Increasing intelligence?

[goldwing24]

Not in knowledege because you can just read a lot, but speed.

[iNow]

What are you talking about?

[goldwing24]

About how fast your brain processes

[iNow]

Roughly 100 meters per second is the maximum. This refers specifically to the speed at which the chemoelectric signal conducts through the nervous system. To determine "processing" speed, you'd need to much more clearly define your parameters.

 

http://www.scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?p=467786#post467786

[dichotomy]

I thought there where studies on caffeine and cigarettes showing increased mental processing, or was it just alertness? I think a need a coffee...

[iNow]

I think we need to define processing. That means a whole lot of different things and refers to a whole lot of different activities and tasks. My number in post #4 was specific to the conduction of the impulse through the nerve cells, which is not generally effected by caffeine or amphetamines (however, could be impacted by sodium and potassium concentrations, as well as myelin sheathing).

 

However, we really need a better set of parameters to address the "processing" question. Are we referring to pain stimuli? Are we referring to response times? Are we referring to higher and abstract reasoning? Are we referring to facial recognition? Are we referring to visual or auditory cues? Where are those cues coming from? How familiar are they? Is it novel or familiar? What type of cue is it? How much information is contained in the cue? Are we healthy or are we fighting an illness? How long have we been awake? Have we eaten or are we distracted? How many other signals are we processing in parallel? ...

 

All of this must be clarified before we can even BEGIN to approach the question of "processing time," which is why I kept it simple and just addressed the speed of signal conduction in the nervous system... a max of 100m/s.

[dichotomy]

I think we need to define processing. That means a whole lot of different things and refers to a whole lot of different activities and tasks. My number in post #4 was specific to the conduction of the impulse through the nerve cells, which is not generally effected by caffeine or amphetamines (however, could be impacted by sodium and potassium concentrations, as well as myelin sheathing).

 

Hi iNow,

so, do sodium and potassium cause an increase or decrease in the conduction of the impulse through the nerve cells?

 

What chemicals do cause an increase?

 

I'm guessing that an increase is not necessariliy a good thing?

[goldwing24]

I think we need to define processing. That means a whole lot of different things and refers to a whole lot of different activities and tasks. My number in post #4 was specific to the conduction of the impulse through the nerve cells, which is not generally effected by caffeine or amphetamines (however, could be impacted by sodium and potassium concentrations, as well as myelin sheathing).

 

However, we really need a better set of parameters to address the "processing" question. Are we referring to pain stimuli? Are we referring to response times? Are we referring to higher and abstract reasoning? Are we referring to facial recognition? Are we referring to visual or auditory cues? Where are those cues coming from? How familiar are they? Is it novel or familiar? What type of cue is it? How much information is contained in the cue? Are we healthy or are we fighting an illness? How long have we been awake? Have we eaten or are we distracted? How many other signals are we processing in parallel? ...

 

All of this must be clarified before we can even BEGIN to approach the question of "processing time," which is why I kept it simple and just addressed the speed of signal conduction in the nervous system... a max of 100m/s.

 

I want to know how to increase the speed response of time and have higher abstract reasoning. Can reading an ample amount of material give you higher abstract reasoning because you would have more knowledege?

[iNow]

Hi iNow,

so, do sodium and potassium cause an increase or decrease in the conduction of the impulse through the nerve cells?

 

What chemicals do cause an increase?

 

I'm guessing that an increase is not necessariliy a good thing?

Hi dichotomy - That's a good question. I'm not too sure. I think it has more to do with the density of the neural connections than it does with the chemical concentrations around them. I'd have to do some googling on that one to find out with more confidence and address your question. The idea of sodium and potassium concentrations having an impact on signal conduction speeds was speculative on my part, which is why I was cautious to say "could be impacted."

 

 

 

I want to know how to increase the speed response of time and have higher abstract reasoning. Can reading an ample amount of material give you higher abstract reasoning because you would have more knowledege?

Well, the simple answer is practice. The more you do something, the better you get. You form more dense neural webs for that activity, unused areas will be "pruned," and the processing speed will generally improve. Just to be clear, though, it's more than just "reading." Reading is a different task than "reasoning" and performing "higher abstract" functions... like thought experiments about riding on a photon at the wave of light, or wondering if trees in forests with nobody around make a sound when they fall.

 

Either way, use it or lose it. Practice will help greatly. There may be some impact from good memory, too. Things like B vitamins and ginko and such may improve processing time since the processing is contingent on the ability to recall data and experience efficiently.

 

Please bear in mind that I may be mistaken. My knowledge of this stuff is pretty rusty and I'm a little tired right now after a long day.

[cameron marical]

so its like the brains a muscle.

i can finally say that i work out every day!

[iNow]

Absolutely!

In terms of sheer of performance, I think the heart is still the most amazing muscle we have, but in terms of performance, diverse capability, and adaptive abilities the brain is pretty righteous.

 

That's all off topic, though. There are processing and performance questions still to be answered for the OP.

[coke]

I would try some type of acetylcholinergic - and it has to be cns affecting...

 

acetylcholine is what transmits signals between almost all your nerves

nicotine, for example, increases speed your brain works, which i can agree with, i am definitely a lot sharper after smoking a cigarette once in a while...

 

dopamine/adrenaline i think increase concentration more, not the actual speed.

but coffee feels nice with a cigarrete...

 

i don't think increasing sodium or potassium is a good way, their balance is necessary in much more than nerves, i.e. kidney, etc.

and you don't have to smoke as an acetylcholinergic, consider buying something like l-galantamine or huperzine-a...you can buy it online... never tried it though... tried piracetam it was too mild i think...

 

oh, and don't consider using organophosphates! true, they're acetylcholinestearase inhibitors, so they increase acetylcholine, but they don't work in the brain/central nervous system! they will just make all your other muscles tense up (including your lungs, suffocating you)

Edited April 1, 2009 by coke

[kleinwolf]

There is sometimes a popular knowledge saying : eating fish could make somebody more intelligent ? Is there any proof of this, in which sense ?

[coke]

yeah, actually wolf, there's fish oil in fish, which is well known for being high in essential fatty acids, i.e. DHA, that supposedly help with something against alzheimer's disease or something... but I doubt its very effective.

[cameron marical]

what about excersizes that actually make your intelligence higher? is their any that are good?

[coke]

Of course cameron... the more you use your brain, the more neurons develop (not so much new neurons as new connections between existing neurons)...

For example, if you learn how to skateboard, lots of new neuron connections between balance, perception, etc. form- after many experiences, you start to get a feel for it,

 

You know how they say- "once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget"

Actually connections that are not used do get get deleted after some time...you may loose the feel for riding a bike or skateboard...

 

You know what happens when people dream? These connections are used and new ones are formed to let your brain remember new things you had learned. (Maybe, not sure)

Edited April 5, 2009 by coke

[cameron marical]

what about using your brain by thinking, versus learning things? is it the same as using existing neurons versus making new neurons and connections?

[coke]

Well I think thinking would be more strengthening existing connections, learning might be more creating new ones...

 

Although I don't want to promote that idea too far, that's just a theory...

[iNow]

what about using your brain by thinking, versus learning things? is it the same as using existing neurons versus making new neurons and connections?

 

Cameron - You might benefit by checking out the wiki page on neural plasticity. Good stuff there.

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

Although I don't want to promote that idea too far, that's just a theory...

Actually, it's a conjecture. Theory is the highest possible state any idea in science can obtain. It is an explanation of a natural occurrence that is testable and capable of predicting future occurrences. Like I said, conjecture is what you're offering, hypothesis at best.

[coke]

Oh i guess the brain is capable of adding new cells...

Well at least iNow agrees with this plasticity idea.

 

Oh, and also, somewhere above I mentioned acetylcholine, there are also a couple other chemicals involved in neural connections: GABA, NMDA, glycine, glutamate...

Edited April 5, 2009 by coke