Before I really dive in on this journey, I want to give a bit of an assessment of where I am right now. Most of this is pretty subjective, but down below I did do an online brain test provided by Harvard, so I do have a bit of real-ish data.
What I think needs work…
Memory – I’ve mentioned before that memory has been an issue for me. While it has improved, I’m definitely not back to where I once was and my memory certainly isn’t extraordinary! I have a long way to go here.
I do think that I’ve seen some glimpses of my memory being really good, again. But that is the exception and not the rule. I haven’t been able to nail down exactly what is causing the improvement.
Mood – As far back as I can remember, I’ve been relatively, how do I put this… less than happy. I’m not un-happy. I’m not depressed. Just not particularly happy. I’d like to be happier. Since this is pretty consistent I think that I can try some things to try to improve my mood generally. It could be worse, but I’d like an extraordinarily happy brain.
Focus – It’s so easy for me to go from task to task getting only some of each done. My focus is pretty pitiful much of the time. I’d love to get some extraordinary focus going on!
Motivation / Productivity – I’ve read that Dopamine is the ‘motivation’ neurotransmitter. I am severely lacking in motivation. Not only is it generally lacking, but it is very inconsistent. I’ll be super motivated for a day or two and then it’s gone completely for a week or more. I’m constantly amazed at the motivation levels of others around me. I long for that. There are a lot of things I want to do (like this website and others) that never get done because of lack of motivation/energy. I would love some extraordinary motivation!
Verbal fluency and speed – I’ve always been kind of a slow talker. It’s annoying both for me and for others who have to wait for me to spit it out. Sometimes I’m faster, sometimes I’m super slow. So I suspect that it is state-dependent. Maybe stress induced or something like that? Hopefully some sort of brain optimization will help, we will find out!
Testing my Brain for a Baseline
I wanted to get some kind of a baseline so I have something to compare my results with. This isn’t super scientifically relevant, but testmybrain.org does seem to be a pretty reputable source since they are using the tests that you do in real scientific research at Harvard. They stress that the results on their own aren’t a big indicator but I think comparing results over time will be useful.
Here are my results…
TestMyBrain Cognitive Speed Test Results
Response Speed Test – In this test, you had to respond as quickly as possible to images on your screen. Your score is your speed or how fast you were able to respond. Higher scores indicate faster responses.
Your score was 31.75. The average score is 32.895. Slightly below average.
You scored higher than four out of every ten people who took this test.
Matching Shapes and Numbers – In this test, you were asked to correctly match pairs of shapes and numbers. Your score indicates how many pairs you were able to match in 90 seconds. This was a test of your processing speed.
Your score was 49. The average score is 48. Slightly above average.
You scored higher than five out of every ten people who took this test.
Connect the Dots: Numbers – In this test, you had to connect the dots in order of numbers, as quickly as possible. Your score is how many connections you were able to make per minute or how quickly you were able to connect the dots. Higher scores indicate greater speed.
Your score was 50. The average score is 54.37. Below average.
You scored higher than four out of every ten people who took this test.
Connect the Dots: Letters and Numbers – In this test, you had to connect the dots in order of numbers AND letters (alternating), as quickly as possible. Your score is how many connections you were able to make per minute or how quickly you were able to connect the dots. Higher scores indicate greater speed and task-switching ability.
Your score was 37.28. The average score is 35.995. Slightly above average.
You scored higher than five out of every ten people who took this test.
TestMyBrain Holding Information in Mind Test Results
This basically tests working memory.
Forward Digit Span – In this test, you were asked to remember sequences of numbers. Your score is the maximum length of numbers you were able to recall. Higher scores reflect better short term memory.
Your score was 8. The average score is 6. Above Average.
You scored higher than eight out of every ten people who took this test.
Backward Digit Span – In this test, you were asked to remember sequences of numbers, in reverse order. Your score is the maximum length of numbers you were able to recall, backwards. Higher scores indicate better short term memory and cognitive control.
Your score was 5. The average score is 5. Average.
You scored higher than six out of every ten people who took this test.
TestMyBrain Concentration and Life Experiences Results
Flanker Task – Your score is related to the speed and accuracy of your responses in the test. A higher score means better performance. In other words, the higher your score, the better you were at ignoring the other arrows to respond to the central arrow quickly and accurately.
Your score was 50. The average score is 44. Above Average.
You scored higher than seven out of every ten people who took this test.
They didn’t give me results on the “Life Experiences” survey.
TestMyBrain Famous Faces Results
I’m surprised at how well I did on this. I really don’t know a lot of celebrities compared to most people I would think.
Famous Faces – This was a test of your ability to recognize famous faces. Your score is the number of faces you correctly identified. Higher scores indicate better famous face recognition.
Your score was 7. The average score is 8. Slightly below average.
You scored higher than four out of every ten people who took this test.
TestMyBrain Attractive or Weird Results
Not sure why they are testing this or if it’s really relevant to improving my brain. I think it’s not, but I’m posting it anyway.
Attractive or Weird – In this test, you had to rate a number of faces on how attractive they were, and a number of other faces on how weird you thought they were.
Your score was 60.58. The average score is 60.64. Average.
You scored higher than four out of every ten people who took this test.
The Verdict? Not Extraordinary.
Yep, overall my scores here are all basically average. Some slightly higher than average and some slightly lower, but really I’m pretty much average at this time.
I think this is great news!
I’m glad to see that my cognition isn’t suffering as badly as it was in the past! Average is a lot better than below average, right?
Sadly, I’m not off the charts higher than everyone. I was partly hoping that that would be the case and I would be able to skip all the work involved in this website.
On the other hand, I have a long way to go before I have an extraordinary brain!
This means we will have lots of exciting experiments to do together!
I’m looking forward to it!