Interesting Brain Facts & Studies | Jim Kwik

There was a study done at the University of Chicago. They took 3 groups of people, had them do free throws.

Researchers will have a subject look at a dog that comes into the laboratory and see what parts of their brain light up.

There was a study done at Appalachian State University, and they said, when's the best time to exercise?

Keeping your brain alive and keeping it active is also important for your health, you know, your energy, your vitality, steering away brain fog. There was a study on the COVID of Time magazine called Supernuns, and it was all about these group of women who are living well into their 80s, their 90s, and even above 100. And the researchers wanted to find out how they're living so long. And they've discovered that half of it had to do with their faith and their gratitude, but the other half had to do with how much learning they were doing their entire lifetime. That they were so engaged in deep conversations, they were reading a lot, they were doing puzzles. And keeping your brain alive not only added years to their life, but it actually added life to their years. I was interviewed recently for a New York Times bestselling book called Use Your Brain to Change Your Age, where it really documented and talked about a lot of our training that actually helped people live longer lives.

You know, there was a study done at Harvard University by Dr. Ellen Langer, and in 1979, she was visiting a senior center and noticed, like, this isn't necessarily the best place, environment, this particular place for people to spend their last years. And she took 8 of the guys out and put them into a monastery. And here's the thing though, before she put them in, she decorated the monastery as if it was 20 years earlier, like it was 1959. The television was black and white with 1959 television programming, Time Magazine from 1959. And before she put them in, she measured all of their attributes. She tested their physical strength. She tested their dexterity. She tested their flexibility. She tested their senses, their sense of sight, their sense of hearing. They also tested their cognitive fitness. They wanted to test their focus. She tested their memory. And she gave them instructions saying, when you go in there for just 7 days, just 1 week when you're living in there, I want you to imagine and pretend it's 1959. She took all the mirrors out so they couldn't see themselves, right? And these guys would go out from the van, and many of them were on canes, and they would go in, and they just pretended it was like 1959. She followed up 7 days later, took them out, and these guys, a lot of those who walked in with canes, didn't walk out with canes. This is a well-published study. It's called the Counterclockwise Study.

Counterclockwise out of Harvard.

And she measured everybody's assessment. They were physically stronger in just 7 days. They had more flexibility and more dexterity. Their sense of sight was better after just 7 days. Their sense of hearing was improved. And when it comes down to, you know, my world of cognitive performance, they had better focus and a better memory. The mind doesn't know the difference between something you vividly imagine and something that's real.

But I'm gonna share with you speed study secrets to cut your studying time while getting better results by studying smart, not just hard. I want you to stop multitasking. That's right, stop multitasking. Many of you believe that you're doing 2 things at once or 3 things at once, and you're not actually multitasking because every single time you switch from one task to another, you have to regain your focus and your flow, and it can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. So the more accurate term is not multitasking. It's actually called task switching. But it takes more time, it's less productive, and there's more errors. There was a study done at University of London saying it can even lower your IQ. Multitasking or attempting to multitask can even lower your IQ similar that if you stayed up all night. If you stayed up all night, it could actually drop up to 15 points. So I want you to do one single mental thing at a time. So stop multitasking.

There was a study done at University of Chicago. They took 3 groups of people, had them do free throws. And then they said, okay, Group A, and for the next 30 days, I want you to practice an hour a day. Group B, I don't want you to practice at all. Group C, I want you to practice, but don't touch a ball, don't go out on the court, just practice in your mind like you're successfully throwing free throws for an hour a day. They followed up 30 days later, measured Group A, put them back on the court, improved 24%. Amazing, right? Practice makes—

Perfect.

Progress.

Practice makes progress, right? Group B, exactly the same. No practice, no progress. Group C, that just practiced in their mind, it blew their mind, improved 23%. Just 1% less than people that did actually put on the court. That's the power of your imagination.

The human brain doesn't know the difference between something you vividly imagine and something that's real. Have you ever had a very intense dream that wakes you up and your heart's beating out of your chest? Or maybe you have trouble That's because the mind doesn't know the difference between, again, something vividly imagined and something that's real. Researchers will have a subject look at a dog that comes into the laboratory and see what parts of their brain light up. Then they'll take the dog out and give them an assignment saying, I want you to visualize a dog coming into the laboratory and just imagine it. And they'll see what parts of their brain lights up. And what do you think happens? The same part of their brain lights up. How do you get a dog to do tricks? Unstuck. I want you to do a thought experiment with me for just one moment. I want you to think about an area of your life. It could be in your career, it could be in your relationships, it could be in your health, it can be in your day-to-day. An area where you feel like you're being held back, that you haven't made any kind of new progress. There was a study done at the University of Bremen in Norway that said there's a direct correlation between those with a positive mental attitude, they were an optimist, and more creative flexibility, more output of divergent thinking, more creative ideas. And you know this, right? When you're in a good mood, you come up with more ideas, as opposed to when you're singularly focused or you're in stress or fight-or-flight, the ideas don't flow. So the first tip is to uplift yourself, monitor your state, because as we've talked about, all learning and creativity is state-dependent. You don't have creativity, you do creativity, and part of it is understanding your state.

So here are 2 quick tips. To get better sleep so you can improve your memory.

You know, when you sleep, you consolidate short to long-term memory.

It's also where you clean out plaque that could lead to brain aging challenges. Also, it's where you dream, you come up with some amazing ideas. And so how can you get better sleep for better memory? Here are 2 quick tips. When you first wake up, go outside. If it's at all possible, go outside and get some direct sunlight. Even if it's hazy, what it does is helps reset your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is that 24-hour clock that you have, and that will help support better Better sleep at night. And stack it while you're outside. The second brain tip, do 3 or 4 minutes of exercise. There was a study done at Appalachian State University and they said, when's the best time to exercise? And they put 3 groups of people. They had some exercising at 7:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 7:00 PM, morning, afternoon, and evening. And they found those that did their exercise, it doesn't mean they have to be their full exercise routine, even just for 3 or 4 minutes, maybe some jumping jacks, calisthenics, um, some burpees, push-ups. If they did it in the morning, what happens is they'll actually get up— some subjects got upwards of 75% deeper sleep. And so go outside, get some direct sunlight, and while you're out there, do some exercise. The fresh air and sunlight will be good for your body as well as your brain, and you'll get a better night's sleep.