We recently run an online survey among subscribers of our monthly eNewsletter, and over 500 people said we have helped them make better personal or professional decisions on how to maintain and improve brain fitness. Most gave very illuminating examples, which we are reading and enjoying as we speak.

Respondents also had many good questions to ask, so I have selected 15 common ones, paraphrased/ synthesized them below, and answered them by linking to our most relevant posts and resources. I hope you enjoy the FAQ session.

Q: I teach a brain fitness class at my library/ senior center/ school, using much of your info. Can you share some of your presentations?
A: Yes, we have just decided to share, using a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License, the full presentation of my recent book talk at New York Public Library. As long as you give credit to SharpBrains and don’t modify it, you are free to use the presentation you can see and download HERE. The talk was videotaped, and will be available online soon, so please keep tuned.

Q: What exactly does neuroplasticity mean, and why is it so important for education and health?
A: Start by reading how learning changes your brain.

Q. Is this only relevant for older adults? Can I also apply it in the workplace (I am 47)
A. I strongly suspect you do have a human brain, so you may benefit from these Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains. Further, HR departments would do well to start paying more attention to Cognitive Fitness and the Mature Workforce trends.

Q. I read so many conflicting things I don’t know where to start.
A. You are not alone. We should all be aware that It is Not Only Cars That Deserve Good Maintenance: Brain Care 101.

Q. How can my organization deliver brain fitness activities as a community service?
A. These articles will provide good guidelines and ideas: Retooling Use It or Lose It , and Public Libraries: Community-Based Health Clubs for the Brain.

Q. Everyone seems obsessed with brain games. What about meditation?
A. Check out Yes, You Can Build Willpower, and Mindfulness Meditation in Schools.

Q. Are software-based cognitive interventions effective?
A. As a category, it certainly seems so, as long as we ask the right questions, For Whom, For What?. For example, did you see this Science paper on how Cognitive Training Can Influence Dopamine System?.

Q. What about the trade-off between time invested vs benefits realized.
A. Efficiency and replicability of cognitive and brain-based outcomes seem to be, in fact, the strongest points of structured cognitive interventions. They seem to maximize the Cognitive Value of your Mental Workout.

Q. It sometimes looks like the whole field came out of nowhere, due to Nintendo Brain Age’s success, so we can’t be talking about something serious.
A: Nintendo did indeed create consumer awareness (for a product with little evidence) but “brain training” has solid roots in neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience, as you can read in our interview with Elkhonon Goldberg.

Q. What about neurofeedback?
A. After years of much clinical use and little solid evidence, several important trials have been published in 2009, showing how neurofeedback can help diagnose and treat ADHD patients.

Q. How can one improve memory?
A. Well, the answer deserves a whole book, but we can offer some Tips to Improve Memory including Sleep, Practice and Testing.

Q. How can I choose one among the number of products making memory and brain claims?
A. We suggest you use this Evaluation checklist, and consider reading our consumer guide/ book.

Q. Any general tips for educators and lifelong learners?
A. Indeed, here you have these 10 Brain Tips to Teach and Learn.

Q. How can I keep track of all the new trends, companies and products? Our health system/ insurer/ senior community/ venture firm/ company needs to make good decisions.
A. Well, that’s why we publish market research, such as the one summarized in this Infographic: State of the Market 2009 and also recently launched a professional Network for Brain Fitness Innovation. You can also Save the Date for the upcoming SharpBrains Summit.

Q: Thank you for all the information you provide…but what I want more of is… brain teasers!
A. Understood. We will make sure to offer more, but you can try, right now, these Top 50 Brain Teasers and continue with more recent puzzles and brain games.

We are excited to release our 2009 market report The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2009. To be formally released on May 4th but available now for our clients and readers, this report aims to inform decision-makers at healthcare, insurance, research, public policy, investment and technology organizations about important developments in the brain fitness and cognitive health space.

2009 Market Report

The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2009: This new 150-page report finds sustained growth in the brain fitness software market (from $225m in 2007 to $265m in 2008) and promising seeds for future growth, combined with increased confusion given aggressive marketing claims and lack of education and standards. The report includes, for the first time, a Market & Research Momentum Matrix to categorize 21 key vendors, 10 Research Executive Briefs written by 12 leading scientists, and the complete results of our market survey with 2,000+ respondents. You can learn more, and acquire the report, Here.

News and Resources

Cognitive Health News April Round-Up: New cognitive track at the Games for Health conference, bilingual brains, poverty’s effect on the brain and working memory due to stress, diabetes, neuroenhancing drugs, Kellogg’s settlement with the FTC, neurocognitive testing in the military.

Normal Aging vs. Alzheimer’s Disease: Dr. Murali Doraiswamy shares his very insightful views on the key question, “How can we help the public at large to distinguish Alzheimer’s Disease from normal aging — so that an interest in early identification doesn’t translate into unneeded worries?”, based on his recent book The Alzheimer’s Action Plan.

Upcoming Guide

This exercise will help you practice focusing your attention.

It may seem easy but make sure you count twice!

Count the number of “Y” in this text:

Yesterday, Lucy went all the way to Boston. She wanted to buy new shoes. She had to go in many shops before she found the shoes she wanted. She was happy to stop at a restaurant to have some tea and cookies before she took the train back home.

Count the number of “F” in this text:

Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.
Count the number of “E” in this text:

Last summer, Jean and Harriet spent their vacation in Michigan. They rented a cabin on the lake. The cabin had two bedrooms and a nice deck. They used to spend a lot of time on the deck, just looking at how the light would change on the water. Several times, they borrowed bikes from their neighbors and spent a few hours exploring the villages not far from their cabin.

—
Solutions

There are 7 “Y” in the first text.

There are 6 “F” in the second text (got them?)
There are 38 “E” in the third text.

—

For many other Brain Teasers, click Here.
For many other teasers and articles by Dr. Michelon, click Here.

– Pascale Michelon, Ph. D., is SharpBrains’ Research Manager for Educational Projects. Dr. Michelon has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and has worked as a Research Scientist at Washington University in Saint Louis, in the Psychology Department. She conducted several research projects to understand how the brain makes use of visual information and memorizes facts. She is now an Adjunct Faculty at Washington University.

Bird’s Eye View

Brain fitness heads towards its tipping point: How do you know when something is moving towards a Gladwellian tipping point? When health insurance companies and public policy makers launch significant initiatives. Dr. Gerard Finnemore provides a market overview, based on SharpBrains’ client webinar held last December.

Ten Reflections on Cognitive Health and Assessments: Here are 10 highlights from several stimulating January events:  Symposium on Adaptive Technology for the Aging (by Arizona State University), Health Bloggers’ Summit (by Consumer Reports), Traumatic Brain Injury (by Veteran Affairs in Palo Alto), and a new Alzheimer’s/ Dementia Expert Panel organized by the city of San Francisco.

News and Events

Nintendo Brain Age vs. Crossword Puzzles: we need much public education in order to help consumers separate reality from hope from hype. Nintendo is not helping, neither is media reporting.

Collection of recent news: including training for senior fitness trainers, reports on the importance of purpose,  on older driver safety, and more.

Upcoming events: I will be speaking soon at the New York Academy of Medicine, the American Society on Aging/ NCOA conference, and the Silvering Workforce Summit at the University of North Carolina. Let me know if you are attending any.

Education and Learning

Learning about Learning: an Interview with Joshua Waitzkin: Scott Barry Kaufman interviews “child prodigy” Joshua Waitzkin on The Art of Learning. Many fascinating insights, including “I think losing my first National Chess Championship was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, because it helped me avoid many of the psychological traps…(associated with being called a “child prodigy”)”.

Resources to help students build emotional intelligence: Daniel Goleman introduces educators and parents to a new book that “adds an important tool to the emotional intelligence kit: mindfulness, a moment-by-moment awareness of one’s internal state and external environment.”

Resources

Top 10 Cognitive Health and Brain Fitness Books: Here you have The 10 Most Popular Brain Fitness & Cognitive Health Books, based on book purchases by SharpBrains’ readers during 2008.

10-Question Program Evaluation Checklist: To help consumers and professionals navigate through the growing number of programs making “brain fitness” or “brain training” claims, we published last year this Evaluation Checklist. Now we are making the Checklist available as a Bookmark given recent requests by universities and conference organizers.

Brain Teaser

Brain Teaser to Exercise your Memory and Reasoning Skills: Dr. Pascale Michelon offers a stimulating teaser that not only helps exercise our brain but also educates us on how and why the same activity may exercise different brains differently – depending on where we are from.

However when it comes to internationals proverbs below you may have to use your reasoning skills more than your memory skills, as it is likely that you do not know these proverbs. In this case, the frontal exercise is more intense. Try to guess what the final words of each international proverb might be. Use your logical skills.

If you live outside the USA, your experience will probably be the reverse.

US proverbs

1. The early bird gets the ___________.
2. After all is _______ and done, more is said than __________.
3. From ___________ beginnings come great ____________.
4. Don’t ___________ horses while crossing a ____________.
5. There are three kinds of _________; those that make ________ happen, those that watch things __________ and those who don’t know what’s _______________.
6. The frog does not ____________ the pond in which he __________.

International proverbs

1. With enough “ifs” we could put Paris into a _________. (France)
2. Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in ____________.  (France)
3. A closed mouth catches no _____________ .     (France)
4. Appetite comes with _______________ .   (France)
5. If you are looking for a fly in your food it means that you are ___________. (South Africa)
6. Behold the iguana puffing itself out to make itself a ____________.  (South Africa)
7. Milk the cow, but do not pull off the ___________. (Greece)
8. If you want to gather a lot of knowledge, act as if you are _________________. (Vietnam)

Solutions

US proverbs

1. The early bird gets the worm.
2. After all is said and done, more is said than done.
3. From small beginnings come great things.
4. Don’t change horses while crossing a stream.
5. There are three kinds of people; those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those who don’t know what’s happening.
6. The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives.

International proverbs

1. With enough “ifs” we could put Paris into a bottle.
2. Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble.
3. A closed mouth catches no flies.
4. Appetite comes with eating.
5. If you are looking for a fly in your food it means that you are full.
6. Behold the iguana puffing itself out to make itself a man!
7. Milk the cow, but do not pull off the udder.
8. If you want to gather a lot of knowledge, act as if you are ignorant.

Here you can find many more Brain Teasers.

— This article was written by Pascale Michelon, Ph. D., for SharpBrains. Dr. Michelon has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and has worked as a Research Scientist at Washington University in Saint Louis, in the Psychology Department. She conducted several research projects to understand how the brain makes use of visual information and memorizes facts. She is now an Adjunct Faculty at Washington University, and teaches Memory Workshops in numerous retirement communities in the St Louis area.

Top 15 Brain Teasers and Games for Mental Exercise

1. Can you count?: Basketball attention experiment (Interactive).

2. Which way is the bus heading?.

3. Words in your brain: do you know where words are “stored” in your brain?.

4. Please Spot the Differences.

5. Do you think you know the colors?: Quick, try the Stroop Test.

6. Clinically proven Stress Management tip.

7. Riddle for the Whole Brain: The Blind Beggar.

8. What is going on with these pictures?.

9. Brain Teasers for the Weekend: a few challenges to exercise your attention and working memory.

10. Consider Linda’s job prospects: riddle, or obvious?.

11. Count the Fs in this sentence.

12. Please find the missing number here.

13. How many… exercise your Frontal and Parietal lobes.

14. Mental Imagery and Spatial Rotation challenge.

15. Enjoy this Sunday Afternoon Quiz.

As a bonus, you can also try and write some Brainy Haikus. To inspire you, below you have a few haikus written by our readers (given that novelty, variety and challenge are important for our brains, writing haikus equals -for most of us who are not haiku specialists- another form of brain teasers to exercise our brains).

- Amit:

Love, college, career.
A new world of transitions.
Will I survive? Yes.

- Kathy:

My release technique,
Forgive, forget, love all,
Meditate on that!

- Alan:

Through the microscope,
slice of brain stains pink and blue,
the wonder of thought.

- Justin:

Justin the genieus
Must spell check the word genius
to post this Haiku

- GTB, the skeptic, says

Haiku’s are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator

Enough?

If you want more brain teasers and games, you can always visit our BrainTeasers page.

Below you have the brain games and teasers we have added in 2008 so far. Ready?
- October 2008: Top Brainy Haikus. Yours?.

- September 2008: What is going on with these pictures?.

- September 2008: 7 Brainteasers for Job Interviews.

- August 2008: Can you use mental self rotation to read a map?.

- August 2008: Spot the Differences! how many are there?.

- July 2008: Top 25 Brain and Mind Haikus. Yours?.

- June 2008: Consider Linda’s job prospects.

- June 2008: Spot the Difference for a frontal/ occipital/ parietal workout

- May 2008. Word game: stimulate your temporal lobe.

- April 2008. Your Haiku, Please?: please, a haiku in honor of brain research.

- April 2008. Attention Challenge: more than may meet the eye.

- March 2008. Boost your visuospatial skills: ready for some mental rotations?.

- March 2008. Making Ends Meet: what about a quick teaser?.

- February 2008. Words in your brain: do you know where words are “stored” in your brain?.

- January 2008. Monkeys and Brain Games: is your memory better than a chimp’s?.

- January 2008. Brain Exercises for the Weekend: a few challenges to train attention and working memory.

(Also, Can you write a haiku describing anything crossing your mind now? Remember the simple rules: write 3 lines, which don’t need to rhyme, containing 5,7, and 5 syllables. You can leave your haiku as a comment below for extra points…)

—–
Top 10 Brainy Haikus – enjoy!

- Amit:

Love, college, career.
A new world of transitions.
Will I survive? Yes.

- Kathy:

My release technique,
Forgive, forget, love all,
Meditate on that!

- Alan:

Through the microscope,
slice of brain stains pink and blue,
the wonder of thought.

- Justin:

Justin the genieus
Must spell check the word genius
to post this Haiku

- Tim:

writing quick haiku
seems so very difficult
can i pull it off

- Mercury:

Seeking brain fitness.
Am I haiku-focusing,
or just distracted?

- Kalsang:

My fingers tapping,
I chant out five, seven, five.
Is this new music?

- LW:

body aching now,
yoga isn’t so easy,
good for you they say?

- Emma:

You think yoga’s bad?
Try Aikido my good friend.
Knackers your shoulders.

- CJ:

Rain Stormy Boomer
Sewer Backing To My Door
Is Insurance Paid?

—–

In case you want to read more, below you have many more haikus contributed during the year:

- Techne, the philosopher, wonders:

Solve the big questions:
How do I know when I know?
Who knows the knower?

- Steve, the environmentalist, requests:

Neuroplastic good.
Plastic, though lasts forever.
Always recycle!

- GTB, the skeptic, says

Haiku’s are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator

- Millie, spiritual, suggests:

Playing music feeds
my soul while reading music
nurtures my old brain.

- Mark, the optimist, reflects:

I thought I did well
Then I reviewed my answers
I am retard

- jolovli, the boomer, tries again:

improving function
smoked too much weed in college
it’s never too late

- Lloyd, the stressed-out, volunteers:

I thought so damn Hard.
My brain built lots of pressure.
I farted out loud.

- Terry says:

New information
Synthesizing my knowledge
A forward movement

- Frank says:

Painfully easy
Significantly harder
Mental stimulus

- Chuck says:

This was fun, and no,
I don’t intend to haiku.
Thanks for posting it

- Sarah says:

finding your teasers
added fun to my morning,
helped wake my brain up

- Lorraine says:

teaching math is fun
when you find great resources
sharp brains is the place

- Psalm says

As my mind expands,
it grasps new ideas…oh look
there’s something shiny!!

- anon writes

the noon hour portends
a burrito with salsa
brightening my tongue

- Mike says

See I think I see
Here now, not so – really real?
Wounded, mind leaves me

- Lisa

new thoughts activate
frontal lobe work hard, harder
no senility

- Karen

Brain training others
Like watching the Earth open
One thought at a time

- Bruce

My brain stem works hard,
But the tests are much harder,
Need more grey matter

- Alvaro

Can perform better,
Learning, training, and practice
Body, brain and mind

- terri

strokes take speech away
someone should find a quick fix
everyone needs to speak

- qt

Aha, a challenge
for the brain to endeavour
sooner than later

- Stacy

Brain hurts so badly
Working night shift: not so fun
Need to get some sleep

- campercourt

It is morning now
The sun rose very early
Goodmorning to you

- kestrel

first white is purple

or it was red I think

now haiku, what next?

- Stacey

I thought is was fun.
Then it got a lot harder.
Wow i suck at this.

- anon

oh boy I wonder
will my teeny little ears
still hear loud thunder

of course it is true
the aforementioned thunder
came out of the blue

from the blue you say
I think perhaps you are wrong
but it’s still okay

- Steve:

Accountant’s cull.
Farewell to long-time work-mates.
Too real for haiku!

- Gail:

Old women gather
Seeking change is the power/
Thanks to grandmothers

- Robert:

My brain is just fried.
I used it too much this week.
I need some Spongebob.

- Shelley:

An infinite mind
Expansive, conscious, knowing
Alert and aware

- Jet:

Haiku to you too
Now is forever, now is
Now is now to you

- Jack:

Cool death match: face off
Wernicke’s area and
Broca’s Region.

Yours, please?

(Remember the simple rules: write 3 lines, which don’t need to rhyme, containing 5, 7, and 5  syllables. You can leave your haiku as a comment below for extra points…).

- “Seemingly random questions like these have become commonplace in Silicon Valley and other tech outposts, where companies aren’t as interested in the correct answer to a tough question as they are in how a prospective employee might try to solve it. Since businesses today have to be able to react quickly to shifting market dynamics, they want more than engineers with high IQs and good college transcripts. They want people who can think on their feet.”

What are technology companies (Google, Microsoft, Amazon) and consulting companies (McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Accenture…) looking for? They want employees with good so-called Executive Functions: problem-solving, cognitive flexibility, planning, working memory, decision-making, even emotional self-regulation (don’t try to solve one of these puzzles while being angry, or stressed out).

Want to try a few? Below you have our Top 7 Guesstimations/ Logic Puzzles for Brain Challenge:

Please try to GUESS the answers to the questions below based on your own logical approach. The goal is not to find out (or Google) the right answer, but to 1) identify the logic approach that will help “guesstimate” an appropriate range, say + or – 30% of the actual answer, and then 2) complete the calculations (ideally mentally, but you can also take notes) to provide an estimate.

Ready. Set. Go!

1) How many times heavier than a mouse is an elephant?.

2) How many firefighters are there in San Francisco?.

3) How many trees are there in NYC’s Central Park?.

4) How many shoes have you had in your life?.

5) How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?.

6) In 1999, how were these baby boy names ranked by popularity: Kevin, Jose, Hugh.

7) What is the weight of a large commercial airplane?.

The Answer appear below. Again, the key here is to try, plan the steps towards the solution, and do the mental calculations to find a reasonable range. That’s the brain challenge. The goal is not to find the precise correct answer.

Answers:

1) Around 150,000. An average elephant weighs 4,000 kg on average; an average mouse 25 grams.

2) Around 350 firefighters on duty on any given day, out of a pool of 1700 firefighting overall staff.

3) There are over 26,000 trees (of approximately 175 species) in the Park.

4) We don’t know (or need to know) how many pairs you have had.

5)  About 500,000, assuming the bus is 50 balls high, 50 balls wide, and 200 balls long.
6) Rankings of baby boy names in 1999, according to Social Security Administration: 1. Jose (#30), 2. Kevin (#32), 3. Hugh (#830).

7) For a Boeing 747:
- Empty: around 400,000 pounds (lbs), or 181 metric tons
- Maximum Takeoff Weight: around 825,000 pounds, or 374 metric tons
- For context, the weight of an empty Hummer is 8,600 pounds.

More Context on Executive Functions:
If you want to learn more about what they are, here are some quotes from my Interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg:

Alvaro Fernandez: Please tell us more about what the Frontal Lobes are.

Elkhonon Goldberg: We researchers typically call them the Executive Brain. The prefrontal cortex is young by evolutionary terms, and is the brain area critical to adapt to new situations, plan for the future, and self-regulate our actions in order to achieve long-term objectives. We could say that that part of the brain, right behind our forehead, acts as the conductor of an orchestra, directing and integrating the work of other parts of the brain.

I provide a good example in The Executive Brain book, where I explain how I was able to organize my escape from Russia into the US. Significantly, the pathways that connect the frontal lobes with the rest of the brain are slow to mature, reaching full operational state between ages 18 and 30, or maybe even later. And, given that they are not as hard-wired as other parts of the brain, they are typically the first areas to decline.

—-
Ready for that job interview now (on either end of the table)? In case they help, here you have more brain teasers.

How quickly can you provide the correct answer to these 3 questions?

- 1) What is going on in these 2 pictures below?

- 2) what may explain it?

- 3) Is there some element out of place?

Ready. Set. Go!

Please post your answers and time below. If you need to check the answer right now…you can watch this 2-minute video (with sound) Here.

And here you have more brain teasing games:

- Top 50 Brain Teasers and Games

- Latest Games for the Brain

Enjoy!