Learning is a skill and it can be improved. Everyone has the opportunity to develop their memory and learning ability. Identifying your own learning style and the methods that work for you is key. The more you use your brain the better it will work. Learning something new always takes commitment and self discipline as well as conscious practice.

Your conception of what learning is and your motivation to study will determine your success. You have to want to solve a problem even if it is demanding. No learning methods or techniques will help if the motivation to study is missing. Obstacles to learning usually have to do with one's attitudes and conception of oneself as a learner and one's conception of learning, all of which have themselves been learnt.

You have to clarify for yourself why studying is worthwhile and what are you aiming for in your studies. Learning only happens as a direct result of your own efforts.

Connect what you are trying to learn to knowledge you already have. 

Processing information and learning something new go hand in hand. New information will remain in your memory if it is in some way significant to you. Learning gets easier the more knowledge you have to which new information can be connected. You can develop your learning skills through active and critical thinking, questioning assumptions, and applying knowledge practically. How you organise new information is crucial to learning.

Tips for learning

1. Make notes

The purpose of taking notes is to clarify what you are learning and support your memory and the learning process. Making notes helps you to gain an overview of your what you are studying. Taking relevant notes at lectures or from a book will be an invaluable help when revising for exams.

• Take notes from what the lecturer is saying, not just from texts you are shown in presentations. Only write down what is important. Use exclamation marks to highlight something as important and question marks to show that you did not quite understand something.
• Go ahead and ask the lecturer if something is not clear to you. You are probably not the only one who would like the point in question to be explained again.
• After a lecture, organise the information you have just received. Before taking down notes, think about what you already know about the subject being taught. If you do not understand something, read as far back into your notes as you need until you understand again.

You can also use this technique when studying from a book.
Ways to take notes or fill in the gaps they leave including the following:
 
Summary

Writing a summary or outlining the central argument of the text in your own words helps you to mentally organise information.

• Write about the subject as briefly as possible without looking at the book or your notes and imagine that you are writing it for someone who is not familiar with the subject. You may benefit from using a concept map.
• Consider your personal experiences or opinions relating to the subject and write them down.

Concept map

• A concept map may help you to organise information as it illustrates the relationship betweenthings. The purpose of a concept map is to bring together everything you have learnt by arranging the main ideas into themes.

2. Study with others
Take the plunge and discuss the subject with other students. Working through questions and ideas
together is both pleasant and useful from the perspective of learning.

Examples of group study exercises:

• Come up with questions about the subject and ask the group for answers. Each person in the group comes up with questions and gets answers from the rest of the group.
• Read the text you have been assigned together with your study buddy. Once you have finished, put your book and papers away. One person gives a summary in his/her own words and the other person fills in the gaps. Continue reading the text and taking turns at intervals to summarise and fill in the gaps.
• Teach what you have learnt to someone not familiar with the subject area. Teaching something to someone else helps you to see not only how much you already know but also what your limitations and problem areas are.

3. Keep a learning journal

The purpose of a learning journal is to help you organise your thoughts and observe your own progress. It deepens and enriches the learning process and works as a tool for evaluating your learning.

• Use the journal to write down your own insights, perceptions and questions as well as thingsyou need to find out or problems you need to solve. Write regularly. A journal will be especially useful for seminar and thesis work, where you will have to organise information that you have collected yourself.

4. Getting acquainted with books and other study materials.

Applying your own reading technique can help you get the most out of books and other reading materials.

1. Skim through the text: have a look at the introduction, the table of contents, the headingsand the summary. The table of contents and headings will help you get an idea of the scope of what you have to learn. The summary gives a short overview of the contents of the book.
2. Browse the book or other reading material and make notes of the questions that spring tomind. Doing this will show you what you think the text is telling you.
3. Then read the book slowly and thoroughly. Examine the graphs and figures. Underline keywords and central points as it will help you review and summarise.
4. Think about how you can apply the information you are learning from the book/other material and also how you can use it in relation to what you have learnt previously.
5. Make notes: organise what you have read e.g. into themes, or write down the main ideas or make a concept map showing the relationships between different aspects of what you are learning.
6. Re-focus on the core content of the text. Close the book after finishing a chapter or other type of section and try to remember what you have read. Try memorising vocabulary and other lists by using acronyms, e.g. Scan, Absorb, Reflect, Review = SARR
7. Review and reflect on your reading by repeating the last step (6) and fill in the gaps in your notes.
8. Discuss the topic explored in the book with someone else if possible.

You can learn the contents of a book or other study material by heart e.g. like this:

1. Divide the contents of the book into five main areas. Give these main areas labels or titles.
2. Divide each main area into five sub-areas, again labelling them with keywords.
3. Sub-divide these areas into five more areas. Continue dividing the material into smaller and smaller units until you reach the level of details.

5. Develop your memory using memory techniques

There are a variety of memory techniques that can make remembering and learning easier.

1. Try associating the things you have to remember with landmarks on a familiar route. E.g. glucose is on the book shelf, insulin is on the window sill, adrenalin is in the kitchen cupboard etc.
2. Create and use existing acronyms, e.g. MMSB (Madrid, Malaga, Seville, Barcelona).
3. Remembering a number sequence is easier if you split the sequence up into shorter sequences each of which has an interesting or meaningful association. E.g. 23485507: 23 was the age when I moved away from home, 48 is my neighbour's door number, 55 is my dad's birth year, 07 is my sister's birth month. Or try setting the numbers to a familiar song or jingle.
4. Repeat what you need to learn out loud. This will strengthen your memory.

6. Identify your learning style

Think back to a satisfying and pleasant work or study experience where you performed well. Think
about how you went about working, the type of work process that led to this successful learning
outcome. Consider the following:

1. Where were you? Was it warm or cool? Was it brightly or dimly lit? Were you listening to music? What kind of music? Were there other sounds in the background?
2. What time of day were you working/studying? Morning, afternoon or evening?
3. Were you moving around as you worked? Or were you sitting still? Were you eating or drinking anything? If so, what? How much? Did you take breaks? How often? How long were the breaks? What did you do in the breaks?
4. Were you studying/working alone, with another person or in a group? Who were you working with? Were you given any guidance or advice? What kind of guidance were you given? What kind of advice were you given? Did this guidance or advice help you? How?
5. What frame of mind were you in and what was your central focus before, during and after the study/work session? Were you excited? What kept you going?

Thank's for Riitta Aikkola, Vaasa University of Applied Sciences

"Moon Walking with Einstein" is the title of a recent memory improvement book written by Joshua Foer, a reporter of memory championships. Foer became so entranced by watching astonishing memory feats in the contests that he decided to learn the secrets. After talking to memory athletes, he started practicing the techniques and within a few years became a memory champion himself.  You could do that too!

Memory athletes are those seeming freaks of nature who enter contests to see how fast they can memorize the sequence of four shuffled decks of cards or how long a string of digits they can memorize. But memory athletes are not freaks. They are ordinary people like Foer, you, and me who have learned some gimmicks that make possible the seemingly impossible.

Here, I will describe the simplest and easiest gimmick to use. I call it SVO, which stands for SUBJECT (or actor or agent), VERB, and OBJECT. This is the intuitive way we think with our language. Usually the subject is a person, which is why others call this technique POA for person, object, action). But animals or inanimate things can do things too. The trick is to visualize, using lots of imagination, an actor doing something relating to an object … as in moon walking with Einstein. Memorization is made easy because the images are so bizarre and vivid. 

I will illustrate the principles with Foer's method for memorizing the sequence of a deck of cards. He didn’t explain his method completely, deliberately I think, because he probably did not want to be “drummed out” of the elite memory athlete club to which he had been initiated. Not knowing his particular scheme, I will conjure an illustration of how all cards can be visualized. For example, the suits might be as follows:

·  Spades: Batman (black, darkness)

·  Clubs: Tiger Woods (re: golf clubs)

·   Diamonds: Diamond Jim Brady (diamond tie stud) or Za Za Gabor (who famously said:

“Daaahling, always wear your diamonds, even to the grocery store. You never know who you will run into”).

· Hearts: Somebody you love

Then, to associate the card number with the suit, you could use the number code, which is another tip that I will explain later. But as an illustration, the number four is coded as “rye,” which can be a picture of a field of grain or a bottle of rye whisky, whichever you prefer. Thus, for example, the four of clubs would be visualized as Tiger Woods (SUBJECT) teeing off (VERB) on a bottle or rye whisky (OBJECT), instead of a golf ball. What does one do with the face cards? They can be converted to numbers too, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13, Ace = 1 (Or 14; the number code for one is “tie” and you don’t want to get confused if you are using Diamond Jim Brady as your code for diamonds.

Finally, Foer did mention that he clusters three sequential cards into one image, so that he only has to memorize 17 items, with one item left over, instead of 52.

Well most of us aren’t going to enter memory contests or card-count in Vegas (they catch on to you pretty quick). So, how do we apply this to everyday life? You could use this SOV approach to play a better game of bridge. But many events in daily life are better remembered this way.

First, a simple illustration:

·         Capital of Arkansas (Little Rock): most people know Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas. Visualize Clinton (SUBJECT) throwing (VERB) a little rock(OBJECT) at Noah's ark (…ansas)

Now, here is a more complex example where you can string together multiple items to be remembered:

·        Harvey’s discovery of the circulatory system: Everybody knows that the heart is key, because it pumps blood. See the heart (SUBJECT) as pumping (VERB) blood (OBJECT) out on to the main traffic artery, like a freeway. Imagine you as an image of Harvey (like Harvey the rabbit in the movie) riding in a boat in the blood river. See the boat slow down and start to back up as it leaves on the off ramp. Maybe you want think of the boat going through a hole (“ole” for arteriole) to get to the off ramp. Then see the boat stop at the stop light (covered with baseball caps … capillary). Then, on green the boat goes back up on the access road (because Harvey had gotten off too soon, in vain (vein). This schema also helps as a metaphor for associating function at the various locations.

While all this seems bizarre, it works with great power. Facts and concepts memorized this way are robustly encoded and readily consolidated into lasting memory because humans are visual animals. We have far more brain area devoted to vision than we do any other sense.

Another way to make the point is with the age-old phenomenon of fairy tales. Fairy tales often carry a moral that we want our children to remember. A few fairy tales are even for adults, with the political protest embedded as a metaphor. In any case, a fairy tale is easy to remember because it is visually vivid, with people acting on or with things.

SVO is perhaps the most flexible memory device. Use it for simple memory tasks or for truly demanding memory challenges.

The publisher of Dr. Klemm's "Memory Power 101" book has now made it available as an audio book at Amazon. Also, you can read multiple reviews at http://03908f9.netsolhost.com/thinkbrain/book-reviews-of-memory-power-101/ 

Brain Posts on diet and exercise lead the list of topics with the most page views in 2014.

Here are the top five most viewed blog posts. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for a productive and peaceful 2015.

Clicking on the title will link you to the full Brain Post blog on the topic.

5. Aging, Exercise and Brain Plasticity

This post examined a review of the effects of aging and exercise on the brain. Exercise appears to reduce the rate of atrophy of the brain hippocampus with age. Enhanced brain blood flow with exercise may provide a boost in brain plasticity needed to deal with vascular degeneration.

4. Lo Carb-Mediterranean Diet Combo Sheds Fat in Trial

A research team from Greece published results of a trial of a very low carbohydrate diet alternating with low carbohydrate Mediterranean style diet. Over one year subjects in this study lost an average of 35 pounds. Metabolic changes including lower cholesterol levels were favorable in the study subjects.

3. Alternate Day Fasting for Weight Loss and Cardioprotection

A small study compared a 12 week program of alternate day fasting with control who continued their typical diet. The alternate day fasting group was allowed to eat an evening meal of about 500 calories. The alternate day fasting group lost an average of a pound per week and showed evidence of reduced inflammation including lower CRP levels.

2. Varenicline for Smoking Cessation

In this post, I reviewed four manuscripts relevant to varenicline (Chantix in U.S.) treatment in smoking cessation. Varenicline appears an effective options for treatment of smoking cessation and may be combined with other drug agents such as bupropion. It also appears promising for smokers suffering from a psychiatric disorder when used under the supervision of a physician.

1. How the Body Blocks Effect of Exercise After Weight Loss

The number one post for 2014 examined a study of how the body compensate to weight loss. Weight loss results in a dialing back of resting energy expenditure promoting weight regain. This effect contributes to poor long-term maintenance of weight loss and underscores the needed for continued exercise following weight loss.

Follow the author on Twitter WRY999

Photo of Christmas Lights at Rhema Church in Tulsa from the author's files. 

Exercise promotes cognitive function in children, adults and elderly individuals.

The mechanism for this effect is unclear. Some of the effect may be due to a general improvement in vascular function and health.

Another potential mechanism is via increased neuroplasticity mediated by neurotrophic factors.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) is a known contributor to brain neuroplasticity. Levels of BNDF can be determined with serum assays.

RL Leckie and colleagues recently found support for BNDF mediation in an exercise in an interventional study with an elderly population.

The key elements of the design for their study included the following elements.

• Participants: Adults between the ages of 55 and 80
• Exercise intervention: Daily supervised walking sessions beginning with 10 minutes increasing to 40 minutes. Control intervention included stretching and toning sessions lead by an exercise professional
• Cognitive assessment: Task-switching paradigm commonly used to assess executive function
• Blood assay: Serum brain-derived neurotropic factor (BNDF) levels and BDNF genotype
• Statistical analysis: Multivariate linear regression analysis with key dependent variable being cognitive performance after one year of intervention

The main findings from the study included:

• Serum BDNF increased in the exercise group
• This effect was limited to primarily the participants over 70 years of age
• Enhanced executive function following exercise was demonstrated in those over 70
• BDNF level increases in the over 70 age group correlated with cognitive performance

The authors note their does not mean exercise is not important for cognitive function in the younger age group (55-70 years of age). Their study only highlights the age interaction with BDNF in moderating a single executive function task.

BDNF levels decrease with age and the level of decrease in BDNF correlates with reduction in volume of the brain hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a key role in memory function and in decline in memory associated with aging.

It is quite possible that regular exercise after age 70 reduces the age related effect on cognition moderated by BDNF.

Readers with more interest in this study can access the free full text manuscript by clicking on the PMID link in the citation below.

Photo of ring kingfisher is from the author's files.

Follow the author on Twitter WRY999

Leckie RL, Oberlin LE, Voss MW, Prakash RS, Szabo-Reed A, Chaddock-Heyman L, Phillips SM, Gothe NP, Mailey E, Vieira-Potter VJ, Martin SA, Pence BD, Lin M, Parasuraman R, Greenwood PM, Fryxell KJ, Woods JA, McAuley E, Kramer AF, & Erickson KI (2014). BDNF mediates improvements in executive function following a 1-year exercise intervention. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8 PMID: 25566019

Growing evidence links physical activity to improved cognitive outcome in elderly individuals.

Few studies have examined effects of exercise on those at highest risk for Alzheimer's disease.

J Carson Smith and colleagues recently published a prospective study of a cohort of older adults using structural magnetic resonance imaging.

The key elements of the design of their study included the following elements:
Participants: 97 adults between the ages of 65 and 89
Physical activity level: Frequency and intensity of leisure activity was assessed using the Stanford Brief Activity Survey
Alzheimer's risk status: Assessed using APOE genotype
Brain scanning protocol: Magnetic resonance imaging of brain using a 3T scanner at baseline and 18 months later. The brain hippocampal volume was identified as a key structure involved in APOE-related atrophy and memory decline
Statistical analysis: Participants were grouped in low and high physical activity groups and those with and without high-risk APOE Alzheimer's risk

The research team identified a statistically significant interaction between high-risk Alzheimer's participant and physical activity:

"Hippocampal volume decreased 3% in the High Risk/Low PA (physical activity) group whereas the volumetric changes in the remaining three groups were negligible."

The high-risk Alzheimer's group that participated in higher levels of physical activity appeared to have significant protection against hippocampal atrophy. To reach the higher levels of physical activity in the study they had to endorse one of the following levels:

• Brisk walking 15 minutes daily three or more days per week
• Jogging 15 minutes daily three or more days per week
• Swimming 15 minutes daily three or more days per week
• Moderately difficult chores 45 minutes daily three or more days per week
• Regular jogging, running, bicycling or swimming 30 minutes or more
• Playing sports such as handball or tennis an hour or more 

The authors examine the potential mechanisms for physical activity to reduce hippocampal atrophy in those with the high risk APOE genotype.

They note the beneficial effect of exercise may be through effects on cholinergic function, brain lipid metabolism or reduced neuroinflammation.

If this study is replicated it is an important finding with several implications.

One implication is that it may be one of the first research findings to support routine genetic testing for APOE and Alzheimer's risk. Those identified as high risk by APOE status could be targeted for aggressive behavioral interventions to increase physical activity along with increased surveillance of cognitive function.

Readers with more interest in this research can access the free full-text manuscript by clicking on the PMID link in the citation below.

Follow the author on Twitter WRY999

Photo of roseate spoonbill at sunset is from the author's files.

Smith JC, Nielson KA, Woodard JL, Seidenberg M, Durgerian S, Hazlett KE, Figueroa CM, Kandah CC, Kay CD, Matthews MA, & Rao SM (2014). Physical activity reduces hippocampal atrophy in elders at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 6 PMID: 24795624

Keep your "nose to the grindstone" is the advice we often give as an essential ingredient of learning difficult tasks. An old joke captures the problem with the old bromide for success, "Keep your eye on the ball, your ear to the ground, your nose to the grindstone, your shoulder to the wheel: Now try to work in that position."

Over the years of teaching, I have seen many highly conscientious students work like demons in their study yet don't seem to learn as much as they should for all the effort they put in. Typically, it is because they don't study smart. And sometimes the problem is created by the teachers' method of instruction.

In an earlier post, I described a learning strategy wherein a student should spend repeated short (say 10-15 minutes) of intense study followed immediately by a comparable rest period of "brain-dead" activity where they don't engage with a new learning task. The idea is that memory of the just-learned material is more likely to be consolidated into long-term memory because there are no mental distractions to erase the temporary working memory while it is in the process of consolidation.

Now, new research now suggests that too much nose-to-the-grindstone can impair learning.

Margaret Schlichting, a graduate student researcher, and Alison Preston, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Texas tested the effect of mental rest with a learning task of remembering two sets of a series of associated photo pairs.  Between the two task sets, the participants rested and were allowed to think about whatever they wanted. Not surprisingly, those who used the rest time to reflect on what they had learned earlier were able to remember more upon re-test. Obviously, in this case, the brain is not really resting, as it is processing (that is, rehearsing) the new learning. But the brain is resting in the sense that no new mental challenges are encountered.

The university press release quotes the authors as saying, "We've shown for the first time that how the brain processes information during rest can improve future learning. We think replaying memories during rest makes those earlier memories stronger, not just impacting the original content, but impacting the memories to come." Despite the fact that this concept has been anointed as a new discovery in a prestigious science journal, the principle has been well-known for decades. I have explained this phenomenon in my memory books as the well-established term of "interference theory of memory,"

What has not been well understood among teachers is the need to alter teaching practices to accommodate this principle. A typical class period involves teachers presenting a back-to-back succession of highly diverse learning objects and concepts. Each new topic interferes with memory formation of the prior topics. An additional interference occurs when a class period is disrupted by blaring announcements from the principal's office, designed to be loud to command attention (which has the effect of diverting attention away from the learning material). The typical classroom has a plethora of other distractions, such as windows for looking outside and multiple objects like animals, pictures, posters, banners, and ceiling mobiles designed to decorate and enliven the room. The room itself is a major distraction.

Then, to compound the problem, the class bell rings, and students rush out into the hall for their next class, socializing furiously in the limited time they have to get to the next class (on a different subject, by a different teacher, in a differently decorated classroom). You can be sure, little reflection occurs on the academic material they had just encountered.

The format of a typical school day is so well-entrenched that I doubt it can be changed. But there is no excuse for blaring loudspeaker announcements during the middle of a class period. Classrooms do not have to be decorated. A given class period does not have to be an information dump on overwhelmed students. Short periods of instruction need to be followed by short, low-key, periods of questioning, discussion, reflection, and application of what has just been taught. Content that doesn't get "covered" in class can be assigned as homework—or even exempted from being a learning requirement. It is better to learn a few things well than many things poorly. Indeed, this is the refreshing philosophy behind the new national science standards known as "Next Generation Science Standards."

Give our kids a rest: the right kind of mental rest.

Sources:


Schlichting, M. L., and Preston, A. R. (2014). Memory reactivation during rest supports upcoming learning of related content Proc. Nat. Acad. Science. Published ahead of print October 20, 2014.

http://scicasts.com/neuroscience/2065-cognitive-science/8539-study-suggests-mental-rest-and-reflection-boost-learning/

http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Dr. Klemm's latest book, available at most retail outlets, is "Mental Biology. The New Science of How the Brain and Mind Relate" (Prometheus). 

Improving learning and memory entails developing learning and thinking competencies. Chief among these competencies are logical analysis, insightfulness, and the ability to remember what has been learned. Most of my posts have dealt with improving memory. Here, I start a two-series posting on the other two basic learning competencies: critical thinking and creativity. In this post, I will summarize the more common thinking errors that corrupt analysis. Most of the thinking errors below can be described as "specious," which means superficially plausible but actually wrong.

AD HOMINEN ARGUMENT: discounting a position or conclusion on the basis of the credentials of the person who makes it, rather than the merits of the argument itself. Example: Your professor has no credibility to teach on cognitive neuroscience, because he is a veterinarian. Such statements not only fail to acknowledge whatever truth is in the teaching, but also fail to consider that the person has more experience and knowledge than his or her label would imply. See "all-or-none thinking" below.

Two related argumentation tactics for discounting one's credibility are politicization and ridicule. In politicization, the tactic is to align one's position with the majority, as if that conferred more logical validity. With ridicule, the tactic aims to prevent serious consideration of the ridiculed position and create a default endorsement of the protagonist's position.

ALL-OR-NOTHING THINKING: thinking of things in absolute terms, like “always”, “every” or “never”. Nuance is absent.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM:to attribute qualities and properties to non-people that only people can have. Example: “the purpose of evolution is to ….” Evolution happens, but not because it has a purpose.

APPEAL TO AUTHORITY: attempts to justify the conclusion by quoting an authority in its support. This also includes greater readiness to accept ideas if they come from someone with the appropriate credentials rather than the intrinsic merit of the ideas.

APPEAL TO CONSENSUS: positions defended on the basis that many people hold the same view. This is sometimes called the “Bandwagon Fallacy.” Correctness of a position does not depend on who or how many hold it. See also the comments above about politicization

APPEAL TO IGNORANCE: using an opponent’s inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion’s errors. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

APPEAL TO FINAL CONSEQUENCES: claiming validity for one’s position on the basis of the expected outcome or consequence (also known as a "teleological" argument or sometimes as a "circular argument"). Example: people have free will because otherwise they can’t be held responsible for bad behavior. This is not evidence for the assertion, but merely a statement of a supposed consequence.

ARGUMENT SELECTIVITY: using arguments supporting your position while glossing over the weaknesses and leaving out important alternative arguments. This is often called “cherry picking.” A related argumentation error is to ignore the valid ideas of another while focusing on their ideas that are easier to attack. A related inappropriate selectivity is rejecting an idea altogether just because some part of it is wrong.

A variation of this error is “false dichotomy,” where a set of valid possibilities is reduced to only two.

BEGGING THE QUESTION: an argument that simply reasserts the conclusion in another form. This is a common fallacy where one tries to explain an idea or position by restating a description in a different way. The restatement is still a description, giving the illusion that this new way of stating something explains it.

BIASED LABELING: how one labels a position can prejudice objective consideration of the position. For example, calling a position “Science-based” does not necessarily make it true. Or, conversely, calling a position “colloquial” does not necessary invalidate it.

CIRCULAR REASONING: reasoning where a belief in a central claim is both the starting point and the goal of the argument.

CLOUDING THE ISSUE (OBFUSCATION): using multiple complex ideas and data of unclear relevance to overwhelm the capacity for reason, yet giving the impression of authority and reason— in other words, "baffling them with B. S." Simple language in the service of lucid thought is the sign of superior intelligence.

COGNITIVE SHORTCUT BIAS (Einstellung). This is the dogged tendency to stick with a favored view or argument for a position, and ignoring, in the process, other more fruitful possibilities. Even chess masters, for example, may use an established gambit when a better tactic is available.

CONFIRMATION BIAS. People have a natural tendency to notice only the facts that support their position while discounting those that do not — in other words, believing what you want to believe.

CONFUSING CORRELATION WITH CAUSATION. When two things happen together, and especially when one occurs just before the other, people commonly think that one thing causes the other. Without other more direct evidence of causation, this assumption is invalid. Both events could be caused by something else. In case people need convincing, just remind them of this example: rain and lightning go together, but neither causes the other.

CONFUSING FORCE OF ARGUMENT WITH ITS VALIDITY: repeating erroneous argument does not validate it. Saying it louder doesn’t help either.

DEDUCTION FALLACIES: a valid deductive argument must have consistent premises and conclusions (both must be either true or both false). Failure to be consistent produces “non sequiturs,” that is, conclusions that are not logical extensions of the premise.

EMOTIONAL REASONING: Making decisions and arguments based on how you feel rather than objective reality. This is an emotional "knee jerk" kind of thinking, often the first thing that comes to mind, which often precludes or overwhelms rational analysis. This error is common in political discourse. People who allow themselves to get caught up in emotional reasoning can become completely blinded to the difference between feelings and facts. For example, scientists sometimes unduly value a position because it is “parsimonious,” or elegant, or easily understood (or even complex and sophisticated).

EXLUSIVITY CONFUSION. When several apparent ideas or facts are examined, it is important to know whether they are independent, compatible, or mutually exclusive. Example: concepts of evolution and creationism, as they are typically used, are mutually exclusive. However, stated in other ways, they might be more compatible.

FALSE ANALOGY: explaining an idea with an analogy that is not parallel, as in comparing apples and oranges.

HALO EFFECT: Generalizing merit to an idea or thought on the basis of irrelevant merit of something else. For example, if you like someone, you are more likely to be accepting of their thinking and minimize the defects. Similarly, favorable first impressions are more likely to yield positive impressions later.

INTUITIVE THINKING: relying on a "gut feeling" without fact checking. Example:

            A bat and ball costs $1.10.

            The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball.

            How much does the ball cost?

Most people, even students at the most selective universities, give the wrong intuitive answer of 10 cents. The right answer is 5 cents. Do the math.

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS. This error occurs under a variety of situations. The most common cause is failure to consider alternatives. An associated cause is failure to question and test assumptions used to arrive at a conclusion.

MAGNIFICATION & MINIMIZATION. Exaggerating negatives and understating positives. Be aware of how easy it is for you and others to exaggerate the positives of a position and understate the negatives.

MISSING THE POINT. Sometimes this happens unintentionally. But frequently recognition that one’s argument is weak creates the temptation to shift focus away from the central issue to related areas where one can make a stronger argument.

NOT LISTENING. Have a clear notion of the issue and the stance that others are taking. If you have to read another’s mind or “read between the lines,” seek clarification lest you end up putting your words in somebody else’s mouth.

OVER-GENERALIZATION. It is illogical to assume that what is true for one thing is true for something else. Example: some scientists studying free will claim that the decision-making process for making a button press is the same for more complex decisions.

UNSUPPORTED ASSERTION. Recognize when a claim is made without supporting evidence. This also occurs when one confuses a judgment or opinion for a fact.

Further Reading

Clayton, C. W., (2007). The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: a Guide to: The Lost art of Critical Thinking. iUniverse. Lincoln, Nebraska.

Gilovich, T. (1993) How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life. The Free Press, New York.

Hughes, W. et al. (2010) Critical Thinking, Sixth Edition: An Introduction to the Basic Skills. The Broadview Press. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

Kahnemann, Daniel (2011). Thinking Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus, and Girous. New York.

Read reviews of my books at http://WRKlemm.com. Follow me on Twitter @wrklemm.

The rate of cognitive decline with aging is quite variable. 

Identifying important components of this process is needed for developing interventions to reduce the burden of Alzheimer's and other dementias.

Excess inflammation has been linked to obesity as well as aging-related cognitive decline.

Archana Singh-Manoux and colleagues recently published a study of the association between blood markers of inflammation and cognitive decline.

This study used data from the U.K. Whitehall II cohort, a group of men and women between the ages of 35-55 at intake.

This cohort has now been studied over a 20 year follow up with interval assessments about every five years.

Two blood markers of inflammation were studied in this cohort: interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP).

The study found strong associations between both blood markers of inflammation and rates of obesity (BMI >30) in the chart shown here.

Cognitive decline was measured by decrease scores on the Minimental Status Exam and other neuropsychological tests during the follow up period.

The primary finding from the study was that elevated IL-6 levels but not CRP levels at baseline were associated with accelerated cognitive decline.

Subjects in the highest IL-6 blood level group showed an 85% increased rate in losing 3 or more points on the Minimental Status Exam.

The authors note there study does not prove causality between IL-6 levels and cognitive decline but that:

"Inflammation is likely to play a role because of its impact on cerebral small-vessel disease, which could lead to changes that affect cognitive ageing."

It is also possible, that some of the link between obesity and cognitive decline may be attributable to increased obesity-related inflammation.

The practical clinical potential would be to attempt to identify and reduce inflammation in those most at risk. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as naproxen (Aleve in U.S.) have not been generally effect in trials to reduce rates of Alzheimer's disease.

However, these trials have typically not targeted groups with the highest blood markers of inflammation.

Readers with more interest in this topic can access the free full-text manuscript by clicking on the link in the citation below.

Photo of great blue heron from South Padre Island, TX is from the author's files.

Chart is an original figure from data abstracted from the manuscript.

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Singh-Manoux A, Dugravot A, Brunner E, Kumari M, Shipley M, Elbaz A, & Kivimaki M (2014). Interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein as predictors of cognitive decline in late midlife. Neurology, 83 (6), 486-93 PMID: 24991031

Joe: My doctor told me to give up drinking, smoking, and fatty foods.

Sam: What will you do?

Joe: I think I’ll give up my doctor.

I try not to get too excited about memory benefits of supplements, because too often the claims are not substantiated by studies that are well controlled and peer reviewed. I now think resveratrol may be one of the few supplements that benefits brain function.

When I wrote my first blog on research on resveratrol benefits for brain function and memory, there were over 2,000 scientific papers.[1]Don't worry; I am only going to tell you about a few studies.

Resveratrol is an active ingredient in red wine. This compound has been credited for explaining why red-wine drinkers in France, who drink more wine than most people, are healthier than would be predicted by their lifestyle of little exercise and eating lots of cheese. The problem is most studies suggest you would have to drink a 100 or more glasses of red wine a day to get much resveratrol effect (and that effect would obviously be negated by a toxic dose of alcohol). An obviously more healthful choice is the highly concentrated pill forms of resveratrol that are now on the market.

Most of the protective biological actions associated with resveratrol have been associated with its scavenger properties for free radicals and the protective effects that it confers on the heart and diabetes. 

One important study comes from a diabetes research group in Brazil recently who reported a beneficial effect of resveratrol on diabetic rats.[2]Resveratrol (in a modest rat dose of 10 and 20 mg per kilogram per day for 30 days) prevented the impairment of memory induced by diabetes. Resveratrol may be protecting neuron terminals that diabetes can damage. An earlier study by another group showed resveratrol improved glucose metabolism and promoted longevity in diabetic mice.

Another benefit of resveratrol is the anti-oxidant property. The brain produces more free-radical damage than other organs, because it burns so much oxygen. Compared with other organs, the brain has especially low levels of antioxidant defense enzymes. 

One recent study has revealed resveratrol had protective effects against brain damage caused by a chemical that kills acetylcholine neurons. Injection of this toxin into the brain of rats impaired their memory performance in two kinds of maze tasks. The impairment was significantly reduced by repeated injection of resveratrol (10 and 20 mg/kg) per day for 25 days, beginning four days before the toxin injection.[3]

Another recent study examined effects on working memory in mice fed a resveratrol-supplemented diet for four weeks before being injected with a cytokine to induce inflammation and accelerate aging. Resveratrol significantly reduced memory impairment in the aged group, but not in the young adults[4]. The lack of benefit in young adults was a little misleading, in that there was a "ceiling effect" in that the young adults were not impaired by the cytokine injection.

 The practical issue for us is whether resveratrol will help cognitive function in humans, especially healthy humans. It seems likely because other substances that have strong anti-oxidant properties seem to improve memory capability. Because animal studies have shown promise for resveratrol in preventing or treatment several different conditions associated with aging, several human clinical trials have been initiated.[5]

 An impressive new study of older humans, male and female, has just been reported.[6]Twenty-three healthy, but overweight people completed 6 months of daily resveratrol intake (200 mg ― the commercial brand I take has 300 mg/capsule). A paired control group got placebo pills. A double-blind design assured that neither the subjects nor the experimenters knew which individuals were in each group during data processing. Memory tests of word recall revealed significant improvement in the resveratrol group. Resveratrol also increased brain-scan measures of functional connectivity, which identified linked neural activity between the hippocampus and several areas of cerebral cortex.

Because others had shown that resveratrol increased insulin sensitivity in humans, these authors examine several markers important to diabetes. Resveratrol decreased the standing levels of sugar-bound hemoglobin, a standard marker for glucose control.  

What foods besides red grapes have resveratrol? The most likely other sources you would eat or drink are blueberries, cranberries, and peanuts. It is not likely that you could drink or eat enough of such substances to get enough resveratrol to do much good. Because of the scientifically documented benefits of resveratrol, highly concentrated supplements are now on the market (I have been taking it for a couple of years). I haven't given up my two glasses of red wine each day, but I have started taking one of the supplements. I haven't seen any reports that high doses of resveratrol are toxic.

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[1] http://thankyoubrain.blogspot.com/2010/04/resveratrol-red-wine-magic-chemical.htmlApril 4, 2010.

[2] Schmatz R, et al. (2009). Resveratrol prevents memory deficits and the increase in acetylcholinesterase activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Eur J Pharmacol. 2009 May 21;610(1-3):42-8. Epub 2009 Mar 19.

[3] Kumar, A. et al. 2007. Neuroprotective effects of resveratrol against intracerebroventricular colchicine-induced cognitive impairment and oxidative stress in rats. Pharmacology.79 (1): 17-26. DOI: 10.1159/000097511

[4] Abraham, J., and Johnson, R. W. 2009. Consuming a diet supplemented with resveratrol reduced infection-related neuroinflammation and deficits in working memory in aged mice. Rejuvenation research. 12 (6): 445-453.  DOI: 10.1089/rej.2009.0888

[5]Smoliga, J. M. et al. (2011). Resveratrol and health – a comprehensive review of human clinical trials.  Mol. Nutrition Food Res. 55: 1129-1141

[6] Witte, A. V., et al. (2014) Effects of resveratrol on memory performance, hippocampal functional connectivity, and glucose metabolism in healthy older adults. J. Neuroscience. 34 23): 7862-7870.

"Memory Medic's latest book is for seniors (Improve Your Memory for a Healthy Brain. Memory Is the Canary in Your Brain's Coal Mine," available in inexpensive e-book format at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/496252.  See also his recent book, "Mental Biology. The New Science of How the Brain and Mind Relate" (Prometheus).

There is a growing research body of evidence to support beneficial effects of a Mediterranean diet on brain health.

In previous posts I have reviewed research on the Mediterranean diet and:

Cognitive Decline

Alzheimer's Disease Prevention

A recent study adds an important element in potential mechanisms for the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet.

Marta Crous-Bou and colleauges from Harvard University and the University of Washington published a study of the Mediterranean diet and chromosome telomere length.

This analysis used the large Nurses' Health Study cohort, blood samples and dietary questionnaires. Blood samples were analyzed for chromosome telomere length.

Chromosome telomere length has emerged as a biomarker of aging. DNA chromosome telomere lengths decline with age and shortened telomere lengths are associated with shortened life expectancy. 

The natural process of telomere shortening appears accelerated by inflammation and may be modified by lifestyle behaviors including dietary composition.

In the current study, subjects regularly completed dietary questionnaires. These questionnaires were rated on compliance with the Mediterranean diet on nine variables:

1. Vegetables
2. Fruits
3. Nuts
4. Whole grains
5. Legumes
6. Fish
7. Monounsaturated fat to saturated fat ratio
8. Red meat consumption
9. Alcohol intake

Median values for variables 1-8 were identified and subjects received a score of 1 if they were above the median (below median for red meat consumption). One point was awarded for consuming between 5 and 15 grams of alcohol per day.

Telomere length shortening was associated with older age and heavier cigarette consumption history.

Subjects were grouped into quintiles (20%) groups from lowest to highest Mediterranean diet score.

After adjusting for confounding variables, telomere length was statistically linked to Mediterranean diet score. Those with higher ratings on Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres indicating better aging.

The highest quintile group reported the following mean daily servings for each category: Vegetables (4.3 servings per day), fruits (3.2), whole grains (2.1), fish (0.5), red meat (0.5), legumes (0.6) and nuts (0.5).

The authors note they were unable to identify any single variable that had a strong independent effect. The effect appeared to be a combined global effect of the Mediterranean diet score.

This is an important study because it adds evidence for a biological mechanism for some of the previously reported clinical advantages associated with a Mediterranean diet. 

However, this study is limited by being primarily cross-sectional in design. It does not inform on whether changing diet to a Mediterranean type reduces rate of telomere shortening. 

Readers with more interest in this research can access the free full-text manuscript by clicking on the citation link below.

Photo of foods highlighted in the Mediterranean diet is an original photo from my files.

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Crous-Bou M, Fung TT, Prescott J, Julin B, Du M, Sun Q, Rexrode KM, Hu FB, & De Vivo I (2014). Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses' Health Study: population based cohort study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 349 PMID: 25467028

Randomized clinical trials provide one of the best ways to test new obesity interventions.

These types of trials can examine effects of specific diets, new pharmacological treatment and new surgical treatments.

Here are some of the recent published trials that caught my attention in the last years.

Clicking on the title will take you to the PubMed abstract for more information. Additionally, some of the abstracts will have links to full-text manuscripts.

Lorcaserin: Safety and efficacy

This manuscript examined the results and safety of two previously published randomized trials of locarserin leading to FDA approval for obesity. Lorcaserin is a serotonin receptor 2 agonist. This manuscript noted more weight loss with this drug at one year (5.8% of body weight vs 2.5% of body weight for placebo). The drug appeared safe with no evidence of heart valve problems previously seen in some weight loss drugs.

Exercise effects in obese adolescents

In this randomized trial, obese adolescents participated in one of four groups: aerobic training, resistance training, combined aerobic and resistance and control. Body fat was measured using MRI at baseline and 6 months. The study found significant reductions in body fat in all three exercise groups compared to controls. Adolescents who had high adherence to the combined training regimen fared best.

Bariatric surgery compared to medical obesity management in type 2 diabetes

Weight loss surgery is frequently reserved for the most obese that have a significant obesity-related medical condition. Less severely obese individuals (BMI 30 to 35) with type 2 diabetes have received less attention. In this study individuals with type 2 diabetes and a BMI of between 30 and 35 were randomized to bariatric surgery or aggressive medical therapy. The bariatric surgery group at six months had higher diabetes remission rates (65% vs 0%) and greater weight loss. 

Vagal nerve blockade as a treatment of obesity

The vagus nerve running from the GI tract to the brain in known to be involved in control of food intake and satiety. This study examined a clinical trial of a surgical intervention that allows for intra-abdominal vagal blockade. This trial found some evidence for superiority of vagal blockade vs sham intervention, but the effects were relatively mild and did not meet pre-study targets for significant advantage.

Inpatient treatment for severe obesity in children and adolescents

Treating severe obesity in children and adolescents is a serious clinical challenge. A group in the Netherlands examined the potential for a partial hospitalization over 6 months to boost weight loss in obese children and adolescents. The hospitalized group had greater weight loss at 6 months compared to an outpatient control group. However, these favorable outcomes were not present at 12 month and 24 months follow up.

Photo of female cardinal in the snow is from my files.

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