The Brainscape Blog: Learn How to Learn Faster


How to Really Teach Leadership in School	Why rote memorization is more important than you think	How Memory Works: an Infographic

How to Stay Active

By Isabell Collet, 2/22/2012 at 8:40 am

Desk Stretch You may have learned recently that sitting can kill you. Did you read the article, acknowledge the information, worry about it but still not take any action? Lucky for you we at Brainscape feel that it’s our job to make sure you live a long and healthy life, even if you spend hours upon hours of it hunched over your keyboard. For all office workers like ourselves that spend 8+ hours per day sitting in their desk chairs: Stay active! Get up, take a walk, stretch; there are many ways to take break from sitting.

It doesn’t even have to be a standing desk, something that seems to become increasingly popular. (Its health benefits compared to sitting are being explored in a new study.) The idea of standing all day for some may be even less attractive than crouching at a desks for hours, so below are some fast and simple tips on how to stay mobile while working. Read through the article and then click through the gallery over at Huffington Post, which will hopefully inspire you and make you leave your desk chair today. (more…)

Comments (0)

Why Google is NOT “replacing our memory”

By Andrew Cohen, 2/21/2012 at 8:03 am

Ever since a study from Harvard and Columbia was released last summer “proving” that Google is eroding our memories, educators and technophobes alike have been pontificating on what this means for the future of education and the brain. The Twitter-sphere abounds with doomsday tweets about the “googlification” of our brains. Even Mashable recently weighed in on the subject, lamenting that we may “go into withdrawal when we can’t find something online.” With so much at stake, it’s probably worth understanding the actual context of the Harvard study a bit better. (more…)

Comments (0)

Video of the Week: Food to improve memory

By Amanda Moritz, 2/16/2012 at 8:18 am

This week’s video of the week was chosen by Isabell, who shared the food post on Monday about your diet and your brain. If you haven’t read Monday’s post, I highly recommend it.

Food plays an important role in our lives. Yes, we need it to survive, but on top of satisfying our most basic needs it is also important that we supply our bodies and brains with essential nutrients that will keep us healthy and on the ball. And beyond that it is also within our power to achieve more than basic functionality! Some foods are known to be beneficial for your brain, so add fish, berries, leafy greens, and (SURPRISE!) caffeine to your diet.

Watch below for some great tips and information on what foods are good for your memory:

(more…)

Comments (0)

How to minimize daydreaming at work and school

By Andrew Cohen, 2/14/2012 at 8:10 am

Over the past few decades, much has been written about the proliferation of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms among American children and adults. Researchers have postulated dozens of causes and potential remedies for the affliction. Some studies show that the cause is mainly genetic and that the only way to truly treat it is therefore through the use of drugs. Other studies show that the cause is mainly environmental and that the elimination of artificial sugar or TV can slowly restore normality to an ADD-affected brain. And other studies even explore whether the cause of today’s ADD epidemic may actually be rooted in the proliferation of food dyes.

Whatever the causes and potential physiological-based remedies for attention deficit, it’s worth stepping back and considering whether our attention spans could actually be improved by some structural changes in our education & work systems, and in our lifestyles. (more…)

Comments (1)

How an Unhealthy Diet Can Shrink Your Brain

By Isabell Collet, 2/13/2012 at 9:00 am

In our blog we keep stressing the importance and benefits of a healthy diet to improve studying and learning and keep our minds sharp. If you’re tired of hearing or skeptical about brain foods, this article might help you reconsider your stance on the subject. Boosting your test performance with healthy and nutritious food is one thing. Actually losing memory and critical thinking abilities due to an unhealthy diet is quite another. But this is exactly what a new study conducted in Oregon seems to prove.

Researchers took blood samples and scanned the brains of test participants whose mental abilities had been previously tested. The test results show that there is in fact a link between an unhealthy diet and lessening cognitive abilities as well as brain volume. While other factors may have a greater effect than food, if you want to stay sharp throughout life you may want to consider laying off the fast food and eating more fruits and vegetables, fish, nuts and seeds. Below we’ve posted the Huffington Post article which discusses the study in detail, so read on to learn more about the findings. (more…)

Comments (1)

Brainscape’s Vision for the Future of Education

By Andrew Cohen, 2/8/2012 at 5:39 pm

You may have already experienced Brainscape as a mobile education tool that helps you study things more efficiently using intelligent flashcards. If so, thanks for being one of our “early adopters!” Brainscape’s adaptive study algorithm has already helped over one million people like you do things like ace a test or learn a foreign language faster than you ever thought possible.

Yet there’s so much more innovation left to be done in education. Intelligent flashcards can cover only a small part of the knowledge and skills you want to acquire. People deserve a world where any bite-sized learning experience can be made available at their fingertips and delivered seamlessly into their brain. Until Apple invents the iBrain to embed knowledge into our skulls in the year 2025, people deserve to know that every moment of learning time is used as efficiently as possible!

Putting on our science fiction hats for a moment, let’s design a future Personal Learning System that truly optimizes learning. (more…)

Comments (0)

How Much Caffeine Do You Consume?

By Isabell Collet, 2/7/2012 at 8:31 am

Are you among the people who need a cup of coffee to start the day? And then a second one later on to get through the day? Well, why not?

One of the benefits of caffeine is the boost in alertness it gives us, which is exactly what we seek first thing in the morning. If you’re not exactly a morning person, a stimulus to the nervous system might be needed to allow you to function the way you want to and need to. But what about those negative side effects coffee and other caffeinated beverages have? (more…)

Comments (0)

By not using Brainscape, you are actually killing baby seals

By Andrew Cohen, 2/6/2012 at 8:29 am

No, I’m not being melodramatic. If you are still creating paper flashcards to study, instead of using Brainscape to create shared web/mobile study resources for you and your classmates, then you are personally increasing the pace of deforestation. This deforestation increases the production of CO2, which shrinks the cooling band of atmosphere that spans the earth along the Equator, which naturally warms the planet, which causes the polar ice caps to melt, which destroys the habitat of arctic wildlife, which consequently causes millions of baby seals to die.

So stop being a murderer, and instead use Brainscape to learn faster. You might just improve your brain power in the process.

Comments (0)

Video of the Week: How to Get the Most Out of Studying

By Amanda Moritz, 2/2/2012 at 8:10 am

Have you struggled with the transition from mastering high school classes to succeeding in college or graduate level courses? There is a difference in what you are expected to learn and how you are tested of your knowledge once you enter college, and many students fail to adapt to these changes, thus failing to succeed in their classes. This can be helped though if you understand how some of your underlying beliefs about learning and studying are wrong. (more…)

Comments (0)

Sitting is killing you – another reason to take a study break

By Amanda Moritz, 2/1/2012 at 8:40 am

We’ve told you to take a break, we’ve told you why taking a break can improve your concentration, we’ve told you how to take a study break, and we’ve told you to go on vacation, all to help you study more effectively. But, it turns out, taking a break (an active break), can help improve your health and add back 7 years to your life worth living. Why is this true? It turns out, sitting is bad for you.

Yes, for all you students and office workers who spend the majority of your days sitting at the computer, sitting is killing you.

Take a look at this inforgraphic posted on Lifehacker to see just how detrimental sitting is to your health. And click on any of the above links for tips on how to take a break. (more…)

Comments (1)

Older Posts »