The most popular question we got when we announced that PBS had a great special on Brain Fitness Program and Neuroplasticity in December was, when will the DVD be available?

Well, finally here it comes. You can click on the image or the title to go over to PBS shop to learn more and buy it.

The Brain Fitness Program DVD ($24.95, shipped by 02/01/08). “This program presents a workout to help viewers get their brains in better shape. The Brain Fitness Program is based on neuro-plasticity, the ability of the brain to change and adapt — even rewire itself. In the past two years, a team of scientists has developed computer-based stimulus sets that drive beneficial chemical, physical and functional changes in the brain. Dr. Michael Merzenich of the University of California San Francisco and his colleagues around the world have been leading this effort; he brings the research findings, along with a scientifically based set of brain exercises, to PBS viewers in this innovative and life-altering program. Peter Coyote narrates. ”

To purchase: click Here.

You can watch a 3-minute trailer: click here.

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Note: How can anyone take care of his or her brain when every week brings a new barrage of articles and studies which seem to contradict each other?

Do supplements improve memory? Do you need both physical and mental exercise –or is one of them enough? Why is managing stress so important to attention and memory? Which brain training approach, if any, is worth one’s time and money?

If you have these questions, check out this new book, The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness:

Order Book at Amazon.com
	Click Here to order at Amazon.com. Print Edition, $24.95

Order Kindle Edition
	Click Here to order at Amazon.com, Kindle Edition, $9.99

Update (01/07/08): The most popular question we got when we announced that PBS had a great special on Brain Fitness Program and Neuroplasticity in December was, when will the DVD be available?

Well, finally here it comes. You can click on the DVD image or the title to go over to PBS shop to learn more and buy it.

The Brain Fitness Program DVD ($24.95, shipped by 02/01/08)

“This program presents a workout to help viewers get their brains in better shape. The Brain Fitness Program is based on neuro-plasticity, the ability of the brain to change and adapt — even rewire itself. In the past two years, a team of scientists has developed computer-based stimulus sets that drive beneficial chemical, physical and functional changes in the brain. Dr. Michael Merzenich of the University of California San Francisco and his colleagues around the world have been leading this effort; he brings the research findings, along with a scientifically based set of brain exercises, to PBS viewers in this innovative and life-altering program. Peter Coyote (pictured) narrates. ”

To purchase this informational DVD: please click Here.

PBS aired in December a special program on neuroplasticity, brain fitness, aging and the brain titled “Brain Fitness Program”. You can check local times and listings:

To watch the 3-minute trailer: click here.

———-

Note: How can anyone take care of his or her brain when every week brings a new barrage of articles and studies which seem to contradict each other?

Do supplements improve memory? Do you need both physical and mental exercise –or is one of them enough? Why is managing stress so important to attention and memory? Which brain training approach, if any, is worth one’s time and money?

If you have these questions, check out this new book, The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness:

Order Book at Amazon.com
	Click Here to order at Amazon.com. Print Edition, $24.95

Order Kindle Edition
	Click Here to order at Amazon.com, Kindle Edition, $9.99

Today we have a number of industry announcements:

1) New editions of these Blog Carnivals (collections of blog posts around specific topics)

• Encephalon (neuroscience)
• Grand Rounds (medicine)
• Education (guess!)
• Happiness

2) The Neurotechnology Industry Organization has launched a Neurotech Job Board dedicated to commercial neuroscience (mostly focused on clinical applications, like drugs and devices, not so much on prevention, health & wellness). And the Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center is looking for a Research Project Manager.

3) The American Association for the Advancement of Science has finally released a report of the human enhancement workshop that took place in June 2006. Read more about it at Zack’s blog.

4) Stephanie West Allen and Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz announce the Schedule of Events for their Brains On Purpose™ Seminars (”looking at conflict and the process of conflict resolution through the lens of neuroscience”): Colorado in October and Portland in November.

5) Registration is now open for my class on The Science of Brain Health and Brain Fitness (more here), October 9–30, at UC Berkeley Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

6) A couple of great Read the rest of this entry »

Here is question 20 from Brain Fitness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Questions.

Question:
Can a brain fitness program help me become more creative?

Key Points:

• Creativity can be trained, like other mental muscles.
• Set up structured time, places, or routines that provide a framework for creativity to happen.
• Reducing your stress helps to keep your brain more flexible.
• Using many parts of the brain as well as trying new things will stimulate the areas of your brain involved in creativity.

Answer: Read the rest of this entry »

“How does this neuro frontier inside our skulls specifically inform law firm management? By peering inside the brain, we can see how its owner takes in information, makes decisions, changes and resists change, remembers and recalls, and responds to people. What we are learning about the brain affects three factors critical to law firms and to each individual lawyer: control, communication, and competence. Let’s take a tour of some of what’s been learned and see how the new information can be useful.”

This is part of the great article that Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Stephanie West Allen have written for the February, 2007 edition of Of Counsel: The Legal Practice and Management Report, titled “Brain Management: Law Firm Leadership on the Neuro Frontier” (Not available online.)

You can read a bit more in Stephanie’s blog (a must-read blog for lawyers).   

In short: our actions can change our brains. Actually, our thoughts can do so too. We all can benefit from “self-directed neuroplasticity”-which requires practice, imagination and empathy. The article mentions specific examples for lawyers.

Learning assumes and induces neuroplasticity (how the brain changes).

How can you apply this to your occupation? what have you learned today?

You can read more on a similar topic, by Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz and David Rock: check out The Neuroscience of Leadership.