Increase IQ and Brain Power

[Raderosa]

Hi! 

I'd like to increase my IQ and brain power, I've been trying to find different ways to do this for months.

I'm wondering if you can give me a more detailed explanation about Dual N-Back.

**English is not my native language, does that matter?**
**Will this affect my life in any way, or my lifestyle? I want to be as I always has been. (I mean, I wouldn't go around and talk about "smart" things all the time, right? I'd still be the same person with the same thoughts?)**

Thanks!

[Pontus Granström]

do some single nback it wont Hurt.

Den 18 okt 2015 13:01 skrev "Raderosa" <animati...@gmail.com>:

Any ideas?

Den söndag 18 oktober 2015 kl. 04:29:59 UTC+2 skrev Raderosa:

Hi! 

Let me first introduce myself, my name is Rosa and I'm 12 years old (2003).

I'd like to increase my IQ and brain power, I've been trying to find different ways to do this for months.

I'm wondering if you can give me a more detailed explanation about Dual N-Back and if this Brain Workshop game can be used my children, like me, 12 years old.

**Is there anything negative with Dual N-Back (Brain Workshop) in general, or when you're only 12 years old? (I don't wanna mess with my brain)**

**English is not my native language, does that matter?**
**Will this affect my life in any way, or my lifestyle? I want to be as I always has been. (I mean, I wouldn't go around and talk about "smart" things all the time, right? I'd still be the same person with the same thoughts?)**

Thanks!

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[Raderosa]

Hi! Thanks for your reply!

What do you mean with "single nback"?

[Support]

Oh, so I can't do *Dual* N-Back? I just tried that because I thought that was what you meant, will that affect my brain or something?

[Pontus Granström]

start with single nback its just as effective.

[Support]

I accidentally tried the Dual N-Back, that didn't have any negative effect on my brain right?

How do I choose Single N-Back?

[Support]

;)

[Support]

Oj förresten, är du svensk?

[Pontus Granström]

japp

[hiphopo...@yahoo.com]

Hi Rosa. I think if you are trying to increase your brain power, then you should test yourself first so you have a baseline. You need to have something to compare your future results with. I would first try to figure out what your working memory is. Have someone perform a reverse digit span test on you. I have a post about that if you are unfamiliar with it. I believe that you should put most, if not all of your effort in single n back or dual n back. The reason why I say this is because this game has been shown to increase your fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence is your ability to spot patterns, organize information, and think critically. When I played single n back and dual n back, I noticed my ability to focus, the amount of things I could hold in my head, and my speed of thinking increased. 

So I'd say you shouldn't place much weight on an IQ test. You will know it when you get smarter. I made myself more intelligent through using a hyperbaric chamber and taking lion's mane mushroom, vitamin b12 and omega 3 fish pills at the same time. I also used dual n back regularly. Dual n back improved my working memory but I needed the chamber also because my brain was damaged. I used to be scatterbrained, nervous, and tired all the time. After using the chamber, a calmness came to me like nothing I've ever felt in my life. I'm sure this increased calmness was my intelligence increasing. If your brain isn't damaged, then dual n back or single n back should be enough to increase your intelligence. I'm glad that someone your age is trying to push themselves to new heights. Don't be worried about talking "smart". As long as you don't belittle people by ruthlessly flaunting your intelligence, you shouldn't have a problem.

[Raderosa]

That was a good explanation, thanks so much! Can I send an email to your yahoo? I have some questions.

Or should I ask all questions in this forum thread?

[Bloke]

On Sunday, 18 October 2015 17:35:03 UTC+1, Support wrote:

I accidentally tried the Dual N-Back, that didn't have any negative effect on my brain right?

How do I choose Single N-Back?

Never worked out how to myself. I turn the sound off when I want single N-back.

The best thing you can do for brain development is breath deeply, be happy, do things you find a little bit difficult but fun and do a wide variety of things.

It's all about growing your neural connections so do lots of different things to completion e.g an art based project, a chapter of your maths text book, write a story, get an arduino for Xmas and programme it etc etc  

[hiphopo...@yahoo.com]

Yes you can email me at patrickm...@yahoo.com

[Support]

Thanks!

2015-10-19 18:30 GMT+02:00 'hiphopo...@yahoo.com' via Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence <brain-t...@googlegroups.com>:

Yes you can email me at patrickm...@yahoo.com

[B.K. Williams]

Hey Rosa, 

First, English has nothing to do with Dual N-back skill ^_^. As long as you know the alphabet you'll be fine. Secondly, I'm sure you will never feel any permanent negative side effects from using Brain Workshop. However, you should know that if you strive to 'workout' your brain with Dual N-back daily for the recommended amount of time (at least 20 minutes without interruption at the beginning), there will be days that you feel mentally fatigued. During these days you might feel a little a decrease in mood and focus, but this is perfectly normal and it's a part of your brain reorganizing itself. If you have those days, simply rest your mind for 24 hours; your brain will finish "updating" while asleep and you'll feel twice as sharp in the morning :) 

Someone doing Dual N-back consistently at your age should not only progress very quickly because of your youthful neuronal plasticity, but should also have greater and longer term benefits later in life since many of the changes Dual N-back causes will become a part of your brain structure as it matures (granted you practice frequently). 

You will always have the same personality ^_^ However, you will probably be a lot more insightful than your peers and since your mind might be more open to information, it will probably expand the range of your interests. There's no negative side to this of course! 

I first tried Dual N-back when I was 17. I did it every day, at least 20 minutes, for 3 months straight. At the end of the period, I was able to read faster, do math quicker, and visualize/remember information very easily. I never did it again for a period of longer than 2 weeks, and I don't do it anymore, but I am convinced that my experience with Dual N-back changed my life. After that 3 month period of Dual N-back I could remember a room full of 40 peoples names after hearing them all one time (although i probably can't do this anymore, years later). Also, around that same time I started studying Mandarin Chinese in China. I learned it fluently (and currently work in a Chinese company) in approximately only 2 years of total study time; i'm able to read Chinese books (can recognize over 2,500 chinese characters) and I've also been employed as an interpreter. I attribute a part of my speed in learning Chinese to the most important skill that Dual N-Back endows its practitioners with: Strengthened Visualization and information manipulation.

With that said, I think the benefits of Dual N-back (DNB) training don't come solely from DNB itself. It's very important to exercise your mind in real world scenarios with things that complement the skills that DNB builds. Visualization is/can be used an almost all mental actions involving memory, and some involving processing like math. Math geniuses can generally see or sense the equations clearly in their minds, thus the answers are far easier to discern. Memory champions are all familiar with the memory palace method, in which the person visualizes images/scenes incorporating the info they want to memorize. So anyway, it helps to know specifically how DNB can help you in life, and then to supplement your training with activities that will develop you in specific real-world skills. For example, if you want to read faster, doing DNB for 20 minutes followed by 20 minutes or more of speed reading every day will enhance your ability to read quickly, and the skill will be consolidated for longer periods of time even after you finish DNB (assuming that you continue to read consistently in your life).

I've spent countless hours studying the brain and methods for increasing human mental capacity (especially different methods of meditation), and I could tell you many many things about it. If you have any questions let me know! 

Good Luck! 

P.S. What is your native language?   

On Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 7:29:59 PM UTC-7, Raderosa wrote:

Hi! 

Let me first introduce myself, my name is Rosa and I'm 12 years old (2003).

I'd like to increase my IQ and brain power, I've been trying to find different ways to do this for months.

I'm wondering if you can give me a more detailed explanation about Dual N-Back and if this Brain Workshop game can be used my children, like me, 12 years old.

**Is there anything negative with Dual N-Back (Brain Workshop) in general, or when you're only 12 years old? (I don't wanna mess with my brain)**

**English is not my native language, does that matter?**
**Will this affect my life in any way, or my lifestyle? I want to be as I always has been. (I mean, I wouldn't go around and talk about "smart" things all the time, right? I'd still be the same person with the same thoughts?)**

Thanks!

[jotaro]

but what is the value of dual n back to your life?

--

[Raderosa]

Hi! Awesome explanation with a lot of information, thanks so much for that! I have a lot of questions.

Can I send you an email as well?


Oh, and by the way, my native language is Swedish :)

[B.K. Williams]

Hey, 

It helped me familiarize myself with how I think, process/remember information, and it helped me realize what my mind is capable of. This empowered me to set out on intellectual pursuits I probably wouldn't have before, like a new language. Most importantly, it expanded my ability to focus for longer periods of time. In fact, I think it taught me how to focus. 

The best way to explain this is that before, I didn't really know the sensation of focusing. I couldn't tell you "Oh, i'm in deep focus right now" because I had never experienced what it was like for my mind to be fully occupied on something for a long period of time. But when I first got to 6 or 7-back on DNB I started to experience that sensation. After that, no matter what I was doing I could turn on the 'focus switch' a lot easier because I could pull from the experience of deep focus that I first experienced with Dual N-back. This kind of focus can help anyone's life in 1,000 ways. It just depends on how you decide to use it.

This is the short answer. Hope it was clear ^_^.  

[B.K. Williams]

Of course - BKWil...@gmail.com

[Simar]

Hi B.K.,

I would really like to hear anything about increasing human mental capacity and different methods of meditation!

I have been trying to study this as well but so far I only have formed the following ideas:

1. Dual N back

2. image streaming

3. mindfulness meditation

If you were to summarize the most beneficial things to do to improve intelligence from what you've read, what would you say?

Thank you,

Simar

[Simar]

Prefer you send your replies to the group. I'd like to hear it as well. Or please add me to your private discuss: simar...@gmail.com 

Thanks.

On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 7:55:53 AM UTC+11, B.K. Williams wrote:

Of course - BKWil...@gmail.com

[Shoh]

Hi Simar,

I will answer to the question based on my own experiences, thoughts and knowledge, and surely I may be wrong.

1. Dual n back - playing dual n back game improves memory (both working and long term), willpower and one's ability to focus. However, I would say dual n back is not a only solution to improve intelligence. It does not directly improve intelligence, rather it builds a platform (focus, willpower, memory) for intelligence. Intelligence is not only limited to holding bits of information in mind.

2. Image streaming - instead of image streaming, I would recommend to practice correspondence of ontological categories image streaming version developed by Brandon Woodson on this group. This, I believe to be a significant game changer for improving intelligence, because activity itself is concerned with identification and recognition of relationships (differentiation) of any thought. However, strong memory and focusing ability (developed by dual n back meditation) will only help you recognize lots of relationships at faster rate.

3. Mindfulness meditation - I practiced meditation, but I came to conclusion there are more beneficial mental activities in terms of brain improvement than meditation. In meditation, one should leave out thoughts out of mind to reach calm state of mind. Doing this would mean to me slowing down your ability to receive information and rate of your thoughts. I am rather interested in thought meditation, where you receive information (auditory or visual) and focus on it at faster rate than your normal rate and move onto next information immediately and again repeating process, so on. 

Also, I would highly recommend to find free time and practice underwater breathing activity developed by Win Wenger (For more information, please google) 

I forgot to mention one of the most important thing - Do not expect to improve intelligence significantly overnight, it does take a lot of time, effort, and energy; more than you can imagine right now!

[Simar]

Re meditation:

===========

Can you please point to me a website about "thought meditation"? Are you talking about a specific type of meditation? I googled it but it doesn't seem to be a term. 

I read many websites about mindfulness meditation improves intelligence. I didn't spend enough time researching for the actual study supporting this through. But I seriously doubt long term meditation can actually improve intelligence.  You are the first person seem to agree with my intuition and gave a negative comment on mindfulness meditation.

I once read somewhere that Tibetan monks who had practised 30+ years of mediation had their brain scanned by a neuroscientist and the brain scans showed that their Default Network were not present. I also read that mind wandering light up the Default Network and mind wandering often brings out creativity. I linked these together and wondered that long term meditation would suppress one's creativity and might even dumb down the brain. I suspect what meditation may do positively to the brain is that it calms the mind, drives the worries, emotions etc distractions away and makes the person able to focus on what he needs to focus AFTER the meditation. If one just practices meditation and does no brain work afterwards, like the monks meditating many hours a day living in the mountains isolated from the modern world, how on earth they could have a high IQ? I even googled once " Dalai lama low IQ" wondering I would get some prove that dalai lama doesn't have an extraordinary IQ or even, a low IQ. But only found some websites mentioned that he has a high IQ.

I was drawn to "image streaming" because I feel that it is like meditation and it doesn't suppress the mind. 

If there is a specific meditation called "thought meditation", I would be very interested to read about it and practice it. 

I haven't started any practice so far because I'm still trying to understand these methods and figure out what would be best for me to commit my time.

Re Brandon's version of image streaming:

=================================

I'll google it but if you have his web page handy that would save my time.

Your emails are very much appreciated.

Simar

[Shoh]

Well, what I call thought meditation (activity may not literally fit to to the term thought meditation, but I do not know how to name it), is simply trying to receive and process every bits of information with full focus at the fastest rate you are capable of at a time. Information may be auditory type (sound, letters, words, sentences) or visual (I am yet to practice). 

More you practice, more significant positive effects will follow. Why I like it, because it can be applied anywhere; portable to workplace, home, dental clinic etc so on.

I would say so called thought streaming is not easy to practice, and I consider it  to be the most challenging mental activity for me. After practicing it for a week, I noticed that my reaction times (processing speed) to incoming information and focus significantly improved. 

Why I have problem with meditation as it slows down your rate for processing incoming information and by practicing meditation I always tended to waste handful amount of time (You take more time for thinking over even simple things such as reading). With meditation, I feel I am forcing and teaching my brain to react slower. However, meditation does wonders regarding to managing negative emotions; it surely helps you clear away negative thoughts and feelings.

My ideas about thought meditation are products of my assumptions and logic (No research done). I spent a lot of time thinking over it, and still struggle to come up with more challenging mental activity.   

Here is the link for underwater breathing (http://www.winwenger.com/ebooks/guaran3.htm)

Here is the link to ontological categories aka thought streaming of Brandon Woodson (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/brain-training/gh5xgRRwVtc)

I hope my reply will be at least somewhat helpful to you.

[B.K. Williams]

Hey Simar, 

I saw Shoh's reply and also read your subsequent correspondence.

In my opinion, the term "mindfulness meditation" has become the illegitimate poster child of what meditation is. The term is widely marketed to people who want to get into meditation with no clue of how, or why, or what the purpose of it is. The practice of it is simplified to make it easy for people to feel like they understand it, and thus the practice has been corrupted and devalued. Practiced correctly, the core of what mindfulness meditation is leads to improved mental performance across all possible fields of mental activity. However, you'll never find the proper practice for it by confining your search to the term mindfulness meditation. What's known as real mindfulness meditation is actually one of the final stages in meditation before reaching enlightenment (which is ultimately the purpose of meditation). However, since most people aren't sufficiently trained and the proper methods of instruction aren't generally available, they don't realize they are not capable of proper mindfulness. It takes the cultivation of concentration and then learning how to focus your concentration beforehand. Once these skills built and then applied to mindfulness is when the effects of mindfulness increase tenfold.   

People underestimate meditation and forget that it's a mental practice that has existed across many cultures and religions for thousands of years. Of course, recent humans have perverted the practice of meditation (and religion in general) as I mentioned, but there is truly no set of mental exercises available today that can come close to the advanced forms of meditation. Digital brain training is not original, albeit innovative for our time; it's actually reinventing the wheel ;)  

Reaching true mindfulness is a long process that involves the practitioner engaging in different forms of meditation over time. Just like the development of any other skill, there are beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. Throughout those levels of meditation are included every single mental exercise you and Shoh have mentioned. Visualization/image streaming, etc. are all practices incorporated into the multifaceted art of meditation, at certain stages. 

If I told you that the term Mandala meditation and the practice of Dual N-back are very similar (except the former is far more challenging then the latter), would you be able to tell me how?

If I told you there is a type of meditation that enables the practitioner to remember every thing they ever hear or see if they practice correctly, would you be surprised? (Search gumonji-ho, if you can find any information about it in english).

There are dozens of meditation types that develop all the senses, including the conscious and unconscious minds. Unfortunately I can't express all that I would like to on here. It's simply too much to type. 

But I encourage you to look up Dzogchen meditation. Contained in the practice of Dzogchen are all the mental development exercises you can imagine. All meditations of all forms from all religions and spiritual traditions I have researched have so far been contained in the practice of Dzogchen. You might not understand any of it at the beginning (and it will probably sound foolish and redundant), but as you explore other practices and develop your understanding of intellect and mind you will likely understand more. The path of self-study for proper meditation is difficult however, which is why most times you will see that a teacher is traditionally required for the student, so that the student's understanding of meditation and their practice is developed properly and not corrupted.

Since the road is a difficult one to tread alone, it is imperative for you to have an open mind or else you will risk developing an improper understanding of meditation practice and thus never receive the intellectual benefits you seek, regardless of the effort you put in. Do not dismiss things because of an article online or popular opinion, and do not readily accept things just because they sound good. At the same time, always assume that your views could be wrong and be willing to modify them, or risk falling into the trap of stagnation by thinking you're right and all else wrong, or that there's nothing else to learn. Be patient. Be humble. Be open! 

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. 

[JellyRoll]

>>Well, what I call thought meditation ...

For whatever it is worth, you might be practicing something called bare attention, or close to it. People don't always agree on what the words mean. If it improves your processing speed, that's really good. That's hard to do.

[Brain Train]

Rosa,

I am surprised that someone is on this forum who is just 12!

and asking such important questions (before jumping on to the practice).

I will answer based on my personal opinion.. (i got in touch with DNB few years back... and tried some other brain training exercises also, apart from studying working of brain)

Please be aware of that: 

there is lot of debate on this forum and in scientific community whether DNB can improve memory or IQ. There are lot of studies conducted... but the results are different- some support improvement, some show negligible effect (of DNB). So, it is not clearly established one way or other yet.

probably you can search the discussion/debate (on usefulness/effectiveness of dnb) on this forum.

Regarding your question on negative effects:

there is research conducted which showed it made physical changes in the brain (frontal lobes..i guess some type of receptor/D2 receptor density increased).

these changes may be good for some people...(like ADHD) but nothing is conclusive.

My opinion is that it is somewhat risky to fiddle with natural course of brain development at such young age.

brain development completes by the time one reaches adulthood. prior to that there are rapid changes in the brain. each phase has its own importance. interrupting any of these phases (by trying intensive exercises like dnb) may prove harmful in long run.

you may gain something at the cost of something else. when we don't know the value of 'what we are gaining' and 'what we are losing', the decision to go for it is tough to make.

my personal doubt about dnb is that the improved focus comes at the cost of creativity.... and it may not be a wise exchange.

great inventions happened because of exceptional creativity. Einstein said he attributes more of his inventions/discoveries to his power to fantasise, and not to his ability to systematically study/analyse.

" **Will this affect my life in any way, or my lifestyle? I want to be as I always has been. (I mean, I wouldn't go around and talk about "smart" things all the time, right? I'd still be the same person with the same thoughts?)** "

this questions is simpler and easier to answer!

Yes- it will likely affect your life as well as lifestyle.

Noticeable changes may be expected in your behaviour. (behaviour is likely to be less funny... moving towards more seriousness)

same person with same thoughts? Brief answer is no. 

there would be less random thoughts in your mind. 

Focused mind acts as a filter, it removes the thoughts which are not connected to the task at hand right now. (DNB is expected to help people focus better).

 for example, if you have a home assignment to complete, it may sound very helpful. but ability to successfully  complete home assignment without much distraction may not be of utmost importance (from long term perspective).

i value having random thoughts, they help us imagine things, which are never imagined before. it allows new combinations of things to happen in your mind and thus brings creativity... something new, something very useful, something very valuable.

after dnb, you are likely to be more focused. a lot of funny things come to mind only when we are not focussed..

so, i suspect, it may impact wittiness, ability to make funny comments/jokes on the fly...

it may help one become more productive in routine things... (that would sound great to many), but it may reduce the probability of finding something real big... landing on some break-through idea.

So, if you are really keen on trying it, do some more research to ensure it is safe for children..and whether any form of brain training is advisable for children or not (i guess paid brain training websites require you to be above certain age).

bt

On Fri, Oct 23, 2015 at 3:49 PM, JellyRoll <jelli...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>Well, what I call thought meditation ...

For whatever it is worth, you might be practicing something called bare attention, or close to it. People don't always agree on what the words mean. If it improves your processing speed, that's really good. That's hard to do.

[Hi]

Thank you so much for that response,  B.K. Williams! 

:D