Sunday, August 31, 2025
Harvard-trained expert: This mindset shift can make you 'a lot happier' and more fulfilled—most people don't know about it
Part of my Hunter S. Thompson journey; Life is short, have to accomplish a lot while still relatively young and healthy.
Neuroscience Reveals 4 Ways to Get Smarter, Make Better Decisions, and Stay Mentally Agile
Think your competent? doctor has EXACT PROTOCOLS to recover your 5 lost cognitive years from your stroke, I highly doubt your doctor has that. Have them prove it!
Neuroscience Reveals 4 Ways to Get Smarter, Make Better Decisions, and Stay Mentally Agile
Best of all, research shows each also contributes to living a healthier, more positive, and fulfilling life.
We all want to be smarter and more focused. We all want to make better decisions. We all want to be more mentally flexible, able to think abstractly and form new concepts.
Wanting is a lot easier than having, though, but not if you tap into the way your brain works on a neurobiological level.
Here are four research-based approaches to help you get smarter, make better choices, and stay mentally agile.
Get Smarter in 10 Minutes
If you want to increase your overall level of intelligence and increase your learning speed, a study published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that just six to 10 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise(Did you doctor succeed at this simple task? NO? So, incompetence reigned, and s/he is still employed there? If I was as bad at programming as that, I wouldn't last longer than a week!) can improve your working memory and significantly improve higher-level cognitive skills like organization, prioritization, and planning.
If you’re wondering, “moderate exertion” involves things like fast walking. Slow jogging. Climbing stairs. Think any activity that, while not easy, will still allow you to carry on a conversation. “Vigorous exertion” is just what it sounds like: cycling, swimming, HIIT workouts, fast jogging, etc.+ a little exercise can have a negative impact on your mental abilities. The study found that cognition declined by 1 to 2 percent — not a lot, granted, but still — when eight minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity was replaced by sitting.
As the researchers write:
Relative to time spent in other behaviors, greater MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity) was associated with higher cognitive scores. Loss of MVPA time, given its smaller relative amount, appears most deleterious.
Efforts should be made to preserve MVPA time, or reinforce it in place of other behaviors.
Yep: If you want to get smarter, get moving for at least 10 minutes a day; or more, if you like. The study found that the more time you spend exercising, up to a point, the greater the mental benefits. (And, of course, the physical benefits.)
Other research agrees. For one thing, exercise can slow or even reverse the physical decay of your brain. Contrary to conventional wisdom, new brain cells can be created: Research shows exercise can increase the size of your hippocampus, even in your 60s and 70s, therefore mitigating the impact of age-related memory loss. (Having witnessed what dementia did to my father, that’s one of the reasons I spend about an hour exercising nearly every day.)+ed in Translational Sports Medicine found that even “aerobic exercise for two minutes at moderate-to-high intensity improved attention, concentration, and learning and memory functions for up to two hours.”
If you want a longer-term boost, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that participants who walked briskly (a target heart rate of 60 to 75 percent of max) for 40 minutes, three times a week, increased the volume of their hippocampus by slightly over two percent. While two percent isn’t much, it beats the heck out of a shrinking hippocampus.
Granted, that’s a lot of research. Bottom line, a few minutes of exercise will help improve learning and memory. A few more minutes will improve planning and organizational skills.
Movement makes you smarter. And healthier.
Pick an activity or activities you like to do. Consistency, in this and nearly everything else, is the key. Pick one thing you’ll be willing, if not happy, to do every day.
Not only will you get smarter, you’ll also be a little healthier.
Make Better Decisions by Chunking
In a landmark study, Adriaan de Groot asked expert and novice players to view a chess position for a few seconds and memorize it as best they could. Here’s what happened:
- When the position imitated the layout of a real game, the experts performed significantly better than novices. They had seen and analyzed countless chess positions. They knew and recognized patterns, and instinctively connected the new pattern to ones they already knew.
- When the position was created by placing pieces at random, the experts performed no better than novices. They couldn’t relate random patterns to anything they knew.
The grandmasters weren’t better at memorizing, but they were definitely better at chunking, parsing and grouping information in the most efficient way possible.
According to Barbara Oakley, an engineering professor at Oakland University and the author of Learning How to Learn:
Chunking is the mother of all learning — when you know something so well that it is basically a snap to call it to mind and do it or use it.
Creating neural patterns, neural chunks, underpins the development of all expertise.
That’s how extensive practice and deep experience help experts make what appear to be instinctive decisions. (Or as the late Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman said, “Intuition is thinking that you know without knowing why you do.”)
That’s how experienced doctors can often, within seconds, arrive at an accurate diagnosis. That’s how experienced investors quickly take advantage of a subtle market shift. That’s how experienced leaders quickly read the room to recognize conflicting agendas.
Neural chunks allow you to know, even though you may not know why you know.
So how can you better create neural chunks? One way is to follow Adam Grant’s simple three-step process:
- Learn something, and then quiz yourself. Quizzing helps you practice retrieving information (and makes it stickier).
- Teach someone else. Research shows even just expecting to teach helps you learn more effectively.
- Connect what you’ve learned to something you already know. “Associative learning” not only creates context and meaning, but also allows you to need to only remember differences and nuances. That’s how a blindfolded Magnus Carlsen can play (and win) multiple games at the same time.
The ability to make intuitive decisions isn’t a skill you either have or don’t have; the ability to make intuitive decisions is a skill that results from extensive, ongoing practice.
What matters when you need to make a quick decision isn’t that you know why you know. What matters, in the moment, is that you know.
Because then you can act on what you know.
Make Better Decisions via Circadian Rhythms
No one has an infinite supply of mental energy. Make enough decisions in one day — which, if you’re an entrepreneur, can feel like all you do all day — and decision fatigue naturally sets in. The more decisions you have to make, the harder it is to keep making smart decisions.
Neurobiology backs up that feeling. Difficult mental tasks that require focus and concentration lead to a buildup of glutamate, and too much glutamate in your system affects your lateral prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and planning) in a significant way.
In a study published in Current Biology, one group of participants tackled difficult tasks requiring focus and concentration for six-plus hours. Another group spent the same six-plus hours doing much easier and simpler tasks. The researchers then gave participants a series of choices about whether to work harder or less hard physically and mentally and how long they were willing to delay gratification.
Unsurprisingly, the difficult-task group chose the easy routes, and took a lot less time to make those decisions.
Other studies back up the impact of decision fatigue. A study published in Chronobiology International found we tend to make smarter, more rational decisions about high-risk propositions earlier in the day. A study published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services found we’re much more likely to make impulse buying decisions at night.
In short? Get mentally tired, make poorer decisions.
Whenever possible, structure your day so you can tackle tasks requiring focus and concentration as early in your workday as possible.
Or right after lunch, when you’ve had the chance to physically and mentally recharge. A study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research found that a short rest period can replenish your decision-making muscles.
Do the same for important decisions. By late afternoon, you’re much more likely to choose lower-effort actions that involve shorter-term rewards.
Use the Big Three to Stay Mentally Agile
A summary of multiple studies published in Psychophysiology found that brain connectivity changes dramatically starting somewhere around the time you turn 40; that’s when your brain begins to undergo what neurologists call a “radical rewiring.”
While different parts of your brain handle different processes, as you age the number of separate domains declines. Over time what were once partitioned networks, with separate cognitive domains responsible for specialized processing, steadily become more integrated.
The resulting “generalization” negatively impacts executive function and attention: working memory, fluid intelligence, reasoning, problem-solving, the ability to think abstractly, etc.
As the researchers write:
During the early years of life, there is a rapid organization of functional brain networks. A further refinement of the functional networks then takes place until around the third and fourth decade of life.
Older adults tend to show less flexible thinking, such as forming new concepts and abstract thinking, lower response inhibition, as well as lower verbal and numeric reasoning.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that while genetics play a role, research shows the Big Three — diet, exercise, and living a broadly healthy lifestyle — can dramatically slow and even put off the effect of network consolidation and generalization:
- Diet: An International Journal of Molecular Sciences study shows eating a healthy diet can reduce age-related cognitive decline and the risk of developing various neurodegenerative diseases.
- Exercise: The PNAS study referenced above shows exercise can slow or even reverse the physical decay of your brain. And if that’s not enough, research shows exercise will also help you live longer.
- Lifestyle: A Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience study shows insufficient sleep is associated with accelerated brain atrophy and impaired brain functional connectivity; a Lancet study shows alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs directly impact the brain, causing it to age more rapidly, atrophy, and lose functioning ability.(Being retired I can now catch up on sleep as needed.)
Take on new challenges(International travel is a challenge; Last two years; Mexico, Ecuador, Bhutan, Spain, Iceland, Madeira/Portugal, Ecuador, Australia, Peru; Upcoming; Vietnam/Cambodia, South Africa/Zimbabwe). Learn new things. Build new social connections(I'm very good at this.). The greater our range of experiences, the more you’ll be able to leverage the power of chunking. See exercise, diet, and living a healthy lifestyle as good for your body and your mind.
Because they are.
This post originally appeared at inc.com.
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The hidden health benefit of staying positive in your middle age
I'm incredibly positive and it's all due to my stroke. And since at 69. I'm still in middle age since I'm getting to 100
My story: I would still be leading a life of quiet desperation if still married.
Well, at age 50 I had my stroke and the result of that is making me happy for the rest of my life. Got divorced at age 58, fired at age 56. All leading to moving to Michigan and finding lots of new friendships.
(Life is
definitely better as I age, I got divorced enhancing my happiness
immeasurably. I'm retired and comfortably well off. And healthy as I can
be post stroke. I'm going to live a long time yet.)
The hidden health benefit of staying positive in your middle age
Maintaining a positive outlook could significantly reduce the risk of memory decline in middle age, according to a substantial 16-year study.
Researchers tracking more than 10,000 individuals over the age of 50 discovered a compelling correlation: participants reporting higher levels of wellbeing consistently achieved better scores on memory tests.
The extensive research indicated that those with a more positive disposition also reported a greater sense of personal agency, including enhanced feelings of control, independence, and the freedom to make their own choices.
While the observed link between positivity and cognitive health was modest in scale, the study's authors emphasised its statistical significance, suggesting a tangible connection between psychological state and the preservation of memory function as people age.
“This study represents an important step toward understanding the interplay between wellbeing and memory over time,” Co-author Joshua Stott, professor of ageing and clinical psychology at University College London, said.
“It offers new insights into how self-rated wellbeing is associated with memory and vice versa.
“While our findings are preliminary, they highlight the importance of considering psychosocial influences on brain health such as memory.”
The researchers suggested reasons why wellbeing may have a positive impact on memory, such as people may be more likely to exercise, which improves health (Alamy/PA)
The study tracked 10,760 men and women over 50 who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
They were assessed on wellbeing and memory every two years – a total of nine times during the 16-year study period, starting in 2002.
Researchers checked people’s ability to learn and recall 10 words immediately and after a delay.
Wellbeing was also assessed using a quality-of-life questionnaire, looking at areas such as pleasure, control and autonomy.
Questions people were asked included the phrases: “I can do the things that I want to do”, and “I feel that life is full of opportunities”.
The study found a small but significant association between higher wellbeing and better memory, which still existed even after any depression was taken into account.
The researchers suggested reasons why well-being may have a positive impact on memory, such as people may be more likely to exercise, which improves health.
Age, gender, other lifestyle factors and socioeconomic status may also have a negative or positive impact on wellbeing and memory, they added.
The authors found no evidence that it was poor memory causing low wellbeing in some people, but they stressed this could not be ruled out.
The research was funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK and others, including the Medical Research Council.
The study found a small but significant association between higher wellbeing and better memory, which still existed even after any depression was taken into account. (Alamy/PA)
Emma Taylor, information services manager at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Loving your heart, staying sharp and keeping connected are key to protecting our brain health as we age.
“There are 14 established health and lifestyle risk factors for dementia, including lack of physical exercise, social isolation, and depression, which are linked to wellbeing.
“This study found that people over 50 who reported they felt happier and more fulfilled in life had a better memory over time.
“However, this research is observational – and more work is needed to understand how a positive wellbeing and memory are connected and whether this has a knock-on effect on dementia risk.
“Looking after our mental wellbeing plays an important part in our overall health.
“And it’s never too late to start taking steps to keep our brains healthy throughout our lives and lessen the devastating impact of dementia.”
Study co-author Dr Emily Willroth, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, said: “Going forwards it would be fantastic if this research can build on the foundations of ongoing memory research to potentially inform strategies supporting cognitive health in ageing populations – that is the aim.”
The study was published in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
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Could a Common Virus Help Drive Parkinson’s?
How will your competent? doctor use this to prevent your Parkinson's risk from your stroke? Oh, your incompetent doctor PLANS ON DOING NOTHING? RUN AWAY!
Parkinson’s Disease May Have Link to Stroke March 2017
Could a Common Virus Help Drive Parkinson’s?
Summary: New research suggests a previously harmless virus may be linked to Parkinson’s disease. Scientists detected Human Pegivirus (HPgV) in the brains and spinal fluid of Parkinson’s patients but not in controls, challenging assumptions that the virus is benign.
The findings showed that patients with the virus had distinct immune responses and advanced brain changes, which were further influenced by genetic mutations like LRRK2. This discovery highlights a potential environmental factor in Parkinson’s development and opens new avenues for research into viral and genetic interactions.
Key Facts
- HPgV Discovery: Found in 50% of Parkinson’s brains, none in controls.
- Immune Interaction: Virus presence altered immune system signals, influenced by genetics.
- Potential Trigger: Suggests viruses may interact with genes to contribute to Parkinson’s.
Source: Northwestern University
New research from Northwestern Medicine finds that a usually harmless virus might be an environmental trigger or contributor to Parkinson’s disease, which affects more than one million people in the United States.
While some cases are linked to genetics, most Parkinson’s cases are not, and the cause is unknown.
The new findings were published in the latest issue of JCI Insight.
“We wanted to investigate potential environmental factors – such as viruses – that might contribute to Parkinson’s disease,” said Igor Koralnik, MD, chief of neuroinfectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine.
“Using a tool called ‘ViroFind’, we analyzed post-mortem brain samples from individuals with Parkinson’s and from those who died of other causes. We searched for all known human-infecting viruses to identify any differences between the two groups.”
Northwestern Medicine researchers detected the Human Pegivirus (HPgV) in the brains of individuals with Parkinson’s disease, but not in those without it. While HPgV belongs to the same family as hepatitis C and is a blood-borne virus, it is not known to cause any disease.
“HPgV is a common, symptomless infection previously not known to frequently infect the brain,” Dr. Koralnik said.
“We were surprised to find it in the brains of Parkinson’s patients at such high frequency and not in the controls. Even more unexpected was how the immune system responded differently, depending on a person’s genetics.
“This suggests it could be an environmental factor that interacts with the body in ways we didn’t realize before.
“For a virus that was thought to be harmless, these findings suggest it may have important effects, in the context of Parkinson’s disease. It may influence how Parkinson’s develops, especially in people with certain genetic backgrounds.”
Dr. Koralnik and his team including post-doctoral fellow Barbara Hanson, PhD, studied post-mortem brains from 10 people with Parkinson’s and 14 without. They found HPgV in the post-mortem brains of five out of 10 people with Parkinson’s and none of the 14 control brains.
It was also present in the spinal fluid of Parkinson’s patients, but not in the control group. Individuals with HPgV in their brains exhibited more advanced or distinct neuropathological changes, including increased tau pathology and altered levels of certain brain proteins.
For the blood analysis, researchers used samples from over 1,000 participants in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative, which was launched by The Michael J. Fox Foundation and scientists to create a robust biosample library to help speed scientific breakthroughs and new treatments.
“With the blood samples, we observed similar immune-related changes, mirroring those found in the brain,” Dr. Koralnik said.
“People who had the virus showed different signals from the immune system than those who didn’t, and this pattern was the same, no matter the genetics. But as we followed each person over time, we saw a more complicated picture.”
The study found that in patients with a certain Parkinson’s-related gene mutation – LRRK2 – the signals from the immune system were different in response to the virus compared to Parkinson’s patients without the mutation.
“We plan to look more closely at how genes like LRRK2 affect the body’s response to other viral infections to figure out if this is a special effect of HPgV or a broader response to viruses,” added Dr. Koralnik.
Going forward, the research team plans to study more people to find out how common the HPgV virus is in Parkinson’s patients and whether it plays a role in the disease.
“One big question we still need to answer is how often the virus gets into the brains of people with or without Parkinson’s,” said Dr. Koralnik.
“We also aim to understand how viruses and genes interact; insights that could reveal how Parkinson’s begins and could help guide future therapies.”
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, over one million people in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease and 90,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. The number of people living with Parkinson’s disease is expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030.
About this Parkinson’s disease research news
Author: Mark Rudi
Source: Northwestern University
Contact: Mark Rudi – Northwestern University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Human pegivirus alters brain and blood immune and transcriptomic profiles of patients with Parkinson’s disease” by Igor Koralnik et al. JCI Insight
A Comparative Study to Assess the Effects of Comprehensive Rehabilitation Programme with and without Bobath Sling in Post-stroke Painful Shoulder Subluxation
Who still uses NDT(Bobath) in stroke rehab when it should have been shitcanned since 2003? Physiotherapy Based on the Bobath Concept for Adults with Post-Stroke Hemiplegia: A Review of Effectiveness Studies 2003)
A Comparative Study to Assess the Effects of Comprehensive Rehabilitation Programme with and without Bobath Sling in Post-stroke Painful Shoulder Subluxation
Indian Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 35(3):p 205-211, Sep–Dec 2025. | DOI: 10.4103/ijpmr.ijpmr_24_25
- Open
Abstract
Background:
Post-stroke painful shoulder subluxation is a common condition in day-to-day Physiatric practice. Rehabilitative strategies along with the use of different shoulder supports showed variable outcomes while managing these patients.
Aims and Objectives:
To assess the effects of using Bobath shoulder sling in Post-stroke painful shoulder subluxation.
Materials and Methods:
This comparative study was conducted with patients of post-stroke painful shoulder subluxation after considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants were randomly divided into two groups (group 1 and 2) and managed with a comprehensive rehabilitation programme. Bobath shoulder sling was given only to the group 1. Intensity of shoulder pain was measured by 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale(NRS). Acromio-Greater Tuberosity Distance difference (AGTDD) was used for gleno-humeral subluxation quantification, and Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity (FMA-UE) was used for assessing sensori-motor recovery. All the variables were measured at the baseline/visit 1, 6th week/visit 2, 12th week/visit 3 and 24th week/visit 4. Total 30 cases (15 in each group) were analysed.
Results:
Intra-group analysis showed improvement in all parameters during all the follow ups (P < 0.001). During inter group comparison, group1 showed a statistically significant improvement during follow up at 6th week in terms of pain intensity (P = 0.029), degree of shoulder subluxation (P = 0.036) and sensorimotor recovery (P = 0.023). But, subsequent follow up visits showed no significant difference between the groups (P > 0.05).
Conclusion:
Use of Bobath shoulder sling was beneficial in early stages of stroke, but it did not provide extra advantage in long term use. However, long term continuation of comprehensive rehabilitation programme was shown to be beneficial.
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