Here you have a roundup of interesting recent news on cognitive health topics and my commentary:

1) Playing Video Games Offers Learning Across Life Span, Say Studies

2) Mental Floss at Military Officer Magazine

3) Brain Training dominates ‘08 Euro sales (CVG Online)

4) Dakim’s [m]Power Adopted by 150 Senior Living Communities … (Business Wire)

5) Clumsy kids more likely to become obese adults: study (CBC)

——————-
1) There were a few interesting research papers presented at the last  American Psychological Association conventions around the theme:

Playing Video Games Offers Learning Across Life Span, Say Studies
–Skills Transfer to Classroom, Surgical Procedures, Scientific Thinking (press release).

Probably the most interesting study was that of 303 laparoscopic surgeons, which “showed that surgeons who played video games requiring spatial skills and hand dexterity and then performed a drill testing these skills were significantly faster at Read the rest of this entry »

Good article on the August edition of Military Officer magazine:

Mental Floss (August 2008) (link opens a PDF-life document, you can read the text by Zooming In).

My 2 favorite quotes, both by Dr. Molly Wagster, chief of the Neuropsychology of Aging Branch, National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Bethesda, Md:

- “Certainly as we age there are declines with brain functions and cognition. But there’s evidence that the aging brain can adapt and change more than we ever thought”.

- “We don’t know how it happens or how long changes last, but even in the face of these unanswered questions, there is the chance to maintain our cognitive function”.

Let me add a  reflection: who among us won’t be tomorrow one day older than he/she is today? The good news about the “aging brain” doesn’t only refer to adults over 70!

To explore these concepts in more depth, you may enjoy visiting our Neuroscience Interview Series.