Why Some People Are More Intelligent

Intelligence and the Corpus Callosum

In a recent study the size of a persons corpus callosum was linked to intelligence. The corpus callosum links activity in your right brain to activity in your left brain. To make the information easy to digest, I’ve excerpted two sentences of the study.

“Significant negative correlations were absent. Positive associations between intelligence and posterior callosal thickness may reflect a more efficient inter-hemispheric information transfer, positively affecting information processing and integration, and thus intellectual performance” (Narr, Bilders, Thompson, Szesko, Hamilton, Toga, 2007)

The phrase inter-hemispheric information transfer was not chosen by accident. What the study is saying is that the ability to access information on both sides of your brain is a key indicator of intelligence. In other words, the more easily and rapidly you can access an idea, the greater your intellectual capacity. If a person has a larger corpus callosum, the more easily he or she can transfer information between hemispheres and the more likely he/she is to be intelligent.

Takeaway on Corpus Callosum Size

You see, the brain is not static. It is considered a plastic organ that is always changing. Which brings us to the take away. Anything you can do to increase communication between the left hemisphere of your brain and the right hemisphere of your brain will increase your intelligence. As an example, it was found in a recent study with golfers that the more skilled players had many more active brain areas distributed bilaterally across their brain. They had access to both sides of their brain, which help them be more skilled and intelligent at playing golf.

Increased bilateral brain communication makes you more intelligent. Focus Stones help increase bilateral communication in your brain. Focus Stones helps you to be more intelligent.

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Your Mind Needs to Balance Like a Surfer

I love the following study because it ties bilateral mental processes to an increase capability to learn. Here’s what the study did. The scientists hypnotised a group of people and then taught them. Afterward, the hypnotized group was tested to find out what they remembered from what they had been taught. First of all, like any good experiment, there was a control group (a group of people who were not hypnotized). Guess what? The hypnotized group had far better recall. Though the results were really cool, there was something even cooler.

Consistent Bilateral Activation Under Hypnosis

The hypnotized group showed “A consistent bilateral activation which was most distinct when the learning had taken place under hypnosis.” - Halsband, 2006. What this means is that the minds of the hypnotised group were balanced mentally.

• It means that as they learned new information, their brains were recording information in both hemispheres (left and right).
• It means that the corpus callosum (the part of your brain that connects the two halves) was very busy keeping all the information straight.
• It means that the brain alternately fired on the left side and then the right side, the left side and then the right side, etc…
• Most of all, it means that a balanced brain, one that equally uses both the left and right side, learns the best.

It also provides a pretty good definition for a balanced brain. If an activity helps increase the bilateral activity in the mind, then you will learn more information and you will learn it faster.

Other Ways of Achieving a Balanced Brain

There are many other ways to achieve a balanced brain state other than hypnosis. You can go walking. The activity of walking also induces the brain to alternately fire off in a bilateral way. The effort of walking with your left leg and then your right leg fires off the left and right hemispheres in nearly the same manner. You can go for a jog, ride a bike, practice yoga or meditate - all of which promote a balanced brain state.

You can also use Focus Stones. We’re just a few months away from launch. If you want to be notified of our exact launch date, go to top left side of the screen, type in your email address and you will be part of our Priority Notification List.

Bilateral Stimulation and Religious Practice

You will find bilateral stimulation used in various forms of spiritual worship, such as hand clapping and dancing in Baptist Church worship, davening in Orthodox Jewish Synagogue worship and various yoga practices.

Go to a Baptist Church and be prepared to sing and dance. The question is why? Do they do it to make services go by faster? Do they sing and dance just because they like singing and dancing?

No and No. They sing and dance because singing and dancing brings them closer to G-d. They sing and dance, because singing and dancing apply bilateral stimulation while they pray. Check out this article by Dr. John Sullivan, Executive Director-Treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention - Dancing in the Spirit.

Think about what they are doing. They are applying bilateral stimulation while they pray and sing. They are clapping. They are moving their feet back and forth, over and over again. Most importantly, they are praying. They have goal. They have an objective. They want to feel G-d’s Spirit. Listen to the progression of the music. It starts slow and then it starts to speed up and the entire congregation starts to build into a religious fervor. Does bilateral stimulation help them achieve their goal? You bet.

You may not have ever attended a Conservative or Orthodox Jewish Service. It’s fascinating and a little bit different. Every so often, every man in the synagogue will stand up and shake back and forth while they read their prayer book and under their breath, utter the breaths in break neck style. What they are doing is referred to as “davening.”

Davening (bilateral stimulation) while praying has been going on for thousands of years. So why do they daven? Praying while davening helps religious Jews feel closer to G-d. It helps them to feel G-d’s spirit. The goal of each prayer is to take the reader to a different place. Some prayers talk about being better than human. Some talk about bowing down to G-d. In all cases, the prayers have more meaning and impact on their lives the closer they can feel to G-d.

Bilateral stimulation helps target and focus the mind. It helps you feel more connected. It helps you to feel whole.

Enhanced Mental Focus and Overcoming Blocks

I want you to know that everything you read here, I have tried and I believe in. I preach this stuff everyday to the people I meet and try to live it as best I can. I truly believe that having an active mind - a mind that’s curious and able to concentrate and a mind that completes things rapidly is critically important. Life is hard enough, so why not take advantage of the G-d given abilities we all have? With the use of Focus Stones, you can be your best.

Focus Stones

Focus Stones is a unique product and if you think the concept is a little odd at first, I would probably have to agree. When I first encountered these techniques, I thought it all a bit weird. Nonetheless, I paid attention to what I was seeing and hearing. As I applied these techniques to my own life, I was seeing definite results. My ability to complete things rapidly was enhanced. For example, instead of taking hours to write a document, I finished the task in minutes. My life changed radically for the better as I became highly skilled at my job.

Bilateral Stimulation

I began to believe in the power of bilateral stimulation to activate and enhance mental capability. Looking around the world, I saw signs of bilateral stimulation being used everywhere. Even my interpretation of something as simple as going for a walk changed.

Walking was no longer just a way to get from point A to point B or a way to exercise. I saw walking as a critical way to activate the left and right brain. I noticed that famous philosophers and scientists like Rousseau, Nietzsche and Einstein (who biked instead) took time out of their lives to comment on the importance of walking and thinking, I paid even more attention. Walking helps you to think better.

Everywhere I looked, I saw people expressing themselves with both sides of their body - the left side and the right side - the logical side and the intuitive side. Strength, power and accomplishment were the result of joining both sides together. The left side by itself is coldly rational and unemotional, while the right side knows what’s going but has trouble getting anything done.

Balanced Thinking

I saw that people were a combination of two halves. When we are functioning optimally, everything is even and the mind is balanced. However, things can get out of whack. An overly dominant left brain can detract from creativity and impose so much self criticism that it’s hard to let things flow. An overly dominant right brain doesn’t allow you to function optimally in what is a left brained world. (I am strongly right brained and have struggled in my past to do things in a linear, left brained way).

To be at your best, you need both sides of the brain to work together in harmony. This is the reason I developed Focus Stones. The initial work is with golf, but the concepts translate to any field or endeavor.