Tag: Cognitive Performanc

Improve your thinking, improve your performance.

Posted in: March 19, 2020 By: Bernadette Marie Wilson

In our corporate culture today there is a lot of everyday stress that can limit our abilities: deadlines, demanding clients, market changes, office politics. It all adds up. And it doesn’t just make us feel worse at work; it limits our mental abilities in all areas of life. In the field of cognitive performance, we aim to help individuals to understand better how their brain works, and how reactions to stress and traumatic situations can impact their optimal brain function.

What is Cognitive Performance?

High cognitive performance or ‘peak performance’ is when you are using your brainpower to its full potential. Understanding how you think and process information, emotions, and memories enable you to have enhanced memory, processing speed, and better-quality decision-making.

This area of your brain that is responsible for our cognition is sometimes referred to as the ‘executive brain’ or ‘executive function’, and it enables higher-level thinking abilities such as:

comprehension
reasoning or problem solving
mental manipulation of ideas
thinking before acting
managing novel information
dealing with an unanticipated challenge
inhibiting and resisting temptations
staying focused during difficult tasks

On the flip side, when we are stressed or overloaded, our ability to call upon our working memory be hindered.

The good news is that the practice of science-based cognitive performance techniques allows you to stop negative rumination, meaning you can overcome worries, feelings of fear, anger, frustration, or overwhelm.

MRIf neuroscience studies have shown that our prefrontal cortex the main processing center of our executive brain. Expert research work performed in the field of neuroscience points to the tight relationship between working memory, our executive brain processes, and our thinking abilities.

Practical ways to improve these critical abilities include training people in neurocoaching strategies and practicing mindfulness to reduce mental fatigue so they are more alert, creative, and present.

Understanding the Executive Brain

The executive brain functions is a set of mental skills that most people take for granted. It includes working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. These cognitive behaviors develop quickly in early childhood and continue into the teen years and keep developing into the mid-20s.

We use these skills every day to learn, work, and manage our daily lives. However, when trauma or too much stress overwhelms us, we can have problems with executive brain function.

If you have ever had a very stressful day and noticed how hard it is to focus or make clear decisions, that is because your executive functions in your brain are becoming limited.

People who suffer physical or mental trauma can sometimes have prolonged issues with their cognitive performance, which can make it hard for them to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions.

What Limits Our Cognitive Performance?

Not knowing how your brain works, the different parts, and the ways that the brain functions will impair your ability to improve your cognitive performance.

Although no two brains are the same, there are essential functions that can be better managed when we understand the brain.

Of course, the personal experiences of each person will affect how we address the demands of our surroundings. A better understanding of the brain’s systems can help us to adapt to situations and the changes we experience.

If we don’t understand how the brain works, and how to use it, this can lead to a lack of self-management skills which can show up in several ways, including:

Trouble starting or completing tasks
Difficulty prioritizing tasks
Forgetting what was just heard or read
Have trouble following directions or a sequence of steps
Panicking when rules or routines change
Having trouble switching focus from one task to another
Getting overly emotional or fixating on things
Having trouble organizing their thoughts
Having trouble keeping track of their belongings
Having trouble managing their time

Typically, these kinds of behaviors due to habits reinforce our brain’s response of flight or fright mechanism, which activates our amygdala to triggering the release of chemical reaction, which makes you more easily stressed. Over time, we are not aware of our responses, and we become stuck, stressed, and overwhelmed.

How Can You Improve Cognitive Performance?

There are many brain tools and activities that can help to enhance your cognitive performance, both at work and in your personal life. Some common cognitive performance enhancers include:

Physical Activity
Being Open to New Experiences
Creativity and Being Curious
Strong Social Connections
Mindfulness and Meditation
Brain Training Games
High-Quality Sleep

These types of practices will lead to more brain balance, and enable better recovery from traumatic situations.

Working with a cognitive performance coach (sometimes called a NeuroCoach) can also be a great way to customize your approach and to enhance your abilities.

If you have experienced a trauma of any kind, it may be that your cognitive function is somehow limited as a result. A cognitive performance coach can help you identify and move past these issues and gain better brain function.

Cognitive-Performance Brain Tip:

List your top 3 items that must be done today. Do the most difficult one first, followed by the second, and third. At the end of the day, recall and savor all of the successes!

Interested in learning more about cognitive performance for you, or your team? Bernadette Wilson is the founder and coach of Cognitive Performance. She specializes in professional optimization, personal and team transformation, and helping people find inspiration and happiness in their work, with their loved ones, and in their lives. Reach out today to see how Bernadette can help you.

Article References:

Tanaka, (2015), Effects of Mental Fatigue on Brain Activity and Cognitive Performance: A Magnetoencephalography Study, Anatomy & Physiology: Current Research, 5:S4

Garcia-Madruga, (2016), Executive Functions and the Improvement of Thinking Abilities: The Intervention in Reading Comprehension, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 7

How a lack of sleep affects our cognitive performance

Posted in: January 26, 2020 By: Bernadette Marie Wilson

cognitive performance, sleep deprivation, insomnia

Are you forgetful or tend to lose focus easily?

Do you often forget things or tasks that you are sure you know or is it challenging to concentrate on complex assignments? If so, then you are probably experiencing insomnia or more commonly known as sleeplessness which is detrimental to your cognitive performance.

Sleep deprivation affects brain performance.

That’s right; insomnia can keep hinder you from thinking clearly and put on a perpetual emotional roller-coaster. Studies show that chronic sleepiness can affect the output of the job, cause mood problems such as depression and anger, and can wreak havoc on relationships.

Recent research has set out some of the common reasons why we need adequate sleep and all of the tasks that the brain seems to perform as we sleep. There is more to find out, but here are a few explanations of why the brain needs sleep, and how a lack of sleep affects our cognitive ability and performance.

Sleep deprivation slows down your thought processes

Researchers assessing sleepiness have found that a lack of sleep results in lower concentration and alertness. Focusing and paying attention becomes more complicated, and you are more easily confused. This also hinders the ability to carry out activities involving logical reasoning or abstract thought, all of which, are cognitive performance abilities.

Sleepiness hinders judgment, too. It’s more challenging to make choices because you can’t analyze circumstances and pick the right actions.

Lack of sleep can impair your memory

Research suggests that adequate sleep can strengthen the nerve connections which make our memories during sleep. Sleep embeds into our short-term memory the things we have learned and encountered over the day. Specific stages of sleep appear to play different roles in consolidating new information into memories. If you are cut short of sleep, it may interfere with these memory building cycles.

You may forget and often misplace things when you are sleepy. The inability to concentrate can further weaken memory and affect cognition. When you can’t focus on what’s at hand, it won’t make it into your short-term memory and long-term memory.

Sleeplessness makes learning new things difficult

Sleep deprivation impacts your learning ability in two ways.

It’s more difficult to pick up information because you can’t focus due to sleeplessness
You can’t learn effectively due to slow thought process and impairment of short-term memory

It also affects long-term memory, which is essential for learning. Sleepiness in children can lead to hyperactivity, which hampers learning as well. Teens are more prone to lose focus, discipline, and memory ability in school to perform well.

Insomnia links to slowed reaction time

Insomnia slows down the reaction time, a particular problem while driving, doing work, or other activities requiring a quick response. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least 100,000 police-reported crashes are due to driver fatigue each year. Nearly one-third of Americans reported nodding off while driving in the 2017 survey of the National Sleep Foundation.

Evaluate your quality of sleep

Because the needs of an individual’s sleep differ, experts say how you feel is the best way to assess whether you get enough sleep. If your body is getting proper sleep, you shouldn’t feel sleepy after waking up. You should be enthusiastic all day long and wind down gradually as you reach your usual bedtime.

Ask yourself if your performance is where you want it to be. Is a lack of sleep affecting your cognitive performance? Evaluating your daily skills and quality of life is critical to assess whether a lack of sleep is affecting your cognition, emotional well-being, and performance.

Learn more about how to improve your sleep and quality of life by getting a free copy of Becoming Extraordinary

References

http://jass.neuro.wisc.edu/2017/01/Lab%20601%20Group%201.pdf

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41105-017-0099-5

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