•Brain Improvement and Cognitive Fitness: Fact or Fiction?
? You may already have a Nintendo Brain Age game, or at least have heard of it. You may also have read recently that start-up Lumos Labs raised $3m to develop "brain training games".
From the press release:
- "Lumos Labs is at the center of a booming interest in cognitive exercise and the emerging science about the remarkable plasticity of the brain," said Amish Jani of Pequot Ventures.
This and other developments (such as the success of Nintendo Brain Age, and the PBS special devoted to...
•Combine Physical and Mental Exercise for Brain Health: Interview with Dr. Kramer
Dr. Arthur Kramer is a Professor in the University of Illinois Department of Psychology, the Campus Neuroscience Program, the Beckman Institute, and the Director of the Biomedical Imaging Center at the University of Illinois.
I am honored to interview him today about recent brain research findings focused on how to maintain a healthy, strong brain.
Alvaro Fernandez (AF): Dr. Kramer, thank you for your time. Let's start by trying to clarify some existing misconceptions and controversies....
•Obesity Crisis or Cognitive Crisis? How to Get Weight Under Control
Obesity Crisis or Cognitive Crisis? How to Get Weight Under Control In early August, a scientific study published in the British Medical Journal added a novel perspective on how to think of, and consequently address, the so-called obesity epidemic that many developed countries, including the US, are experiencing.
The media reported on the study main findings:
- "The study was based on tests of about 11,000 people in Britain who were tested for hand control, co-ordination and clumsiness...
•Ready to Measure Your Brain Fitness and Cognitive Health?
? You know your weight. And your physical fitness. And a variety of health-related metrics.
What about your brain fitness?
In years to come, we can expect a growing number of assessments to help each of us address that precise question, using tools that today are only available to researchers and clinicians, raising both opportunities and concerns.
Two recent announcements bring out important events in that direction:
1) Last week, OptumHealth announced an exclusive 3-year agreement...
•Study: Meditation Can Help Adults and Children with ADHD
Travel back, in your mind's eye, to a time when you felt a healthy exhaustion after hiking, biking, playing sports.., and let you re-live that moment as vividly as you can.
Then, remember, re-experience, a loving exchange that really touched you. Pause. See your partner. See the moment. Smell it. Hear what happened around you.
Next, visualize the most caring gesture you have ever received, as full of details as possible. Who gave you that gift of caring. How you felt.
Now, travel to the...
•Top 10 Brain Training Future Trends: New Mind/Body Focus, Brain Trainers, and More
In an emerging, dynamic, high growth market, like brain training, it is difficult to make precise projections. But, we can observe a number of trends that executives, consumers, public policy makers, and the media should watch closely in the coming years, as brain fitness and training becomes mainstream, new brain trainers appear, and an ecosystem grows around it.
1. We predict an increased emphasis on brain maintenance in locations ranging from retirement communities to gyms. As a...
•Top Ten Cognitive Health Events in 2007: Brain Fitness Program Explained, and More.
By now, you surely are aware that our brains retain the ability to generate neurons and change over our lifetimes, breaking the scientific paradigm prevalent during the 20th century. And you have read about the growing number of brain games and brain fitness programs offered. Now, you may wonder, why is all this happenning now?
To understand that, let's review 10 important events that took place in 2007, a seminal year for the field.
1.In January, many mainstream media publications, such as...
•Why Smart Brains Make Stupid Decisions On Money, Work and Health
It happens. Often.
Why?
We just secured an interview with Ori Brafman, co-author of Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior (Doubleday Business, 2008), to discuss our Dark Side (well, he calls if "different hidden forces" and "psychological undercurrents").
While reading some reviews about his book, I particularly enjoyed finding, after the usual impressive long collection of endorsements, this "disclaimer":
*DISCLAIMER: If you decide to buy this book because of these...
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