Guess my next goal is to be under 3 minutes. Let you guys know when/if I manage to break that.

We will try to go through all these disciplines during this year and try out some techniques to see how well we would manage in the real competition. If one of us seems to be successful enough we might try to participate in the coming memory competition this year.

The problem arise next time the kid don’t do well on a test. They will think that they aren’t that smart, and it becomes a personal failure. With a limited depth of understanding and wanting to please the parents, this could lead to a downward spiral in their performance. Generally, children raised with fixed mindset praise don’t perform their optimal capacity in school, and won’t get good grades.

The “right way” to praise children is with a technique called growth mindset praise. Next time your kids are doing good in school, say “I’m proud of you, you must have worked really hard for this”. By saying this, your kid will not take the next failure personally, and will think that they should work harder next time to please authority figures.

Continually telling kids that they are smart won’t boost their confidence in the long run. Learn to use the growth mindset praise technique. I even think praising grown ups with growth mindset method will be beneficial. What do you think?

One fat in breastmilk is the key ingredient when it comes to building smarter baby brains. It’s an omega-3 type fatty acid called docasahexaenoic acid or DHA. The longer the infant is breastfed the more intellectual-boost they gain. It’s important for the mother to keep her DHA levels up too in order to pass it on to the baby through breastmilk. Main source of DHA is fish and some doctors recommend at least 100 grams of fish each day.

So let go for nuts as snacks.

Dr. Louann Brizendine’s has researched and written a guide to understand the male brain from infancy to adulthood. It unlocks many secrets and interesting insights to understand the male. This is a good guide to understand the male for both women and every man why they act as they do.

Here is a link to an interview with the author in ABC New: Going Inside The Male Brain.

Did you know that the male brain…

• has an area for sexual pursuit that is 2.5 times larger than that of the female brain, consuming him with sexual fantasies about female body parts. Not only that, but beginning in their teens, they produce 20 to 25-fold more testosterone than they did during pre-adolescence. If testosterone were beer, a 9-year-old boy would be getting the equivalent of a cup a day. But a 15-year-old would be getting the equivalent of nearly two gallons a day. This fuels their sexual engines and makes it impossible for them to stop thinking about female body parts and sex.
• visual brain circuits are always on the lookout for fertile mates. Whether or not they intend to pursue a visual enticement, they have to check out the women.
• thrives under competition, instinctively plays rough, and is obsessed with rank and hierarchy
• is a lean, mean problem-solving machine that uses analytical brain structures, not emotional ones, to find solutions.

Men tend to be more aggressive according to Lucy L. Brown, Ph.D., a professor in the departments of neurology and neuroscience at Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. The difference likely involves hormones (like testosterone) and sensitivities to those hormones in parts of the brain such as the hypothalamus, which in animals is associated with aggression.

When a male is watching his winning team win there is an increase of testosterone levels according to a study in Physiology & Behavior from 1998.When a male is viewing combative sports, it will help the man to identify with traditional ideals of masculinity like domination, risk taking, and competition, explains Douglas Hartmann, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota.

A particular disturbing habit some people give is empty promises. This causes upsets and misunderstandings that can be frustrating for family members, friends and business relationships.

In many cases the person that was promised something might also forget what was promised. But when people do remember the empty words from the speaker this will lead to poor relationships. Do you promise to call your friends later this weekend and end up forgetting it? Did you promise your colleague to help with a task and never did help this person?

These empty promises will send out a bad message about your character and remember different people have very different levels of sensitivity. Your trustworthiness will drop and this all due to bad memory.  A poor memory can destroy relationships and you will be categorized as a forgetful or thoughtless person that cannot be trusted. Nobody wants the embarrassment of reminding you and the things you have committed to.

How to start your journey to stop making empty promises?

• Simply start improving your memory by taking more interest in whatever is important to the other person.
• Write a note in your calendar or mobile phone on each contacts that you have promised anything to keep track.
• Practise your memory and try to pay attention on the promises you have given.

10th International Conference on Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases.

12-19 March

Les 2 Alpes. France.

31st European Winter Conference on Brain Research.

14-20 March

Worldwide Brain Awareness Week: Global campaign to increase public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research.

www.dana.org/brainweek