Research abounds supporting the principles of Speedlearning. Grounded in brain and behaviorial research, the Speedlearning program has been carefully designed to give you access to the powerful resources your mind has to offer.
Research
proves READING FAST makes you "happier, more energetic, more
creative, more powerful." READ
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RESEARCH
Explore the categories on the navigation buttons on the left to see some of the details behind Speedlearning.
Considerable contemporary research exists that shows a powerful connection between an active brain and improved mental health. Learning the skills taught in many programs like Speedlearning 100 that stimulate thinking and learning affect the brain. Expanding your vision to take in more than one word at a time actually retrains key parts of your brain. Research has shown that the more you use your brain, the healthier and happier you will likely be in later life and recently published research by Harvard and Princeton investigators actually showed that read faster and thinking faster made the subjects "happier, more energetic, more creative, more powerful." The button below will take you to a list of references to the studies that made these discoveries and below is a summary of the research.
Alzheimer's and dementia
Recent research indicates that Alzheimer's and dementia are held at bay by the exercise of learning and the acquisition of information. Those seniors who do do not engage in the use of their mental faculties on a daily basis have twice the incidence of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Specifically, reading non-fiction that requires the use of organization, logic, reasoning and long-term memory create a 'firewall' against debilitating brain diseases. Playing card-games that require cognitive decisions to be continuously made (bridge, etc.) exercise synaptic firing that maintain the integrity of the axons and dendrites of our neurons. Underutilized neurocircuits atrophy and are in time are extinguished. The cliché "use it or lose it" is apt when referring to brain cells.
Neurogenesis
Every
research project has a theory, and this one by Dr. David Snowdon, of the
Sander-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky, is called
'neurogenesis.' He found that the human brain is capable of growth and
regeneration throughout life, even into advanced old age. Please note
that the average age of the original 678 participants, all Nuns, was 85
years. Two conclusions have already been substantiated. First, that active
learning is a strategy that can continue throughout life to improve memory,
and second, using your mind for complex thinking reduces the odds of getting
Alzheimer's by a minimum of 33 percent. The subjects education ranged
from the bare minimum to university, and their careers varied from cook
to housekeeper and in some cases, teachers
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LISTEN TO AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. SNOWDON ABOUT THIS STUDY. |
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SEE DR. SNOWDON'S ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON THE NUNS STUDY |
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SEE A LIST OF MORE OF DR. SNOWDON'S RESEARCH |
Neuroplasticity
We
all have about 100 billion neurons (nerve cells), which connect to other
neurons to create neural network circuitry, based on activity and life
experience. The more we use our minds to analyze and learn during our
lifetime the greater the modification of the structure and function of
our brain. Consider our brain as the hardware, and our experiences through
input as the software (programming). Active and interactive mental activity
on a daily, weekly and monthly basis causes neuroplasticity, the enhancement
of our mental power. Usage equals improvement. This is a new scientific
principle because prior to the 1990s, the brain was considered fixed in
childhood for both structure and function. The prevailing medical view
was that millions of neurons die through aging and was not replaced
Mental-Firewall
Mental Health in Later Life
Dr.
Yaakov Stern, professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University in NYC,
confirms that college graduates who use their minds for continued learning
after retirement, significantly stay free of the effects of senility,
dementia, depression, and Alzheimer's. He attributes good health in advanced
years to a deep supply of neuronal connections in the brain acting as
a 'safety net,' a firewall. We suggest the reader use it, not lose it.
See an overview of Dr. Stern's research at the American
Academy of Anti-Aging website.
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