MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'academic performance'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:01:04 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5182066&cid=t_187132_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FcHHww-Xin4g%2F (Editor’s note: Pathways responsible for higher-order thinking in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), or executive center of the brain, remain vulnerable throughout life—during critical early-life developmental windows, when the PFC fully matures in the early 20s, and finally from declines associated with old age. At all ages, physical activity and PFC-navigated social connections are essential components to maintaining brain health. The Experience Corps, a community-based social-engagement program, partners seniors with local schools to promote purpose-driven involvement. Participating seniors have exhibited immediate short-term gains in brain regions vulnerable to aging, such as the PFC, indicating that people with the most to lose have the most to gain from environmental enrichment.) Over ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5182066 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:18:19 +0100 5182066 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028140&cid=t_187132_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2dLM3P5-hxQ%2F By Andrew J. CoulsonThe brass ring of education reform is to find a way to ensure that the best schools routinely scale-up to serve large audiences, crowding out the mediocre and bad ones. Over the past twenty years, the United States and Sweden have taken two very different approaches to achieving that goal, which I wrote about in a recent op-ed. In the U.S., our main strategy has been for philanthropists to fund the replication of what they deem to be the academically highest-performing networks of charter schools. In a recent statistical analysis of California, the state with the most charter schools, I discovered that this is not working out particularly well for us. There is no correlation between charter school networks’ academic performance and the philanthropic funding they&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028140 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:01:53 +0100 5028140 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3983438&cid=t_187132_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F09%2F20%2Finternet-and-videogames-improve-reading-skills-and-visual-spatial-skills-in-children%2F Well yes, but only for those children initially low in these skills. Gender, race and income did not influence the relationship between videogaming, Internet use and academic performance in children. Computers and Internet access are available in almost all schools in the US, 87% of children between 12 and 17 use the Internet, 71% of online youth in this age group rely on the Internet for school projects, 88% of the children believe they benefit from Internet for school performance, 34% downloaded study aides from the Internet, 57% used a home computer to complete school assignments. But does the Internet and videogaming benefit academic performance in children? They studied this question in 482 youth form 20 middle schools spread throughout the southern lower peninsula of Michigan. They m... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3983438 Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:27:33 +0100 3983438 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3479779&cid=t_187132_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FKnK9-Tih--g%2F We have received 40 excellent entries to the inaugural Brain Fitness Innovation Awards describing pioneering initiatives to apply neuroplasticity-based findings and tools to a variety of purposes/ age groups through the lifespan: academic performance, sports performance, professional performance, healthy aging, clinical and mental health purposes. Most came from organizations based in North America, but we were glad to see also a good number coming from Europe and Asia Pacific. More information here: Brain Fitness Innovation Awards. Winners will be announced on May 24th at the State of Brain Fitness Innovation Webinar. Registration ($25) is open now, and participants with also be able to access the Executive Summary of our 2010 market report, and the LinkedIn private group SharpBrains Netw... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3479779 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:27:26 +0100 3479779 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405708&cid=t_187132_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2Fd-4iRGPmGUc%2F Working memory is our ability to store and manipulate information for a brief time. It is typically measured by dual-tasks, where the individual has to remember an item while simultaneously processing a sometimes unrelated piece of information. A widely used working memory task is the reading span task where the individual reads a sentence, verifies it, and then recalls the final word. Individual differences in working memory performance are closely related to a range of academic skills such as reading, spelling, comprehension, and mathematics. Crucially, there is emerging research that working memory predicts learning outcomes independently of IQ. One explanation for the importance of working memory in academic attainment is that because it appears to be relatively unaffected by environme... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405708 Mon, 11 May 2009 00:49:07 +0100 2405708 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348533&cid=t_187132_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F20%2Fdealing-with-adhd-while-away-at-college%2F Planning on attending college or university in the fall, but also grapple with attention deficit disorder (ADHD)? Tara Parker-Pope last week wrote a fantastic article in The New York Times that acts basically as your guide to everything you need to know if you have ADHD and are planning to head off to school in the fall. It explains that while medications may need adjusting (if you’re on an ADHD medication), your support system is probably even more important. Freshman year is hard enough for most people, but even harder for teens dealing with attention deficit disorder. Your safe family and friends you’ve known often leave if you go away to school, and you can be stuck without that support system in place. In addition to talking about medications (and where/how you’ll g... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348533 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:26:52 +0100 2348533 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2259392&cid=t_187132_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F9WOt6UhIGBg%2F Neurofeedback - also known as EEG Biofeedback - is an approach for treating ADHD in which individuals are provided real-time feedback on their brainwave patterns and taught to alter their typical EEG pattern to one that is consistent with a focused, attentive state. This is typically done by collecting EEG data from individuals as they focus on stimuli presented on a computer screen. Their ability to control the stimuli, for example, keeping the smile on a smiley face, is contingent on maintaining the particular EEG state being trained. According to neurofeedback proponents, learning how to do this during training generalizes to real world situations and this results in improved attention and reduced hyperactive/impulsive behavior. Neurofeedback treatment for ADHD has been controversial in... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2259392 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:47:45 +0100 2259392 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1509845&cid=t_187132_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F308569760%2F We sometimes neglect to mention a very basic yet powerful method of cognitive and emotional development, for children and adults alike: Play. Dr. David Elkind, author of The Power of Play: Learning That Comes Naturally, discusses the need to build a more "playful culture" in this great article brought to you thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine. -------------------- Can We Play? -- By Dr. David Elkind Play is rapidly disappearing from our homes, our schools, and our neighborhoods. Over the last two decades alone, children have lost eight hours of free, unstructured, and spontaneous play a week. More than 30,000 schools in the United States have eliminated recess to make more time for academics. From 1997 to 2003, children's time spent outdoors fell 50 perce... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1509845 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:22:33 +0100 1509845 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1295082&cid=t_187132_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F249622607%2F After many months of work (and we hope many new neurons and stronger synapses in our brains), we have just released our inaugural report on the emerging Brain Fitness Software Market, the first to define the brain fitness software market and analyze the size and trends of its four customer segments. We estimate the size of the US brain fitness software market at $225M in2007, up from $100m in 2005 (50% CAGR). The two segments that fueled the market growth: consumers (grew from $5m to $80m, 300% CAGR) and healthcare & insurance providers (grew from $36m to $65m, 35% CAGR). Highlights from The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008 report include: 1) 2007 was a seminal year for the US Brain Fitness software market, which reached $225 million in revenues – up from an estimated... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1295082 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:36:07 +0100 1295082