I'm reading "The Brain That Changes Itself." Thus far, very interesting.

My father had a stroke a couple years ago. Read "The Brain That Changes Itself" to get a feel for what might or might not be possible. Good stuff. Had practical insights for me as well. Definitely bump it up your priority list.

If anyone wants a great primer about neuroplasticity I recommend reading “The brain that changes itself” by Dr Norman Doidge

For anyone interested in the topic I suggest reading Norman Doidge's books, like "The Brain That Changes Itself" .
http://www.normandoidge.com/

If you're interested in reading more about pushing the limits of remapping the human brain, check out The Brain That Changes Itself by Doidge. Fascinating.

I highly recommend reading "Brain that changes itself" by Norman Doidge. I have no idea how good lumosity games really are, but you can improve your cognition doing such "puzzles" if they are designed well.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Brain-That-Changes-Itself/dp/01431...

To anyone interested in this sort of development from a general standpoint I can recommend The Brain That Changes Itself.

Post more neuroscience articles, please!

I read The Brain that Changes Itself recently and it markedly reinforced certain suspicions I had. Which other areas of are most active in neuroscience at the moment that might one day be related to human/computer interfaces?

It's called neuroplasticity. I've read "The brain that changes itself" by Norman Doidge and it uncovers a whole new world.

This sounds handwavey. I read The Brain that Changes Itself and it essentially gave the opposite impression of what you are saying: the whole point of the brain is plasticity. People can see, balance or hear through nerves wired to their tongues, for example.

> "Neuroplasticity — the ability of the brain’s processing functions to change to acquire new skills — is most strongly associated with childhood. It’s still more pronounced in children than adults, but for some skills, including vision, the brain is more malleable than once thought."

I'm reading the book "The Brain that Changes Itself." I'm not sure if it's The Best book on neuroplasticity, as it's 10+ years old. But I'm finding it very fascinating and am comfortable recommending it for those interested in a deep dive.

http://www.normandoidge.com/?page_id=1259

Making a solid attempt to quit this year. I think I've finally managed to close almost all the remaining loopholes I've found. I've been using Detoxify and Purity, in combination with Block (to block Chrome/YT 24/7 and the Play Store at night). I also physically restrict access to certain devices at certain times of day with the use of smart plugs and shutdown scripts.

What I learned is that the compulsion is ridiculously strong. I also learned I don't really miss it. Like... I'm ok without it. Addictions never feel that way, that's what makes it so hard to quit, but in reality it's been really nice to feel OK without it. It's also been much better for my marriage. Honestly even usage once a month is problematic I have found.

Years ago I read chapter 4 of "The Brain That Changes Itself" as that chapter is all about porn. It really opened my eyes. Glad I'm finally getting it sorted. I found it seriously worth kicking it out of my life.

If you enjoy these kind of brain modification technologies, check out the book The Brain That Changes Itself, which discusses neural plasticity http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp.... This is the science that led to the cochlear implant and may lead to other brain-interface devices.

Also, the part about biohacks and bio-weapons, reminded me of the movie Prometheus.

30 years old here. Not a grad, but been working for a long ass time. Been through burn-out. Now I manage a team and my sole goal as a manager is to make sure people are feeling good and happy as that leads to consistent productivity.

Also relevant is the fact that up until recently (call it 8 months ago), I would have mood swings and go through periods of depression as well.

Then I started exercising regularly. And I cannot be clear or emphatic enough in this but as someone who uses drugs for mood alteration; who is intelligent; who has a good career and is well respected; and who ultimately had no other legitimate reason to feel depressive emotions, since getting into a regular exercise routine, I've never felt more stable, positive and motivated in my life.

Our bodies are designed to move. For me, it's plainly clear that the sedentary lifestyle is what was at the root of my emotional issues.

I'm not saying you need to be a body builder or run a marathon. I do 15 minute runs and moderate weights and meditation. I swear, it is night and day.

As a secondary suggestion which has also been extremely helpful and beneficial, I'd recommend reading up on psychology, biases, and neuroplasticity. The most impacting book I've ever read is "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. This book will give you a scientific/real basis of understanding how your brain works; how your habits form and are re-enforced, and how you can take control of these processes to literally shape your own reality into whatever you want. Super powerful stuff. I've bought probably 15 copies of this book for friends and relatives. Highly, highly recommended.

Good luck!

Why Nations Fail (amazing!)

Chimpanzee Politics (interesting)

Corporate Confidential (paranoid, but worth a read)

Developer Hegemony (red pill for developers!!!)

Bargaining For Advantage (reasonable)

Tempo: Timing, Tactics and Strategy in Narrative-Driven Decision Making (abstract as hell but rewarding)

Thinking Fast and Slow (loved it)

The Elephant In The Brain (seriously underrated)

The Brain That Changes Itself (inspirationally freaky)

The Power of Habit (good!)

The Secret Barrister (mildly disturbing)

Thinking In Systems (huge fan of this book!)

A Short History of Truth (meh...)

Man's Search For Meaning (brooo... I am so sorry)

Thinking In Bets (meh.. really meh)

The Road To Ruin (alright. Interesting even.)

Lying For Money (lots of fun!)

Great Answers To Tough Interview Questions (what it says on the tin)

Traction (good overview of marketing tactics)

Lean Customer Development (pretty good)

The Mom Test (eye opening)

Lean B2B (solid playbook)

Principles (instant classic)

The Brain That Changes Itself. Life changing book. One of the surprising studies there shows how kids with all kinds of learning disabilities can be radically transformed just by being given cursive handwriting exercises. Brain development and activation under handwriting is measurable, and very different from typing or even printing.

That's really interesting, thanks for taking the time to share. I had no idea GABA's function in the brain 'inverts' at birth. When you say this could show up in brain scans, do you mean to say it has, or it's a theoretical (in the scientific sense of the word) explanation ?

I remember reading in 'The Brain the Changes Itself' that brain scan studies have observed that the brains of people with ASD do not differentiate between different auditory frequencies well. The way it is described in the book is that as infants develop, the part of the brain that processes sound starts to more selectively 'light up' as we 'learn' different frequencies, like someone becoming more precise when playing a single note on a piano-keyboard. However, it was apparently observed that the entire 'keyboard' lights up for people with ASD, regardless of the (audible) frequency.

I've always wondered about this. The author put forward an interesting theory about sensory over-stimulation in ASD sufferers, but it sounded kinda speculative to me. Did you come across this in your research? And if you did, do you think there's anything to?

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons : Sam Keam - http://samkean.com/thetaleoftheduelingneurosurgeons.html
Quite liked the writing style - neuroscience book written in a story format

Other good books in similar genre

An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales : Oliver Sacks http://www.amazon.com/An-Anthropologist-Mars-Seven-Paradoxic...

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science: Norman Doidge - http://www.amazon.com/The-Brain-That-Changes-Itself/dp/14915...

My suggestion would be to think of confidence as if it were a skill and, like any skill, practice makes perfect.

The fact that you have recognized an area of your life that you want to improve and even specific situations where you know you can/want to work on it is half the battle. The other half is making a conscious effort to be more confident and less shy when these situations arise. Part of this is fake-it-til-you-make-it, and part of it is re-wiring your brain to be open, communicative and confident in these situations instead of shy and/or anxious.

As far as a book recommendation goes, I read a neuroscience book (written for the layman) that while not dealing with this topic directly, will definitely provide you the knowledge and understanding of how to improve. It's called "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. It's about neuroplasticity, how it works and how you can use it to change your habits, behaviours & skills.

This has been one of the most impacting books I've read in my life. I have purchased more than 10 copies for family and friends and everyone who has read it has come away amazed and able to make almost any positive change in their life.

Cheers & good luck!

Read this book: The Brain That Changes Itself. You'll thank me later.

It is (at least after a certain young age). There's been a lot of research around this because the incentive is huge. Military has spent quite a bit of money on that too (IARPA). So far, science tells us that it is fixed. I mean, you can lower it with some brain injuries but you pretty much cannot increase it[1].

I know it ruins some American Dream ideas, people with IQ below 80 are pretty much not employable, but that's just how it is. Some people have much harder time achieving things that others do with ease and we don't know any way to help them. For some reason people see it in a very different light than e.g. somebody having some disease that he has to organize his life around it or e.g. being paralyzed.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3950413/

edit: btw I love and highly recommend Brain That Changes Itself book, by Norman Doidge, but this is something different

Mind you, this book is 10+ years old but that's not exactly the impression I got from it. That is, the brain __is plastic__ and __does__ have a high capacity for "re-configuring" itself. The story of the woman who was born with only one hemisphere of here brain comes to mind. There are other examples as well in the book.

"The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science"

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/d...

I think it's one of those articles that gets upvoted because people like the topic. I'm getting old - what do. Same as random stuff regarding privacy, depression and google killing its projects.

So here we have generic discussion number #72, where we talk how neurogenesis stops at a certain age but not really and how stuff can improve your cognition but only if you're a mouse.

Also a good place to recommend The Brain That Changes Itself[1].

1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/570172.The_Brain_That_Ch...

I've also been programming for 20+ years and it seems to me it's only getting better. To be fluent there really is a lot to learn that takes time. From learning how the whole operating system works on the lower level through all design patters and common pitfalls to mastering everyday tools (dvorak, zsh, vim etc.) that shorten the path between ideas and working code.

I know some coders in their 60s that just like you have a fresh mind and are still eager to learn new things.

I believe association with older people being less capable of mental task and creativity stems from how our society works (or rather worked). People used to do the same job, then become some grandpa with not much input or challenges to keep their brain active. It is quite well documented at this point[1] that when you keep challenging your brain there is not all that much degradation coming with age. It's just that as you get older it's becoming harder to present something really new to your brain - it will tend to view it through existing patterns and use shortcuts that you already have. That's why picking up some new language (not just programming lang) just for the sake of learning something new is a good idea (but what for? could be for fun - dopamine is a lot of fun)

* The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science - Norman Doidge ( http://www.amazon.com/The-Brain-That-Changes-Itself/dp/01431... ), great book

This is an awesome list! Still haven't read some of them yet, but the few left are in my queue. I would add one more:

The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doige. This book will give you a whole new perspective on how your mind and the human brain works! It will talk about neuroplasticity and real world examples of people that had their brain tweaked through this new area of research in neuroscience.

My advice is to face the unknown, but very little by little, you can be whatever you want. Our (small) decisions change us, read "the brain that changes itself", I have seen "introverts" become social beast, but not overnight, over the years.

The first thing is that you need to know what do you want to be in a very specific way, write it down, study it.Maybe you want to feel great among people, identify the current blocks or obstacles.

The most important thing is not trying to change overnight, you have already an "introvert" training of years:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/04/30-days-to-success/

You need to be able to get over your comfort zone regularly, my best advice is find a mentor, a person that is very social, talk to him.

Another great book with further discussion and examples on this subject, neuroplasticity, is The Brain That Changes Itself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_That_Changes_Itself

In summary from my reading of the book, current research seems to back the perspective that our brains are basically making sense of chaos: there's no standardized protocol - we automatically decode patterns from random streams of input.

You can have pretty much the same mental condition when you are 70-80 years old as when you are 20-30. But to have that you need to keep using your brain and challenging it. Old people usually have much less opportunity to stay mentally active. And less motivation.

Statements above are based mostly on The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge[1] which I highly reccomend. Plus just listen to some old folks that you can tell are still quick - Warren Buffet 86, Chomsky 88, James Harris Simons 79 and so on.

1. https://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/d...

I hilariously overestimate the number of books I can get through when I make these lists, but my current list for 2020 is as follows:

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

Book of Proof

Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation

Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War (for a friend)

Master and Commander

Educated

Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark

Stretch goal: The Power Broker, as a warm-up for Caro's LBJ series

The Bible (perpetual, I don't get through it every year, but I get through much of it, often)

EDIT: I also hilariously underestimate the number of books I want to read. Here's one more I think is vital for my 2020:

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

No, the field has moved a lot further than that.

Did you read the recent Software 2.0 rant by the Tesla AI guy? https://medium.com/@karpathy/software-2-0-a64152b37c35

Other good sources are The Master Algorithm (ML) or The Brain That Changes Itself (neuroscience), the former surveying general capabilities and limitations of various approaches and the later surveying findings from medicine on just how plastic our sensory inputs and interpretive capacities are through recent research.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

nearing the end of their life professors tend give one last lecture reflecting their life lessons. most people don't know it's their literal last lecture, but Randy was diagnosed with terminal cancer at 40s and he is an interesting guy I wish I could've met.

another one stretches slightly over 100 is The Brain That Changes Itself.