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LSQ Newsletter

A newsletter for lifelong learners looking to improve their processing, retention and recall of everything they learn.

Written by

Ray Blakney

You Are What You Eat (And So Is Your Hippocampus)

How diet shapes your ability to learn

Ray Blakney

Drink More Water, Learn More Things: The Boring Truth About Hydration and Your Brain

Apr 28, 2026

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8 min read

Drink More Water, Learn More Things: The Boring Truth About Hydration and Your Brain

The cheapest, most-ignored cognitive enhancer on the planet, and the surprisingly tiny amount of dehydration it takes to start sabotaging your focus and memory.

Ray Blakney

How Leaning on AI Quietly Undermines Your Learning

Apr 27, 2026

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8 min read

How Leaning on AI Quietly Undermines Your Learning

The new research on what happens to your brain when you outsource your thinking, and why "AI as tutor" is good but "AI as answer machine" is quietly disastrous.

Ray Blakney

The Sixty-Four Squares of Cognitive Training: How Chess Quietly Sharpens the Brain

Apr 27, 2026

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8 min read

The Sixty-Four Squares of Cognitive Training: How Chess Quietly Sharpens the Brain

Why a 1,500-year-old game still beats most modern brain-training apps.

Ray Blakney

The Brain on Stress: Why Anxiety Quietly Sabotages Your Learning

Apr 26, 2026

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7 min read

The Brain on Stress: Why Anxiety Quietly Sabotages Your Learning

Why pulling stressed all-nighters is the worst possible way to learn anything, and why your "I work better under pressure" theory is mostly a lie.

Ray Blakney

Train Your Imagination, Train Your Brain: How Mental Imagery Supercharges Learning

Apr 25, 2026

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7 min read

Train Your Imagination, Train Your Brain: How Mental Imagery Supercharges Learning

Why the same brain skill that lets you replay Star Wars in your head also makes you better at chemistry, and how to deliberately train it.

Ray Blakney

After the Cram: How to Actually Recover From an Emergency Learning Session

Apr 24, 2026

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7 min read

After the Cram: How to Actually Recover From an Emergency Learning Session

Your brain just ran a marathon. Here's how to get it back to baseline...

Ray Blakney

Roll the Dice on Smarter: How Board Games Quietly Make You a Better Learner

Apr 24, 2026

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7 min read

Roll the Dice on Smarter: How Board Games Quietly Make You a Better Learner

The cognitive science of cardboard, dice, and tiny wooden meeples, and why your weekly D&D session might be doing more for your brain than your study app.

Ray Blakney

The Case for Being Bored: Why Your Brain Needs Empty Time

Apr 23, 2026

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7 min read

The Case for Being Bored: Why Your Brain Needs Empty Time

The uncomfortable, unfashionable truth about why the best learners are often the ones willing to sit quietly and do absolutely nothing.

Ray Blakney

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Archive

You Are What You Eat (And So Is Your Hippocampus)

Drink More Water, Learn More Things: The Boring Truth About Hydration and Your Brain

How Leaning on AI Quietly Undermines Your Learning

The Sixty-Four Squares of Cognitive Training: How Chess Quietly Sharpens the Brain

The Brain on Stress: Why Anxiety Quietly Sabotages Your Learning

Train Your Imagination, Train Your Brain: How Mental Imagery Supercharges Learning

After the Cram: How to Actually Recover From an Emergency Learning Session

Roll the Dice on Smarter: How Board Games Quietly Make You a Better Learner

The Case for Being Bored: Why Your Brain Needs Empty Time

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