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dual n-back brain exercises, DNA sequencing, workouts, supplements
Posted by
nootrope
,
26 January 2009
·
4,198 views
Well, I wrote an entry a few weeks ago, but the computer ate it!
There's been some discussion of a computer-assisted memory exercise that, according to academic research, may be able to increase one's score on "fluid intelligence" tests. The trick is to train your memory of two independent sequences at the same time. In the version you can download from this site, you get a tic-tac-toe style 3x3 grid, and are given one by one a letter in each grid space. Then you have to remember whether the letter you have right now was the same as the letter 3 steps ago or in the same place (or 4 steps ago, or 5, as you improve your short-term memory: in general, n steps ago, thus the name "n-back" for this exercise; "dual" n-back because you have to remember both the position and the letter.)
I tried this out for about a week, although travel and work and laziness made me miss some time or have partial days (leading to some backtracking). My "working memory" has never been anywhere near as good as my long-term memory (which is very impressive), but I started near the normal range and worked my way up as most people do. Below I show a graph of my progress as I increased the n in the n-back:
I'm not sure if this had any effect on my real-life thinking ability, although this could be because I simply didn't notice or be because I didn't stay with the exercise long enough. Once though I did notice in a political discussion that I gave an unusually complex answer, juggling many different factors in mind at once.
I was a bit surprised to realize that there was a cost to the concentration that I was developing! At one point I realized that I hadn't quite consciously noted that the program was not actually showing the letters, but only saying them out loud (which is the purpose for having the sound turned on--but I was concentrating only on the memory of the last n letters, not my actual experiences!) Then I realized I didn't remember just what was done to signal where the letter was on the grid--the grid space turned blue. At some point I realized that with 9 grid squares, it probably was also using only 9 letters, but even after several days of 20 trials each day, I could only remember 6 or 7 of the 9 letters that were being used. I just wasn't paying attention to anything outside of the problem at hand. That was helping me get better at concentrating, but how much interesting and useful information, and how much lateral thinking, might one be missing by concentrating so much?
Around the same time I also sent away for my DNA to be sequenced by one of the popular services that do this. I'll probably report back once I get the results. I'm particularly eager to see if there may be any clues on how to deal with my bipolar mood disorder and or temporal lobe epilepsy. If the research doesn't yet exist that could be useful to me, it may exist in the future, and having a personal stake in what the effects of particular genes are will motivate me to learn more about cutting-edge genetic research. I doubt I'll have any genetic dispositions that make a long life less likely.
I'm still concentrating on building muscle mass over cardiovascular, endurance-based workouts. Now that I'm no longer vegetarian, I'm finding it easier to put on muscle. I'm a bit surprised by how easy it is, in fact. I'm 41 years old. When I was in my mid-20s, I worked out at the gym a lot, thinking that as I got older, I'd never again have the chance to be buffed. I don't think I would have expected 15 years ago that at 41 I'd be this muscular. I'm sure I could go further; I'm not a complete gym rat. I'm squatting 220 pounds (with the use of a machine) for about 15 repetitions and bench-pressing two 80 pound dumbbells (I use dumbbells instead of barbells because I don't use a spotter--it's generally harder to lift the same weight in dumbbells as barbells.)
I'm still up in the air about whether a vegetarian or meat-based diet is healthier. Probably it's a meaningless question and it depends on the particular diet and what one wants to optimize. And probably we are still ignorant of all the bodily effects of meat. I did manage to find a meat store nearby that has grass-fed beef and even some exotic game meats: turtle, kangaroo, llama, even bear! I haven't tried those exotic meats though. I haven't gone completely paleo yet!
But I think that at least subconsciously, I'm treating the fact that I'm getting more muscular as vindication of the meat-based diet for health if not ethical or environmental reasons. It feels, not in a rational way, that this is the way my body is more meant to be. Maybe I'm just taken with the novelty of it, and the realization that change is good when not everything in one's life is going one's way.
As for my current supplement "stack":
5 percent withanolides ashwagandha, 1/8 teaspoon 3 times daily
20 percent bacopasides bacopa, 1/8 teaspoon 2 times daily
2 teaspoons matcha green tea, 2 times daily
1 teaspoon maca powder, daily
25 mg grape seed extract, 2 times daily
400 mg gotu kola, 40 mg gotu kola extract, 2 times daily
vitamin shoppe advanced longevity formula (I got at discount), 2 times daily (acetyl l carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, carnosine, n-acetyl cysteine, broccoli seed extract)
2000 iu vitamin d3 daily
580 mg schizandra ad lib
The goals of these supplements are: mood stablization, nootropic effects, anti-anxiety, improved sleep, improved endurance, improved recovery from workouts
There's been some discussion of a computer-assisted memory exercise that, according to academic research, may be able to increase one's score on "fluid intelligence" tests. The trick is to train your memory of two independent sequences at the same time. In the version you can download from this site, you get a tic-tac-toe style 3x3 grid, and are given one by one a letter in each grid space. Then you have to remember whether the letter you have right now was the same as the letter 3 steps ago or in the same place (or 4 steps ago, or 5, as you improve your short-term memory: in general, n steps ago, thus the name "n-back" for this exercise; "dual" n-back because you have to remember both the position and the letter.)
I tried this out for about a week, although travel and work and laziness made me miss some time or have partial days (leading to some backtracking). My "working memory" has never been anywhere near as good as my long-term memory (which is very impressive), but I started near the normal range and worked my way up as most people do. Below I show a graph of my progress as I increased the n in the n-back:
I'm not sure if this had any effect on my real-life thinking ability, although this could be because I simply didn't notice or be because I didn't stay with the exercise long enough. Once though I did notice in a political discussion that I gave an unusually complex answer, juggling many different factors in mind at once.
I was a bit surprised to realize that there was a cost to the concentration that I was developing! At one point I realized that I hadn't quite consciously noted that the program was not actually showing the letters, but only saying them out loud (which is the purpose for having the sound turned on--but I was concentrating only on the memory of the last n letters, not my actual experiences!) Then I realized I didn't remember just what was done to signal where the letter was on the grid--the grid space turned blue. At some point I realized that with 9 grid squares, it probably was also using only 9 letters, but even after several days of 20 trials each day, I could only remember 6 or 7 of the 9 letters that were being used. I just wasn't paying attention to anything outside of the problem at hand. That was helping me get better at concentrating, but how much interesting and useful information, and how much lateral thinking, might one be missing by concentrating so much?
Around the same time I also sent away for my DNA to be sequenced by one of the popular services that do this. I'll probably report back once I get the results. I'm particularly eager to see if there may be any clues on how to deal with my bipolar mood disorder and or temporal lobe epilepsy. If the research doesn't yet exist that could be useful to me, it may exist in the future, and having a personal stake in what the effects of particular genes are will motivate me to learn more about cutting-edge genetic research. I doubt I'll have any genetic dispositions that make a long life less likely.
I'm still concentrating on building muscle mass over cardiovascular, endurance-based workouts. Now that I'm no longer vegetarian, I'm finding it easier to put on muscle. I'm a bit surprised by how easy it is, in fact. I'm 41 years old. When I was in my mid-20s, I worked out at the gym a lot, thinking that as I got older, I'd never again have the chance to be buffed. I don't think I would have expected 15 years ago that at 41 I'd be this muscular. I'm sure I could go further; I'm not a complete gym rat. I'm squatting 220 pounds (with the use of a machine) for about 15 repetitions and bench-pressing two 80 pound dumbbells (I use dumbbells instead of barbells because I don't use a spotter--it's generally harder to lift the same weight in dumbbells as barbells.)
I'm still up in the air about whether a vegetarian or meat-based diet is healthier. Probably it's a meaningless question and it depends on the particular diet and what one wants to optimize. And probably we are still ignorant of all the bodily effects of meat. I did manage to find a meat store nearby that has grass-fed beef and even some exotic game meats: turtle, kangaroo, llama, even bear! I haven't tried those exotic meats though. I haven't gone completely paleo yet!
But I think that at least subconsciously, I'm treating the fact that I'm getting more muscular as vindication of the meat-based diet for health if not ethical or environmental reasons. It feels, not in a rational way, that this is the way my body is more meant to be. Maybe I'm just taken with the novelty of it, and the realization that change is good when not everything in one's life is going one's way.
As for my current supplement "stack":
5 percent withanolides ashwagandha, 1/8 teaspoon 3 times daily
20 percent bacopasides bacopa, 1/8 teaspoon 2 times daily
2 teaspoons matcha green tea, 2 times daily
1 teaspoon maca powder, daily
25 mg grape seed extract, 2 times daily
400 mg gotu kola, 40 mg gotu kola extract, 2 times daily
vitamin shoppe advanced longevity formula (I got at discount), 2 times daily (acetyl l carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, carnosine, n-acetyl cysteine, broccoli seed extract)
2000 iu vitamin d3 daily
580 mg schizandra ad lib
The goals of these supplements are: mood stablization, nootropic effects, anti-anxiety, improved sleep, improved endurance, improved recovery from workouts
