Welcome to the February 19, 2007 edition of brain fitness.

Today we want to highlight an excellent Interview with Aaron Beck on the History of Cognitive Therapy submitted by the Beck Institute. Dr. Beck was 83 when he gave this interview. To the question “Do you have a view about ageing?”, he responds “I can only speak for myself. I know that practically all my colleagues from medical school days who are still around have retired. That is not something that I think about. It is no more on my horizon now than it was when we first met a quarter of a century ago. I keep looking ahead.” He also says “I have always liked to unify different fields. Given my background in neurology I do not see a conflict between neurology and psychology. But if you look at the training of contemporary psychiatrists, for example, the two domains are totally distinct. If psychiatry is to survive as a discipline, a merging of the concepts of neurology and psychology will need to occur.” Read the rest of this entry »

We hope you are enjoying the growing coverage of Brain Fitness as much as we are. Below you have the Brain Fitness Newsletter we sent a few days ago-you can subscribe to this monthly email update in the box on the right hand side.

In this post, we will briefly cover:

I. Press: see what CBS and Time Magazine are talking about. SharpBrains was introduced in the Birmingham News, Chicago Tribune and in a quick note carried by the American Psychological Association news service.

II. Events: we are outreach partners for the Learning & the Brain conference, which will gather neuroscientists and educators, and for the Dana Foundation’s Brain Awareness Week.

III. Program Reviews: The Wall Street Journal reviewed six different programs for brain exercise and aging, and the one we offer is one of the two winners. A college-level counseling center starts offering our stress management one. And we interview a Notre Dame scientist who has conducted a replication study for the working memory training program for kids with ADD/ ADHD.

IV. New Offerings: we have started to offer two information packages that can be very useful for people who want to better understand this field before they commit to any particular program: learn more about our Brain Fitness 101 guide and Exercise Your Brain DVD.

V. Website and Blog Summary: we revamped our home page and have had a very busy month writing many good articles. We also hosted two “Blog Carnivals”- don’t you want to know what that means?
Read the rest of this entry »

The Wall Street Journal has a great article today, Putting Brain Exercises to the Test (requires subscription), that compares 6 different computer-based brain exercise programs along ease-of-use, fun, and science behind. We at SharpBrains conducted a very similar exercise last year, coming to basically the same conclusions.

The article compares Nintendo Brain Age, MyBrainBuilder, MyBrainTrainer, HappyNeuron, (CogniFit Science) MindFit and Posit Science brain fitness 2.0, and ends up recommending Read the rest of this entry »

We want to congratulate Dr. Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute and one of the founders of our partner Cogmed, on receiving the Philip’s Nordic Prize for his research on working memory training for children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The prize recognizes outstanding research in the field of neuropsychiatry and was presented by the Norwegian royal princess Märtha Louise at the Rikshospital in Oslo, Norway. Translating his research into an active training program, Klingberg co-founded Cogmed, a developer of software-based working memory training products headquartered in Stockholm. Cogmed’s rigorous and rewarding program combines computer-based training and personal coaching to help people with attention deficits strengthen their working memories. More than 80 percent of children who have completed Cogmed’s intensive five-week program have demonstrated dramatic and lasting improvements to their attention, impulse control and problem solving skills.

Read the rest of this entry »

Given that we are getting new readers let’s re-introduce our Neuroscience Interview Series. If you click on the category (in the right bar) that says Neuroscience Interview Series, you will find the updated list of interviews we have conducted (and also some that we have found elsewhere, such as the one with Posit Science’s Dr. Michael Merzenich and Dr. John Ratey).

The interviews we have conducted and published so far, with most recent first:

• Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg on Brain Fitness Programs and Cognitive Training. Dr. Goldberg is a neuropsychologist and clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine. He was a student and close associate of the great neuropsychologist Alexander Luria, and has written The Executive Brain and The Wisdom Paradox.
• Go Hirano on Brain Training and “Brain-ism” in Japan. Go is a serial Japanese entrepreneur who has launched NeuWell (Neuroscience for Wellness) there. He also talks about Nintendo Brain Age.
• On Enhancing Trader Performance and The Psychology of Trading: Interview with Brett N. Steenbarger. Dr. Steenbarger is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and author of The Psychology of Trading and the new Enhancing Trader Performance.
• On Cognitive Simulations for Basketball Game-Intelligence: Interview with Prof. Daniel Gopher. Dr. Gopher is Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Human Factors Engineering at Technion, Israel’s Institute of Science, and scientific advisor for IntelliGym.
• An ape can do this. Can we not? with Dr. James Zull, Professor of Biology and Biochemistry at Case Western University, and author of The Art of Changing the Brain
• Cognitive Training and ADD/ADHD: Interview with Prof. David Rabiner, Senior Research Scientist and the Director of Psychology and Neuroscience Undergraduate Studies at Duke University.
• On Working Memory Training and RoboMemo: Interview with Dr. Torkel Klingberg, professor at Karolinska Institute, and director of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, part of the Stockholm Brain Institute. He is also the scientific advisor for Cogmed Working Memory Training program (RoboMemo).

And we have a few more interviews in the works-please keep tuned. 

Enjoy!

We are very excited to announce our newly released Brain Fitness for Sharp Brains: Your New New Year Resolution. We wrote it in order to provide an introduction to the concept, science, and practice of brain fitness in plain English, by answering the Top 25 questions we have received over the last four months. Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, Alvaro Fernandez and myself (Caroline) have been working hard on this.

You can click here to get your copy of the complete guide. Otherwise, keep checking back this blog, as we will publish a new question and its answer every Monday and Thursday before 9AM Pacific Standard Time. If we missed your pressing question, let us know!

Here is a sneak preview of the questions we will be answering …

Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg is a clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine, and author of over 50 peer-reviewed papers. His areas of expertise include executive functions, memory, attention deficit disorder, dementia, traumatic brain injury, and others. Dr. Goldberg was a student and close associate of the great neuropsychologist Alexander Luria. His book The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind (Oxford University Press, 2001) has received critical acclaim and has been published in 12 languages. His recent book The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger As Your Brain Grows Older (Gotham Books, Penguin, 2005) offers an innovative understanding of cognitive aging and what can be done to forestall cognitive decline. It has been, or is in the process of being, published in 13 languages.

We are fortunate that Dr. Goldberg is SharpBrains’ Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor. His book The Wisdom Paradox inspired me to embark in this path, and has been a key sounding board in the development of what we are doing.

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Key take-aways

- “Use It and Get More of It” reflects reality better than “Use It or Lose It”.

- Let’s demystify cognition and the brain. Everyone needs to have a basic understanding of the brain-and how to cultivate it.

- Well-directed mental exercise is a must for cognitive enhancement and healthy aging.
Read the rest of this entry »

Today we are traveling to Japan. Go Hirano is a serial Japanese entrepreneur who has been exploring neuroscience-based opportunities in Japan, having recently created the company NeuWell (neuroscience for wellness). NeuWell and SharpBrains are exploring opportunities together to bring world-class programs to Japan, and we thought that SharpBrains’ blog readers may be interested in learning about trends in Japan.

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Key take-aways:

- People in Japan devour any product with brain-related claims

- But there has been a recent backlash against children videogames, so game developers have started to focus on older audiences with (mostly unproven) brain-health-improving games

- The market is ripe for programs with proven research and tangible benefits

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AF: Hirano-san, tell us a bit about yourself and how you became interested in applied neuroscience.

GH: after helping launch one of the first DSL providers in Japan, I started to wonder what the next bigger value for society would be. I have always been fascinated by brain research, so I started to explore opportunities to help bring to market neuroscience-based programs to help students do better in exams, and adults age in brain-friendly ways.

AF: what is the state of Brain Fitness and Brain Training in Japan? what are the most popular applications so far?

GH: I think people understand the concepts of Brain Fitness and Brain Training. If one method or product/service sounds a bit scientific there are people who would try it for fun and curiosity. However, Read the rest of this entry »

Today we are going to talk about the applications of cognitive neuroscience to trading and neurofinance. Brett N. Steenbarger , Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at SUNY Upstate Medical University, active trader for over 30 years, former Director of Trader Development for Kingstree Trading, LLC, and author of The Psychology of Trading: Tools and Techniques for Minding the Markets(Wiley, 2003) and the new Enhancing Trader Performance: Proven Strategies From the Cutting Edge of Trading Psychology (Wiley, 2007).

He writes feature columns for the Trading Markets website and several trading publications, including Stocks Futures and Options Magazine.

Key take-aways 

-Elite performers in any highly-competitive field follow structured learning and training processes to develop their skills, ensuring continuous feedback and refinement.

- Traders would benefit to following this example. Tools at their disposal include books, simulation programs, biofeedback programs for emotional management, and coaches.

- Specific skills to train are brain speed and working memory (for short-term traders), analytical skills (long-term ones). For both, managing emotional-driven impulsive behavior.

Books on Trading and Peak Performance

Alvaro Fernandez (Alvaro): Welcome, Prof. Steenbarger. Why don’t you start by providing us some context on your interest in trading performance and how it led you to your new book? Read the rest of this entry »

Professor Daniel Gopher is a fellow of the U.S. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the International Ergonomics Association, Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Human Factors Engineering at Technion, Israel’s Institute of Science, and one of world’s leading figures in the field of Cognitive Training.

During his 40 year career, he has held a variety of scientific and academic positions, such as acting Head of the Research Unit of the Military Personnel Division, Associate Editor of the European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, member of the Editorial Boards of Acta Psychologica, the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, and the journal Psychology.

He published an award-winning article in 1994, Gopher, D., Weil, M. and Baraket, T. (1994), Transfer of skill from a computer game trainer to flight, Human Factors 36, 1–19., that constitutes a key milestone in the cognitive engineering field.

Prof. Gopher has also developed innovative a) medical systems, assessing the nature and causes of human error in medical work, and redesigning medical work environments to improve safety and efficiency, and b) work safety systems, developing methods and models for the analysis of human factors, ergonomic, safety and health problems at the individual, team and plant level.

Alvaro Fernandez (AF): Professor Gopher, it is an honor that you speak to us. Could you provide an overview of the projects are you working on now? Read the rest of this entry »