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Memorizing and being able to repeat certain types of sentences does more than build up your facility for rote memorization. The improvement in simple recall is actually the least of it! Memorizing the sentences which follow will strengthen your ability to visualize, organize and to think creatively. Memorize each of the seven sentences (or groups of sentences) which follow, one at a time. Then recite each one aloud several times. Get smarter, make more associative connections and have a bit of neural plasticity on the house! Ahoy, Braintenancers : 1) Let me repeat your order. You bought twenty apples, thirty oranges and fifteen bananas which you paid for using your Discover Card. 2) The parties agree that due to the many variables surrounding each business transaction that will occur because of this agreement, the commission to be paid between the parties may vary. 3) Contrarians don't generally agree with veterinarians who refuse to treat planarians with microscopic plantar wart...

The following fabulous memory hacks (I'm using the term "hacks" in the non-pejorative sense of the term) were recently described in an article by Bruce Price in the Blog “Mental_Floss” which I happened to stumble upon while casually surfing about the labyrinth of, well, StumbleUpon. While the original article listed “10 Mnemonic Tricks,” I found the first 7 of them to be worth sharing; the other three (probably added in the interest of making an even 10), where either impractical or (pun intended) unmemorable. Use these as part of your memorization mastery regimen for better Braintenance, my dear Cranial Campers. But be advised that they are not substitutes for true native memory development – they are merely shortcuts where our underdeveloped memories would otherwise fail us. Those few of us blessed with eidetic or photographic memories may simply skim over this article rapidly. 1. The rhyme. For hundreds of years, schoolchildren started the study of American history w...

 ? In Braintenance, confusion is the magic which creates new neurological pathways, greater plasticity, and enhanced creative skills. The brain and mind are strengthened in the same fashion as the bodybuilder builds and defines new muscle -- by changing the workout regimen to "shock" the body into over-compensation. The mental exercises which follow are gearing toward forcing you to think (and problem-solve) in a different manner than you usually do by changing the entire problem-solving scenario. Want to strengthen your mind? of course you do. Simply find the missing numbers or letters in each of the following sequences. You'll notice that you are not trying to find the next number or letter in each sequence (as you are accustomed to doing) -- you are being asked to think interpolatively instead of extrapolatively: 1)   A C _ D C E D _ E G 2)   _ 4 9 _ 25 _ 49 3)   2 4 _ _ 10 _ 14 4)   P_S_ENG_RS  O_  A  T_AIN 5)   _...

Analogies Are Mind Expanders If you'd like to truly sharpen your ability to think associatively and to open up some exciting neural pathways in the bargain, doing exercises involving analogies may be just the think to add to your Braintenance regimen. These exercises even improve you pattern recognition, total cognition and creative thinking. If you'd like to think outside of the box (and keep your mind fresh in the process), analogies are wonderful tools. An analogy ( dog is to puppy as cat is to kitten , or, as it commonly appears on standardized tests, especially in higher grades: dog : puppy :: cat : kitten ) is a comparison between two things that are usually thought to be different from each other, but have some similarities. They help us understand things by making connections and seeing relationships between them based on knowledge we already possess. Analogies are a ubiquitous staple of standardized tests. This type of comparison plays a significant role not only in im...

Learning Backwards: Braintenance Mind-Jolt How often have you heard of someone knowing something "backwards and forward(s)"?  There is a reason for this in the etymology of the expression itself: it is generally perceived as being difficult for people who have learned and memorized something in a particular order to be able to learn and memorize it in a different order. Learning something "backwards" requires a (with apologies to Liam Neeson) special skill set. The skills involved are used both consciously and subconsciously every day by most people. In learning backwards, you'll have to use these skills consciously -- at least at first. These skills include visualization (visualizing the list of items with eyes closed), creating acronyms (using the first letter of each image to create a word) and sensory association (i.e., linking a group of things to a simple song, or making them part of a simple story). The benefits to backwards learning are tremendous. The p...

You must read this. You must obey. Sleep... Okay. Snap out of it and read a fresh-off-the-press edition of my newspaper . I made it just for YOU! Braintenance Express A newspaper filled with interesting brain-training and cognition-enhancing news, advice and exercises to keep your mind at its very best and most powerful. Related to The Braintenance Blog. Published by Douglas E Castle 05 July 2013 ...