A picture is worth a thousand words. So, without further ado, below I unveil the following pictorial representation that captures, in my professional opinion, “what is happening under the hood” with Interactive Metronome (IM) technology, particularly as it relates to improved attention, focus, and thinking efficiency.
A few interesting video gems for your viewing.
First, forget multitasking and try mono-tasking. Focus on just one thing...it may be beneficial.{"video":"http://youtu.be/0YNeyBANrTI","width":"400","height":"300"}
Just in time for holiday shopping—some educational materials to help children learn more about their brains and brain fitness.
I believe that children should be taught, at an appropriate level with engaging media, to understand important concepts about their brains and learning. If you are a parent, educator, or therapist who wants to teach children information that will allow them to better understand themselves and empower their thinking (how they can control and modify their minds and behavior; a Growth Mindset), it is nice to know that a variety of groups have recently developed engaging books, videos and apps regarding the human brain and brain training or plasticity. I recently discovered two sources of material that are worth attention.
The Adventures of Ned the Neuron is a free iPad app. This well constructed app is 34 full color pages of material.
As noted in the latest IM-HOME post, the annual IM conference was viewed as a huge success. I was fortunate to be the invited keynote speaker. The title of my address was “I think…therefore IM.” As noted in the most recent IM-HOME post, the IM staff is busy editing the video of all presentations, including my address. I am anxious for the final edited videos to be announced.
In early posts at the IM-HOME blog, I described the initial stages of my interest in the IM technology. One of the primary keys to my interest was the stunning fact that IM has been reported to improve a variety of different human performance outcomes in vastly different domains. These included stroke rehabilitation, golf swing, reading achievement, and ADHD. I have written that for this to be plausible, IM must be impacting some form of brain-based domain-general (jack-of-all-trades) mechanism.
I just learned that the following article is soon to be published (click here for journal info)
This is the second peer-reviewed article to demonstrate a significant positive impact of Interactive Metronome (IM) training on certain reading behaviors in a study with both experimental and control groups. The other study was one I was involved with (Taub, McGrew, & Keith, 2007; the abstract is presented below). You can access that complete 2007 manuscript at the Brain Clock blog.
In a couple of weeks I will be the keynote speaker at the annual Interactive Metronome Professional Conference in San Antonio, TX. I will speak for approximately 1.5 hours and have much to share. At this time I thought I would give a small preview (aka, a “tease”) of some of the content I will be presenting. I have recorded a very brief video (6.5 minutes) where I explain some of the key concepts I will be describing (and expanding on) during my presentation. I hope you enjoy. This is a self-made video with an iPhone (on a tripod pointed at my computer as I go thru PowerPoint slides)—so be gentle.
IM-HOME readers may have wondered why I have been MIA from the IM-HOME blog. I simply have been swamped this summer. I have been very busy accumulating the latest brain network research—research that has direct relevance to understanding how IM improves focus, controlled attention, working memory, and executive functions. The problem has been that the research literature has been exploding at such a rate that I can barely keep up with reading it—let alone write about it.
But…I now have a goal to start blogging (again) on a regular basis.
First, I want to thank IM for the advance press regarding my IM Keynote in October. The pressure is on.
The law of individual differences is the only proven law in psychology. This law has resulted in decades of research regarding theories and models of intelligence and individual differences in intelligence. Within the past two decades a general consensus has emerged from the psychometric intelligence research that the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligenceis the most empirically supported taxonomy for understanding the structure of human intelligence.
[Note – this is the first in a series of posts intended to present an integration of intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, and applied neuroscience research with the goal to advance a set of hypotheses or model(s) that explain how the Interactive Metronome® (IM) technology results in improved cognitive functioning—specifically focus or controlled attention]
