May 2012
3 posts
3 tags
Artist of the Month: May 2012
Dispatch by Dr. G. for Bodies in Space Explores….
Wear your heart on your sleeve?
Turn ice cold in the face of fear?
This month, our Artist of the Month feature focuses on the work of Leslie Park and David Gilbert, winners of the March 2012 Brain Awareness competition run in my “Critical Practice” course at Art Center College of Design. The undergraduate course includes...
5 tags
BrainBright! Spotlight Spatial Intelligence...
Dispatch by Dr. G for Better Brains….
We walk, eat, dream, sleep in space yet rarely do we stop to notice the spatial features of our experience, unless of course you’re one of the numbers of people who exercise spatial navigation (think dancers, Navy Seals and kids using their “spidey” senses) or among the population diagnosed with “spatial neglect.”
Of all...
5 tags
Mindful Eating and the Food Revolution!
Spacious Mind Dispatch, Green Beacon reporting on 2012 Earth Day Celebration in Los Angeles….
An old Chinese proverb says that if you want to correct the world, you must first correct the state; if you want to correct the state, you must first correct the family; if you want to correct the family, you must first correct yourself.
It was an honor to experience “Mindful...
April 2012
2 posts
4 tags
Artist of the Month: Salomen Huerta
Salomen Huerta, Untitled, 2000, 12’ ’ x 11 3/4” oil on canvas
Bodies in Space Explores, Dr. G dispatch: April 2012 Artist of the Month: Salomen Huerta
When i first met Salmon Huerta, he was standing on a ladder lathering paint across a large mural at SPARC — a social activist gallery in Venice California. Playing off the theme of the four horseman of the...
9 tags
R U Human?
What does it mean to be human? When ancient philosophers and playwrights posed this question centuries ago, the logical and common sense presumption was to distinguish human beings from gods, beasts, flying animals, and creepy crawling things. Think Plato, Aristophanes, Confucius, Lao Tzu and Shakespeare: The vestiges of their thinking (and wisdom) point to language and ideas that invite...
March 2012
5 posts
5 tags
Proof in the Pudding: Yoga Reduces Stress!
Dispatch from Dr. Sutherland for Spacious Minds...
Stress takes a horrible toll on our mental and physical health. Stress is not just a state of mind—it’s a physiological state as well. Risks associated with stress continue to pile up, including increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mood disorders, fatigue, chronic pain, and increased inflammation. And reports of long-lasting (and...
4 tags
BrainBright! Spotlight Discoveries in...
Dispatch from Dr. G. for Better Brains…
‘The New York Times Book Review calls Carl Zimmer “as fine a science essayist as we have.” In his books, essays, articles, and blog posts, Zimmer reports from the frontiers of biology, where scientists are expanding our understanding of life. He is a popular speaker at universities, medical schools, museums, and festivals, and he...
4 tags
BrainBright! Spotlight Spatial Intelligence...
Veronique Bohbot, Ph.D., neuropsychologist
Dispatch from Dr. G. for Better Brains!….
Can using GPS systems make us stupid?
Will failing to use our spatial memory contribute to greater prognosis for brain disease?
Systems designer and GGI Fellow Aaron Bocanegra managed to catch up with spatial memory expert Dr. Bohbot to learn more about her spatial memory training research and its...
5 tags
BrainBright! Spotlight Spatial Intelligence...
Image credit (K.McCarty): Mark Changizi, Director of Human Cognition, 2AILabs
Does your brain learn more like a cat or a dog?
Did writing and speech evolve as special learning and communication systems?
Dispatch from Dr. G. for Better Brains!….
Months ago, I posted notice of Dr. Mark Changizi’s new book HARNESSED. I finally caught up with the noted scientist and science writer...
4 tags
Artist of the Month: Awkward x 2
“Exit Velocity Faster Than the Speed of Light,” 2011 63 3/4 x 63 3/4” oil on linen
BODIES IN SPACE EXPLORES DISPATCH…. Dr. G. reporting on Artist of the Month: Awkward x 2
Painting as an artistic endeavor, is often a lonely project. The questionable 19th century image of the artist toiling away in his garret, preparing for the moment of curatorial discovery,...
February 2012
1 post
5 tags
Valentine's Day Pamper Tips!
Dispatch from Dr. Stephani Sutherland for Ageless Bodies….
Avoid Hostile Interactions. Reduce Inflammation: This Valentine’s Day, Americans will spend millions on heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, diamonds, and roses. As an alternative, let new body-mind research guide you to create an experience-based dream date. The healing power of touch, the magic of our breath, the gift of moving our...
January 2012
2 posts
5 tags
Be Nosey, Be Here Now!
Image Credit: Steve Jobs at Home in Cupertino California, December 15 1982.”
Dispatch from Dr. G., 01.23.2012…
If you’ve had the chance to read Walter Issacson’s bio of Steve Jobs this past holiday, you may have found yourself nodding knowingly at a developmental journey marked by familiar American Baby Boom motifs: 1) Grow up in a surburn home designed by a...
2 tags
Stressed Kids? Not!
Image Credit: Slate, 2003
Wendy Swire reporting on Better Brains…. This past November, active Neuro-Education discussion took place in downtown Washington, DC at the Society of Neuroscience Annual convention. I was joined at the conference by over 20,000 of the world’s top neuroscientists, who carefully clutched their laptops and poster displays of their cutting-edge brain science...
December 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Biased against Creativity -- Really?
Image Credit: METROPOLIS directed by Fritz Lang, 1927…………………..
Dr. G. reporting on Spacious Minds….
In a soon to be published study in the journal PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, university researchers of organizational behavior found that despite all of the ROI talk on valuing creativity — — how many times have you forwarded a link...
3 tags
Happiness and the Brain
Dr. G. reporting on Better Brains…
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the suicidal death rate around the world has risen 60 percent in the past 45 years, and suicide has become one of the top three causes for death of young adults (ages 15-44). Common sense alone should be enough to read the signs. Media brings faces to the raising stats and stories of...
July 2011
3 posts
3 tags
Supreme Court Rules on Video Games
Dr G reporting on Better Brains….
On June 27, the US Supreme Court ruled against a ban on violent video game sales to minors in the state of California. The ruling struck down a California law that would have issued fines of up to $1,000 to video game retailers found to be selling such games to individuals under 18. Surely there’s another way to dig the Golden State out of debt...
Hack Your Default Settings!
American Buddhist monk meditating with electrodes attached in PBS’s the New Medicine (photo courtesy of Middlemarch Films/TPT)
Dr. G. reporting…. In the last year, I’ve noticed a big push to bring mindfulness into education at all levels — corporate, K-12 and even the narrow, hallowed halls of academe. Thanks to the efforts of John Kabat Zinn at Mass General in Boston and more...
Full STEAM Ahead! →