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

What started as an academic dispute regarding disclosure of conflict of interest is now snowballing into the mainstream media, due to the over-reaction by JAMA editors as reported in this Wall Street Journal blog post, JAMA editor calls Critic a “Nobody and a Nothing”

In summary, Dr. Jonathan Leo, the “Critic”, dared to draw attention to 2 important points regarding a study comparing the efficacy of therapy vs. medication published in the Journal of the American Academy of Medicine (JAMA) – one of the most prestigious scientific publications:

1) The study results were presented and reported in a biased way, since they favored one specific intervention, a drug, while ignoring another one, therapy-based, that had equally statistically significant effects.

2) Both the lead author of the study and one of the main experts asked to comment on the study in several media outlets had undisclosed and unreported conflicts of interest. JAMA could have done a 5-minute Google search to identify and report the conflict of interest of the lead author (received a variety of revenues from the drugmaker).

Dr. Leo has summarized the continuing matter in several impressive letters. The 2 main ones, in chronological order:

Clinical Trials of Therapy vs. Medication: Even in a Tie, Medication Wins(BMJ)

- “Central to the idea of evidence-based medicine is that the choices made by patients and doctors to use a certain treatment should at least in part be based on scientific studies published in peer reviewed academic journals. For a patient diagnosed with Read the rest of this entry »

“Fortunately, our field has moved beyond partisan, and sometimes political, preference and now asks, What treatment is most effective for which patients in what context?” – Raymon A. Levy and J. Stuart Ablon, clinical director and director of the psychotherapy research program in the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Yesterday’s New York Times Book Review included some Letters to the Editor that were even better that the original book review of American Therapy.

We are seeing a growing number of research-based tools and techniques (including cognitive therapy, reviewed in the article) to measure and help maintain cognitive and emotional health, both technology-based and technology-free. Now, none of them is a general solution (in the same way that no single drug is best for everyone and everything), so the question posed above couldn’t be more relevant.

Welcome to Encephalon´s 50th edition, where you will find another superb collection of blog posts on all things Brain and Mind.

Enjoy these contributions:

Science & Technology

Mind Hacks reports that Facebook ate my psychiatrist. We can learn about the benefits of social networking sites like Facebook, bringing great perspective to recent and misguided media speculation (fuelled by a recent talk at the Royal College of Psychiatrists). Vaughan, will you please report on the benefits of participating (and, better, hosting) Encephalon?.

Dungeons And Dragons – Or Mazes And Monsters?: PodBlack Cat offers a thought-provoking review of the therapy (including self-therapy) applications of role-playing games such as the classic Dungeons And Dragons and the more recent massively multiplayer online games.

Cognitive Daily covers another type of game. Read the rest of this entry »

Several recent NYT articles focus on several fascinating frontiers of brain science. We know much more about brain and mind than only 20 years ago, yet exponentially less than 20 years from now.

A few worthy explorations on mindfulness, perceptual capacities, and the power of placebo: Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers at Yale University have just released a good paper showing the importance of both physical and mental exercise to maintain good memory (full text of research paper Single Enrichment Variables Reduce Aged-related Memory Decline in Female Mice).

Some quotes from the Science Daily release Exercise And Mental Stimulation Both Boost Mouse Memory Late In Life:

• “The results suggest that as we get old and maybe less able to exercise, cognitive stimulation can help to compensate. If the trend holds, write the authors, “These data may suggest that enrichment initiated at any age can significantly improve memory function. And exercise plus mental challenge in middle age — when many people start to notice subtle memory changes — may offer the strongest, most widespread benefits for memory function.”
• The authors note that exercise was central to memory reinforcement in all age groups. Says lead author Karyn Frick, PhD, “It is important for people of all ages to do 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise several times a week. Keeping a healthy and active brain may prevent memory decline in old age, but only a longitudinal study that follows mice over time could confirm this possibility.”

We discussed this topic in more depth in my interview on Building Your Cognitive Reserve with Dr. Yaakov Stern and in the dialogue with Dr. Michael Merzenich that included featuring the pioneering work of Dr. Marian Diamond.

In short, if you want to protect and improve your memory, get ready to exercise both body and brain!