Brain Buzz WHAT’S GOING ON? (The Science Behind The Game) When we are under pressure or experiencing strong emotions, our brains affect the electrical conductivity of our skin. Our clever detectors can measure this effect to show how you react to this fun but tricky game. Don’t sweat it! Here at Cardiff University we have studied how babies react to things they haven’t seen before. We hope to be able to see if their reactions as a baby can predict how they will respond when they are much older.

Game 2 Prism glasses Flipped ShootOut

Game 3 Ghost Hand

WHAT’S GOING ON? (The Science Behind The Game) On the headset are sensors which pick up the electrical activity in your brain. As you concentrate on moving the ball this produces a particular type of brainwave called Beta. Higher levels of this type of activity makes the ball go higher up the tube. At Cardiff University we use this technique, called EEG or electroencephalography (e-lek-tro-en-sef-ah-log-ruh-fee), to learn about how we remember things, what captures our attention and to understand more about certain disorders, such as epilepsy.

Game 5 Stroop Race

Zap The Map WHAT’S GOING ON? (The Science Behind The Game) This game uses Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) which is a big magnet. If we direct the magnet at the part of the brain that maps the hand area, we can produce movement in the opposite hand. We're using TMS in lots of areas in Cardiff. So far we've been able to alter vision, speech, and even decision making to help us understand how our brain works.

Match The Animal To Its Brain WHAT’S GOING ON? (The Science Behind The Game) Animals have evolved to be good at different things; some animals have a fantastic sense of smell, some of them are very clever and like to live in big groups, some of them have big bodies that they have to coordinate. For every different animal there is a different brain! The object of this game is to look at the pictures of the different animals (including humans!), think about what that animal is good at doing and match it to the picture of the animal brain. At Cardiff University, we are studying the brains of animals and humans in order to investigate how alike they are, to understand how they work normally, and to work out what happens to them when they go wrong. We hope that this work will help us understand why some people develop brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease.

Story to Storage How good is your memory? We learn new things every day that we need to remember. How good is your memory? Are there ways to improve your memory? We study how people remember things. We also try and understand what happens when people lose their memory.

Game 9 Visual Illusions

Fruity brain quiz WHAT ’ S GOING ON? (The Science Behind The Game) We can use MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to look inside your brain or other things like fruit & vegetables. MRI uses a big strong magnet and radio waves. It works by taking pictures of tiny things called protons. The protons like to lie in line with the magnet but get briefly disturbed by the radio waves. The protons then wobble quickly back to their comfortable position. The energy released by the wobbling movement is detected by the MRI scanner. Different areas of your brain release different amounts of energy, depending on how many protons are wobbling. The computer turns the wobbling signal from all the different areas into a picture of your brain (or something else … have a guess …).

Brain Fitness WHAT’S GOING ON? (The Science Behind The Game) Cardiff University is investigating Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease which show symptoms of cognitive decline. There is scientific evidence to suggest that cognitive training may slow this effect. FOCUS REASONING REACTION TIME PROBLEM SOLVING VISUAL PERCEPTION FLEXIBILITY STRESS MEMORY ATTENTION GENERAL HEALTH SPATIAL REASONING FLUID INTELLIGENCE LANGUAGE SPEED Try an innovative web-based brain-training program with a variety of tests designed to improve brain health and maximize performance.