Exactly. Exercise is great stuff, particularly with the boost to neurogenesis!
Incidentally, the best forms of exercise (for this purpose) is activities which not only provide an intense cardiovascular workout but also rely on extensive motor coordination.
But if the increased neurogenesis is only for implementing motor skill learning, then it’s not going to help me get better at Starcraft 2 (I mean, my research) - so what’s the point? :)
I play piano for 10-60 min daily and imagine there’s some benefit as well (surprisingly, it’s also a mild cardiovascular workout once you can play hard enough repertoire).
Also, I read a little about choline; it seems likely that unless I’m dieting heavily, I’ll get enough already. That is, there’s no hard evidence of any benefit to taking more than necessary to maintain liver health—although it seems like up to 7x that dose also has no notable side effects).
Aniracetam looks interesting (but moderately expensive). Do you have any personal experience with it?
But if the increased neurogenesis is only for implementing motor skill learning, then it’s not going to help me get better at Starcraft 2 (I mean, my research) - so what’s the point? :)
I don’t think I expressed myself clearly. The effect I refer to is influence of a coordination based component to exercise on neurogenesis and not particularly on the benefits of such to motor skills. Crudely speaking, of the neurons formed from the BDNF released during exercise a greater fraction of them will stably integrate into the brain if extensive coordination is involved than if the exercise is ‘boring’. I suspect, however, that a cardio workout combined with (ie. on the same day as) your piano practice will be at least as effective. That stuff does wonders!
Also, I read a little about choline; it seems likely that unless I’m dieting heavily, I’ll get enough already. That is, there’s no hard evidence of any benefit to taking more than necessary to maintain liver health—although it seems like up to 7x that dose also has no notable side effects).
I included choline only because I mentioned Aniracetam. While the effects are hardly miraculous, Aniracetam (and the more basic Piracetam) do seem to have a positive effect on cognition and learning. Because the *racetams work by (among other things) boosting Acetylcholine people usually find that their choline reserves are strained. The effects of such depletion tends to be reported as ‘head fog’ or at least as a neutralisation of the positive benefits of the cognitive enhancement.
Supplementing choline in proportion to racetam use is more or less standard practice. Using choline alone seems, as you noted, largely pointless.
Aniracetam looks interesting (but moderately expensive). Do you have any personal experience with it?
I have used it and my experiences were positive. I found it particularly useful in social situations, with improved verbal fluency. Unfortunately I cannot give much insight into how well it works for improving memory retention. Basically because my memory has always been far more powerful than I’ve ever required. It just isn’t a bottle neck in my performance so my self report is largely useless.
Exactly. Exercise is great stuff, particularly with the boost to neurogenesis!
Incidentally, the best forms of exercise (for this purpose) is activities which not only provide an intense cardiovascular workout but also rely on extensive motor coordination.
But if the increased neurogenesis is only for implementing motor skill learning, then it’s not going to help me get better at Starcraft 2 (I mean, my research) - so what’s the point? :)
I play piano for 10-60 min daily and imagine there’s some benefit as well (surprisingly, it’s also a mild cardiovascular workout once you can play hard enough repertoire).
Also, I read a little about choline; it seems likely that unless I’m dieting heavily, I’ll get enough already. That is, there’s no hard evidence of any benefit to taking more than necessary to maintain liver health—although it seems like up to 7x that dose also has no notable side effects).
Aniracetam looks interesting (but moderately expensive). Do you have any personal experience with it?
I don’t think I expressed myself clearly. The effect I refer to is influence of a coordination based component to exercise on neurogenesis and not particularly on the benefits of such to motor skills. Crudely speaking, of the neurons formed from the BDNF released during exercise a greater fraction of them will stably integrate into the brain if extensive coordination is involved than if the exercise is ‘boring’. I suspect, however, that a cardio workout combined with (ie. on the same day as) your piano practice will be at least as effective. That stuff does wonders!
I included choline only because I mentioned Aniracetam. While the effects are hardly miraculous, Aniracetam (and the more basic Piracetam) do seem to have a positive effect on cognition and learning. Because the *racetams work by (among other things) boosting Acetylcholine people usually find that their choline reserves are strained. The effects of such depletion tends to be reported as ‘head fog’ or at least as a neutralisation of the positive benefits of the cognitive enhancement.
Supplementing choline in proportion to racetam use is more or less standard practice. Using choline alone seems, as you noted, largely pointless.
I have used it and my experiences were positive. I found it particularly useful in social situations, with improved verbal fluency. Unfortunately I cannot give much insight into how well it works for improving memory retention. Basically because my memory has always been far more powerful than I’ve ever required. It just isn’t a bottle neck in my performance so my self report is largely useless.