Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdym7xIDgKPHDpcJ1hHe8f2Y8HP_t888m9abyB9Q3MoYkC7-Wic1tAY098umTs8ACVreUkd5eOyyZT5ENrjDNLi5hPD7xSusw_w0BbPU-j2qKV_IApgfcWFBzI5BGeOfYTz8KJKj9cyI/s1600/brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter" border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdym7xIDgKPHDpcJ1hHe8f2Y8HP_t888m9abyB9Q3MoYkC7-Wic1tAY098umTs8ACVreUkd5eOyyZT5ENrjDNLi5hPD7xSusw_w0BbPU-j2qKV_IApgfcWFBzI5BGeOfYTz8KJKj9cyI/s400/brain.jpg" title="Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2> <a href="http://worldofnews360.blogspot.com/2013/08/brain-training-can-make-you.html">Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter</a></h2> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div> As many people hit middle age, they often start to notice that their memory and mental clarity are not what they used to be.  We suddenly can't remember where we put the keys just a moment ago, or an old acquaintance's name, or the name of an old band we used to love.  As the brain fades, we euphemistically refer to these occurrences as "senior moments."</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> While seemingly innocent, this loss of mental focus can potentially have a detrimental impact on our professional, social, and personal well-being. </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> It happens to most of us, but is it inevitable? </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Neuroscientists are increasingly showing that there's actually a lot that can be done.  It turns that the brain needs exercise in much the same way our muscles do, and the right mental workouts can significantly improve our basic cognitive functions.  Thinking is essentially a process of making neural connections in the brain.  To a certain extent, our ability to excel in making the neural connections that drive intelligence is inherited.  However, because these connections are made through effort and practice, scientists believe that intelligence can expand and fluctuate according to mental effort.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Now, a new San Francisco Web-based company has taken it a step further and developed the first "brain training program" designed to actually help people improve and regain their mental sharpness.  Called Lumosity, it was designed by some of the leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology from Stanford University.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Lumosity, is far more than an online place to exercise your mental skills.  That's because they have integrated these exercises into a Web-based program that allows you to systematically improve your memory and attention skills.  The program keeps track of your progress and provides detailed feedback on your performance and improvement.  Most importantly, it constantly modifies and enhances the games you play to build on the strengths you are developing--much like an effective exercise routine requires you to increase resistance and vary your muscle use.</div> </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Apparently it does. In randomized, controlled clinical trials, Lumosity was shown to significantly improve basic cognitive functions. One study showed students improved their scores on math tests by 34 percent after using Lumosity for six weeks, significantly greater gains than those made by other students in the same class, who were not training with the Lumosity program.</div> </div>

Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter As many people hit middle age...

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The science behind delivering a 13.5-pound baby

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFWTD-F5X5f5XXM8Hau5S80_gEXssAz5B_NjpP1r-e3SuMOLhr0q-_FkVXYQOCZxh2lD2LIBTxL1qHbRwGvYWqoe3CI6IufhODM8o7bsB4vL9Fft1QEpXobSn90e3cFSZBNDuEVu4OXs/s1600/whoa-baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The science behind delivering a 13.5-pound baby" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFWTD-F5X5f5XXM8Hau5S80_gEXssAz5B_NjpP1r-e3SuMOLhr0q-_FkVXYQOCZxh2lD2LIBTxL1qHbRwGvYWqoe3CI6IufhODM8o7bsB4vL9Fft1QEpXobSn90e3cFSZBNDuEVu4OXs/s400/whoa-baby.jpg" title="The science behind delivering a 13.5-pound baby" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The science behind delivering a 13.5-pound baby</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2 style="text-align: left;"> <br /><a href="http://www.newsupdate360.com/2013/08/the-science-behind-delivering-13.html">The science behind delivering a 13.5-pound baby</a></h2> <br /> It's impressive that baby Jasleen was delivered without a C-section — but was it safe?<br /> Since entering the world at 13.47 pounds last Friday, baby Jasleen has made headlines and records. Jasleen was delivered vaginally at University Hospital in Leipzig, making her the largest baby in the country to be delivered without a cesarean section.<br /> <br /> However, while people have been cooing over the giant bundle of joy and marveling that her mother, Maria, delivered her vaginally, is it safe for a baby to be that large and be delivered without a C-section?<br /> <br /> The answer, generally speaking, is no. But the circumstances in this case are complicated by the reason behind baby Jasleen’s girth: Her mother had been suffering from an undiagnosed case of gestational diabetes.<br /> <br /> Gestational diabetes is usually tested for between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. It is very treatable, often with just monitoring the mother’s blood sugar and bringing in diet and exercise changes. In fact, insulin medicine is recommended for only 10 to 20 percent of women with gestational diabetes, according to the Mayo Clinic.<br /> <br /> When it is left untreated, though, the extra glucose in the mother’s bloodstream crosses the placenta to trigger the baby’s pancreas to make insulin. As a result, the baby grows to an unhealthily large size, a condition known as fetal macrosomia, which is somewhat arbitrarily defined at a threshold of 8 pounds, 13 ounces — a threshold that Jasleen well exceeds.<br /> <br /> Generally, babies with fetal macrosomia are delivered via C-section. Due to their large size, there is greater likelihood for shoulder dystocia, which is when a baby’s shoulder cannot fit through the mother’s pelvis and the baby gets caught in the birth canal. Dr. Elizabeth G. Baxley and Dr. Robert W. Gobbo at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) call it "one of the most frightening emergencies in the delivery room," in part because a trapped baby may not be able to breath.<br /> <br /> Yet, despite the evidence in favor of a C-section, the doctors at University Hospital were not necessarily wrong in their decision to naturally deliver Jasleen. According to a hospital statement by chief of obstetrics Holger Stepan, "We decided to try natural birth, as a child of this size [with] the excess weight of the mother, a cesarean section would have been associated with a significant risk." Though fairly routine, "C-sections can be risky for both the baby and the mother," notes James Fleur at Science Recorder. Possible problems include blood clots for the mother and breathing problems for the baby.<br /> <br /> Moreover, since Jasleen’s mother had never been previously treated at the hospital, the physicians were unaware of her gestational diabetes and likely could not anticipate how large a baby Jasleen would be. And it’s not unheard of to vaginally deliver a baby of that size. Just this March, British baby George King was delivered vaginally, clocking in at 15 pounds 7 ounces.<br /> <br /> At the moment, though, baby Jasleen is doing well and being cared for in the hospital’s neonatal unit. Her mother is also doing quite well, though still recovering from the shock of her big surpise. She told the Daily Mail, "I had no idea there was such a giant inside of me."<br /> <br /> View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week</div>

The science behind delivering a 13.5-pound baby The science behind delivering a 13.5-pound baby It's impressive that baby Jaslee...

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U.S. to hold Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Doha

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiah3Mmjz-iP-OHN3SyAfCFGAXvRst1ntp9qtN3J9f510BtZWKXomFp0xtZHaK9MBZSl63l8aMNWdsQC6hGxrwrXSqEXQ2VeH-1ZW7lZfsujpl73TjcsQA_wQh_rNHcZXfyvqS2e_d78jU/s1600/US-Marines-Afghanistan--T-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiah3Mmjz-iP-OHN3SyAfCFGAXvRst1ntp9qtN3J9f510BtZWKXomFp0xtZHaK9MBZSl63l8aMNWdsQC6hGxrwrXSqEXQ2VeH-1ZW7lZfsujpl73TjcsQA_wQh_rNHcZXfyvqS2e_d78jU/s400/US-Marines-Afghanistan--T-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <h1 class="headline" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 26px; line-height: 1.21em; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> U.S. to hold Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Doha</h1> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> U.S. to hold Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Doha</h3> <div> U.S. to hold Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Doha</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will meet the Taliban next week in talks in Doha aimed at achieving peace in Afghanistan, where the United States has battled Taliban insurgents for 12 years, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, but warned that the process will likely be lengthy.</div> <div> U.S. officials said the Taliban will issue a statement Tuesday opposing the use of Afghan soil for attacks on other countries and that they support an Afghan peace process.</div> <div> The United States will insist the Taliban break ties with Al Qaeda, end violence, and accept the Afghan constitution, including protection for women and minorities, the officials told reporters in a conference call.</div> <div> "This is but the first step in what will be a long road," one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.</div> </div> </div>

U.S. to hold Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Doha U.S. to hold Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Doha U.S. to hold Afghan peace ...

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