Here is ques­tion 11 of 25 from Brain Fit­ness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Ques­tions. To down­load the com­plete ver­sion, please click here

Ques­tion:
Is it nec­es­sary to train under the super­vi­sion of a doc­tor or other specialist?

Key Points:

• Recre­ational activ­i­ties have always been done for fun either socially or independently.
• Most computer-based soft­ware pro­grams are intended for you to use on your own com­puter when it suits you. Think exer­cise and fit­ness, not medicine.
• A few pro­grams used for peo­ple with med­ical con­di­tions may be super­vised or reviewed by the treat­ing neu­ropsy­chol­o­gist, physi­cian, or other health­care personnel.

Answer:

In most cases, no. Brain fit­ness is about a healthy lifestyle, not a med­ical inter­ven­tion. Fit­ness is about healthy indi­vid­u­als and the pre­ven­tion of poten­tial prob­lems. If a per­son has a seri­ous con­di­tion, he or she should always con­sult a physician.

The field of brain fit­ness evolved from neu­ropsy­chol­ogy, which is usu­ally prac­ticed in hos­pi­tals or doc­tors’ offices with highly trained spe­cial­ists admin­is­ter­ing and inter­pret­ing com­plex tests. But most of the soft­ware pro­grams today are designed to be user-friendly and used in the com­fort and pri­vacy of your own home with­out any out­side supervision.

Many pro­grams have a built in coach or teacher to help explain what you are doing in each exer­cise, why you are doing it, and how you are doing. Oth­ers may have a coach or advi­sor that you can call for sup­port. Sharp­Brains pro­vides access to forums mod­er­ated by our Head Coach and other coaches. These coaches are avail­able to answer your ques­tions in a timely manner.

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