We are excited to invite you to the first virtual, global SharpBrains Summit (January 18-20th, 2010). The SharpBrains Summit will feature a “dream team” of over 25 speakers who are leaders in industry and research from 7 countries, to discuss emerging research, tools and best practices for cognitive health and performance. This inaugural event will expose health and insurance providers, developers, innovators at Fortune 500 companies, investors and researchers, to the opportunities, partnerships, trends, and standards of the rapidly evolving cognitive fitness field.

Register Today

Learn more and register Here today, at discounted early-bird rates, to receive these benefits:

• Learn: Full access to all Conference live sessions, and Downloadable Recordings and Handouts
• See: latest technologies and products during Expo Day
• Connect and Discuss: become a member of the SharpBrains Network for Brain Fitness Innovation (members-only LinkedIn Group) through the end of 2010, access online chats during the summit, meet other registrants in your city
• Understand the Big Picture: access 10 Research Executive Briefs prepared by leading scientists

On top of those early-bird discounts, we offer an additional 15% discount for SharpBrains readers who want Regular Admission. Discount code: sharp2010. You can register Here.

Agenda/ Speakers

Monday, January 18th, 2010:

(Preliminary schedule, US Pacific Time)

8-9.15am. Cognition & Neuroplasticity: The New Healthcare Frontier

• Alvaro Fernandez, SharpBrains
• David Whitehouse, OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions
• William Reichman, Baycrest
• P Murali Doraiswamy, Duke University

9.30-11am. Tools for Safer Driving: The Opportunity with Teenagers and Adults

• Steven Aldrich, Posit Science
• Shlomo Breznitz, CogniFit
• Jerri Edwards, University of South Florida
• Peter Christianson, Young Drivers of Canada

Noon-1.30pm. Baby Boomers and Beyond: Maintaining Cognitive Vitality

• Kunal Sarkar, Lumos Labs
• Elizabeth Zelinski, USC Davis School of Gerontology Read the rest of this entry »

Encephalon (brain & mind blog carnival, edition ) finally meets Grand Rounds (health & medicine blog carnival).

What a nice surprise. Hello. Nice to meet you!

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Note: Chronic Babe wins a complimentary copy of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness for basically inventing cognitive sleep therapy. Congrats!

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Life and Death

MindHacks discusses an unexpected surge in brain activity when blood pressure drops to zero.

In Sickness & In Health suffers a death in the family. Adam shem tov. A man of good name.

BrainBlogger wonders, is religion a “natural” phenomenon?

Mind and Empathy

Behaviorism & Mental Health finds that everyone can have a mental illness – take a look at “Adjustment Disorder“.

ACP Internist reinforces the importance of empathy. Novel Patient encourages patients to dream big, Florecendotcom highlights how patients themselves contribute to patient safety. The Hippocratic Oaf discusses the feelings of a medical student. Clinical Cases wonders what doctors  in training carry in their white coats.

Advances in the History of Psychology examines an important early step in the journey to conceptualize cognition and emotion from a neural point of view.

The Fitness Fixer empathizes with her feet.

Brain

How to Cope With Pain discusses a controversial treatment for severe pain.

Neurophilosopher shows how vision (viewing one’s body) can modulate the senses of touch and pain. Fun experiments  included. Neurocritic takes things one step further, and takes us to the potential future of tattoo removal.

Providentia announces a new NFL Concussion Committee. 300,000 sports-related traumatic brain injuries occur in the United States alone each year.

SharpBrains answers 15 common questions related to neuroplasticity.

Medical Smartphones Read the rest of this entry »

The San Francisco Chronicle brings two great pieces today – including an excellent review of our new Book!

Is Your Brain A Couch Potato? (online book review)

“At 165 pages, we’re talking a short, sweet, entertaining read of a complex topic, with timely (written in 1/09) reviews of 21 top technology products, as well as informed and expert predictions of where this burgeoning brain-fitness field is headed. More importantly, after you read it, you’ll have a good, detailed sense of where you, personally, can act to improve your own couch-potato brain – and how to keep it fit and flexible your whole life. The SharpBrains Guide To Brain Fitness reminds of us all why books (and not just googling a topic) can be well worth your time and money. Two Stethoscopes Up – check it out.”

Software designed to make older drivers sharper (article in print version)

- “Allstate is experimenting with the software because it wants its customers who are over 50 to become better drivers so they have fewer accidents and can drive longer, perhaps in return for lower premiums, said Tom Warden, an assistant vice president in Allstate’s research and planning center.”

- “Allstate found Posit after the insurance company’s own scientists, who were working on the physiology and psychology of good drivers, discovered research done by Visual Awareness, a company in Alabama that has worked with State Farm and various state motor vehicle departments on expanding drivers’ fields of view. Posit acquired Visual Awareness last year.”

Here you have the March edition of our monthly newsletter covering cognitive health and brain fitness topics. Please remember that you can subscribe to receive this Newsletter by email, using the box at the top of this page. I know I am biased – but do believe this Newsletter issue might well be our best so far. I hope you find the time to enjoy it!

Bird’s Eye View

Brain Fitness Survey: Over 2,000 thoughtful responses to our January survey (Thank You!) reinforce the need for public awareness initiatives and quality information to help evaluate and navigate lifestyle and product claims, as well as the need for more research, an expanded healthcare culture, as more. Given this context, we are publishing The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness in May 2009, a book with 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, in addition to our annual market report for professionals and executives (to be published in April). If you have ideas to help us promote the book, please reply to this email and let us know!

Lifelong Learning

Here you have the presentation I delivered on Tuesday at ETech 2009 (this year’s O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference):

Emerging Research and Technology for Life Hacking/ Brain Training

(click to open presentation in new window)

Description: Life hacking. Brain training. They are one and the same. The brain’s frontal lobes enable our goal-oriented behavior, supporting “executive functions,” such as decision-making, attention, emotional self-regulation, goal-setting, and working memory. These functions can be enhanced with targeted practice – such as life hacking. This session will provide an overview of the cognitive neuroscience underpinning life hacking, and review the state-of-the-art of non-invasive tools for brain training: neurofeedback, biofeedback, software applications, cognitive simulations, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and plain-old meditation.

It was great to meet fellow bloggers and presenters, such as Shelley Batts of Of Two Minds and Chris Patil of Ouroboros, and very inquisite and throughful audience members. Getting ready to speak at ASA/ NCOA and IHRSA next week!

My apologies for not having blogged in a few days. I landed back in San Francisco today after speaking and participating in a very stimulating event put together by the Arizona State University’s Adaptive Neural Systems Center with funding from the National Science Foundation.

The 2-day symposium was titled Co-Adaptive Learning: Adaptive Technology for the Aging (link opens a PDF with the agenda), featured impressive speakers and a highly qualified audience, and covered a wide array of current and future healthcare and aging applications of neuroscience. The one aspect that was very meaningful for me to observe how often we discussed cognitive abilities, cognitive deficits, cognitive assessments, cognitive enhancement tools (both invasive and non-invasive) in a variety of healthy aging and clinical contexts.

I will share more about the event in the next few days, including links to the fascinating work presented by speakers, but let me know simply thank the two gracious organizers and hosts of the event by quoting the goal of their center and work:

- Jimmy Abbas, PhD: “One of the hallmarks of biological systems is the ability to adapt. In our work, we mimic neurobiological systems in order to endow technology with the ability to adapt, and we use technology to maximize adaptations in neurobiological systems. With these approaches, we aim to promote functional adaptation after disability.”

- Ranu Jung, PhD: “Our goal is to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities by designing techniques to investigate, replace and repair damaged neural systems to enhance mobility and functionality. Whether a person has spinal cord injury, limb loss or Parkinson’s disease, mobility and functionality mean independence.”

Links:

Center: Adaptive Neural Systems Center.

Agenda (PDF): Co-Adaptive Learning: Adaptive Technology for the Aging

“If Dr. Rob can interview Santa, why can’t I interview a select group of health & medical bloggers? They will have some good ideas to share”.

So did President-elect Obama came to realize a few days ago. After his people kindly contacted our people, we felt compelled to grant him open access to our collective wisdom. Without further ado, below you have Grand Rounds 5:12 – a Q&A session led by the incoming President on how to reform (for the better, we hope) healthcare.

On Health Insurance

Q:  How does the blogosphere perceive the problem of having a significant group of people uninsured?

Health Insurance Colorado: a growing economic burden, which may lead to emergency rooms turning people away if they are unable to provide proof of health insurance.

Dr Rich: well, a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed how overcrowding in American emergency rooms is NOT due to the uninsured. Rather, it is due to insured Americans who cannot get in to see their primary care physicians. We may need improved care both for the insured and uninsured groups.

InsureBlog: I’d second that. Lack of health insurance is a major problem but is it really our Biggest Problem?

It’s All about Attitude

Q: You may have heard my campaign mantra, “Yes We Can”. Can I count on your support?

ButYouDontLookSick: Yes. If Leslie Hunt can talk so openly about her chronic illness (Lupus) yet fulfill her American Idol dreams, we can fulfill our dreams too.

Notes of an Anesthesioboist: you are talking to the group of professionals willing to self-experiment with our own body for the benefit of science and our patients.

Medviews: My wife, son, and I signed up to work as medical volunteers for your upcoming inauguration.

EmergiBlog: I am on board too. But, please, remember that caring is the essence of nursing. And that is why my patients will always be my “patients” and never my “clients”.

Neuroanthropology: Mr. President-elect, it seems to me that, despite all our good intentions, balancing the budget and multiple competing priorities will be a challenge. May I suggest you start practicing some capoeira for equilibrium training?

Shrink Rap: Happy to help. Now, we will need to protect some time for quality sleep time.

Training

Q: I am encouraged by your words. How can my team and I better support you in your daily activities?

Aequanimitas: we need more role models for us to “learn to think, observe, and compare” and that the patient is our “first, last, and only teacher”.

Mudphudder: Couldn’t agree more. We need Read the rest of this entry »

If you could, you would. You can, but prefer not to know it?

More than any other organ, your brain is up to you. You are what you think, not just what you eat. Here’s some food for thought:

Design your Mind

Setting cognitive and behavioral goals raises challenging and worthy questions: What do you want from your brain? Will you know it when you achieve it?

To attain the brain of our choosing, we must understand our selves and current abilities. Introspection and curiosity are helpful if they trigger and sustain the effort to enrich the mind. However, objective information which leads to informed assessment of brain function is often lacking.

Mind your Brain

Honesty. Openness. Self-awareness.

Irrefutable virtues, but in practice most people fall short. Few regularly appraise their brain skills; even so, the ability to accurately judge one’s own mental performance is not guaranteed. I believe the first step to minding the brain is shedding hang-ups while offering and soliciting frank feedback from family and close confidants. In the clinical setting, routine cognitive screening and “mental check ups” are not currently practiced, in part due to time constraints and limited utility of traditional paper-and-pencil tests. From a public health perspective, the U.S. Preventative Task Force reviewed Read the rest of this entry »

(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 »

During the research phase before the publication of the special report Brain Fitness Centers in Seniors Housing – A Field in the Making, published by the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA), we realized that there were equal amounts of interest and confusion among executives and professionals thinking about adding computer-based cognitive exercise products to their mix of health & wellness activities, so we included the Evaluation Checklist that follows.

The real-life experiences at leading organizations such as Senior Star Living, Belmont Village Senior Living, Erickson Retirement Communities and others were instrumental in the development of the Checklist. We hope it is useful.

Brain Fitness Programs For Seniors Housing, Healthcare and Insurance Providers: Evaluation Checklist

Over the next several years, it is likely that many seniors housing operators will begin to carefully evaluate a growing number of options to include “brain fitness centers” in their communities.

Some options will require purchasing a device, such as Nintendo products, or the Dakim touch-screen system. Others will require installing software in PCs in existing or new computer labs, such as Posit Science, Cogmed or CogniFit’s programs. Others will be fully available online, such as those offered by Lumos Labs, Happy Neuron and My Vigorous Mind. And still others may be technology-free, promising engaging combinations of interactive, group-based, activities with pen-and-paper exercises.

Creating a solid business case will help communities navigate through this growing array of options. We suggest communities consider this SharpBrains Checklist for Brain Fitness Centers:

1. Early Users: Who among our residents is ready and willing to do the program? How are they reacting to the pilot testing of the program?

2. Cognitive benefits: What are the specific benefits claimed for using this program? Under what scenario of use (how many hours/week, how many weeks)? What specific cognitive skill(s) does the program train? How will we measure progress? Read the rest of this entry »