(hat tip: Mind Hacks).
Please try this experiment, conceived by Simons and Chabris for their now classic study, and now packaged in a nicer video production. You will watch a brief video clip showing two teams, and your challenge is to count the TOTAL number of times that the basketballs change hands.
Click Here to view the Basketball Experiment clip.
You can read about the fascinating results here, and read the full study on sustained inattentional blindness (PDF).
Credit for pic: Haines World
Driving as Next Brain Fitness Application?
Last month, at the MIT/ SmartSilvers event where we presented our Brain Fitness Market Report, we discussed what specific applications, beyond the current emphasis on healthy 
aging, might take computerized cognitive training to a new level.
Assessing and improving driving skills would be a top candidate, given both the well-defined nature of the need and the appearance of programs with growing evidence (both scientific and real-world) behind.
The New York Times Asks...
Along these lines, the New York Times just published this article: Are You a Good Driver? Here’s How to Find Out. A few quotes:
- "COULD a video game make you a better driver? More important, could computer software prevent teenagers from making fatal mistakes or even weed out older drivers whose debilities make them crash-prone?"
Continue Reading »
Interested a good, non-technical, summary of the implications of recent brain science in 
our daily lives? Biologist John Medina offers that in his article below (as part of our Author Speaks Series) and in his new book: Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School.
Enjoy!
(Note: John will be in the Bay Area on April 8 and 9th, speaking at Google and San Jose Rotary).
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Brain Rules
-- By John Medina
Go ahead and multiply the number 8,388,628 x 2 in your head. Can you do it in a few seconds? There is a young man who can double that number 24 times in the space of a few seconds. He gets it right every time. There is a boy who can tell you the exact time of day at any moment, even in his sleep. There is a girl who can correctly determine the exact dimensions of an object 20 feet away. There is a child who at age 6 drew such lifelike and powerful pictures, she got her own show at a gallery on Madison Avenue. Yet none of these children could be taught to tie their shoes. Indeed, none of them have an IQ greater than 50.
The brain is an amazing thing.
Continue Reading »
Superb blog article by Newsweek's Sharon Begley: The Lotus and the Synapse, introducing a new Study that shows compassion meditation changes the brain.
To read the original paper led by Richard Davidson and Antoine Lutz, click Here. We will be covering this in more detail next week.
An interesting recent article announcesPupils to start day with Nintendo Brain Training(UK's Daily Telegraph). Some quotes: 
- "Children at 16 primary schools are to start each day by playing on a Nintendo games console, it was disclosed yesterday."
- "The pupils will play "brain training" exercises before lessons after a pilot scheme at a school in Dundee found that it boosted learning ability."
Continue Reading »
As part of our ongoing Author Speaks Series, we are honored to present today this excellent article by Dr. Shannon Moffett, based on her illuminating and engaging book. Enjoy!
(and please go to sleep soon if you are reading this late Monday night).
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Two years ago I finished a book on the mind/brain, called The Three Pound Enigma: The Human Brain and the Quest to Unlock its Mysteries
. Each chapter profiles a leader in a different aspect of mind/brain research, from neurosurgery to zen Buddhism, from cognitive neuroscience to philosophy of mind. One of my subjects was Dr. Robert Stickgold, a zany, hyper-intelligent mensch of a Harvard sleep researcher. When I met him, I was in medical school and having a grand old time—I’d exacted an extension of my tenure beyond the customary four years, so I had enough time to write the book, do my coursework, and have a life. I was busy, but still got enough sleep, had time to exercise daily, and even went for dinner and a movie sometimes. Although I found Stickgold’s work interesting, there was a part of me that just didn’t get it.
Fast-forward to the present, when I am a resident in emergency medicine at a busy inner-city trauma center; I have two-year-old twins and a husband with a 60-hour-a-week job of his own. I do not exercise. I do not eat unless I can do something else productive at the same time, and even when I do get to sleep in my own bed, my slumber is fractured by the awakenings of two circadianly disparate toddlers. It seems to take me twice as long to “get” new concepts as it used to, and I never feel like I’m functioning at top speed. In short, I am a mess. And NOW I get what Stickgold’s work is all about, and understand that he is both quantifying and explaining exactly what I’m feeling.
Continue Reading »
We are proud to announce that SharpBrains has joined the soon-to-be-launched Scientific American Partner Network. This won't change anything in our day-to-day operations.
Also, please visit us tomorrow Monday to read a superb article on Sleep and the Brain by Shannon Moffett, author of the superb book The Three Pound Enigma: The Human Brain and the Quest to Unlock its Mysteries. Moffett recently appeared on the PBS special The Brain Fitness Program, which aired nationwide on PBS.
Have a nice Sunday!
A few recent accolades for our just released Market Report:
"An in-depth and credible market research report that provides an objective view for investors and executives looking for gaming and health opportunities in the growing "brain training" space. This report is a must-read to understand the state of the market, the players, and key trends."
-- Daniel Goldman, founder of Total Entertainment Network and former executive at Posit Science Corporation.
"This report is a must have for those in the brain health industry. Finally, an easy to use objective resource organizing the flurry of global brain health activities. The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market report not only tells the story of cognitive training and brain fitness, but provides a broad range of data allowing one to more swiftly navigate the current terrain and future landscape."
-- Debra Raybold, Director, Brain Health Center, Memorial Hospital Health System, South Bend, Indiana.
"This report is comprehensive to say the least. It provides an essential service for long term care organizations who want to provide mind-enhancing programs and services. There is a Continue Reading »
What stresses you out ?
Whatever it is, how you respond to it may have more consequences than you think. Let me show you how.
Recapping from last months article (see Stress and Neural Wreckage: Part of the Brain Plasticity Puzzle)...our bodies are a complex balancing act between systems working full time to keep us alive and well. Any change which threatens this balance can be referred to as stress. Cortisol, a key component of the stress response, does an excellent job of allowing us to adapt to most stressors which last more than a couple of minutes. However, having to endure a high stressor for longer than about 30 minutes to an hour negatively impacts the brain in various ways.
Continue Reading »
Boost your visuospatial skills and learn about your brain
-- By Dr. Pascale Michelon
Visuospatial skills are used everyday in many ways, ranging from going from one room to another in your house to solving a jigsaw puzzle and navigating in a new city. 
One specific visuospatial skill has to do with moving spatial information around in your head. It is called mental rotation.
Let’s take an example. Can you picture in your head an arrow pointing to the right? Now, turn this arrow so it points to the left. Done?
Continue Reading »
