In the sci-fi comedy Sleeper, Woody Allen's character, cryogenically frozen since 1973, wakes up in 2173 and discovers that such previously frowned-upon things as cigarettes and hot fudge are good for you.
We haven't quite reached that point here in 2010, but there is evidence to show that video games -- long the bane of many a parent and educator -- do more than just make your thumbs sore, your eyes red and your wallet empty. Many can, in fact, exercise the brain and teach players a thing or two about history, math and other traditional subjects.
Jarrod Wolkowitz, the director of information and data management for STAR GameSchool (www.stargameschool.org), is a strong proponent of using video games as educational tools.
"Video games give kids an almost hands-on learning experience," Wolkowitz said. "If a student finds discussion of something like history boring, a game can help make it come alive. The student can experience history as if he or she were there, talking to virtual historical figures and walking around an almost exact representation of any location at that time. That is much more fun than [simply looking at] stagnant text or pictures."
Here are 10 current and recently released titles that educate as well as entertain:
100 Classic Books
Nintendo DS, $29.99
Subject: Literature
Grade/age level: Middle/high school
While not a game in the technical sense, 100 Classic Books offers hours and hours of "edutainment" and enlightenment, letting users read unabridged works from 40 authors. In addition to 13 books by Charles Dickens and 23 plays from William Shakespeare, the cartridge features classics by such legendary wordsmiths as Jane Austen, George Eliot, Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Louis Stevenson. Electronic enhancements include multiple text sizes, optional background music and various search features.
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!
Nintendo DS, $19.99
Subject: Math/reading/brain exercise
Grade/age level: All ages
Like its predecessor, Brain Age 2 offers a series of lightning-fast math and reading exercises designed to enhance brain power by increasing blood flow to the prefrontal cortex. In addition, the cartridge lets gamers solve sudoku puzzles, recite piano songs, play Concentration, engage in a little rock-paper-scissors and more. Many of these mental maneuverings make use of the DS system's special functions, requiring players to speak into the microphone or use the stylus to write on the touch-screen. A great tool for helping keep the brain sharp and focused.
Donkey Kong Jr. Math
Nintendo Wii, 500 Nintendo Points ($5)
Subject: Math
Grade/age level: Ages 8 and up
Downloadable to the Wii via Nintendo's Virtual Console program, Donkey Kong Jr. Math was originally released for the NES way back in 1985, but it holds up well today. The game employs the basic chain- and vine-climbing elements of the arcade classic Donkey Kong Junior (1982), sans enemies to avoid. The challenge comes in the way of answering addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. Clearly, at least in this case, monkeys and math make for a good combination.
Easy Piano
Nintendo DS, $39.99
Subject: Music/piano
Grade/age level: All ages
Packaged with a tiny keyboard that plugs into the DS, Easy Piano can be played with said keyboard, or with the stylus and touch screen. The game allows users of all ages (though the keyboard is too small for man-size hands) to play more than 30 pop, jazz and classical songs, including such hits as ABC, Come Away With Me and Material Girl. A digital music coach helps aspiring pianists learn basic music theory (via mini-games), while a composition mode lets players create and save their own tunes.
The History Channel: Civil War -- Secret Missions
PS2, PS3, Xbox 360; $19.99
Subject: History/Civil War
Grade/age level: Middle/high school
Educational titles on the PS3 and Xbox 360 are rare. First-person shooters, on the other hand, are ubiquitous. As an FPS, Secret Missions is a run-of-the-mill entry in the genre, but it does take place during a crucial time in American history. Equipped with such weapons as muskets and cannons, players perform missions based on actual Civil War battles and events. Historically, the game isn't always 100 percent accurate, but at least it will help get kids interested in learning more about Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and other figures of the era.
Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans
Nintendo DS, $19.99; Nintendo Wii, $29.99
Subject: Ancient history
Grade/age level: Middle/high school
Based on the "Horrible Histories" British book series, Ruthless Romans does a nice job incorporating the fun, humor and educational properties the books are known for, teaching "history with all the nasty bits left in." By interacting with folks, reading lots of text, answering trivia and playing more than 30 mini-games (including painting pictures, collecting items and tracing over drawings), the player competes to become the greatest gladiator of Ancient Rome. A sweeping musical score complements the action.
Konami Kids Playground: Toy Pals Fun With Numbers
PS2, $19.99
Subject: Math
Grade/age level: Preschool
Created by the makers of Dance Dance Revolution, Toy Pals Fun With Numbers uses a smaller, differently marked version of the dance pad to help kids ages 2 to 5 with color, letter, number and shape recognition. By stepping, hopping and lightly jogging on the mat, players get exercise while performing such tasks as matching colors, popping balloons and counting toys. Cute characters (Scratch the Cat, Sniff the Dog and Stan the Bear) and environments (a fun house, a garden and a meadow) help make the game fun.
Learn Geography
Nintendo DS, $19.99
Subject: Geography
Grade/age level: Elementary/middle school
Despite clumsy interfacing and lousy graphics, Learn Geography will indeed help the gamer with the patient parent do what its title suggests. Cast in the role of a male or female student, the player can learn country names, landforms, flag colors, major city names, national landmark locations and other facts about our wonderful world. One caveat: The questions can be difficult, and the controls are a little confusing, so it's helpful to have an adult around to assist during game play.
My Spanish Coach
Nintendo DS, Sony PSP; $29.99
Subject: Language/Spanish
Grade/age level: All ages
Students and businesspeople alike should pick up a copy of My Spanish Coach, a fun and easy way to become rudimentarily familiar with the Latin-derived language. Easy, convenient interfacing provides access to eight fun touchpad mini-games (including multiple-choice, word search and whack-a-mole), each of which can be played at the user's pace. The game offers more than 1,000 lessons, along with voice recognition and an English-to-Spanish dictionary and phrasebook.
Sesame Street: Cookie's Counting Carnival
Nintendo DS, $29.99; Nintendo Wii, $39.99
Subject: Math/counting
Grade/age level: Preschool
Video games starring Sesame Street characters have been around since the days of the Atari 2600. Cookie's Counting Carnival is the latest such title, using carnival mini-games to help preschoolers hone their counting, pattern recognition, and number and shape identification skills. Accompanied by Cookie Monster and Big Bird, kids visit the grandstand, midway, petting zoo, food court and arcade. To help little ones control the action, the Wii version includes a fuzzy character cover for the Wii Remote, while the DS rendition comes with a jumbo click stylus.
Brett Weiss is the author of "Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984" (McFarland, 2007) and "Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988" (McFarland, 2009).
Tension management coaching aims at assisting these folks who are struggling with stress and anxiousness. The anxiety management training programs also benefit individuals affected by alcohol and drug addictions, depression, and other types of bodily diseases. This coaching could be discovered as being a short program or as an on-going therapeutic activity.
Tension management coaching system primarily concentrates on controlling information overload, mastering the selection problem, lowering tension by means of better organization, and cutback time with enhanced listening. This program also capabilities like a tool for staying relaxed too regarding prevent well-known tension “traps.”
The contents included in anxiety management training plan are psychophysiology of anxiety, recognizing the bodily, psychological and emotional indicators of stress, overall performance enhancement, numerous stress management periods and schooling technologies, impact of anxiety on the group, preventive actions to manage conflict and anger at work, and teaching about very good and poor anxiety which includes their symptoms.
Various courses are provided in tension management training. On the net stress management program covers locations in time management, leadership skills, communication skills, assertiveness, and leisure techniques. Stress management training is now offered even as distant learning programs. It often comprises of a set of rehabilitative methods and skills which are aimed at enabling the person to manage anxiety in an helpful manner. Nowadays, diploma programs in stress management coaching and in organizational tension management are also accessible.
The rewards of anxiety management coaching in an organization consist of elevated individual productivity and duty, retention of valued workers, and greater teamwork and communication. Relief from anxiety and improved relationships each in and out of the workplace are the advantages from the coaching plan for individuals.
View the original article here
hc2d - People between the ages of 60 and 80 who play music may avoid developing Alzheimer’s disease as a result, according to a recent US study.People who had played an instrument for more than 10 years fared better overall on cognitive tests than people who had not.
Lead researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, a clinical neuropsychologist at Emory University in the US, said that the number of years an individual played music was the biggest predicting factor in the study.
She said that because of the formality of musical training, the brain changed in a particular fashion when a person studied music.
People who had the highest level of musical experience (which the researchers estimated to be 10 years or more) scored higher on visuospatial memory tests than the less trained musicians and non-musicians.
The results of the study were also true even for people who had not played music for several years.
Hanna-Pladdy said there was a scientific interest in identifying activities that could help prevent age-related declines and even delay the onset of a disorder such as Alzheimer’s disease.
She said she believed that the brain might possibly create alternative pathways that would serve as backups in the event of age-related cognitive decline. Read more
View the original article here
Add Site Url free for neuro arena games !
Brain training games have been scientifically proven to be a great way to increase you brain performance and develop better cognitive skills. Play neuro arena games online free to boost your brain performance.
Websites like Lumosity.com and others offer brain training programs, but you have to pay a fee. These brain training paid programs are useful because you can keep track of your brain performance exercise progress and focus on certain cognitive skills you might want to improve. If you a are the type that likes competition, you can also compare your brain training scores with other players who play brain teaser games online.
But you can benefit from the brain training games for free. There are many online resources providing games that boost your brain performance and increase your cognitive skills. You just need to know what games to play to improve a certain neurological ability.
Memory
Memory is a basic cognitive skill, and has many different “layers” which scientists are yet to fully comprehend. However they have managed to discovered a so-called working memory, the memory process which helps us learn new things in our day-to-day living. And this, like all other cognitive processes and skills, can be trained and thus improved. Simple yet useful games like Flip the Cards or just about any puzzle game played daily can help you improve your working memory. Also, a lot more difficult games can be played, like Drunken Masters, a really nice game that combines some bartending skills with memory exercises, as you have to memorize your clients faces and orders. Like this, many other games will test your memory and once played daily, will boost your working memory. Just look for games like The Waiter Game, Busy Burger, Face Memory Game (this one is really great!).
Also, you can try a free 5 day trial with Lumosity.com and practice your brain skills while keeping track of your brain performance and progress. Another advantage of registering for a five day trial with Lumosity is that you can check out all their games and then when the trial expires, you can look on the Internet for similar games you can play to exercise your cognitive skills.
Main subjects: neuro arena games, free brain training games, neuro games, free brain booster games, cognitive skill games, online free neuro games, memory games
Reverse image searching with your brain is now for real, so long as you're looking for either Josh Brolin or Marilyn Monroe and can provide your own set of intracranial electrodes. In a recent experiment, researchers hooked twelve people up to a game where they fought to display a particular image on a screen by firing the correct neurons in their brain. Though the device was only successful about two-thirds of the time, it works much more rapidly than many other brain-machine interfaces and on much more specific targets.
Brain-computer interfacing has made some impressive progress over the last few years in both humans and primates. But researchers have recently become interested in whether people are able to exert control over specific neurons in real time, to the exclusion of other neurons. This level of fine-grained control may be essential to get a computer to accomplish a task.
In the new work, scientists used twelve people who already have intracranial electrodes installed in their brains to help prevent epileptic episodes. They presented the subjects with two pictures—one of Josh Brolin, the other of Marilyn Monroe—and recorded which sets of neurons in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) fired as the subjects viewed each picture.
The subjects were then shown the two images superimposed on each other, and had to "will" the superposition to fade into a distinct Josh Brolin or Marilyn Monroe by trying to fire the relevant set of neurons. They were given between three and five seconds to complete the task.
Despite having no training in firing particular sets of neurons, the subjects were successful in forcing the image to resolve into one subject 69 percent of the time. The authors found that the subjects had slightly more success if the sets of neurons associated with each picture were in different hemispheres or regions of the brain.
The authors note that a single concept can be represented by up to one million MTL neurons, though often far fewer are required. Googling with your brain rather than your keyboard may still be a ways into the future, but we may be getting closer.
Nature, 2010. DOI: 10.1038/nature09510 (About DOIs).
miniLUK system was created to maximize childrens learning through play which is flexible enough by sitting in someone ability. It provides one particular-to-operate controller with 12 tiles and a number of workbooks dedicated to various intellectual developmental areas.
Effective and proven model Elevated learning
The principle inside the way is for youngsters to experience and learn concurrently. With vivid illustrations, challenging contents, and a consistent learning model, miniLUK Brain Challenger provides more complex activities inside aspects of memorization, concentration, visual perception, logical thinking, linguistic skills, and mathematical skills.
Innovative self-checking design Symmetric pattern with 12 tiles
The elegantly designed controller contains 12 tiles really high-quality plastic case using a transparent lid. The complete playing process will promote childrens capability recognize numbers and strengthen their fine motor skills while enhancing their eye-hand and brain coordination. The innovative design incorporates a self-checking mechanism simply by using a unique symmetric pattern.
Popular children educational product around the world
The LUK learning system could be translated into 16 languages generating readily available for parents and educators in 50 countries. Developed from LUK learning system unique design, miniLUK Brain Training series includes a complete learning system for kids from 5 to eight years. Its suitable for parent-guided playing, independent learning, or small-group playing.
miniLUK Brain Challenger series Combo Pack provides most economic value including a complete selection of the miniLUK Brain Training System. It offers
miniLUK Brain Challenger series – Colors and Shapes
miniLUK Brain Challenger series – Concentration
miniLUK Brain Challenger series – Critical Thinking
miniLUK Brain Challenger series – Math and Basic Geometry
miniLUK Brain Challenger series – Theme-Based Learning
miniLUK Brain Challenger series – Visual Perception
niLUK Brain Challenger series – Starter Pack including:
miniLUK Controller
My First miniLUK Workbook
Parent Teacher Guide
Skills Chart
This complete system provides essential learning activities and level thinking skills to complete children’s intellectual boost in areas of memorization, concentration, visual perception, logical thinking, linguistic skills, and basic arithmetic.
View the original article here
The best basketball players are known to be those who make smart decisions on courtâ?? their ability to anticipate moves, spot opportunities for the team and make smart money-time decisions, makes them legendary. Up until now, game-intelligence was considered a matter of born-talent a player either had or didn’t. A ground-breaking technology promises to change that equation forever.
In order to improve their basketball skills, players need to practice daily on courtâ?? dribbling, shooting, and memorizing moves. However, no matter how seriously they take their basketball workouts, even the best coach will find it extremely difficult teaching them game intelligence, creativity, real-time decision making and peripheral vision.
Personalized Basketball “Brain-Training” Software
Up until now these brain-skills were considered to be instincts that a player is born with or without. Few years ago a team of cognitive training scientists identified the brain activity involved with the performance of fighter pilots on the air and created a virtual simulator to intensely train and improve those mind functions. College Basketball Workout Programs
The results shocked even the most ardent believers in the concept – fighter pilots that have undergone “brain-training” sessions improved their performance by a whopping 30%!.
The research team of this unique project noticed that the skills required by fighter pilots are amazingly similar to those required of professional basketball players.
And so a team of 30 coaches joined the computer experts and converted the system into personalized basketball “brain-training” software that fit the basketball workouts and needs of individual players including Junior-High, High-School and College players.
It was first tested on real basketball teams such as U. of Memphis Tigers and the U. of Kentucky Wildcats. Within 6 to 8 weeks of training, each players’ performance in the areas of execution, decision-making under intense pressure and movement anticipation skyrocketed – especially during money-time situations.
Quantifiably, players involved with the testing have improved their skills in various areas – on both offence and defense – by 22% to 28%! College Basketball Workout Programs
View the original article here
The new Nintendo DSi, launched previously this month, consists of two cameras, extra creative ways to boost your brain energy and take pleasure in your creative side.
There are actually many new video games such as the WarioWare”: Snapped! This permits gamers to use the built-in camera to place by themselves in the center of outrageous, fast-paced mini video games which challenges them to battle towards the clock and receive a peek at Wario’s photograph album.
Brain Age” Express: Math is really a math concentrate game for your new DSi Console for the popular Brain Age” series. Game gamers can enjoy a mixture of new and well-known coaching workouts as well as a new Themes mode enables the user to experiment with voice recordings and images in enjoyable and abnormal way.
The new Bird & Beans” game uses an elastic tongue having gamers scramble to collect falling beans and naturally the harder a being is to catch the far more points a player racks up.
Art Style”: AQUIA” is the latest inside the eye-popping Art Style sequence for your new Nintendo. These puzzles are mesmerizing an underwater game which conflicts a player to help a scuba diver reach the ocean floor by matching a series of colored blocks.
If you like card tricks than the Master of Illusion” Express: Funny Face is the game for you. This game has your Nintendo DSi being a prop in a card trick. You draw a face on the touch screen and then watch as the face tells the audience which playing card they chose. It’s astounding!
Rhythm Haven” game has everyone tapping their fingers or in this case the stylus to original music in dozens of rhythm-based mini video games. Some of these mini games involve flicking animals out of a garden, zapping spaceships and slapping a man’s arm.
If you liked Snood, then you’re gonna love Snood 2: On Vacation” the game that turns the original fun puzzle around. There’s always plenty of action in Snoodville and it won’t stop because everything is twisted on its edge. You help the Snoods meet up with three of their own colors but that’s not the end of it!
The Browser is not necessarily a game but it permits gamers to access the Web and is powered by Opera, the simple way to make use of web browser which is made specifically for the DSi structure. Checking e-mail, get the latest news and weather reports and so significantly additional right from your console.
It also enables its gamers to create and share unique moments by using one of two cameras, one pointing away from the game or the other pointing towards the gamer allowing them to manipulate them with 10 built-in “lenses” which includes Graffiti, Mischief and Distortion.
Once a person has purchased a brand new game they can access the Store in order to download thousands of different video games directly to their handheld gaming unit.
Overall the lack of Nintendo DSi Console specific video games right now is not a major problem. Much more and far more titles will be coming out soon and it’s great to know thatyou can still play with the massive collection of DS titles.
Ilchi Lee believes that brain education is important throughout one's life, because it can help a person reach his or her true potential. That means that one should never stop learning new things and having new experiences.
Mahlon Jones is one man who is living by this philosophy. The 71-year-old, who is retired after two serious careers, has lately picked up the guitar, according to The Times Herald-Record. He has always wanted to learn the instrument and finally has time to do so during the golden years.
"My mother and father both played guitar. I grew up in the country, and they used to play music at night," he told the publication.
He regularly takes classes at the Twin Hickory Recreation Center, where many other people his age are also working on learning new skills. Kathryn Reid, a retired schoolteacher, has started learning how to work with clay.
"It's kind of good for the soul," she explained to the news source.
Some experts believe that this kind of brain training may also be a key to staying sharp as one ages, because it creates new connections and associations in the mind.
WASHINGTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Those childhood music lessons could pay off decades later -- even for those who no longer play an instrument -- by keeping the mind sharper as people age, according to a preliminary study published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
The study recruited 70 healthy adults age 60 to 83 who were divided into groups based on their levels of musical experience. The musicians performed better on several cognitive tests than individuals who had never studied an instrument or learned how to read music, according to the research findings published Wednesday online in the APA journal Neuropsychology.
"Musical activity throughout life may serve as a challenging cognitive exercise, making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of aging," said lead researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center. "Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older."
The three groups of study participants included individuals with no musical training; with one to nine years of musical study; or with at least 10 years of musical training. All of the participants had similar levels of education and fitness and didn' t show any evidence of Alzheimer's disease.
All of the musicians were amateurs who began playing an instrument at about 10 years of age. More than half played the piano while approximately a quarter had studied woodwind instruments such as the flute or clarinet. Smaller numbers performed with stringed instruments, percussion or brass instruments.
The high-level musicians who had studied the longest performed the best on the cognitive tests, followed by the low-level musicians and non-musicians, revealing a trend relating to years of musical practice. The high-level musicians had statistically significant higher scores than the non-musicians on cognitive tests relating to visuospatial memory, naming objects and cognitive flexibility, or the brain's ability to adapt to new information.
The brain functions measured by the tests typically decline as the body ages and more dramatically deteriorate in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. The results "suggest a strong predictive effect of high musical activity throughout the lifespan on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age," the study stated.
Half of the high-level musicians still played an instrument at the time of the study, but they didn't perform better on the cognitive tests than the other advanced musicians who had stopped playing years earlier. This suggests that the duration of musical study was more important than whether musicians continued playing at an advanced age, Hanna-Pladdy says.
"Based on previous research and our study results, we believe that both the years of musical participation and the age of acquisition are critical," Hanna-Pladdy says. "There are crucial periods in brain plasticity that enhance learning, which may make it easier to learn a musical instrument before a certain age and thus may have a larger impact on brain development."
The preliminary study was correlational, meaning that the higher cognitive performance of the musicians couldn't be conclusively linked to their years of musical study. More research is needed to explore that possible link.
posted April 28, 2011
The Federal Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Program awarded Tennessee?s Project BRAIN its "Impacting Systems Change Award? at an annual meeting held in Bethesda, Md.
The Federal TBI Program recognized the Tennessee Department of Health / Traumatic Brain Injury Program and the Tennessee Disability Coalition for their work in establishing a partnership with a shared goal of improving educational outcomes for Tennessee students who have sustained a brain injury. They congratulated Tennessee and Project BRAIN for making a difference in successfully implementing a transition component supporting children and youth who are identified with a TBI from the hospital, return to school and into the lives with their families.
Project BRAIN (Brain Resource and Information Network) is a resource and training network for educators, families, and health care professionals who support students in Tennessee with traumatic brain injury.
"Project BRAIN has come to signify not only excellence in training, but thoughtful recognition of the needs of student and family along the continuum of care," Jean Doster, director, Tennessee Traumatic Brain Injury Program, said.
Project BRAIN offers lasting resources to lighten the load on families and at the same time raises awareness of TBI. Partnering with prominent Children?s Hospitals across Tennessee, a ?Signs & Symptoms? tool is being incorporated into the hospital discharge process. Project BRAIN has implemented a first of its kind Brain Injury Transition Liaison program. A liaison is a person who can be there for the family when a student has a diagnosis of TBI and particularly once they leave the hospital. As an effective communication link, the liaison serves as a resource bridge between hospital personnel, school personnel and families.
Paula Denslow, Tennessee Disability Coalition, Project BRAIN director, said, ?Within a hospital environment, a Brain Injury Transition Liaison provides resources and education to families of children who have a TBI. Understanding that a TBI may have long term effects, knowing about available resources is key ? accessing them when necessary is critical, a liaison connects these dots for families.?
?You've all done outstanding work: the individuals with brain injury and families are better because of your commitment and perseverance on their behalf?, said Sandy Knutson, principal research analyst, TBI Technical Resource Center, University of Chicago.
"We're looking for better sleep, we're looking for lower stress, more focus, intensity of focus, duration of focus, those kind of things," said James Seay, co-founder of Neurotopia.
Seay says the machine used to treat attention-deficit disorder (ADD), seizures and migraines has expanded into other areas.
"It's any kind of training skills that can help me out, I'm going to take advantage of it," said Woodland Hills resident Tyler Kolodny.
Kolodny is a minor league baseball player. He says he's seen substantial changes using it.
"The first thing actually, was when I went to sleep at night, boom -- I was asleep," said Kolodny. "If I get a little distracted, or I get a little off-center, I'm able to catch myself and bring myself centered and back to focus."
Professional athletes have done well with this program, but now it's crossed over to the mainstream. It's being used by regular people who are struggling with goals both in and out of the gym.
"The brain is so powerful, so we believe in training the brain alongside with the skeletal muscular system," said Michael Davis, Elite Fitness Plus.
Davis uses it at his high-end wellness center, where executives and athletes strive to break negative habits and patterns.
Sports medicine expert Holden MacRae says Neurotopia is brilliant in helping with post-traumatic stress disorder as well.
"The quantitative EEG that Neurotopia uses allows you to map the brain and determine at least for blast injuries or mal trauma to the brain, where the injury is, and then treat it," said MacRae, an exercise physiologist and professor of sports medicine at Pepperdine University.
The machine reads delta and theta brain waves. Those measure brain activity during the dream and recovery states.
It also measures alpha waves, your brain's activity when you're relaxed; and beta waves, which are given off when we're at our most alert state.
Leads placed on the brain register wave activity, noting underachieving and over-performing waves.
"It's telling me how quickly his brain is assimilating to what we're asking it to do," said Seay. "It's like a treadmill for the brain. So if his brain catches on and starts to do better, then I can actually increase the treadmill."
It takes about 15 to 20 of these 30-minute sessions to retrain the brain. At $95 a session, it's pricey, although some insurance companies are covering, depending on need. But unlike regular exercise, studies show once the brain is trained, it's apt to stay that way.
(Copyright ©2011 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Food Coach »food coach, lori corbin
SFGate Web Search by YAHOO! Businesses | Advanced HomeNewsSportsBusinessEntertainmentFoodLivingTravelColumnsBuy & SellJobsHomesCarsClose [X]Quick links to the best of SFGate | Still can't find it? see Site IndexNews »TodayBreaking NewsLive ViewsTrafficWeatherSectionsBay Area & StateBusinessChronicle MagazineCrimeEducationGreenHealth & MedicineHome GuidesNationObituariesOpinionPoliticsScienceStyleTechnologyWeird NewsWorldSports »49ersRaidersGiantsAthleticsWarriorsSharksMoreArticle CollectionsBayListBlogsChronicle WatchCity BrightsColumnistsComicsData CenterEarthquakesLotteryMapsPollsReader ViewsSmall BusinessTopicsVolunteeringFeaturesFood »Bargain BitesRecipesRestaurantsRestaurant ReviewsTop 100 RestaurantsWineTravel »HawaiiMexicoSF GuideWeekend GetawaysWine CountryReno & TahoeLiving »Gay & LesbianGreenHome & GardenMomsOutdoorsPetsSFiSSki & SnowEntertainment »ArtBooksHoroscopeLocal BandsLive MusicLocal EventsMovie ShowtimesMoviesTheater ReviewsThings To DoTV & Radio Classifieds »Advertise With UsCarsCouponsReal EstateBuy & SellJobsMerchandisePersonalsPetsPublic NoticesRentals TechnologyMarketsSmall BusinessChron 200Real EstateHome GuidesPress Releases 
more
Brain fitness could be next big thing Casey Newton, Chronicle Staff Writer San Francisco Chronicle May 1, 2011 04:00 AM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Monday, May 2, 2011 
Print
E-mail
del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Reddit
LinkedIn
Facebook
Slashdot
Fark
Newsvine
Google Bookmarks
Twitter
Share
Comments 
Georgia (default) Verdana Times New Roman Arial
Font | Size: 
0
Images
View Larger Images Get Quote Symbol Lookup
More BusinessOil drops to $113 as traders eye dollar, bin Laden 05.02.11Asian stocks lower as bin Laden euphoria fades 05.02.11Canada's Conservatives win coveted majority 05.02.11Honda expands recall to check 833,000 air bags 05.02.11Years after graduating from college, Jason Blair noticed he had trouble focusing.
The 30-year-old musician's ability to concentrate on his work, or switch quickly between tasks, was slipping. He wondered whether his brain was out of shape.
"Being out of school for a while, you realize how much you used to exercise your mind," said Blair, who lives in San Francisco. "I like to go to the gym. I thought I'd like to find something for my mind, too."
That was in September, shortly before Blair joined Lumosity - a 4-year-old subscription-based website where users play a series of increasingly challenging games to sharpen their mental acuity. He now plays for 20 to 30 minutes five times a week, and credits the site for improving his focus and creative abilities.
Blair is one of 12 million people registered for the fast-growing site, where the number of users more than doubled in the past year. Now the backers of Lumos Labs, the San Francisco startup behind Lumosity, say they are on the brink of taking "brain training" mainstream.
"It really feels like an inflection point," said Tim Chang, a partner at Norwest Venture Partners and a member of Lumos Labs' board. The number of monthly visitors to the site over the past year hit 2 million, according to research firm Quantcast, and Lumosity.com now ranks in the top 1,000 websites globally.
Rooted in scienceThe company was founded in 2005 by Kunal Sarkar, Michael Scanlan and David Drescher. Scanlan was a graduate student in neuroscience at Stanford University, studying how the brain adapts to different demands, when he began to wonder whether there might be demand for brain training rooted in science.
He took a leave of absence from graduate school and began developing a Web-based training program with his co-founders. For two years the company developed prototypes and tried to improve the user experience. Lumosity went online in 2007, and has since raised more than $3 million in venture capital.
Earlier attempts by companies making products for mental fitness focused on serving an older generation, promising to help Baby Boomers stave off memory loss as they age. Lumos' founders saw the potential for a broader market, and created a site where users pay up to $15 a month for access to games and data about their performance.
The founders were inspired by fitness clubs, which grew rapidly in popularity during the 1980s as more people began to focus on staying in shape. Sarkar, who worked in private equity before co-founding Lumos Labs, previously managed an investment in 24 Hour Fitness.
"People of all sorts want to use a gym," Sarkar said, citing his own experiences. In his 20s, he would train for events. Now in his 30s, he trains to stay fit. And his 71-year-old father still goes to the gym regularly to stay healthy.
Sarkar and his co-founders hope that some day, mental fitness will be as much a part of the average person's routine as physical fitness.
Tapping a trend"It's tapping that same trend of people taking care of themselves more and investing in themselves more," he said. "We are the beneficiaries of that same trend that 24 Hour Fitness was."
On that point, even rivals agree.
"I don't have any doubt that five, 10 or 15 years from now we're going to look back to where we are right now as the Dark Ages," said Henry Mahncke, a neuroscientist and the CEO of San Francisco's Posit Labs. "We're going to be embarrassed and horrified about how we left people to get older without taking care of their brains."
Like Lumosity, Posit is a startup focused on mental fitness. The company produces software that helps people improve their cognitive abilities. The company also participates in research projects, and its clinical team has worked to create therapeutic programs for soldiers returning from war and people with mental illnesses.
"We let people get old - they watch TV, they retreat into their homes, and that's just kind of it," Mahncke said. "We accept that that's the way aging is. ... Well, that's actually not the way it is. We can take the science we know about the brain and create programs that can be clinically shown to arrest and prevent" cognitive decline.
Not everyone is convinced that games and other cognitive exercises produce lasting benefits. In 2009, the British consumer watchdog Which? surveyed researchers and found that there was little scientific evidence to back up claims of lasting benefits.
Technology improvesBut since then, supporters say, an increasing body of research published in peer-reviewed journals has supported the idea that brain training has benefits. Posit cites more than 60 peer-reviewed studies supporting mental exercise.
And the technology is still improving.
"We're only on the tip of the iceberg in terms of the possibilities of training," said Lumosity's Scanlan.
Brain training companies need to improve their marketing efforts if they want to gain wider adoption, said Erin Matlock, CEO of the Brain Pages Inc., an industry group that promotes mental fitness. Matlock said the industry can grow significantly by serving people with autism and brain injuries, among other conditions.
Those markets "are full of highly educated consumers who desperately need easily accessible help," Matlock said in an e-mail.
Blair, the San Francisco musician, is among those convinced of the benefits. While working at a toy store, he was constantly asked to switch between tasks - helping multiple customers, retrieving items from the stock room, and so on. Brain training helped him concentrate, he said.
Blair also found that training helped him create his electronic music.
"It helped me connect to my creative source," he said. "When I go to work, I feel like I can concentrate better."
E-mail Casey Newton at cnewton@sfchronicle.com.This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco ChroniclePrintE-maildel.icio.usDiggTechnoratiRedditLinkedInFacebookSlashdotFarkNewsvineGoogle BookmarksTwitterShare#sfg_object_view .socialtools .facebookcontainer, #sfg_object_view .socialtools .diggcontainer, #sfg_blog .socialtools .facebookcontainer, #sfg_blog .socialtools .diggcontainer{margin-top:2px;}#sfg_object_view .socialtools img, #sfg_blog .socialtools img {margin-top:2px;} 0
Subscribe to the San Francisco Chronicle and get a gift:Sunday + a $15 gift cardFri-Sun + a $15 gift cardMon-Sun + a $25 gift card Brain fitness could be next big thing Articles Years after graduating from college, Jason Blair noticed he had trouble focusing. The 30-year-old musician's ability to concentrate on his work, or switch quickly between tasks, was slipping. He wondered whether his... 
Osama bin Laden saves America 
Teacher shaves for 1st time since 9/11 
Matsui homer lifts A's over Rangers 
Wood platforms: Step into this trend 
Pics: Taylor Swift's new home Galleries 1-3 of 21 
SF Giants blanked again in Washington
Ivan Rodriguez leads Nats over...
Met Costume Gala 2011
Osama Bin Ladin
The World Reacts to the death of...
A's cruise to 7-2 win over Rangers
Why DeNesha Stallworth left Cal's...
Sharks beat Wings 2-1, take 2-0...
How Weird Street Faire
Quarterbacks are hot properties in...
British Hawaii: U.K. flavor in the...
A's finally get a win in Anaheim, 2-1
Bryant, Lakers, close out Hornets in...
Lionel Messi's late goals doom Real
US Weekly's Hot Hollywood
SF Giants' Darren Ford steals win in...
Rookies lead Angels past A's, 8-3
The curious case of Nick Fairley
5 amazing races along California's...
Time 100 Gala
Tiburon hilltop house focuses on...advertisement|your ad here 
Inside the raid that killed bin LadenMariah Carey and Nick Cannon welcome twins on anniversaryTeacher shaves for first time since Sept. 11, 2001Phone call by Kuwaiti courier led to bin LadenCheerleader who wouldn't root for assailant losesBin Laden's luxury hideout raises questionsMan unknowingly liveblogs Bin Laden operationBrain fitness could be next big thingChihuahuas get their day in the sun3 accused of embezzling $580K from Danville churchPosole: Nopalito relies on roasting, pureeingEscape to the East Cape of Baja California SurSF salmon season opens with few fishKing salmon regains crown with long summer runBin Laden's demise: US rejoices after a decadeInside the raid that killed bin LadenDems rally public workers to push Brown's agendaObama mocks Trump's presidential ambitionsPalin decries water restrictions at Calif. collegeUnion-savvy California out-pays workers over TexasRoger McDowell rant: Allred hits one out of park
From Our Homepage 
Courier's phone call leads U.S. to bin Laden's doorstepThe key break in a worldwide manhunt for the world's most wanted terrorist came when his trusted aide picked up a phone.
President keeps poker faceTension in the Situation RoomInside the top secret missionTerror threat lives on |Body IDGerson: America's challenge
Bin Laden's clout overstated?Man unknowingly liveblogs raidObama: 'Good day for America'
More photos |
VideosBay Area reacts |Relief, outrage 
Photos: The raidInside the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed.
Luxury hideout raises questionsBin Laden lived near soldiers, not far from Pakistan's capital.
Quiet reliefNo closure for the relatives of the Bay Area's 9/11 victims.
SAN FRANCISCO3 BR / 1.0 BA$719,000.00
SAN FRANCISCO2 BR / 1.0 BA$619,000.00
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO2 BR / 1.0 BA$306,000.00
SAN FRANCISCO2 BR / 2.0 BA$650,000.00
SAN FRANCISCO2 BR / 2.0 BA$699,000.00
SAN FRANCISCO2 BR / 1.0 BA$618,888.00
SAN FRANCISCO3 BR / 1.0 BA$829,000.00
SAN FRANCISCO4 BR / 3.0 BA$1,349,000.00
SAN FRANCISCO2 BR / 2.0 BA$579,000.00
OAKLAND2 BR / 1.0 BA$399,000.00
Real Estate
SF becoming a buyer's city?DC Cityzen Logic, as well as statistics, have always placed San Francisco firmly as a renter's city. Not saying people don't buy here...
Room to roam in SF homeValuing a real estate investment propertySearch for open housesSearch Real Estate » Cars
Passive-aggressive neighbor giving unwanted adviceDear Tom & Ray: My neighbor, who does not impress me as having an IQ above that of a Neanderthal...
1908 NY-Paris race car out for Reno spinTop safety grades for Volt & Leaf Photo: Reader's rides. Share your pics.Search Cars » 
Browse ads | Place an ad »
[Return to top]HomeNewsSportsBusinessEntertainmentFoodLivingTravelBuy & SellFind Bay Area JobsReal EstateCarsSite IndexAdvertising Services:Advertise with usPlace a ClassifiedAbout Our AdsPublic NoticesLocal Businesses: Business DirectoryReader Services:Home DeliverySubscribersE-EditionMobileRSS FeedsNewslettersFeedbackBuy PhotosFAQCorrectionsGet UsCompany Info:Contact UsHearst Corp.Privacy PolicyTerms and ConditionsWork for UsChronicle in EducationEvents & PromotionsSubmissions © 2011 Hearst Communications Inc.
Be the first to share your thoughts on this story.Share your thoughts on this story. - be the first to share your thoughts on this question. - Sorry, comments are closed for this story.Brain fitness could be next big thingArticlesYears after graduating from college, Jason Blair noticed he had trouble focusing. The 30-year-old musician's ability to concentrate on his work, or switch quickly between tasks, was slipping. He wondered whether his...var KRUXSetup = {"pubid": "6ca343ad-12e4-4a6c-8cc1-e1d248b7a91a","site": "San Francisco Chronicle","section": "","sub_section": ""}; KRUX.SuperTag.invisibleTags();