SharpBrains

Last Friday, during the American Society on Aging's Brain Health day, a participant made a comment along the lines, "I just completed my Masters in Gerontology at University XYZ. Despite my best efforts, I could not find a single brain-related class to attend as part of my studies. Which is why I decided to come to a conference like this".

Incredible that this happens in 2008, a decade after the "Decade of the Brain".

Healthcare and cognitive science seem to have inhabited different universes for too long. I hope we start to see more active cross-pollination between both fields. Gerontology would be a great place to start, given the growing demand for preventive programs to contribute to the cognitive health of an aging population.

Here you have the twice-a-month newsletter with our most popular blog posts. Please remember that you can subscribe to receive this Newsletter by email, simply by submitting your email at the top of this page.

News and Events

Brain Health Promotion by the American Society on Aging: You may be interested in the excellent agenda the American Society on Aging has put together for health professionals, from September 2-5th in San Francisco, devoting a full day to Brain Health. Alvaro will participate in 3 of the sessions, including giving a keynote on the Future of Brain Health.

Can Google Kill Neurons and Rewire Your Whole Brain?: The Atlantic Monthly published an article titled Is Google Making Us Stupid, which basically blamed Google for literally rewiring our brains into more stupid brains (not being able to pay attention, read deep books...). We are not very impressed by the superficial treatment given to this very important topic.

Mobile Brain Training, Scientific Learning, and More News: Overview of cognitive health and fitness news, including recent research on how physical exercise can help diagnosed Alzheimer's patients, the new Mac version of Posit Science's auditory processing training program, and more.

Market Analysis

Top 10 Brain Health Predictions: In an emerging market, like brain health and training, it is difficult to make precise projections. Here we point out a number of trends that executives, consumers, public policy makers, and the media should watch closely in the coming years. Your feedback is very welcome...we will give a complimentary copy of our market report to the person who provides the most insightful additional prediction by August 10th.

Cognitive Health Pioneers: Thank You! The quality and variety of our client list brings up the cross-sector demand for quality information in the emerging brain fitness/ cognitive health category. And it helps us prioritize efforts and coverage of market and research news and trends.

Research Analysis

Encephalon blog carnival: Brain & Mind Research: We hosted Encephalon´s 50th edition, where you will find a selection of superb blog posts on all things Brain and Mind. Examples? you may enjoy Facebook Ate My Psychiatrist or perhaps the Compulsive Collecting of Toy Bullets and Televisions.

Attention Deficits At Work: Dr. Pascale Michelon provides an in-depth overview of a recent study by Ron de Graaf and colleagues,  in which they found that an average of 3.5% of workers (in ten countries) meet the criteria for adult ADHD, In the US, the percentage increased to 4.5%. This has clear effects on productivity.

Education and Learning

Learning & the Brain: Resources for Educators: Educator Laurie Bartels reviews her favorite brain resources for teaching and learning: books, conferences, and websites.

Brain Teasers

Top 25 Brain and Mind Haikus. Yours?: Readers have contributed a good number of haikus on brain-related topics. You can follow the link to check out our Favorite 7, and many other fun ones...which ones do you like the most?

You may be interested in the excellent agenda the American Society on Aging has put together for health professionals on a variety of aging topics, including a full day devoted to discussing Brain Health Promotion: The Next Steps.

When are where: September 2nd-5th, in San Francisco, CA. Brain Health Promotion day is September 5th.

To check the full agenda: Click here.

To register: Register Now (early registration until August 25th).

I will be participating in three sessions. Please let me know if you are attending, we may be able to organize a SharpBrains lunch on Friday September 5th.

1) How Change Makers Like You Can Contribute to the Future of Brain Health

September 5th, 9.00-10.30 am

Neuroscience, and cognitive science in general, are coming to a fundamentally new understanding of the lifelong plasticity of the brain and what aging means. This presents tremendous opportunities, and challenges, to anyone caring for other people's brains (on top of their own). In this session, we will provide an overview of the research and market trends that may affect brain health in the next five to ten years, will explore new roles to serve our communities coupled with the need to reinvent existing ones, and will help navigate the increased number of brain heath options today. Continue Reading »

I wrote this article for the March/ April edition of the publication Aging Today, published by the American Society on Aging.

---------------- 

In recent years, most professionals in aging have become aware of the growing scientific evidence showing that human brains retain the ability to generate neurons and change over a lifetime, discoveries that have broken the scientific paradigm prevalent during the 20th century. Furthermore, neuroimaging and cognitive training studies are showing how well-directed exercise presents people major opportunities for healthy brain aging.

How can people use emerging technologies to keep their brains healthy and productive as long as possible? An emerging market for brain health-- $225 million market in 2007, in the United States alone, of which consumers account for $80 million--is trying to address that question in a way that complements other important more traditional pillars (and multi-billion industries) of brain health, such as physical exercise, balanced diet, stress management (stress has been shown to actually kill neurons and reduce the rate of creation of new ones) and overall mental stimulation and lifelong learning.

2007 AN ACTIVE YEAR

A series of important events took place in 2007, a seminal year for the brain health field, beginning in January when many mainstream media publications, such as Time Magazine and CBS News, started to publish major stories on neuroplasticity and brain exercise. This media coverage followed the publication of the long-awaited results from national clinical trials showing that significant percentages of the participants age 65 and older who trained for five weeks improved their memory, reasoning and information-processing speed. Findings from the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) Study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Dec. 20, 2006) and revealed that even after five years, participants in the ACTIVE computer-based program showed less of a decline in information-processing skills than those in a control group that received no cognitive training.

Continue Reading »

A spate of recent news coverage on brain fitness and "brain training" reflects a growing interest in natural, non-drug-based interventions to keep our brains sharp as we age. This interest is very timely, given the aging population, increasing Alzheimer's rates, and soaring health care costs that place more emphasis than ever on prevention and changing lifestyle.

This past Tuesday, the MIT Club of Northern California, the American Society on Aging, and SmartSilvers sponsored an event on The Emerging Brain Fitness Software Market: Building Better Brains to explore the realities and myths of this growing field. The panel was moderated by Zack Lynch, Executive Director of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization, and composed of a venture capitalist and 3 CEOs of program developers in the field. Before the panel, I had the chance to present an overview of the state of the Brain Fitness Software Market based on our upcoming report to be released on March 4th.

Why are we talking about this field at all? Well, for one, an increasing number of companies are achieving significant commercial success in packaging "brain exercise". An example is the line of Nintendo games, such as Brain Age and Brain Training, that have shipped over 15 million units worldwide despite limited scientific support, since 2005. What is less visible is that a number of companies and scientists are Continue Reading »

This is an event you may be interested in, if you are based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The MIT Club of Northern California, American Society on Aging, The Business Forum on Aging and SmartSilvers presents:

The Emerging Brain Fitness Market:  Building Better Brains (Contact information and Registration Here)

Date: 02/12/2008 Tuesday
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: Wilson Sonsini
Location: 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto
Cost: $20 online, $25 walk-in

Contact information and Registration Here.

Here is the buzz … Scientific, technological and demographic trends have converged to create an exciting new market in brain fitness, where software and online applications can assess and train cognitive abilities. That equates to a sharper mind and better memory retention contributing to healthier aging.  There is currently a $400m worldwide market with high growth ahead predicted.

Join us in lively and informative discussions as Alvaro Fernandez; CEO of SharpBrains.com summarizes the science, key market segments, players and trends, based on the first Brain Fitness Software Market Report, presented in this event.  He will discuss the implications with several neuro-technology, gaming experts and investors."   Moderated by Zack Lynch, the speaker and panel will discuss:  Continue Reading »

Motto Magazine brings a great interview between Anita Sharpe and Michael Ray, on How To Reach Your Highest Goal. Very fun weekend reading material, including plenty of quotes and reflections on how creativity can be trained/ enhanced by one of my favorite Stanford MBA professors. Some quotes:

• "But as the 1980s began, Ray and Myers kicked off more than two decades teaching one of the most influential and talked about courses at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business — a class on creativity and innovation. They taught MBA students who would go on to become some of the greatest creators in the world of business, including eBay’s first president, Jeffrey Skoll, and Good to Great author Jim Collins."
• "When (Apple co-founder) Steve Jobs came to our class, everybody was saying we have to get into the computer business. He said, you don’t necessarily have to do that. He said, go into San Francisco and get a job as a waiter and find out what comes out of that."
• MOTTO: You have had a number of renowned and successful students. How would you summarize the characteristics that they share that contribute to their inner and outer success?
• RAY: A sense of openness of consciousness. Those people who are Continue Reading »