Forums: Memory Foam Beds

Recently I upgraded the memory on my computer. It runs Windows Vista and was slow with only 1 gigabyte of memory. I had been told that 2 gigabytes were the minimum for optimum function, but I was lazy. Inertia is a property of matter, but regrettably it is also a property of people. Finally I upgraded the memory to 2 gigabytes. Everything is faster, including word processing and Web surfing. Human beings are not computers − except for bureaucrats, that is. But if we stumble along with inadequate memory, everything we do is less efficient. In particular, our knowledge of...

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s 1 p.m. on a Thursday and Dianne Bates, 40, juggles three screens. She listens to a few songs on her iPod, then taps out a quick e-mail on her iPhone and turns her attention to the high-definition television. Just another day at the gym. As Ms. Bates multitasks, she is also churning her legs in fast loops on an elliptical machine in a downtown fitness center. She is in good company. In gyms and elsewhere, people use phones and other electronic devices to get work done — and as a reliable antidote to boredom. Cellphones, which...

FINDING it difficult to revise for an exam? Help could be on its way in the form of the first non-invasive way of stimulating the brain that can boost visual memory. The technique uses transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), in which weak electrical currents are applied to the scalp using electrodes. The method can temporarily increase or decrease activity in a specific brain region and has already been shown to boost verbal and motor skills in volunteers. Richard Chi, a PhD student at the Centre for the Mind, University of Sydney, and colleagues wanted to follow up on previous research...

I need some advice for a friend of mine from my church. Since none of you know where I go or who he is, I can protect his anonymity. He doesn't know I'm doing this. He seemed a bit upset at church this weekend, so I asked what happened. Here's what he told me: Last Tuesday, he was on Facebook. He noticed that he'd received a private message from someone he'd 'friended' about a month earlier. This woman was a high-school acquaintance, one of several he's added to his friend list in anticipation of his 30-year high school reunion coming...

In 1984, George Orwell told the story of Winston Smith, an employee in the propaganda office of a totalitarian regime. Smith's job at the fictional Ministry of Truth was to destroy photographs and alter documents, remaking the past to fit the needs of the present. But 1984 came and went, along with Soviet communism. In the age of the Internet, nobody could tamper with the past that way. Could they? Yes, we can. In fact, last week, Slate did. We took the Ministry of Truth as our model. Here's how Orwell described its work: As soon as all the corrections...

Snails on speed don't get speedier—but their supercharged brains do learn better and make memories that last much longer, a new study says. Scientists gave pond snails the amphetamine crystal meth to explore the memory-related brain processes that get humans so hooked on the drug. Human meth users experience sensations of happiness and high self-esteem that help make the drug extremely addictive. Scientists suspect that such cravings may be tied to powerful "pathological memories" that make such highs difficult to forget. "We were not trying to addict the snails," said study co-author Barbara Sorg, a biochemist at Washington State University...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A scan of brain activity can effectively read a person's mind, researchers said Thursday. British scientists from University College London found they could differentiate brain activity linked to different memories and thereby identify thought patterns by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The evidence suggests researchers can tell which memory of a past event a person is recalling from the pattern of their brain activity alone. "We've been able to look at brain activity for a specific episodic memory -- to look at actual memory traces," said senior author of the study, Eleanor Maguire. "We found that...

Those who live in industrialized countries have easy access to healthy food and nutritional supplements, but magnesium deficiencies are still common. That's a problem because new research from Tel Aviv University suggests that magnesium, a key nutrient for the functioning of memory, may be even more critical than previously thought for the neurons of children and healthy brain cells in adults. Dr. Inna Slutsky of TAU's Sackler School of Medicine published results of a 5-year probe which has significant implications for the use of over-the-counter magnesium supplements.

OK OK.....I know this may seem a silly and simplistic topic/post in such an age. Still, I just wanted to share a little "trick" with my fellow FReepers that has served me very well over the years. I've taught this to many; all have been grateful. We all, especially us FReepers, take in so much information in a typical day (work, home, FR, TV, talk radio, etc.) that often it is very difficult to recall certain facts; certain information. You know that feeling...."..oh darn it, what's-his-name....I can't remember"; or "...oh you know, that movie with...ummm....dang it...". Here's the key: NEVER...

UA researchers find naps are an integral part of learning for infants, helping the developing brain retain new informationAnyone who grew up in a large family likely remembers hearing "Don't wake the baby." While it reinforces the message to older kids to keep it down, research shows that sleep also is an important part of how infants learn more about their new world. Rebecca Gomez, Richard Bootzin and Lynn Nadel in the psychology department at the University of Arizona in Tucson found that babies who are able to get in a little daytime nap are more likely to exhibit an...