journal Nature Neuroscience point to a significant improvement in memory for test subjects who consumed ample amounts of chocolate. 

For three months, healthy subjects aged 50 to 69 drank a chocolate mix with different levels of antioxidants (cocoa flavanols).  Those who drank a high level mix scored higher in memory tests than those who drank a low level mix. 

Brain scans were used in the research.

According to the study’s principal author, Dr. Scott A. Small, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center, the subjects who improved in memory scored in ranges normally associated with test-takers considerably younger, even as much as 30 years.

Scientists posit that memory improvement like this comes from an increase in blood flow or neuronal connections in the brain.

Though an unusually large amount of chocolate would be needed to duplicate the conditions of the study in the average life, researchers are nevertheless encouraged by the results.

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