Memory training improves logic

The blue block is on top of the red one, and the green block is right beneath the yellow one. The yellow block is over the red one, but they do not touch. To figure out the sequence of the four blocks, your logic must analyse several pieces of information at a time, and that requires help from your working memory.

In 2012, Slovenian scientists asked their test subjects to solve a number of problems to exercise their short-term memory. By means of electrodes, they measured the communication between brain cells in connection with the solving of logic problems. The resulting data revealed a marked difference between trained and untrained brains: the trained brain cells were much better at communicating with each other. And the marked improvement resulted in a much better score in a logic test.

between different types. The problems themselves were very simple. One type was about saying if a photo depicted a fruit or a vegetable, and another one asked the test subjects to say if a picture was large or small.

In spite of the simplicity of the problems, they had a clear effect on the people who were asked to switch between problem types. When the subjects were tested after the exercises, they had improved just about all aspects of logic – disregarding age – and they solved the problems much faster.

The secret behind the development is that the brain can improve and even rearrange its links throughout life. Even simple problems improve the communication between the different brain centres that have to do with logic, enabling you to follow in Einstein’s footsteps.

Logic is a simple algorithm

N = 2i - 1. This is how simple your logic can be described. The formula is based on the theory of connectivity developed by brain researcher Joe Tsien from the US Augusta University. He and his colleagues have found evidence that the theory is correct.

Unlike a computer, your brain is not only able to collect information, rather also to select specific aspects of it and generalize to identify patterns in an immense number of possibilities. If you see a small, immature, distorted, green apple and then a large, circular, red apple, you have no trouble understanding that both are apples. This type of problem is very difficult for a computer, as it cannot find the correct pattern. According to Tsien’s theory, the secret behind the difference between artificial and human intelligence is surprisingly simple.

The theory states that the brain’s some 86 billion neurons are organized in groups or cliques. One clique is responsible for a specific task such as recognizing a visual impression or comparing two different impressions and can communicate with a series of other groups. Tsien’s formula predicts that the cliques are organized in a hierarchy. If you get two impressions (the i of the formula), two cliques will handle one each, while a third one will link the two first cliquies. A total of three groups get involved (the N of the formula).

In a new experiment, Tsien documented such a hierarchy in mouse brains subjected to four impressions. A similar hierarchy might have allowed Einstein to combine the workman's fall with many other impressions, find the pattern, and make ground-breaking new conclusions about the laws of the universe.