Title: The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness – Practical Advice to Keep Your Brain Sharp

- Two community-based book talks hosted by New York Public Library and supported by the Einstein Aging Study at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Description: A fit brain? Can you exercise your brain and become mentally fit? Can you continue to learn and increase your brain’s capacity at any age? Alvaro Fernandez, CEO and Co-Founder of SharpBrains, says Yes!, and in this program he will show you how. Based on research compiled from leading scientists in fields of Neuroscience, Gerontology, and Cognitive Science, and presented in his book “The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness”, Alvaro Fernandez will provide ways to maintain and improve your cognitive health.

He will:
- Debunk 10 Myths of Brain Fitness
- Examine the 4 Pillars of Brain Maintenance
- Discuss the difference between Mental Exercise and Mental Activity
- Evaluate Brain Training Software
- Explore emerging trends

Book and Bio: Alvaro Fernandez, CEO and Co-Founder of SharpBrains, teaches “Science of Brain Health and Brain Fitness” at UC-Berkeley and San Francisco State University. He is the co-author of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness.

When and where:
> September 23rd, 10am, New York Public Library, Bronx Library Center. 310 East Kingsbridge Road. (718) 579-4244. More information here.

> September 25rd, 1pm, New York Public Library, Stephen Schwarzman Building Auditorium. Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street. 917-ASK-NYPL (917-275-6975). More information here.

We have two excellent new speakers, Anne Hinton and Steve DeMello, to add to the excellent roster during the ASA Brain Health Day to take place on Friday, September 11th, 2009, at the Oakland Marriott City Center.

Anne Hinton is Executive Director of the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services. In this capacity she has responsibility for In-Home Supportive Services, Adult Protective Services, Public Guardian, Public Conservator, Public Administrator, Representative Payee, Veterans Services, Information and Referral, and the Partnership for Community Based Care and Support. In addition the Department funds 45 community service providers for programs such as congregate meals, senior centers, home delivered meals, case management, family caregiving, etc.

Her career spans more than 25 years including positions as the Director of Home Care, Care Management and Fiduciary Services Department for the Institute on Aging, the Director of Aging Services for San Francisco Catholic Charities and Director of the South San Francisco Senior Services. Ms. Hinton has experience as a lecturer/teacher in the field of Gerontology.

Steven DeMello has over 30 years of experience in research, hospital operations, strategic planning, systems management and consulting. He is currently a Research Program Director at the Public Health Institute. His most recent position wass as Executive Director and Senior Advisor of the Health Technology Center (HealthTech), a non-profit research group and expert network based in San Francisco. Prior to HealthTech he served as chief operating officer of ezboard, Inc. a large first-generation consumer social networking company. His previous positions include serving as Senior Vice President California Healthcare System, President and COO of Alliance Home Care Management, Inc., and Principal at the global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. He received a BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Registration fees are still $150, but will increase to $190 by August 29th. More information at ASA Brain Health Day. If you are planning to attend…hurry!

Hiroshi Komiyama, President of the University of Tokyo and Chairperson of the Global Agenda Council on the Challenges of Gerontology I am a member of, just provided council members with a brief update of his participation in the recent World Economic Forum.

Part of the proceedings are public – you may enjoy reading this panel write-up of the session Healthcare under Stress:

- “Japan has the world’s oldest population. Health and longevity create wealth and, thus, “health begets wealth”. It is documented that nations that develop a five-year life expectancy advantage also create a larger GDP. A healthy childhood and adulthood contribute to a more productive old age. New markets and industries are arising – “silver industries” such as financial services, health, housing and hospitality geared to senior citizens. Longevity needs to be linked to health – including cognitive health – and lifestyle choices play a major role in health.”

- “The public health focus is shifting from infections to cardiovascular diseases. Complex new models are necessary to develop better responses and improved health – with the primary emphasis on “really good primary healthcare” and prevention – to lower costs. Prevention increases the healthy years of a person’s life. The challenge is creating the incentive for prevention: how can people be encouraged to make healthy choices? Mobilized populations can drive the change. Finland has an 80% lower incidence of heart disease than 30 years ago due to such incentives.”

Full write-up: Healthcare under Stress

Related articles:

- The Future of the Aging Society: Burden or Human Capital?

- Update: Global Consortium for Neurocognitive Fitness Innovation

(Please note that this is my personal take at the discussions that took place in Dubai as part of the Global Agenda Council on the Challenges of Gerontology put together by the World Economic Forum, and builds on the work of my colleagues, but it does not represent a formal document or statement of position. Simply put, we would like to engage your brain in defining the challenges and outlining/ executing the solutions).

Context: The Challenges of the Aging Society

The world is aging. This is occurring in two ways: through shifts in the age structure that will eventually lead to many more people reaching older ages than ever before, and through continued success in extending life. Less than 100 years ago, life expectancy was between 30 to 40 years. Today, close to 800 million citizens are 60 and over.

And aging in healthier ways. Aging has incorrectly been associated with decline and decay, when in fact many people live healthy into older ages. There has been a synchronous extension in life expectancy and quality of life – the average 65-year-old today is much healthier, physically and mentally, than the average 50-year-old of 100-150 years ago – when most existing institutions were envisioned and created.

Healthy life can be further extended with existing knowledge. The fact is the onset and progression of fatal and disabling diseases, disorders, and disability can be postponed using well-researched basic measures of public health, environmental and behavioural changes, and medical technology interventions. The same methods may be used to improve or maintain mental and physical functioning.

Our healthcare and retirement systems are on bankruptcy track – their premises are outdated. Existing institutions, policies and attitudes do not reflect the points outlined above, having been developed for a society that no longer exists. We need to get on the right track: Read the rest of this entry »

As mentioned before, the World Economic Forum asked me to write “an 800 words summary of your most compelling actionable idea on the challenges of gerontology”, in preparation for the Inaugural Summit of the Global Agenda that will take place November 7 to 9th in Dubai.A good number of SharpBrains readers and clients offered their insights – and expressed an interest in reading the draft. So below you have – a proposal to create a Global Consortium for Neurocognitive Fitness Innovation, building on our existing market research and advisory services work. Your thoughts?

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The Context

Growing Demands on Our Brains: Picture 6.7 billion Primitive Brains inhabiting a Knowledge Society where lifelong learning and mastering constant change in complex environments are critical for productive work, health and personal fulfillment.

Welcome to Planet Earth, 2008.

Further stretched by increased longevity: Now picture close to 1 billion of those brains over the age of 60 – and please remember that, less than 100 years ago, life expectancy was between 30 to 40 years. The rapidly evolving Knowledge Society is placing new and enormous demands on our “primitive” human brains. And the longer our lifespans, the more obvious the “cognitive gap”. Hence, from a health point of view, the growing Read the rest of this entry »

Here you have the twice-a-month newsletter with our most popular blog posts. Please remember that you can subscribe to receive this Newsletter by email, simply by submitting your email at the top of this page.

Have you ever wondered how we can maintain SharpBrains’ website, blog and newsletter without selling any products and with only limited advertising? The answer is, we offer market research to organizations such as healthcare providers, research centers, technology developers, venture capital firms, consulting and training companies, and more.

Our new Premium Research Sponsors program will allow pioneering organizations to collaborate with us to shape the future of the brain fitness and cognitive health field, by sponsoring and accessing the most up-to-date information on the science and best practices to assess and improve cognitive functioning across the lifespan. You can learn more about the Premium Research Sponsors program Here.

Market News

The Cognitive Health and Fitness Market On The Move: As you have probably seen, the Cognitive Health and Brain Fitness field is rapidly evolving. Here we highlight some of the main developments affecting the field over the last 6-months: public policy initiatives in Canada and the US, the growing role of computerized assessments, several venture capital rounds, major initiatives by insurance companies, and significant research findings.

 The Big Picture

Executive Summary of the Brain Fitness Market: Let’s step back and ask ourselves, “Why is the field evolving in such a fast way? What is hope, what is hype, what is reality?” A spate of recent global news coverage on brain fitness and brain training reflects a growing interest in natural, non drug-based interventions to keep our brains sharp as we age. This interest is very timely, given an aging population, the increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s rates, and soaring health care costs in the US that place more emphasis than ever on prevention and lifestyle changes. This article summarizes the main market dynamics, open questions, and top trends to watch for.

Nourishing Our Brains and Minds

Philosophy as the Missing Link in School Curricula: Kimberly Wickham answers provides some good answers to the question, “Why would anyone want to teach philosophy to pre-adolescent children?” that will engage your critical thinking skills.

A User’s Guide to Lifelong Brain Health: Drs Simon Evans and Paul Burghardt hope (as we do) that the emerging emphasis on cognitive exercise and fitness helps complement -not substitute- other lifestyle factors important for the “physical health of the brain and all the systems it communicates with”. Think: nutrition, exercise, sleep.

Excellent Reader Comments: Our last newsletter generated a round of excellent  comments by readers on cognitive training, Posit Science and Alzheimer’s Australia, gerontology and the brain, and the value of videogames. Come enjoy this collective wisdom and participate as you wish.

Brainy Haikus:
river with haikus
flowing in since the summer
keeping  us afloat

The Challenges of Gerontology?: The World Economic Forum has asked me, as one of the 16 members of the Global Agenda Council on the Challenges of Gerontology, for “an 800 word summary of your most compelling actionable idea on the challenges of gerontology.” Feel free to help me out by offering your own actionable ideas, either related to the discipline of gerontology itself or on ways to best engage the growing number of brains over the age of 60 in our planet.

Enjoy!

I announced two months ago (Global Agenda Councils: The Challenges of Gerontology) that I had been invited to join a very stimulating new initiative by the World Economic Forum.

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Update (November 2nd, 2008): my proposal is to create a Global Consortium for Neurocognitive Fitness Innovation. Thank you for your comments below!

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Next month, 700 experts will meet to drive an interdisciplinary agenda covering 68 topics (see below); 16 of us focused on the Challenges of Gerontology.

Dubai To Host 700 Of The World’s Most Influential Leaders From Academia, Business, Government and Society At First World Economic Forum Summit on the Global Agenda (I didn’t write the title of the press release…)

- “The World Economic Forum, in partnership with the Government of Dubai, will hold its inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai from 7 to 9 November 2008. The Summit is a new, unique gathering of Read the rest of this entry »

Here you have the twice-a-month newsletter with our most popular blog posts. Please remember that you can subscribe to receive this Newsletter by email, simply by submitting your email at the top of this page.

Quick, Are videogames good or bad?

That’s an impossible question. Good or bad for what? What  specific games are we talking about? More importantly, what are they substituting for, given time is a limited resource?  Contributor Jeremy Adam Smith, managing director of Greater Good magazine, offers an in-depth review on the trade-offs videogames present in: Playing the Blame Game.

News Round-Up

Math Innovation in UK Schools: a recent (and unpublished) study seems to support the potential role for “Serious Games” in education. Learning and Teaching Scotland reports significant improvements in pupils’ concentration and behavior, on top of math skills, after using Nintendo Brain Training game.

A round-up of interested news during the month:

1) Training Young Brains to Behave (New York Times)

2) Head Games (OpEd in New York Times)

3) Will Gerontology recognize the Brain? (American Society on Aging event)

4) Brain function gets a boost from walking (Los Angeles Times)

5) An idea whose time has (finally) come (McKnight’s Long Term Care News)

6) Train your brain (Financial Times Germany)

7) Toman auge ejercicios que adiestran la mente (Milenio, Mexico)

Trois nouvelles études IDATE : Serious Games (Publi-News, France)

Links and commentary below.  Read the rest of this entry »

Last Friday, during the American Society on Aging’s Brain Health day, a participant made a comment along the lines, “I just completed my Masters in Gerontology at University XYZ. Despite my best efforts, I could not find a single brain-related class to attend as part of my studies. Which is why I decided to come to a conference like this”.

Incredible that this happens in 2008, a decade after the “Decade of the Brain”.

Healthcare and cognitive science seem to have inhabited different universes for too long. I hope we start to see more active cross-pollination between both fields. Gerontology would be a great place to start, given the growing demand for preventive programs to contribute to the cognitive health of an aging population.