![]() One major visual change for TheBrain 8 is that links between thoughts are now curved, rather than simple straight lines. As you click a thought you’d like to focus on, it smoothly floats over to the center of the Plex, and the other thoughts get rearranged (or shown or hide), all with slick, futuristic animations. It is still visually impressive and fun to use. ![]() The Plex itself hasn’t changed much since I first used TheBrain (when it was still called PersonalBrain), about five years ago. For example, in a film-related mind map, you could have actor Keanu Reeves both under “male heroes” and under “Matrix cast.” That last one is not an obvious feature, and allows for creating very complex layouts. Each thought can have multiple siblings, multiple children (sub-thoughts), and even multiple parents. The first thing you see when creating a new brain is just a single “thought” against a background called “the Plex.” In TheBrain, a thought is just a name for a node in your mind map–much like an “idea” in online mind-mapper MindMeister. But if you’d like to create a vast mind map which covers a lot of ground, TheBrain might just be what you need (and its free version retains lots of functionality). If you’re looking to create a simple mind map for just one project, you could always go with a minimalistic free app like Blumind, or even with mind-mapper favorite Freemind. And what if you could then link those thoughts together, weaving them into free and complex associative patterns, much like an actual train of thought going through your head? That’s what TheBrain ($249, 30-day free trial) tries to let you do.Īt its core, TheBrain 8.0 is a powerful and flexible mind-mapping program. Pleasure your brain and your spirit with Kurtz’s indispensable Practicing ( public library), a taste of which you can devour here, then revisit these essential books on music, emotion, and the brain and legendary cellist Pablo Casals on how playing prolonged his life.What if you were able to put your entire brain into one computer program? Every thought, work-related or personal, with links to Web pages or files on your computer, and any additional notes you’d care to make. Studies have found that musicians appear to use their highly connected brains to give each memory multiple tags, such as a conceptual tag, an emotional tag, an audio tag, and a contextual tag - like a good internet search engine. And, indeed, musicians exhibit enhanced memory functions - creating, storing, and retrieving memories more quickly and efficiently. This ability also has an impact on how our memory systems work. This may allow musicians to solve problems more effectively and creatively, in both academic and social settings.īecause making music also involves crafting and understanding its emotional content and message, musicians also have higher levels of executive function - a category of interlinked tasks that includes planning, strategizing, and attention to detail, and requires simultaneous analysis of both cognitive and emotional aspects. ![]() And, as in any other workout, disciplined, structured practice in playing music strengthens those brain functions, allowing us to apply that strength to other activities… Playing music has been found to increase the volume and activity in the brain’s corpus callosum - the bridge between the two hemispheres - allowing messages to get across the brain faster and through more diverse routes. Playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout… Playing an instrument engages practically every area of the brain at once - especially the visual, auditory, and motor cortices. ![]() This short animation from TED-Ed, written by Anita Collins and animated by Sharon Colman Graham, explains why playing music benefits the brain more than any other activity, how it impacts executive function and memory, and what it reveals about the role of the same neural structure implicated in explaining Leonardo da Vinci’s genius. The feeling is unmistakable, intoxicating,” musician Glenn Kurtz wrote in his sublime meditation on the pleasures of practicing, adding: “My attention warms and sharpens… Making music changes my body.” Kurtz’s experience, it turns out, is more than mere lyricism - music does change the body’s most important organ, and changes it more profoundly than any other intellectual, creative, or physical endeavor. “Each note rubs the others just right, and the instrument shivers with delight. ![]()
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