This is an excellent (and free) “big picture” eBook published by the World Economic Forum to contextualize why, and how, our societies, policies and systems will need updating in order to better manage global population ageing.

EBook description: Global ageing, in developed and developing countries alike, will dramatically alter the way that societies and economies work. The issues include how individuals find fulfilment, at what age they retire, and their quality of life once they do retire; how governments devise social contracts to provide financial security; how the older and younger generations interact as they divide up the economic pie; how businesses staff their jobs to compensate in many countries for shrinking workforces; and how health systems respond to the altered needs of those living longer.

To download eBook, Click Here (opens PDF in new window).

A previous paper on this topic was published in journal Global Policy last year, titled The Global Agenda Council on the Ageing Society: Policy Principles.

Description: In 2008, the World Economic Forum (WEF) created the Global Agenda Councils – an amalgamation of scientists, public policy makers, academics, physicians and business leaders with the task of devising transformational innovation in global governance for the purpose of advancing knowledge and collaboratively developing solutions for the most crucial issues facing humanity. Because of its overarching effect on many aspects of society, a Council was created to address global issues associated with an ageing society. The Councils have the task of challenging prevailing assumptions, monitoring trends, proposing solutions, devising strategies, making public policy proposals and evaluating the effectiveness of actions using measurable benchmarks. This report is the first product of the WEF’s Council on the Ageing Society – our goal is to lay down the initial principles that will guide our actions in the coming years.

To download paper, Click Here (opens PDF in new window).

To Learn More about this event, Click Here.

To Learn More about Alexander Luria, his mentor Lev Vygostky, and their influence on current applied neuroscience, you may want to read this conversation with Elkhonon Goldberg a few years back:

Alvaro Fer­nan­dez (AF): Elkhonon, maybe we could start with Vygot­sky. At one of my Stan­ford classes, I became fas­ci­nated by his the­ory of learn­ing. Which links into mod­ern neu­ropsy­chol­ogy.

Dr. Elkhonon Gold­berg (EG): Vygot­sky pro­posed that learn­ing requires inter­nal­iza­tion. And that inter­nal­iza­tion equals, lit­er­ally, a change in the brain of the learner. Of course there weren advanced neu­roimag­ing tech­niques those days, so sci­en­tists could only spec­u­late about what hap­pened in healthy brains. But they could care­fully ana­lyze what hap­pened with patients who had suf­fered any kind of seri­ous brain prob­lem, from strokes to trau­matic brain injury. And this is how neu­ropsy­chol­ogy was born: Alexan­der Luria, Vygot­sky dis­ci­ple, and my own men­tor, was com­mis­sioned to help reha­bil­i­tate Russ­ian sol­diers with brain injuries dur­ing WWII. This pro­vided invalu­able clin­i­cal mate­r­ial for under­stand­ing the mech­a­nisms of the healthy brain. Much of mod­ern cog­ni­tive neu­ro­science rests its foun­da­tion in Luria’s work.

We are the architects and builders of our own brains.

For millennia, however, we were oblivious to our enormous creative capabilities. We had no idea that our brains were changing in response to our actions and attitudes, every day of our lives. So we unconsciously and randomly shaped our brains and our latter years because we believed we had an immutable brain that was at the mercy of our genes.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The human brain is continually altering its structure, cell number, circuitry and chemistry as a direct result of everything we do, experience, think and believe. This is called “neuroplasticity”.  Neuroplasticity comes from two words: neuron or nerve cell and plastic, meaning malleable or able to be molded.

The implications of neuroplasticity are enormous: we have the ability to keep our brains sharp, effective and capable of learning new skills well into our 90s, if we protect our brains from damaging habits and give them ongoing stimulation and appropriate fuel. One way to illustrate this is to think of the brain and mind as a large boat, complete with captain and crew, sailing the ocean blue.

The captain makes the decisions and gives the orders, which the loyal crew follow. Without a captain, the boat would be directionless. Without a crew, the day-to-day running of the boat would be impossible. The crew know their role and don’t need the captain to tell them how to do their job or to remind them of their job on a daily basis. They’re very well trained. The captain only notifies the crew if he or she wants something to change and takes charge whenever leadership is required. As for the boat, it needs to be kept in good nick and fuelled on a regular basis.

The captain, the crew and the boat form a single, interdependent unit, each party influencing the other two. If the captain and crew don’t do their job properly, the boat can get damaged and end up in disrepair. If the boat is damaged, the journey is more arduous; in particular, rough seas are more difficult to handle. If the captain is apathetic, incompetent or drunk, there is an absence of leadership. And if the captain and crew are in constant disagreement, they won’t get very far.

How does this relate to the brain and mind? The captain represents the conscious mind; the crew represent the subconscious mind; the boat is the brain; and the ocean is life.

The conscious mind is the thinking part of ourselves. It sets goals, makes decisions and interprets experiences. The subconscious mind is the part of ourselves beneath our conscious awareness that keeps us alive and running. It’s what keeps our hearts pumping, our lungs expanding and our hair growing. We don’t consciously say to ourselves, “Pump, breathe, grow!”—these things are handled subconsciously, through the autonomic nervous system. The number one priority of the subconscious mind is our survival: physical, emotional and psychological. This is why our subconscious plays a powerful role in dictating behaviour. It prioritises our emotional wellbeing over our conscious wants. It’s why sometimes we consciously think we want one thing, but still end up doing another. One reason that diets don’t work is they don’t address subconscious issues that may be at play. We always sabotage our efforts if the subconscious pay-offs for not changing override the conscious desire to lose weight. Finally, the brain is the vessel through which our conscious and subconscious minds operate.

Based on the analogy of boat, captain and crew, the following is an overview of how we can boost our brains.

1. Don’t damage the boat.
On day one in medical school, I was taught Primum non nocere—“First do no harm”. No boat owner would knowingly damage their boat, so it follows that no human would knowingly damage his brain. Apart from the obvious injury caused by falling off ladders and falling into illegal drugs, things which harm the brain and reduce our cognitive abilities include smoking, stress, sleep deprivation, soft drinks, sedentary lifestyles, excessive alcohol, junk food, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, obesity, loneliness, pessimism and negative self-talk. Goal number one is to avoid these damaging entities.

2. Dock the boat in stimulating surroundings.
Our brain function improves in every measurable way when we find ourselves in environments that are mentally, physically and socially stimulating. Adventure prevents dementia!

3. Fuel it the finest.
Our dietary choices affect not only the health of our bodies but also the health of our brains. In fact our brains consume one fifth of all the nutrients and kilojoules we ingest. What we eat has a significant impact on our neurotransmitters (chemicals that carry messages between neurons across synapses), our alertness, our mood and our cognitive functioning.

4. Keep the cargo light.
Obesity is a major risk factor for dementia.

5. Run the motor.
Without physical exercise our brains waste away as much as our muscles waste away. Exercise actually induces the growth of new brain cells.

6. Learn the ropes and keep on learning.
Having a good education and engaging in lifelong, active learning help to protect us from dementia and contribute to our developing “cognitive reserve”. This reserve acts as a buffer against mental decline as we age.

7. Sail to new shores.
Boredom and monotony are poisonous to our brains. We need to get out there, get exploring and get out of our comfort zones. We need to sail to new shores to find riches outside our usual boundaries. We need to change our routines, do things differently and give ourselves ongoing challenges.

8. Use it or lose it.
This applies to every function of the brain and body, from studying to socialising to sex. In order to maintain our capacity for learning new skills, we need to engage in learning new skills on a regular basis.  In order to become creative, inventive and re-sourceful, we need to give ourselves tasks that require creativity, inventiveness and resourcefulness. In order to have a good memory, we need to make a conscious effort to pay attention. In order to remain socially adept, we need to remain socially active.

9. Train it and regain it.
If we lose a specific brain function, all is not lost. Progressive, persistent, goal-focused practice can help us regain the lost function.

10. Charge the battery.
Stilling the mind is as important as stimulating the mind. Getting adequate sleep and pressing the pause button on our mind chatter are essential for peak performance on a day-to-day basis, as well as preservation of brain function as we age.

11. Connect with fellow travellers.
Lifelong social interaction and meaningful connection with others is vital for a healthy brain.

12. Choose the destination.
The brain is a teleological device—it is fed by having goals to strive for and aspirations to work towards. The clearer we are about where we want to go and what we want to achieve, the more effective the brain is in accomplishing the required tasks. This is analogous to the captain giving the crew clear instructions about where they’re going and what is expected of them.

13. Command the crew.
Having decided on what we want, we need to direct our self-talk to support our goals. Our internal dialogue is a constant stream of instructions to the subconscious mind. Uplifting, solution-focused self-talk switches on brain cell activity; negative, discouraging self-talk dampens it.

14. Communicate gratitude.
When we think about what we’re thankful for, we wire our brains to continue finding things to be thankful for. Our brains are designed so that we see whatever we’re looking for. We are never objective, even when we make a concerted effort to be so. Subjectivity always enters our perceptions. We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are. Therefore, by regularly reflecting on things that we’re grateful for, we construct a filter through which we see the world and we create more experiences for which to feel grateful.

15. Practise perfectly.
When we practise a skill in our imaginations, the same neurons are firing as if we were performing the skill in real life! If we see ourselves executing a task perfectly in the mind’s eye, we become better at it in the real world because every mental rehearsal increases the efficiency of electrical transmissions between the involved nerve cells. Mental practice turbocharges our progress.

16. Bon voyage!
Enjoy the journey! Get excited about where you’re going. Passion, enthusiasm and excitement are the most powerful brain fuels of all. The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek entheos, meaning “to be divinely inspired or possessed by a god”.

Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, “Nothing great has ever been achieved
without enthusiasm.”

– Dr Helena Popovic MBBS is an Australia-based medical doctor, researcher, fitness trainer, international speaker and author of In Search of My Father: Dementia is no match for a daughter’s determination.

–> To learn more about neuroplasticity, read these 15 FAQs on Neuroplasticity and Brain Fitness.

–> How to Sub­mit a Guest Post to SharpBrains.com.

References

1. KJ Anstey, et al. Smoking as a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline: A meta analysis of prospective studies, American Journal of Epidemiology 2007, 166(4): 367–78.

2. Lera Boroditsky. How Language Shapes Thought: The languages we speak affect our perceptions of the world, Scientific American February 2011, 62–65.

3. Barbara L Frederickson PhD. Positivity: Top-notch research reveals the 3-to-1 ratio that will change your life. Three Rivers Press 2009.

4. Y. Freund-Levi et al. Omega-3 fatty acid treatment in 174 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: OmegAD study: a randomized double-blind trial, Archives of Neurology, October 2006, 63(10):1402–8.

5. John Medina. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for surviving and thriving at work, home and school. Pear Press 2008.

6. John J Ratey and Eric Hageman. Spark! How exercise will improve the performance of your brain. Quercus Publishing Plc 2009.

7. GW Rebok et al. Training and maintaining memory abilities in healthy older adults: Traditional and novel approaches, Journals of Gerontology: SERIES B, 2007, 62B: 53–61.

8. M R Rosenzweig et al. Effects of environmental complexity and training on brain chemistry and anatomy: A replication and extension. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1962, 55: 429–37.

9. L Shobab, G Hsiung and H Feldman. Cholesterol in Alzheimer’s Disease, Lancet Neurology, 2005, 4:841–52.

10. M Valenzuela et al. Lifespan mental activity predicts diminished rate of hippocampal atrophy, PLoS One, 2008, 3(7):e2598.

11. J Verghese et al. Leisure activities and the risk of dementia in the elderly, New England Journal of Medicine, 2003, 348:2508–16.

12. G Yue and K J Cole. Strength increases from the motor program: Comparison of training with maximal voluntary and imagined muscle contractions. Journal of Neurophysiology, 1992, 67(5): 1114–23.

Featured Perspectives:

• The Future of Preventive Brain Medicine: Breaking Down the Cognition & Alzheimer’s Disease Alphabet Soup, by Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa
• When 1 + 1 = 5: Dyscalculia and Working Memory, by Dr. Tracy Alloway
• New Review of Neurofeedback Treatment for ADHD — Current State of the Science, by Dr. David Rabiner
• The Business and Ethics of the Brain Fitness Boom, by Alvaro Fernandez
• (How to contribute articles like these to SharpBrains.com)

New Research: 

• Brain function can start declining as early as age 45
• Education for Mental Fitness: “A Sharper Mind, Middle Age and Beyond”
• Lifelong cognitive exercise may ward off Alzheimer’s protein beta amyloid
• Cognitive Training & Brain Teasers Can Increase Openness Among Older Adults
• Cognitive Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
• Does Nintendo Brain Age work as a brain training game?
• Brain Injury Care: Treatment and Reimbursement Challenges

Resources:

• The Ten Habits of a Sharp Brain
• Brain Teasers and Games, for Kids and Adults
• Upcoming Talk & Book Signing in Washington, DC

Have a great month of February.

Question: Who has registered to participate so far?

Answer: 80 individuals have registered so far, representing a fascinating diversity of backgrounds. We have health and medical professionals, educators, business executives, traders, consultants, coaches, software engineers, therapists, and more.  

Question: Is this a train-the-trainer? are you offering CME/ CEUs?

Answer: No. This is a course designed for a well-educated general audience. Let us explain the inception of the course: Alvaro Fernandez, the main course instructor, has been teaching a similar course at UC-Berkeley Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. By offering this course online we want to engage everyone who is interested in learning “how to be their own brain fitness coach”, no matter their occupation, geography or age. This is nei­ther an over­sim­pli­fied self-help course, nor a medical/ pro­fes­sional con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion one. Aris­to­tle is quoted as say­ing, “Virtue is the mean between two extremes,” and we intend to ensure a vir­tu­ous learning expe­ri­ence, think­ing of it as the course that any­one in our team would love to take for our own ben­e­fit. We will issue a Cer­tifi­cate of Atten­dance to those inter­ested, but we grant no CME/CEU units.

Question: I have already read your book The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness (May 2009; 182 pages). Is it still worthy to attend the course?

Answer: Yes. The book is indeed a key reference for the course, but the course goes well beyond it both in terms of content and quality of learning experience. Books are an excellent medium to share information, but educational courses are a better medium to ensure learning and understanding on how to apply the information. Think about the difference between reading a biology textbook and attending a Biology 101 course.

Question: I cannot participate in the four scheduled live sessions. Can I still get value from the course?

Answer: It may require a bit more effort on your side, but we certainly think so. All live sessions will be recorded for later access, and the online course platform will enable continued interaction among Faculty and Participants throughout March and April. All weekly activities are designed to be completed on your own.

Question: When will Guest Lecturers participate?

Answer: Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone is scheduled to co-teach the March 7th session on Debunking Brain and Brain Fitness Myths, and Dr. Robert Bilder is scheduled to co-teach the March 14th session on How to Address the Basics.

If you have more questions, please Contact Us.

To Learn More and Register: please click on How To Be Your Own Brain Fitness Coach in 2012. Early-bird rates are available until next Tuesday, January 31st.

Jacob has dyscalculia, a math disability where students struggle to learn or understand mathematics. Students with dyscalculia find it difficult to decipher math symbols (e.g. +, –), counting principles (‘two’ stands for 2), solving arithmetic problems, and usually transpose numbers (e.g. 75 becomes 57). However, dyscalculia encompasses more than problems with numbers – there is also a struggle with telling the time as in Jacob’s case, identifying left from right, and recognizing patterns.

But why do some students struggle to learn numbers and certain mathematical principles?

Working Memory plays a key role. To solve a mathematical problem like 1 + 1, we need to use our Visuo-Spatial Working Memory. Visuo–spatial working memory functions like a big mental blackboard that gives us a space to write all of the numbers necessary to solve a problem.

It also works together with the brain’s calculator known as the Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS), located in the right hemisphere. Brain imaging studies that looked at brain activity while people were counting and calculating quantities reveal that when we count, regardless of whether it is shapes, numbers, or objects, the IPS is activated. In dyscalculics, this area underperforms and may underpin their maths difficulties.

Like Jacob, the student with dyscalculia has clear working memory deficits. However, the link between working memory and math skills depends on the age of the child as well as the type of math task. Verbal working memory plays a strong role in math skills in seven-year-olds and is a reliable indicator of dyscalculia in the first year of formal schooling. Once children reach adolescence, verbal working memory is no longer significantly linked to mathematical skills. One explanation for this change is that verbal working memory plays a crucial role for basic arithmetic skills like learning arithmetic rules and retaining relevant data such as carried digits when they are young. However, as children get older other factors such as number knowledge and strategies play a greater role.

If you are working with a student with dyscalculia, it is important not only to address their difficulties with numbers, but to also assess their Working Memory. It is possible that they have a small mental blackboard (visuo-spatial Working Memory) that is making it harder for them to apply their number knowledge in a classroom situation.

– Tracy Pack­iam Alloway, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Florida. She was recently awarded the pres­ti­gious Joseph Lis­ter Award by the British Sci­ence Asso­ci­a­tion for her con­tri­bu­tion to sci­ence. Tracy devel­oped a stan­dard­ized working-memory tests for edu­ca­tors pub­lished by Psy­cho­log­i­cal Cor­po­ra­tion, which to date has been trans­lated into 15 lan­guages and used to screen for work­ing mem­ory prob­lems in stu­dents with dyslexia, motor dys­praxia (Devel­op­men­tal Coor­di­na­tion Dis­or­der), ADHD and Autis­tic Spec­trum Dis­or­der. She pro­vides con­sul­tancy to the World Bank and her research has received wide­spread inter­na­tional cov­er­age in hun­dreds of media out­lets, includ­ing Sci­en­tific Amer­i­can, the BBC, Reuters, ABC News, and NBC.

Reference

Alloway, T.P. & Passolunghi, MC. (2011). The relations between working memory and arithmetical abilities: A comparison between Italian and British children. Learning and Individual Differences, 21, 133–137.

To learn more:

• 10% Stu­dents may have work­ing mem­ory prob­lems: Why does it mat­ter, by Tracy Alloway
• Try Think­ing and Learn­ing with­out work­ing mem­ory, by Bill Klemm

Very significant findings reported today. Keeping brain sharp may ward off Alzheimer’s protein (Reuters):

“People who challenge their brains throughout their lifetimes — through reading, writing and playing games — are less likely to develop protein deposits in the brain linked with Alzheimer’s, researchers said on Monday.”

“Prior studies have suggested that people who are well educated and stay mentally active build up brain reserves that allow them to stay sharp even if deposits of the destructive protein called beta amyloid form in the brain.”

“But the latest study, based on brain-imaging research, suggests that people who stay mentally engaged beginning in childhood and remain so throughout their lives actually develop fewer amyloid plaques.” (Editor’s note: emphasis added)

“She said amyloid probably starts accumulating many years before symptoms appear, so by the time memory problems start, there is little that can be done. “The time for intervention may be much sooner,” she said in a statement.”

Pic source: American Health Assistance Foundation.

Study: Association of Lifetime Cognitive Engagement and Low β-Amyloid Deposition (Archives of Neurology)

• Main Outcome Measures  Cortical [11C]PiB average (frontal, parietal, lateral temporal, and cingulate regions) and retrospective, self-report scales assessing participation in cognitive activities (eg, reading, writing, and playing games) and physical exercise.
• Results  Greater participation in cognitively stimulating activities across the lifespan, but particularly in early and middle life, was associated with reduced [11C]PiB uptake (P < .001, accounting for age, sex, and years of education). Older participants in the highest cognitive activity tertile had [11C]PiB uptake comparable to young controls, whereas those in the lowest cognitive activity tertile had [11C]PiB uptake comparable to patients with AD. Although greater cognitive activity was associated with greater physical exercise, exercise was not associated with [11C]PiB uptake.
• Conclusions  Individuals with greater early– and middle– life cognitive activity had lower [11C]PiB uptake. The tendency to participate in cognitively stimulating activities is likely related to engagement in a variety of lifestyle practices that have been implicated in other studies showing reduced risk of AD-related pathology. We report a direct association between cognitive activity and [11C]PiB uptake, suggesting that lifestyle factors found in individuals with high cognitive engagement may prevent or slow deposition of β-amyloid, perhaps influencing the onset and progression of AD.

Related resources to learn more:

• Build Your Cog­ni­tive Reserve: Inter­view with Yaakov Stern
• Art Kramer on Why We Need Walk­ing Book Clubs
• Debunk­ing 10 Brain Myths
• A brain teaser for each cog­ni­tive ability

The book expands on the concept of neuroplasticity that recent works such as the New York Times bestseller, The Brain that Changes Itself, and the PBS Brain Fitness Program have introduced to the world. Neuroplasticity, or the the brain’s capacity to change itself based upon experience, means that one’s brain is flexible enough to evolve as we age and that we can exercise our brains to enhance attention, boost memory, augment planning skills and manage anger and destructive emotions. Recent brain research proves that at any age, what we do in our lives influences how our brains and our mental abilities evolve. We are never too old to learn; we do not need to accept decline as inevitable.

The Sharp­Brains Guide to Brain Fit­ness has been named a Best Book by AARP. Copies will be available for signing after the program. More details at Cleveland Park Library website (talk is open to the public).

If you can’t attend, you can watch a similar talk on brain fitness Alvaro gave at New York Public Library (opens YouTube video).

- ” A cognitive training program that included Sudoku and crossword puzzles made older adults more open to new experiences, according to a preliminary study.”

- “Older adults undergo changes in personality, including shifts in openness or willingness to seek out new and cognitively challenging experiences. A number of interventions have been designed to enrich cognitive functioning in older adults, but little has been done to develop openness, the authors explained.”

Study: “Can an old dog learn (and want to experience) new tricks? cognitive training increases openness to experience in older adults” (Psychology and Aging).

Abstract: The present study investigated whether an intervention aimed to increase cognitive ability in older adults also changes the personality trait of openness to experience. Older adults completed a 16-week program in inductive reasoning training supplemented by weekly crossword and Sudoku puzzles. Changes in openness to experience were modeled across four assessments over 30 weeks using latent growth curve models. Results indicate that participants in the intervention condition increased in the trait of openness compared with a waitlist control group. The study is one of the first to demonstrate that personality traits can change through nonpsychopharmocological interventions.

Question: are you open to try some brain teasers?