The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Thursday, February 25, 2010

Mapping General Intelligence

http://www.sciencedaily.com
Fascinating topic. A group of scientists feel they have mapped the sections of the brain responsible for general intelligence. Rather than this function being isolate in a single section, it seems to have more to do with the coordination of several aspects. Not too surprising. But pursuing the Ghost in the Machine is certainly heady stuff.

2 comments:

Nancy Lebovitz said...

That reminds me-- Dual N Back is a sort of mind-training which is supposed to improve working memory. I've done it a little and noticed some improvement in memory and mental focus.

Dual N-back presents you with a series series of one of nine positions flashing and a simultaneous letter sound. At the beginner level ou hit 'l' if the letter matches the one said 2 letters back, and 'a' if the space matches the space that was shown two spaces back. Do well, and you graduate to matching three items back. People who are very good at this can at least 5 back.

Wikipedia article

Nancy Lebovitz said...

Minor correction: I've found someone who claims they can play 9-back.

this is from a discussion of techniques for beating procrastination and inertia.

I can play 2-back with a little practice, but am only getting started at 3-back.