Brain Myths External Sites
This
is a list of external websites that might be of interest to the class. Some are just neat sites for
neuroscience and psychology, some promote certain myths, some refute myths, and
some are just interesting ideas that may or may not be myths. We take NO responsibility for the
accuracy of these sites. With
Everything, you should read with a critical eye. If you have comments on specific cites, please email them,
and we will add your comments to the website.
Right
now, these are in no particular order.
If anyone would like to suggest clear and useful categories, we can make
this more organized.
Neuroscience for Kids (Not just for kids!)
This is a website designed to provide
resources on neuroscience in a fun and interesting format. Although it is designed for kids, the
site is built and maintained by scientists who know their stuff. Many of the topics we discuss in class
are addressed in the various links on this site.
This site is an online resource
designed to provide information about brain sciences research to the public and
to educators. Much of the website
is in article format, and articles are frequently updated. Contributors vary from scientists to
clinicians to educators to journalists.
This links to an AARP article that does
a nice job of dispelling some common ideas that we all share about aging
brains. Much of the discussion
comes from clear evidence, and it provides some nice suggestions for
seniors. Barry Gordon (from
Hopkins) provided consulting for this article. It also links to a series of other AARP articles: How
Aging Changes the Brain, How
Aging Affects Memory, How
Free Radicals Can Harm the Brain, How
Our Brains Improve With Age
This links to a 2005 article that
describes different ways to be nice to your brain. These are tips intended to promote general brain health, and
most are pretty well grounded in science.
However, this is a good example of how some of the scientific evidence
can be overblown or exaggerated a bit.
Still, the tips largely fall into the ÒcanÕt hurt, might helpÓ category.
This sites is evidence that the 10%
myth is alive and well. Mind
Connection attributes unused brain to the prefrontal cortex and offers ways to
untap that potential. The best
part is the variety of products that they offer and how they make each one
important to unleashing those prefrontal cortices. Some of their suggestions are not bad, however, and it is
fun to see how they use motivating language to grab attention.
Here is site where you can join a
mental gym—a virtual rec center for your brain. With a subscription, you get access to a lot of exercises
that are essentially video games.
These exercises focus primarily on skills associated with attention and
executive function, but they definitely offer a variety. Be sure to check out the FREE Brain Age
vs. Brain Power test. Try ot out,
and do it at different sizes to see if you notice a difference in difficulty.
(Your professor hit the optimal brain age of 21 and 99% brain power, but donÕt
be too impressedÉ this is a test VERY sensitive to practice and cognitive
neuroscientists are very familiar with these tests.)
Edinburgh Handedness Inventory
This is a link to the Edinburgh
Handedness Inventory. This very
simple test gives you a measure of how just how strongly you use one hand or
the other. Scientists have often
tried to link cognitive skills with handedness with wildly varying results.
A lot of the science we discuss comes
from landmark discoveries by Nobel Laureates. This is the site that explains the Nobel Prize, its origins,
and other interesting facts. I
post it here because they also tend to have links to fun facts and interesting
articles.
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran has been a
major contributor to brain science by investigating rare and unusual
conditions. He pioneered work with
amputees, investigating phantom limb syndrome and using perceptual tricks to
help patients recover. He is also
a major advocate for bringing science to the public. He appears on many PBS shows and has documentary DVDs on his
cases. His website describes his
current work and has nice links to illusions.
This links to a 2001 article on how
technology might be able to use EEG signals to work devices. It sounds Sci Fi, but it it has some
interesting studies in it. This
article provides some nice fodder for thinking about how the brain functions,
what we can or cannot interpret in brain signals, and how that information
might be used to help clinical populations.
This is an online myth-buster
site. They actually maintain both
a main site and several specialized sites devoted to specific topics to allow
people to find issues related to their particular concern. This site is designed to provide
information for everyone from the casual observer to those in the legal
profession looking for case precedents.
It is a particular good site for finding out about current fads in medicine
and treatment.
This links to an article on how
teachers might change their curriculum to accommodate different learning
styles. It is particularly
interesting because it places a heavy emphasis on how learning styles are
related to left and right brain.
Many of the ideas about learning styles are interesting and will
resonate with peopleÕs experiences.
The particular connections to notions about hemispheric specialization
open up good discussions. It also
has a link to t learning styles quiz.
Right
Brain vs. Left Brain Test
This is a supposedly simple test to see
if you are more right-brained or left-brained. Whether it has anything to do with right- and left-brain, it
is fun to look at and think about.
The list of left- and right-brain functions on this page is particularly
thorough and raises some very interesting discussion topics.
This is a blog devoted to brain, mind,
and cognition. It has some
interesting posts on a wide variety of topics. The quality and accuracy of the posts vary a bit, but it is
generally a very interesting and well-intentioned site. It changes pretty frequently, so it is
fun to check in on it and see whatÕs up.
For problems with website, contact:
ashelton@jhu.edu
Last updated: 9/25/09