NEW STUDY: MUSIC TRAINING FOSTERS EMOTIONAL, BEHAVIORAL BENEFITS IN CHILDREN

Those hours of practice, practice, practice on a musical instrument are helping children in many ways beyond musical prowess, according to research results reported recently.

The study by the College of Medicine at the University of Vermont found that learning to play a musical instrument can help children grow emotionally and behaviorally, as well as improve motor skills and attention.

Researchers reviewed brain scans of more than 200 children, aged 6 to 18, and found an association between playing a musical instrument and "motor planning and coordination, visuospatial ability, and emotion and impulse regulation."

The research was reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

FUNNY TEST RESPONSES

Some test-takers see the world in ways that others might not imagine.

For example - this actual test response* might be considered correct, but it's probably not what the teacher was looking for -

Question - "What ended in 1896?"

Answer - "1895"

And then there's this one -

Q - "Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?"

A - "On the bottom."

And this one -

Q - "To change centimeters to meters, you __?__."

A - "Take out centi"

Here's hoping we can keep our sense of humor this year in every field connected to intelligence, including education.

(*Appeared on "Dose". To see more test answers like this, click here )

(To browse Dr. Droge's book, GETTING SMARTER FASTER, CLICK HERE.

GETTING SMARTER FASTER

GETTING SMARTER FASTER
Smart Tools And Tips To Sharpen The Mind And Increase Knowledge Quickly
CLICK HERE

GETTING SMARTER WITH GOOGLE DEFINITIONS

Have you ever wanted to know a definition but didn’t have a dictionary handy? 

Next time, just go to Google and in the search box enter “define” and then the word you want defined.  Google will give you not only the definition, but also the pronunciation, the part of speech, synonyms, word origin, and translation to other languages.

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For information about Smart Tools and Tips in Reading, Writing, Memory, Vocabulary, Spelling, Notes, and English Usage, see Dr. Droge’s book, BRIGHTEN UP.  CLICK HERE  

BRIGHTEN UP - 'Tis the Season...

'Tis the season to be giving the gift of ...

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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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Another way to get smarter - BRIGHTEN UP: Smart Tools To Excel In Reading, Writing, Memory, Vocabulary, Spelling, Notes, And English Usage  Click Here

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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For ways to improve memory, see Dr. Droge’s helpful book, BRIGHTEN UP CLICK HERE