Due to my ADHD I always had bad processing speed and memory, but at 16 I noticed it got seemingly worse.

For the last 6 years I sleep at 5-6 AM, and wake up very late, or force myself to wake up earlier to get used to it in exchange of very short amount of sleep. First 2 years I slept at 1-2 AM.

I'm 19 now, guy. My processing speed and memory is really bad, did I by any chance made myself dumber? Realistically how much IQ points have I lost?

I'm asking this cause of study that says bad sleep kills off your brain cells permanetly which makes sense.

Is sleeping late what kills brain cells or short amount of sleep? Or both? Is there a solution? Is it actually permanent? Could I get moderate/severe damage in 6 years?

Hey guys,

Like most of you in this group, I am a cognitive science student. I’m finishing my master’s degree, and my bachelor’s is in psychology, by the way.

The thing is, I really don’t know what I’m going to do after this master’s is over. I’m really interested in the computational side of things—I’m taking additional courses in Python, MATLAB, and R—but I’m nowhere near having even half the skills of a computer science student. I know I have other abilities, such as reading EEG data and more psychology-related skills that they don’t have, but I still feel a bit insecure.

The main problem is that I don’t know what job opportunities are out there. I’m really tired of academia, so I don’t want to pursue a PhD. The best option I can think of is a job in user research, but there have to be other options, right?

Anyway, I’d love some advice on how to be competitive for a UX job—or just some insight into what other job opportunities I might have with this master’s and my skill set.

Thank you very much!

I'm interested in learning AI for business applications, but I'm unsure where to start. Should I focus on coding AI from scratch or learning how to implement existing AI tools in various ways? I'm completely new to this, so any guidance would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Lately I've added dumbbell squats and renegade rows to my 25-minute morning cardio sessions and feel that it has contributed to the effect that hours later I feel more stimulated and less inclined to ruminate.

(Also, it's much more fun to alternate the type of exercise after each series lol)

Conversely,this review seems to deny its apparent synergistic effect

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556524002985

Getting a B.S. in CogSci. My school offers a handful of CS courses and realistically I need to pick one. Help me pick a class for Junior/Senior year.

A. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence B. Introduction to Natural Language Processing C. Introduction to Brain-Computer Interaction D Introduction to Neural Networks

Any advice from professionals/Grad Students MUCH appreciated.

P. S. Sorry for new account. I can't access my old e-mail.

The professor of my Honors Music and the Brain class just said that melatonin cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier, and the effect is “100% placebo.” I looked into this for just a few minutes and maybe found evidence against this lol. What are your thoughts?

tl;dr: This surprised me: https://old.reddit.com/r/SatisfactoryGame/comments/1ibi02y/off_the_wall_discussion_question_any_of_you/

So, I'm a retired programmer. I've been writing software since we first started noticing those little rivers kept getting bigger back on Pangaea.

"Satisfactory" is a "build a supply chain from mines through multi staged final products" game. It really just hits me right in the nerd.

So I posted this question asking if it was basically "by nerds for nerds" and the breadth of backgrounds of people who this game "just hits right" is fascinating.

But what I found MOST interesting is the way people mentally frame the *cough* satisfaction and drive of the game loop as it maps on to their particular predilections.

Now, I know s*** about f*** when it comes to cogsci. But it seems like a really fascinating inadvertent multi-d approach to discover how people think differently at a core level.

I'd like to actually "take this someplace" but have NO idea what I'm talking about here beyond floundering around in that comment thread.

"Thoughts?"

Hi

Hope you are doing well.

I have, for a long time, been looking into different ways one can accurately compare and contrast the cognitive demands associated with gaining different grades in different qualifications, purely in terms of the level of problem solving ability and analytical skills required.

One such method I have been thinking about is to control for subject knowledge and only assess problem solving ability. A good way to do this would be to administer some sort of standardised assessment which relies more on application of knowledge to new scenarios than recall of knowledge itself.

A test which does just this is PISA, a student assessment aimed at 15 year olds across all OECD countries. PISA divides students based on their performance in the test into one of 6 proficiency levels.

Taking PISA Maths as an example:

The top 2 levels, 5 and 6, correspond to levels of ability in problem solving and analysis associated with the top GCSE grades currently (grades 8-9). At level 5, for instance, in PISA Maths, students can develop models for complex situations, identify constraints, and specify assumptions. They can select and evaluate problem-solving strategies, work strategically, and reflect on their work. Level 5 corresponds to scoring 607 or above score points on the PISA Maths test. GCSE grades have been mapped onto PISA, to determine the level of demand associated with each grade on an international scale and whether our benchmarks compare to other places.

The Grade 9 for GCSE Mathematics is 620 PISA score points (Level 5) however my estimates put this at an underestimate. For instance- the Grade 8 in GCSE Maths (measured across all schools) was 585 (Level 4- not yet advanced).

Surprising, right?

But when they controlled for independent schools only (as they all do Single Science- levels the playing field- Double disadvantages a lot of people) the score for an 8 rose to 626 (high Level 5) score points.

In terms of GCSE attainment, in general, gaining high grades (8-9) in GCSE Maths, English Language relates to PISA scores in the realm of Levels 5-6 on their respective scales.

The OECD has stated two key factors which dictate the difficulty of a question (any question on any exam, not just PISA):

1. One of the most important drivers of item difficulty lies in the particular mathematical content knowledge that must be activated to solve problems. A problem that requires counting or adding small integers clearly imposes a different level of cognitive demand compared to an item that requires manipulating and solving an equation or applying Pythagoras theorem.

2) The nature of the reasoning involved in solving a mathematical problem, and the degree to which mathematical argumentation must be understood or applied as part of the solution process contribute in important ways to item difficulty. The nature, number, or complexity of elements that need to be brought together in making inferences, and the length and complexity of the chain of inferences, needed are significant contributors to increased demand for activation of the reasoning and argument competency.

Something interesting from the above:

Point 2 implies that the level of problem solving and reasoning in a given question (regardless of the actual content being assessed) also dictates the ability needed.

What this means is you could have an A Level question, say in Chemistry, needing a simple recall of facts, or a 1 step moles question, actually being easier on the basis of Point 2 than say an 8 mark problem solving GCSE Maths question at the end of a paper.

Point 2 is interesting also as it explains why gaining high scores on the US SAT (in spite of testing basic knowledge) typically entails smart blokes who go to MIT, Harvard etc- because the problem solving level they can do- irrespective of what the content difficulty itself is- is really high.

I would highly recommend looking into PISA and seeing examples of Level 5-6 questions via the official link below:

https://www.oecd.org/en/about/programmes/pisa/pisa-test.html

* Click on the Download the PISA 2022 released main survey new mathematics items (English)Download the PISA 2012 released mathematics items (English) example links which show up next to each PISA Maths/Reading/Science batch, there you can see examples of real questions divided by level.

My question is the following:

If you were to take A Level students who have taken their STEM A Levels and gained e.g a C, B, A, A*, and give these students PISA Maths/PISA Science (which controls for student content knowledge as it doesn’t assess any content beyond GCSE), how would they do? Taking into account the level of problem solving required for each A Level grade in the Sciences.

Many thanks for reading.

ive had depression for a number of years, which has taken an impact on how i think a lot. i cant remember a lot of things. i cant form a thought in detail. i feel so frustrated. i went from being a high-achiever, to barely remembering what i said 5 minutes ago. i cant connect to myself at all. my mind becomes empty all of a sudden. i can't think past the baseline.

i need help figuring out techniques on how to rebuild my cognitive ability. ive tried cbt, positive talk, journaling, meditation, taking my meds consistently, forcing myself to pay attention. nothing is working. i should mention i have ADHD too so that limits the techniques that ACTUALLY work. im going insane. im so disconnected from myself.

please provide some techniques to help me regain a little bit of what ive lost.

In your learning experience; what has been the most efficient way to generate questions so that you understand new information?

I have seen some top programs say that a STEM background is not necessarily a requirement. JHU is one example, and I have read some research by a guy at MIT who is doing a PhD in cogsci despite coming from a law background.

Coincidentally, I am wondering if I could pursue a similar path as this MIT guy. I studied law, and I especially liked areas in legal philosophy and jurisprudence that had to do with cognition and emotion in criminal law. Law simply doesn’t have good answers for some of its most pertinent issues and I think cognitive science is one perspective that could be combined with these fields for a better understanding.

The issue is that I have no STEM background. I have worked briefly at an AI startup (relating to creating LLMs generating contracts and negotiation points) but since I didn’t do the actual scientific work I’m not sure this would help. I’ve also taken a course in cognitive psychology and another in social psychology. Next semester, before a potential PhD application, I can also take a course in quantitative methods and another in cognition and emotion.

I think that with enough time I could potentially formulate an interesting research proposal that is related to my interests in legal philosophy. If this was convincing, and I added some more relevant courses under my belt, would I have a shot? Do you know of anyone who was done a similar move? I see for example that a suggested path is linguistics->cogsci or philosophy->cogsci - I’m just not sure how realistic something like this is considering the competitive nature of grad school admissions.

Thank you:)

I came across some really interesting research recently—a wearable, noninvasive vagus nerve stimulator that claims to immediately improve your hearing, vision, and sense of touch. I'm far from an expert in brain stuff, so wanted to see what this sub thinks.

Here's what I learned: it uses something called a "tonic" pattern of electrical stimulation to activate the vagus nerve. This apparently is different from other vagus nerve stimulators??? But, it triggers the release of norepinephrine in the brain, which I understand to be a neurotransmitter tied to being alert and focused. Basically, the ideas is that it keeps you in this sharp, focused state which is optimal for the brain to accurately process information from your eyes, ears, and skin.

Some of the research seems pretty legit. One paper in rodents showed that norepinephrine makes the thalamus process sensory inputs more efficiently. Then, the same group of researchers tested it on humans and found that people were able to read 20% smaller text, detect shorter gaps in sound, and hear 10% more words in noisy environments. Sounds impressive, but also kind of niche?

As I'm getting older, things that can help me see and hear better are interesting to me. But, I've been misled so many times by other new technologies that claim to augment my brain (I won't name names). I can see the appeal though. I struggle to hear actors' dialogue over the loud sound effects in movies, and this tech sounds like it could help with that. If it really can, I'd be into it.

Is this a future for noninvasive human augmentation or just another vagus nerve stimulator in what feels like an oversaturated market? Are clearer senses even important to people? Please enlighten me!

Pasting the titles of papers I skimmed through if anyone wants to take a look:

• Rapid and transient enhancement of thalamic information transmission induced by vagus nerve stimulation
• Transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation improves sensory performance in humans: a randomized controlled crossover pilot study
• Cervical transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation enhances speech recognition in noise: A crossover, placebo-controlled study

Hi, do you have any recommendations on resources to learn about cognitive sciences in general, trends and new findings? Both social media or web pages. Thanks! :)

Hey, guys. I've completed my masters in psychology with research experience in social psych and the course was more centered towards clinical psych. I do not know programming and no courses done so far in cogsci of any manner. But, I am really interested in pursuing the field. Do you guys know any colleges that would not have eligiblity criterias or selections where they take students with both programming or research experience in the field ?

P.s. I know most colleges have the above criteria already, but if you yourself was selected with a profile like mine, or know someone who was selected with profile like mine...let me know

I would also take suggestions on how to improve my CV and skills to reach upto these programs

Not a cognitive scientist but I'm interested in this kind of stuff.

Do I understand correctly that gray matter handles information processing locally and white matter more so connects different areas of the brain?

If so, is there any research that depth/specialist tasks (ex: learning and applying detailed theory) use more gray matter regions of the brain, and breadth/generalist tasks (ex: project management) use more white matter regions of the brain?