How do you tell if the brain is working? What is it doing and how do you measure it? The head gear on the right that looks like it's from a work of science fiction measures electrical activity in the brain. These electrical waves are called brain waves.
When neurons send a signal they use electrical currents to pass messages to other nearby neurons. Just one or two neurons signaling is too small a change to be noticed. When a huge group of neurons signal at once, however, they can be recorded and measured with the help of special tools.
Measuring electrical activity in the brain is usually done with electrodes. Electrodes are devices able to record electrical changes over time. These are attached to the surface of the skin in specific places around the head. Recordings of brain wave activity look like a series of waves. These are called electroencephalograms, or EEGs for short.
Measuring activity in the brain can be a very useful tool in scientific studies. They can also be used to help identify sleeping disorders and other medical conditions relating to the brain.
The first human electroencephalogram, recorded in 1924 by Hans Berger.
Computer animation credit: BodyParts3D, Copyright© 2010 The Database Center for Life Science licensed under CC Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan.
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Brett Szymik. (2011, May 09). What's Your Brain Doing?. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved August 28, 2024 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/brain-regions
Brett Szymik. "What's Your Brain Doing?". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 09 May, 2011. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/brain-regions
Brett Szymik. "What's Your Brain Doing?". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 09 May 2011. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 28 Aug 2024. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/brain-regions
Computer animation image of the human brain. The colors show the frontal lobe (red), parietal lobe (orange), temporal lobe (green), and occipital lobe (yellow).
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January 25, 2008
New research indicates what happens in the brain when we're faced with a dilemma
By Nikhil Swaminathan
Aha! Eureka! Bingo! "By George, I think she's got it!" Everyone knows what it's like to finally figure out a seemingly impossible problem. But what on Earth is happening in the brain while we're driving toward mental pay dirt ? Researchers eager to find out have long been on the hunt, knowing that such information could one day provide priceless clues in uncovering and fixing faulty neural systems believed to be behind some mental illnesses and learning disabilities.
Researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London report in the journal PLoS ONE that they monitored action in the brains of 21 volunteers with electroencephalography (EEG) as they tackled verbal problems in an attempt to uncover what goes through the mind—literally—in order to observe what happens in the brain during an "aha!" moment of problem solving.
"This insight is at the core of human intelligence … this is a key cognitive function that the human can boast to have," says Joydeep Bhattacharya, an assistant professor in Goldsmiths's psychology department. "We're interested [in finding out] whether—there is a sudden change that takes place or something that changes gradually [that] we're not consciously aware of," he says. The researchers believed they could pin down brain signals that would enable them to predict whether a person could solve a particular problem or not.
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In many cases, the subjects hit a wall, or what researchers refer to as a "mental impasse." If the participants arrived at this point, they could press a button for a clue to help them untangle a problem. Bhattacharya says blocks correlated with strong gamma rhythms (a pattern of brain wave activity associated with selective attention) in the parietal cortex, a region in the upper rear of the brain that has been implicated in integrating information coming from the senses. The research team noticed an interesting phenomenon taking place in the brains of participants given hints: The clues were less likely to help if subjects had an especially high gamma rhythm pattern. The reason, Bhattacharya speculates, is that these participants were, in essence, locked into an inflexible way of thinking and less able to free their minds, and thereby unable to restructure the problem before them.
"If there's excessive attention, it somehow creates mental fixation," he notes. "Your brain is not in a receptive condition."
At the end of each trial, subjects reported whether or not they had a strong "Aha!" moment. Interestingly, researchers found that subjects who were aware that they had found a new way to tackle the problem (and so, had consciously restructured their thinking) were less likely to feel as if they'd had eureka moment compared to more clueless candidates.
"People experience the "Aha!" feeling when they are not consciously monitoring what they are thinking," Bhattacharya says, adding that the sentiment is more of an emotional experience he likens to relief. "If you're applying your conscious brain information processing ability, then you're alpha." (Alpha brain rhythms are associated with a relaxed and open mind; volunteers who unwittingly solved problems showed more robust alpha rhythms than those who knowingly adjusted their thinking to come up with the answer.)
He says the findings indicate that it's better to tackle problems with an open mind than by concentrating too hard on them. In the future, Bhattacharya says, his team will attempt to predict in real-time whether a stumped subject will be able to solve a vexing problem and, also, whether they can manipulate brain rhythms to aid in finding a solution.
The second probe into problem-solving focused on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region in the front of the brain tied to functions such as decision making, conflict monitoring and reward feedback. A team at the University of Lyon's Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute in Bron, France reports in Neuron that it verified that the ACC helps detect errors during problem solving (as previously discovered), but also that it does so by acting more as a general guide, monitoring and scoring the steps involved in problem solving, pointing out miscalculations as well as success.
The team discovered this by recording electrical activity in the brains of two male rhesus monkeys as they tried to determine which targets on a screen would result in a tasty drink of juice. "When you're trying to solve a problem, you need to search; when you discover the solution, you need to stop searching," says study co-author Emmanuel Procyk, coordinator of the Institute's Department of Integrative Neurobiology. "We need brain areas to do that."
He says that researchers observed increased neuronal activity in the animals' ACCs when they began searching. When the monkeys hit the jackpot, there was still heightened activity in the ACC (though only a selective population of nerve cells remained hopped up), indicating that the region is responsible for more than simply alerting the rest of the brain when errors are made. Once the monkeys got the hang of it—and routinely pressed the correct target—ACC activity slowed.
"What we think based on this experiment and other experiments," Procyk says, "is that this structure is very important in valuing things." It essentially scores each of the monkey's behaviors as successful or not successful. "It is an area," he adds, "that will help to decide when to shift from the functioning that goes on when [the brain is] learning to when the learning [is] done."
Procyk says that if this system is compromised, it could have implications for issues such as drug dependency. If the ACC is functioning abnormally, he says, it could overvalue drugs, leading to addiction. (Other studies have shown that an impaired cingulate cortex can result in maladaptive social behavior and disrupted cognitive abilities.)
Alas, the ultimate "Aha!" moment for researchers probing problem solving is likely is far off, but at least the latest research may help them avoid an impasse.
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By Benedict Carey
Solving a hairy math problem might send a shudder of exultation along your spinal cord. But scientists have historically struggled to deconstruct the exact mental alchemy that occurs when the brain successfully leaps the gap from “Say what?” to “Aha!”
Now, using an innovative combination of brain-imaging analyses, researchers have captured four fleeting stages of creative thinking in math. In a paper published in Psychological Science, a team led by John R. Anderson, a professor of psychology and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, demonstrated a method for reconstructing how the brain moves from understanding a problem to solving it, including the time the brain spends in each stage.
The imaging analysis found four stages in all: encoding (downloading), planning (strategizing), solving (performing the math), and responding (typing out an answer).
“I’m very happy with the way the study worked out, and I think this precision is about the limit of what we can do” with the brain imaging tools available, said Dr. Anderson, who wrote the report with Aryn A. Pyke and Jon M. Fincham, both also at Carnegie Mellon.
To capture these quicksilver mental operations, the team first taught 80 men and women how to interpret a set of math symbols and equations they had not seen before. The underlying math itself wasn’t difficult, mostly addition and subtraction, but manipulating the newly learned symbols required some thinking. The research team could vary the problems to burden specific stages of the thinking process — some were hard to encode, for instance, while others extended the length of the planning stage.
The scientists used two techniques of M.R.I. data analysis to sort through what the participants’ brains were doing. One technique tracked the neural firing patterns during the solving of each problem; the other identified significant shifts from one kind of mental state to another. The subjects solved 88 problems each, and the research team analyzed the imaging data from those solved successfully.
The analysis found four separate stages that, depending on the problem, varied in length by a second or more. For instance, planning took up more time than the other stages when a clever workaround was required. The same stages are likely applicable to solving many creative problems, not just in math. But knowing how they play out in the brain should help in designing curriculums, especially in mathematics, the paper suggests.
“We didn’t know exactly what students were doing when they solved problems,” said Dr. Anderson, whose lab designs math instruction software. “Having a clearer understanding of that will help us develop better instruction; I think that’s the first place this work will have some impact.”
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The cerebrum, the largest part of the human brain, is associated with higher order functioning, including the control of voluntary behavior. Thinking, perceiving, planning, and understanding language all lie within the cerebrum’s control.
The top image shows the four main sections of the cerebral cortex: the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe, and the temporal lobe. Functions such as movement are controlled by the motor cortex, and the sensory cortex receives information on vision, hearing, speech, and other senses. The bottom image shows the location of the brain's major internal structures.
The cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres — the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. Bridging the two hemispheres is a bundle of fibers called the corpus callosum. The two hemispheres communicate with one another across the corpus callosum.
Covering the outermost layer of the cerebrum is a sheet of tissue called the cerebral cortex. Because of its gray color, the cerebral cortex is often referred to as gray matter. The wrinkled appearance of the human brain also can be attributed to characteristics of the cerebral cortex. More than two-thirds of this layer is folded into grooves. The grooves increase the brain’s surface area, allowing for inclusion of many more neurons.
The function of the cerebral cortex can be understood by dividing it somewhat arbitrarily into zones, much like the geographical arrangement of continents.
The frontal lobe is responsible for initiating and coordinating motor movements; higher cognitive skills, such as problem solving, thinking, planning, and organizing; and for many aspects of personality and emotional makeup.
The parietal lobe is involved with sensory processes, attention, and language. Damage to the right side of the parietal lobe can result in difficulty navigating spaces, even familiar ones. If the left side is injured, the ability to understand spoken and/or written language may be impaired.
The occipital lobe helps process visual information, including recognition of shapes and colors.
The temporal lobe helps process auditory information and integrate information from the other senses. Neuroscientists also believe that the temporal lobe has a role to play in short-term memory through its hippocampal formation, and in learned emotional responses through its amygdala.
All of these structures make up the forebrain. Other key parts of the forebrain include the basal ganglia, which are cerebral nuclei deep in the cerebral cortex; the thalamus; and the hypothalamus. The cerebral nuclei help coordinate muscle movements and reward useful behaviors; the thalamus passes most sensory information on to the cerebral cortex after helping to prioritize it; and the hypothalamus is the control center for appetites, defensive and reproductive behaviors, and sleep-wakefulness.
The midbrain consists of two pairs of small hills called colliculi. These collections of neurons play a critical role in visual and auditory reflexes and in relaying this type of information to the thalamus. The midbrain also has clusters of neurons that regulate activity in widespread parts of the central nervous system and are thought to be important for reward mechanisms and mood.
The hindbrain includes the pons and the medulla oblongata, which control respiration, heart rhythms, and blood glucose levels.
Another part of the hindbrain is the cerebellum which, like the cerebrum, also has two hemispheres. The cerebellum’s two hemispheres help control movement and cognitive processes that require precise timing, and also play an important role in Pavlovian learning.
The spinal cord is the extension of the brain through the vertebral column. It receives sensory information from all parts of the body below the head. It uses this information for reflex responses to pain, for example, and it also relays the sensory information to the brain and its cerebral cortex. In addition, the spinal cord generates nerve impulses in nerves that control the muscles and the viscera, both through reflex activities and through voluntary commands from the cerebrum.
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Summary: Using AI technology, researchers provide new insight into how the human brain connects individual episodic memories to help solve problems.
Source: Cell Press.
Humans have the ability to creatively combine their memories to solve problems and draw new insights, a process that depends on memories for specific events known as episodic memory. But although episodic memory has been extensively studied in the past, current theories do not easily explain how people can use their episodic memories to arrive at these novel insights.
Results from a team of neuroscientists and artificial intelligence researchers at DeepMind, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), publishing in the journal Neuron on September 19, provide a window into the way the human brain connects individual episodic memories to solve problems.
For example, imagine you see a woman driving a car on your street. The next day, you see a man driving the exact same car on your street. This might trigger the memory of the woman you saw the day before, and you might reason that the pair live together, given that they share a car.
The researchers propose a novel brain mechanism that would allow retrieved memories to trigger the retrieval of further, related memories in this way. This mechanism allows the retrieval of multiple linked memories, which then enable the brain to create new kinds of insights like these.
In common with standard theories of episodic memory, the authors posit that individual memories are stored as separate memory traces in a brain region called the hippocampus.
“Episodic memories can tell you whether you have met someone before, or where you parked your car,” says Raphael Koster (@raphael_koster), a researcher at DeepMind (@DeepMindAI). “The hippocampal system supports this type of memory, which is crucial for rapid learning.”
Unlike standard theories, the new theory explores a neglected anatomical connection that loops out of the hippocampus to the neighboring entorhinal cortex but then immediately passes back in. It is this recurrent connection, the researchers thought, that allows memories retrieved from the hippocampus to trigger the retrieval of further, related memories.
The researchers devised a way of testing this theory by taking high-resolution 7-Tesla functional MRI scans from 26 young men and women as they performed a task that required them to draw insights across separate events.
The volunteers were shown pairs of photographs: one of a face and one of an object or a place. Each individual object and place appeared in two separate photo pairs, each of which included a different face. This meant that every photo pair was linked with another pair through the shared object or place image.
In a second phase of the experiment, the researchers tested whether the participants could infer the indirect connection between these linked pairs of photos by showing one face and asking the participants to choose between two other faces. One of the choices–the correct one–had been paired with the same object or place image, and one had not.
The researchers guessed that the presented face would trigger the retrieval of the paired object or place and thus spark brain activity that would pass out of the hippocampus into the entorhinal cortex. Crucially, the researchers also expected to see evidence that this activity would then pass back into the hippocampus to trigger the retrieval of the correct linked face.
“Using specialized techniques developed in our lab in Magdeburg, we were able to separate out the parts of the entorhinal cortex that provide the input to the hippocampus,” says Yi Chen, researcher at Otto von Guericke University. “This allowed us to precisely measure the patterns of activation in the hippocampus input and output separately.”
The researchers trained a computer algorithm to distinguish between activation for scenes and objects within these input and output regions. The algorithm was then applied when only faces were displayed on the screen. If the algorithm indicated the presence of scene or object information on these trials, it could only be driven by retrieved memories of the linked scene or object photos.
“Our data showed that when the hippocampus retrieves a memory, it doesn’t just pass it to the rest of the brain,” says DeepMind’s Dharshan Kumaran (@dharshsky). “Instead, it recirculates the activation back into the hippocampus, triggering the retrieval of other related memories.”
The researchers think of the algorithm’s results as a synthesis of new and old theories.
“The results could be thought of as the best of both worlds: you preserve the ability to remember individual experiences by keeping them separate, while at the same time allowing related memories to be combined on the fly at the point of retrieval,” says Kumaran. “This ability is useful for understanding how the different parts of a story fit together, for example–something not possible if you just retrieve a single memory.”
The authors believe that their results could help AI learn faster in the future.
“While there are many domains where AI is superior, humans still have an advantage when tasks depend on the flexible use of episodic memory,” says Martin Chadwick (@MartinJChadwick), another researcher at DeepMind. “If we can understand the mechanisms that allow people to do this, the hope is that we can replicate them within our AI systems, providing them with a much greater capacity for rapidly solving novel problems.”
Funding: This research was funded by DeepMind and the German Research foundation.
Source: Erin Kohnke – Cell Press Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com. Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain. Original Research: Open access research for “Big-Loop Recurrence within the Hippocampal System Supports Integration of Information across Episodes” by Raphael Koster, Martin J. Chadwick, Yi Chen, David Berron, Andrea Banino, Emrah Düzel, Demis Hassabis, and Dharshan Kumaran in Neuron . Published September 19 2018. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.08.009
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Cell Press”How the Brain Combines Memories to Solve Problems.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 19 September 2018. <https://neurosciencenews.com/memory-problem-solving-9891/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Cell Press(2018, September 19). How the Brain Combines Memories to Solve Problems. NeuroscienceNews . Retrieved September 19, 2018 from https://neurosciencenews.com/memory-problem-solving-9891/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Cell Press”How the Brain Combines Memories to Solve Problems.” https://neurosciencenews.com/memory-problem-solving-9891/ (accessed September 19, 2018).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Big-Loop Recurrence within the Hippocampal System Supports Integration of Information across Episodes
Recent evidence challenges the widely held view that the hippocampus is specialized for episodic memory, by demonstrating that it also underpins the integration of information across experiences. Contemporary computational theories propose that these two contrasting functions can be accomplished by big-loop recurrence, whereby the output of the system is recirculated back into the hippocampus. We use ultra-high-resolution fMRI to provide support for this hypothesis, by showing that retrieved information is presented as a new input on the superficial entorhinal cortex—driven by functional connectivity between the deep and superficial entorhinal layers. Further, the magnitude of this laminar connectivity correlated with inferential performance, demonstrating its importance for behavior. Our findings offer a novel perspective on information processing within the hippocampus and support a unifying framework in which the hippocampus captures higher-order structure across experiences, by creating a dynamic memory space from separate episodic codes for individual experiences.
Love to read about developments in the interests of all people. Wish that scientists took a firmer stance against the militarization of our lives.
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How much is 2 × 4? Sounds like an easy question, but have you ever thought about how you solve that problem? In this article you will learn about two different strategies that we use to solve arithmetic problems. You will also get to know the different brain areas—like the intraparietal sulcus—that work together when you use these different strategies. Which strategy and which brain regions you use changes over time as you get more familiar with arithmetic. This transition is especially visible in the way brain areas work and communicate with one another—some areas become more active, while others become less active. After reading this article, you will know more about the techniques we use to solve arithmetic problems and the brain areas needed to find the answers for your next math homework assignment.
Because math is one of the most important skills to master, understanding how arithmetic problems are solved can have a very big impact. Not only do you need math every day at school, but also as a grown-up. If you want to become a programmer, an engineer, or a scientist, you will deal with numbers on a daily basis. Because math is important in almost every job, people who are not good at math sometimes have a hard time finding a job. Some of them might even suffer from something called developmental dyscalculia . Therefore, understanding what happens in the brain when you calculate can be very helpful for kids who struggle with math. Understanding the reason for these difficulties enables teachers to structure their lessons in a way that allows children to learn more easily. And of course, just being curious about how things work is always reason enough to conduct an experiment!
To study arithmetic, children and adults are usually asked to solve arithmetic problems as fast and accurately as they can. The problems are usually presented on a computer screen, one after the other (see Figure 1 ). Once the participant provides an answer, the next problem appears. To study the different strategies that we use during arithmetic, scientists usually use a mix of different arithmetic operations of varying difficulty.
Using these methods, scientists found that arithmetic problems can be divided into two categories: small and large problems. Small problems are solved very quickly, and participants make fewer errors when solving these problems. A good example would be “2 × 4.” Large problems are usually a bit harder to solve. Participants take longer to solve these problems and also make more errors. A good example would be “12 × 3.” Scientists sometimes disagree on where to draw the line between small and large problems. How hard it is to solve a problem depends on your age and ability. However, speed and error differences between small and large problems suggest that we use two main strategies to solve them [ 2 ].
The first strategy, calculating the answer, is often used with large problems. It is called procedural strategy, because coming up with the answer involves multiple steps—or multiple procedures. For example, to solve “12 × 3” you might split the problem into two easier ones like “10 × 3 = 30” and “2 × 3 = 6.” Afterwards, you can add up the results to get the answer “36.” But adding extra steps has its downsides. It takes more time and each step also increases the chance of making errors. You do not, however, use the same strategy to solve the same problem forever. After solving it multiple times, the correct answer will 1 day just pop into your head. This shows that the way you solve this problem has changed.
Now you are using the second strategy: knowing the answer by heart—often called fact retrieval. By practicing the same problem multiple times, you stored its answer in your long-term memory. The switch from using procedural strategies to using fact retrieval is an important step during the development of arithmetic abilities [ 3 ]. Instead of calculating the answer, you are now able to remember it. Additionally, by becoming better at solving easier problems, you are also becoming better at solving more difficult problems. To better understand these changes, we need to look inside our brain while it solves arithmetic problems. To do so, scientists use different tools, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, see Figure 2 ).
Trying to understand how the brain works can sometimes feel like solving a complicated puzzle. Similar to the way a puzzle is made up of different pieces, your brain is made up of different brain areas (see Figure 3 ). Understanding each brain area’s function will give you a clearer picture of how it fits into the puzzle.
The first piece of the puzzle is the intraparietal sulcus. It is located in the parietal cortex and is responsible for understanding the meaning of numbers [ 4 ]. The first step when solving an arithmetic problem is to understand a number’s magnitude. For example, you have to know that “4 dogs” are more than “2 dogs.” You also need to understand the order of numbers (i.e., “1” comes before “2,” that “2” comes before “3,” and so on). While calculating, you use your understanding of magnitude and order to find the correct solution.
The next pieces of the puzzle involve three brain areas in the frontal cortex. The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex works with regions in the parietal cortex to blend out distractions, such as daydreaming about your next bike ride with your friends. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is needed to manipulate numbers, like splitting up a large problem into easier steps. The inferior frontal gyrus has been found to play an important role in ignoring similar but incorrect answers [ 5 ].
The last pieces in our puzzle are the hippocampus and the angular gyrus. The hippocampus is located deep inside your brain. It plays an important role in storing arithmetic facts [ 6 ]. The hippocampus is the “save” button of your brain. When it comes to math, it works with the frontal cortex to help you store the answers of arithmetic problems as arithmetic facts in your long-term memory. The angular gyrus is then involved in finding these facts when you solve arithmetic problems.
Have you and your friends ever worked on a challenging puzzle together? If so, you probably worked together to solve it. Your brain works in a similar way. Different brain regions work together when solving a problem. The last piece in our puzzle is understanding how these brain areas work together when you calculate. As you now know, the way you solve arithmetic problems changes as you get older. Instead of mostly using procedural strategies to solve arithmetic problems, you start using fact retrieval more often. But this is not the only thing that changes. Scientists found that during this process the way the different brain areas work together changes as well. For example, while you are young, the frontal cortex has a very important role. It manages your working memory and attention, because the way you solve arithmetic problems involves multiple steps (procedural strategies). As you get older and start to use fact retrieval, the role of your frontal cortex changes. When you look at the frontal cortex using fMRI or EEG, you can see that it becomes less active as you get older. It is still involved in the process of finding the right answer, but it does not have to work as hard as before. Maybe you have experienced something similar when cooperating with your friends. At first, one of you might have had to keep an eye on everyone’s progress and give instructions what to do next (similar to the frontal cortex). After you have successfully solved a few puzzles together, you will be able to work together without needing someone to always check on the progress. The role of the hippocampus changes too. During fact retrieval it is more active in young children than in adults [ 7 ]. This is because when you are young, the hippocampus is still working hard to save the answers to arithmetic problems to your long-term memory. As you get older your hippocampus has to work less and less, because you come across fewer new answers that have to be saved.
All of the brain areas work together by communicating with one another. This communication happens over a wide network of pathways (called white matter) that connect all brain areas. These networks are similar to the way in which roads connect different cities. One of these roads in the brain is called the superior longitudinal fasciculus. This road connects the prefrontal cortex with the parietal cortex (where the IPS is located) [ 8 ]. Because different brain regions are involved in the process of solving arithmetic problems at certain points in your life, the connections between these regions change as well. Scientists are still trying to fully understand how and why these connections change as you get older. That means, even though we already know a lot about how you solve arithmetic problems, we still need to do more research to complete the puzzle of the calculating brain.
Even if it sounds like a simple process at first, solving an arithmetic problem actually involves many steps. Not only that, but as you get older you use different strategies to solve them. Almost every part involved in your brain changes. At first, many brain areas work together to solve an arithmetic problem. Some parts keep you focused on the task, others keep track and memorize the results of your calculations. The hippocampus saves the correct result in your long-term memory. As you get older, you only need a few specialized brain areas to solve the same problem. Your brain now works very efficiently. Next time you do your math homework, take a minute to think of all the different brain areas that are involved!
Developmental Dyscalculia : ↑ Is a difficulty in learning or understanding arithmetic. For a good overview look at the Young Minds article; When your brain cannot do 2 + 2: a case of developmental dyscalculia [ 1 ].
Electroence-phalography (EEG) : ↑ A neuroscientific tool to measure the electrical signals a brain produces. This method can tell us with high accuracy at what time point brain areas are performing a specific task.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) : ↑ A tool to measure oxygen differences in the brain. Because active areas need more oxygen during a task, we can tell with high accuracy which parts are doing the job.
Brain Areas : ↑ The brain can be divided into four major parts: the frontal cortex, the parietal cortex, the temporal cortex, and the occipital cortex. Each cortex contains brain areas with unique functions.
Working Memory : ↑ A crucial function of your brain. Similar to the working memory of a computer, it stores information in your mind in order to work with it when you need it.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
We would like to wholeheartedly thank those who assisted in the translation of the articles in this Collection to make them more accessible to kids outside English-speaking countries, and for the Jacobs Foundation for providing the funds necessary to translate the articles. For this article, we would especially like to thank Nienke van Atteveldt and Sabine Peters for the Dutch translation.
[1] ↑ Bugden, S., and Ansari, D. 2014. When your brain cannot do 2 + 2: a case of developmental dyscalculia. Front. Young Minds 2:8. doi: 10.3389/frym.2014.00008
[2] ↑ Siegler, R. S. 1996. Emerging Minds: The Process of Change in Children’s Thinking . New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.5860/choice.34-5984
[3] ↑ De Smedt, B. 2016. “Individual differences in arithmetic fact retrieval,” in Mathematical Cognition and Learning , eds D. B. Berch, D. C. Geary, and K. M. Koepke (San Diego, CA: Academic Press). p. 219–43. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-801871-2.00009-5
[4] ↑ Vogel, S. E., Goffin, C., and Ansari, D. 2015. Developmental specialization of the left parietal cortex for the semantic representation of Arabic numerals: an fMR-adaptation study. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci . 12, 61–73. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.12.001
[5] ↑ De Visscher, A., Vogel, S. E., Reishofer, G., Hassler, E., Koschutnig, K., De Smedt, B., et al. 2018. Interference and problem size effect in multiplication fact solving: individual differences in brain activations and arithmetic performance. Neuroimage 15:718–27. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.060
[6] ↑ Qin, S., Cho, S., Chen, T., Rosenberg-Lee, M., Geary, D. C., and Menon, V. 2014. Hippocampal-neocortical functional reorganization underlies children’s cognitive development. Nat. Neurosci. 17:1263–9. doi: 10.1038/nn.3788
[7] ↑ Cho, S., Metcalfe, A. W. S., Young, C. B., Ryali, S., Geary, D. C., and Menon, V. 2012. Hippocampal–prefrontal engagement and dynamic causal interactions in the maturation of children’s fact retrieval. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 24:1849–66. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00246
[8] ↑ Matejko, A. A., and Ansari, D. 2015. Drawing connections between white matter and numerical and mathematical cognition: a literature review. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 1:35–52. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.11.006
Got problems? We all do.
They’re something we encounter daily, both at work and at home. Tackling problems and finding solutions are useful skills that are in high demand.
At a basic level, there are three steps to solving any problem:
You might be tempted to think that the first step is unnecessary. After all, that’s why you’re here in the first place, to solve a problem. However, defining the problem is arguably the most important step in problem-solving.
Albert Einstein is famously quoted as saying, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
When you can spend more time defining the real problem, and not just a symptom, it will be easier to find a lasting solution.
How to better define the problem:
Now that we’ve talked about the steps of solving a problem and how to better define it, let’s dig into some strategies to help your brain perform at its best for solving problems.
“Thanks to a process called neuroplasticity, your brain is continually reorganizing itself by forming new neural connections throughout your life, which gives you the power to make your brain better.” – Daniel G. Amen, MD
Neuroplasticity enables your brain to continue to learn and grow throughout your life. Like your muscles, your brain needs exercise to become stronger. Becoming a life-long learner will not only strengthen your brain, but also sharpen your memory, boost confidence, and bring new knowledge and skills into your life.
There are a number of easy and fun ways to strengthen your brain. Adding one or more of these activities into your daily routines can help boost your brain and result in better problem-solving abilities.
This is counterintuitive, but it’s an important strategy to use when working on a problem. Allow yourself some downtime after defining the problem.
Let your subconscious do some work. Setting a task aside for a time can actually improve your efforts later. When you return to the problem at hand, you’ll likely have a fresh perspective.
What should you do while giving your brain a break from active problem-solving? Enjoy a hobby, get some rest, or move your body with a walk or other form of exercise.
You guessed it, those healthy habits that affect so many areas of your life are also tied to a healthy brain. Exercise, a healthy diet, and quality sleep can all help your brain function better and improve your problem-solving skills overall.
When you engage in brain-boosting activities, take some downtime, and practice healthy habits you’ll be better prepared for the problems in your days. And, next time you’re faced with the inevitable problems that come with life and work, you can address them with more clarity and confidence.
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Visual object memory refers to our brain's ability to store, recognize, and recall visual information about objects we perceive. This capability is essential for interacting with the world ...
Frontal Lobe: Aids in complex thinking, learning, and problem-solving. Parietal Lobe: Helps under language and information from the five senses. Occipital Lobe: Processes visual information such as faces and objects. Cerebellum: Responsible for balance and coordination. Brain Stem: Controls basic body functions such as breathing and heart rate
The cerebrum (front of brain) comprises gray matter (the cerebral cortex) and white matter at its center. The largest part of the brain, the cerebrum initiates and coordinates movement and regulates temperature. Other areas of the cerebrum enable speech, judgment, thinking and reasoning, problem-solving, emotions and learning.
The brain is a unique organ that is responsible for many functions such as problem-solving, thinking, emotions, controlling physical movements, and mediating the perception and responses related to the five senses. The many nerve cells of the brain communicate with each other to control this activity. Each area of the brain has one or more ...
Another area of the brain vital to problem solving is the prefrontal cortex, located toward the front of the brain. For a long time, it was thought that some parts of the prefrontal cortex were ...
The four lobes of the brain are regions of the cerebrum: Frontal Lobe. Location: This is the anterior or front part of the brain. Functions: Decision making, problem solving, control of purposeful behaviors, consciousness, and emotions. Parietal Lobe. Location: Sits behind the frontal lobe.
In doing so, they become stored in different brain regions and new neural connections are formed that may assist problem solving. On waking, you may have formed associations between information ...
The frontal lobe is the brain's largest region, located behind the forehead, at the front of the brain. These lobes are part of the cerebral cortex and are the largest brain structure. The frontal lobe's main functions are typically associated with 'higher' cognitive functions, including decision-making, problem-solving, thought, and ...
Based on signals from the inner ears and the muscles, the cerebellum enables the body to maintain balance and posture. The brain stem, situated at the bottom of the brain, is made up of three main ...
The brainstem is located at the base of the brain. This area connects the cerebrum and the cerebellum to the spinal cord, acting as a relay station for these areas. ... Their main functions are associated with higher cognitive functions, including problem-solving, decision-making, attention, intelligence, and voluntary behaviors.
The brain is a very busy organ. It is the control center for the body. It runs your organs such as your heart and lungs. It is also busy working with other parts of your body. All of your senses - sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste - depend on your brain. Tasting food with the sensors on your tongue is only possible if the signals from ...
Psychologists found that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving -- previously thought to go dormant when we daydream -- are in fact highly active during these episodes. Skip to main ...
The second probe into problem-solving focused on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region in the front of the brain tied to functions such as decision making, conflict monitoring and reward ...
The frontal lobes in your brain are vital for many important functions. This include voluntary movement, speech, attention, reasoning, problem solving, and impulse control. Damage is most often ...
July 28, 2016. Solving a hairy math problem might send a shudder of exultation along your spinal cord. But scientists have historically struggled to deconstruct the exact mental alchemy that ...
More than two-thirds of this layer is folded into grooves. The grooves increase the brain's surface area, allowing for inclusion of many more neurons. ... The frontal lobe is responsible for initiating and coordinating motor movements; higher cognitive skills, such as problem solving, thinking, planning, and organizing; and for many aspects ...
Source: Cell Press. Humans have the ability to creatively combine their memories to solve problems and draw new insights, a process that depends on memories for specific events known as episodic memory. But although episodic memory has been extensively studied in the past, current theories do not easily explain how people can use their episodic ...
Long-term brain changes. There is evidence that chronic (persistent) stress may actually rewire your brain, says Dr. Ressler. Scientists have learned that animals that experience prolonged stress have less activity in the parts of their brain that handle higher-order tasks — for example, the prefrontal cortex — and more activity in the primitive parts of their brain that are focused on ...
At first, many brain areas work together to solve an arithmetic problem. Some parts keep you focused on the task, others keep track and memorize the results of your calculations. The hippocampus saves the correct result in your long-term memory. As you get older, you only need a few specialized brain areas to solve the same problem.
3 Ways to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills. 1. Regularly Engage in Brain Boosting Activities. There are a number of easy and fun ways to strengthen your brain. Adding one or more of these activities into your daily routines can help boost your brain and result in better problem-solving abilities. Work on a jigsaw puzzle - Puzzles can be ...
Functions of the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe controls high-level cognitive skills like: planning. self-control. memory formation. empathy. attention. It's the center for the emotions and ...
Our Brains and problem solving. Our brain is the most complex organ in our body, and it weighs about 2 % of human body weight and consumes about 20% of our body's energy i.e., relatively more ...