In an emerging, dynamic, high growth market, like brain training, it is difficult to make precise projections. But, we can observe a number of trends that executives, consumers, public policy makers, and the media should watch closely in the coming years, as brain 
fitness and training becomes mainstream, new tools appear, and an ecosystem grows around it.
1. We predict an increased emphasis on brain maintenance in locations ranging from retirement communities to gyms. As a computer-savvy baby boomer population looks for ways to stay mentally fit, brain fitness, or brain training, is becoming part of their vocabulary and concern.
2. Physical and mental exercise will be better integrated. Physical exercise has been shown to increase the rate of neurogenesis, whereas mental exercise helps ensure the survival of any newly created neurons. Today both activities usually take place in very different settings: the former, in health clubs, the later, in universities. We predict that the borders between them will become more diffuse. Expect new programs such as brain fitness podcasts that allow us to train working memory as we jog or exercise bikes with built-in brain games.
3. Watch for a Continue Reading »
What's the ultimate "brain training"?
Learning.
We at SharpBrains love to learn, and to see others learn. That's why we hope you enjoy this essay by educator Laurie Bartels as much as we do.
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10 Brain Tips That Help Me Teach…and Learn
-- By Laurie Bartels
My natural rhythms are in cycle with the school calendar. January 1st takes a back seat to my new year, which gets ushered in with the month of September when there is crispness in the air that gradually shakes off the slower, more relaxed pace of summer.
Conveniently, my career in teaching meshes with my natural cyclical year. And as this year draws to a close, I am reenergized by the pace of summer, knowing that anything may pop in to my mind as I engage in activities not directly related to school. But before that happens, I’d like to reflect on this past year, in particular as it was my first year of blogging about the brain.
My interest in the brain stems from wanting to better understand both how to make school more palatable for students, and professional development more meaningful for faculty. To that end, I began my Neurons Firing blog in April, 2007, have been doing a lot of reading, and been attending workshops and conferences, including Learning & the Brain.
If you agree that our brains are designed for learning, then Continue Reading »
Try eating food with one chop stick.
It is possible, for certain types of food. But probably not the best approach.
Let's now talk brain health.
Dr. Larry McCleary is a former acting Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Denver Children's Hospital, and author of the The Brain Trust Program (Perigee Trade, 2007). He agreed to help us answer an important, yet often neglected, question: Given That We Are Our Brains, How do We Nourish Them?
Alvaro: Dr. McCleary, Why did a former neurosurgeon such as yourself develop an interest in brain health public education?
Dr. McCleary: For two reasons ... I am a Boomer and am trying to maximize my own brain health. Also, there is much exciting research documenting how we can be proactive in this regard. This information needs to be disseminated and I would like to help in this process.
And what is the single most important brain-related idea or concept that you would like every person in the planet to fully understand?
The most important take home message about brain health is that we now know that no matter what your brain status or age, there is much you can do to significantly improve brain function and slow brain aging. Based on emerging information, what is especially nice is the fact that unlike many things in life our brain health is largely under own control.
What are the most important elements to nourish our brains as we age?
I approach this question much like an athlete prepares for competition. They utilize a holistic approach. Continue Reading »
A few colleagues referred me over the weekend to a very nice article at business publication Portfolio.
While the article does an excellent job at introducing the reader to the concept and promise of computerized cognitive assessments, it also contributes to the mythology of "Brain Age". 
Let's first take a look at the article How Smart Are You: The business of assessing cognition and memory is moving from testing brain-impaired patients to assessing healthy peoples' brains online.
A couple of quotes:
- "Cognitive Drug Research is one a handful of businesses, most of them outside of the U.S., that work with pharmaceutical companies to test how new drugs for everything from nicotine addiction to Alzheimer’s disease affect the mind’s ability to remember things, make decisions, and analyze information."
- "Cognitive tests have been around for a century as examinations taken with paper and pencil. In the 1970s and '80s the tests shifted to computers, Cognitive Drug Research founder Keith Wesnes says.
So far, so good. In fact, one of the key highlights from the market report we released in March was that "Large-scale, fully-automated cognitive assessments are being used in a growing number of clinical trials. This opens the way for the development of inexpensive consumer-facing, baseline cognitive assessments." And we profiled a few leading companies in the space: Brain Resource Company, Cognitive Drug Research, CNS Vital Signs and CogState.
Now, the article is accompanied by a 5-7 minute quick test that promises to give us our "Brain Age". And this doesn't come from Nintendo, but from Cognitive Drug Research, a respected science-based company.
You can check it out Continue Reading »
One of the best articles so far on the growing brain fitness market, by the Associated Press.
Click Here to check out story:
"This is not just a Nintendo-fueled fad," he says. "The brain fitness market passed a tipping point in 2007 thanks to the convergence of a very proactive boomer generation hitting their 60s."
Article: Here. Highly recommended.
Now, as you read it, please remember the theme of our most recent newsletter: Emerging Tools, Not Magic Pills.
And, for all new readers who are joining us given the extra coverage (CNN, CBS, CHicago Tribune, dozens of other papers and websites), let me reprint now an article I wrote here in February:
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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.
Continue Reading »
Here you are have the twice-a-month newsletter with our 10 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.
Our first Brain Training/ Fitness Webinar Series was a success with several hundred participants and great feedback. If you could not participate, you can still review the presentation slides by clicking Here. A key message from the series: it is exciting that our brains remain more flexible, at all ages, than was once thought possible. The implications? Every single owner of a brain can benefit from learning more about how to maintain the "It" in "Use It or Lose It." And which tools, if any, can be helpful. But, remember, there are no magic pills for cognitive health and performance.
Market News
National Neurotechnology Initiative: Neurotech leaders ask for help to support a pending bill on funding for applications of brain research.
Lumos Labs raises $3 m in venture capital: This website provides a stimulating Continue Reading »
Our fellow blogger Jeremy over at PsyBlog has written a thoughtful post comparing the value of a number of cognitive enhancing tools. His overall verdict?
"The evidence for exercise boosting cognitive function is head-and-shoulders above that for brain training, drugs, nutritional supplements and meditation. Scientifically, on the current evidence, exercise is the best way to enhance your cognitive function. And as for its side-effects: yes there is the chance of an injury but exercise can also reduce weight, lower the chance of dementia, improve mood and lead to a longer life-span. Damn those side-effects!"
Article: Which Cognitive Enhancers Really Work: Brain Training, Drugs, Vitamins, Meditation or Exercise?
Jeremy, I started writing this as a comment to your post in your blog, but then it got too long. Let me write my reaction to your post here.
While I appreciate your analysis and share most of your points, I think the "ranking" effort (this type of intervention is better than that one) is ultimately misleading. It is 
based on a faulty search for a general solution/ magic pill for everyone and everything.
If only things were so simple. Perhaps one day there will be research to support that view, but certainly not today. A number of interventions have shown their value. In different populations, and contexts. For "exercise is the best way to enhance your cognitive function" to be true, one needs to have a pretty specific understanding of "best", "your" and "cognitive function".
Continue Reading »
A few quick updates: 
1) Yesterday we had a fun webinar with John Medina, author of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School.
You may enjoy checking out the slides we discussed.
2) Please remember that there is another webinar coming, next Tuesday. I hope you can join us!
Webinar: In “The Science and Practice of Brain Fitness,” I will provide an overview of the Brain 101, latest research findings and implications for how to improve brain health and performance based on my class at UC-Berkeley Lifelong Learning Institute and speaking engagements.
- Target audience: Anyone who wants to learn more about brain health and performance. This is designed to be not a technical session, but a fun, stimulating hour.
- Date and time: Tuesday June 10th, 2pm EDT/ 11am PDT
Register: Here
Continue Reading »
Our Market Report has received some recent additional accolades:
"In a widely scattered and unregulated field, this clear, credible document
is a first-class, pioneering compendium that's likely to become industry-standard
for all of us in this field. Well done!"
-- Eric Jensen, Founder of Jensen Learning Corporation.
"This is the first clear, concise and comprehensive overview and analysis I have seen of the emerging Brain-Training marketplace. It is a great market research for every investor, entrepreneur, manager, researcher and others who seek an understanding of the subject. Personally, I was waiting such a review for quite a while. The SharpBrains staff, led by Alvaro Fernandez, really did a great job here."
-- Danny Dankner, CEO, Applied Cognitive Engineering (ACE).
"Neuroscience is at a crossroads, and The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008 by SharpBrains, points the way forward. Our understanding of how the brain works is just beginning to yield real fruit in the form of products that truly improve the function of the brain. This reports gives anyone interested in how to understand which products are truly in a position to make a difference in brain function, and which markets will be interested and profitable for such products an invaluable guide. We found the analysis clear, precise, loaded with substantive insight. One would be foolhardy not to use this publication as the best guide to this market."
-- Dr. Arthur Lavin, Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Case Medical School, and Medical Director of A Working Mind.
"As we begin the task of developing a Brain Fitness Center at our Sunrise Senior Living Community, this Brain Fitness Market Report is proving Continue Reading »
I wrote this article for the March/ April edition of the publication Aging Today, published by the American Society on Aging.
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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 »
