By: Alvaro Fernandez
In the past two days, The New York Times has published two excellent articles on brain and cognitive fitness. Despite appearing in separate sections (technology and editorial), the two have more in common than immediately meets the eye. Both raise key questions that politicians, health policy makers, business leaders, educators and consumers should pay attention to.
1) First, Exercise Your Brain, or Else You’ll … Uh …, by Katie Hafner (5/3/08). Some quotes:
- “At the same time, boomers are seizing on a mounting body of evidence that suggests that brains contain more plasticity than previously thought, and many people are taking matters into their own hands, doing brain fitness exercises with the same intensity with which they attack a treadmill.”
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By: Alvaro Fernandez
Quick: say the color in which each word in this graphic is displayed (don’t just read the word!):
Here you have a round-up of some great recent articles on memory, aging, and cognitive abilities such as self-control:
1) How to Boost Your Willpower (New York Times).
- “The video watchers were later given a concentration test in which they were asked to identify the color in which words were displayed. (Note: now you see why we started with that brain exercise…) The word “red,” for instance, might appear in blue ink. The video watchers who had stifled their responses did the worst on the test, suggesting that their self-control had already been depleted by the film challenge.” Â
- “Finally, some research suggests that people struggling with self-control should start small. A few studies show that people who were instructed for two weeks to make small changes like improving their posture or brushing their teeth with their opposite hand improved their scores on laboratory tests of self-control. The data aren’t conclusive, but they do suggest that the quest for self-improvement should start small. A vow to stop swearing, to make the bed every day or to give up just one food may be a way to strengthen your self-control, giving you more willpower reserves for bigger challenges later.”
Comment: learning, building abilities, are processes that require practice and growing levels of difficulty. Like training our muscles in the gym. So the advice to start small and progressively do more makes sense. Many times the enemy of learning is the stress and anxiety we provoke by trying to do too many things at the same time…
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2) Jogging Your Memory (Newsweek) Thanks Chris for alerting us!
- “No one should expect miracles soon, if at all. But the deeper scientists peer into the workings of memory, the better they understand Read the rest of this entry »
By: Caroline Latham
We are very excited to announce a workshop hosted jointly by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI) at University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University and SharpBrains (us!). We are offering a three-day workshop for educators and brain fitness practitioners seeking instructional certification in the SharpBrains course, Exercising Our Brains.
“SharpBrains has introduced the first science-based brain fitness center with information and programs to help people of all ages exercise their brains. They have offered the popular Exercising Our Brains course at SF State’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) since October 2005.”
Are you seeing all the articles about Brain Fitness in the popular press and wondering, “What is this all about?”, “Can someone help me navigate through all the programs out there?”, “How is Brain Fitness relevant to me in my personal life or at work?”. As the leading source of information and education on Brain Fitness, we have delivered a series of customized training sessions to companies and organizations that combine modules -including scientific overview, the industry trends and key players, fun team-building exercises- that can be tailored to your organization’s specific needs. Sessions last from 1 to 6 hours, depending on your group’s composition and agenda and are delivered either in person or via web conference. If you want more information on SharpBrains workshops for your institution click on Workshops.
Who should attend:
Educators and practitioners who are seeking to teach the course Exercising Our Brains. Ideal candidates are: educators who are working in the area of psychology, health, and wellness, and who are ideally already affiliated with learning centers eager to offer a brain fitness class.Â
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By: Alvaro Fernandez
When is Brain Awareness Week?
March 12-18, 2007
What Will Happen
The Brain Awareness Week is a great opportunity to learn more about how the brain functions and how to cultivate a healthy brain. The Dana Foundation and multiple partners, such as SharpBrains, will lead outreach events worldwide.
In the blog of the Dana Foundation we can read today that “To my knowledge, the brain is the only organ in the human body that is celebrated and honored for an entire week. This year, 2,000 organizations in 69 countries will observe Brain Awareness Week with activities, exhibits and competitions, most from March 12 through 18.”
SharpBrains-Related Activities During Brain Awareness Week
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