The Rusty Blog
Stay sharp in the age of AI.
Research-backed guides on brain training, mental math, focus, memory and clear thinking — plus practical ways to keep your mind in shape while AI does more of the heavy lifting.
How to Think Faster: A Practical Guide to Processing Speed
Thinking faster isn't about forcing your brain to race. It's about building automaticity, protecting the basics like sleep and exercise, and clearing the clutter that slows you down.
The 5-Minute Daily Brain Workout Anyone Can Stick To
Short and daily beats long and occasional. Here's a concrete five-minute brain workout — five one-minute reps — plus the habit science that makes it stick.
Brain Fog: Common Causes and How to Clear It
Brain fog isn't a diagnosis — it's a symptom with causes you can often address. Here are the common drivers, what the evidence says helps, and when to see a clinician.
How to Improve Your Critical Thinking in an AI World
How to improve critical thinking in an age of confident AI: spot the common fallacies, steelman the other side, check base rates, and interrogate every answer.
The Best Brain Training Apps in 2026 (An Honest Comparison)
An honest, science-aware roundup of the best brain training apps in 2026 — Lumosity, Elevate, Peak, BrainHQ and Rusty. Real strengths, real caveats, and the one that fits you.
Neuroplasticity Explained: Can Adults Really Rewire Their Brains?
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change itself through experience. In adults it's real but demanding — driven by effortful, repeated, specific practice. Here's the honest science.
Working Memory: What It Is and How to Improve It
Working memory is the mental scratchpad that holds and manipulates information for seconds at a time. Here's what the science says it is, its true limits, and how to get more out of it.
How to Speak More Clearly and Articulately
How to speak more clearly and articulately: structure your point first, cut the ums, slow your pace, pause on purpose, and review yourself. Practical steps.
9 Daily Habits for a Sharper Mind
A sharper mind is built from small, repeatable habits — not grand resolutions. Here are nine evidence-based daily practices, and why consistency beats intensity every time.
Is AI Making Us Dumber? The Science of Cognitive Offloading
Does AI make us dumber? The honest answer from the research: not inherently, but the mental skills you stop using fade. What cognitive offloading studies show.
How to Improve Focus and Concentration (Backed by Research)
Focus isn't a fixed trait — it's a skill you can train and an environment you can design. Here's what the research says actually works, and what's just productivity folklore.
12 Mental Math Tricks That Double as Brain Training
Twelve practical mental math tricks, each with a worked example you can copy. Faster calculation today, and a genuine workout for focus and working memory every time you use them.
Brain Training in the Age of AI: Why Staying Sharp Matters More Than Ever
AI can draft, decide and remember for you. Convenient — but research is starting to show that offloading our thinking has a real cognitive cost. Here's how to keep your edge.
Does Brain Training Actually Work? What the Science Really Says
Does brain training work? The science is clear and a little humbling: you reliably improve at what you practice, but those gains rarely spill over to unrelated abilities.
Reading about brain training is good. Doing it is better.
Put it into practice with a five-minute daily circuit. Rusty is free on the App Store.
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