How do you know when something is fast moving towards a Gladwellian tipping point? When health insurance companies and public policy makers launch significant initiatives.
For example, the government of Ontario recently announced a $10 million investment with Baycrest Research Centre who will partner with MaRS Venture Group to develop and commercialise brain fitness technologies. The investment was matched by an additional $10 million from private sources.
Another important development was the $18 million agreement between the Australian-based Brain Resource Company (ASX:BRC) and OptumHealth in the US. This will allow for the provision of web-based cognitive assessments as part of a clinician’s decision support systems.
These are some initiatives covered in a webinar Top Ten Cognitive Fitness Events of 2008 presented in December for SharpBrains' clients. Alvaro Fernandez described the state of play and main drivers behind the growth of the burgeoning brain fitness market - which I will try and summarize here.
The key drivers seem to be Continue Reading »
Here 
you have SharpBrains' 30 most popular articles, ranked by the number of people who have read each article in 2008.
Please note that, since the first article already includes most of our most popular brain teasers, we have excluded teasers from the rest of the ranking. (If those 50 are not enough for you, you can also try these brain teasers).
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1. Top 50 Brain Teasers and Games to Test your Brain
It is always good to stimulate our minds and to learn a bit about how our brains work. Here you have a selection of the 50 Brain Teasers that people have enjoyed the most. |
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2. The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
Let's review some good lifestyle options we can follow to maintain, and improve, our vibrant brains. My favorite: don't outsource your brain (even to us). |
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3. Why do You Turn Down the Radio When You're Lost?
You're driving through suburbia one evening looking for the street where you're supposed to have dinner at a friend's new house. You slow down to a crawl, turn down the radio, stop talking, and stare at every sign. Why is that? Neither the radio nor talking affects your vision. Or do they? |
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4. Brain Plasticity: How learning changes your brain
You may have heard that the brain is plastic. As you know the brain is not made of plastic! Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to CHANGE throughout life. |
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5. Top 10 Brain Training Future Trends
In an emerging market like brain fitness 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. |
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Today I had a great conversation with Martin Buschkuehl, one of the University 
of Michigan’s Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab researchers involved in the cognitive training study that has received much media attention (New York Times, Wired, Science News...) since late April, when the study was published at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Reference: Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Jonides, J., & Perrig, W. J. (2008). Improving Fluid Intelligence With Training on Working Memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(19), 6829-6833 (You can read it here, with subscription).
Before you keep reading, let me clarify a couple of terms:
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Today I had a great conversation with Martin Buschkuehl, one of the U Michigan researchers involved in the cognitive training study that has received much media attention since early last week, when the study was published at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
I will publish the interview notes next week. For the moment, let me paraphrase his answer to the question: "Why are computerized programs like the one you used fundamentally different from, say, simply doing many crossword puzzles?".
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The ABA (American Bar Association) Journal has a good article titled Law Hacks: 101 tips, tricks and tools to make you a more productive, less stressed-out lawyer, combining tips on email usage, software, and some brain tips from us:
- 67 "The Web site SharpBrains suggests self-improvement exercises. Try this one: Take five-minute visualization breaks with deep and regular breathing, picturing beautiful landscapes or pleasant or successful memories, especially after finishing a tough task."
- 68 "Improve your mental acuity by subtracting numbers, i.e., 7 from 200 (200, 193, 186, 179 ...) or practicing an exponential series (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 ...). The point is not to become a math genius or be smarter than a fifth-grader, but just to keep your mind sharp."
- 69 "It takes a system to be productive, but it’s also useful to try something different every day to stay sharp. For example, try commuting differently or talking to new people."
Some more tips?
