But brain fitness brings to mind term papers and reports and drudgery.
Interesting association of brain fitness with drudgery.
Now I am 60 years old, and graduate school is behind me by 12 years, and I am not so sure where they went, except I am married, and I have a 10 year old son, and a 4 year old daughter who expects a ration of tickling each day.
As a Boomer, moving rapidly towards a Senior classification, and one who has always enjoyed working out, and as a counselor looking for the best tools for my clients, I am now exploring a different version of brain fitness programs.
Technological developments like fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) have allowed scientists to explore inside the human brain in new and fascinating ways, and the results are providing some interesting ideas for enhancing our Boomer and Senior Brains, let alone the brains of our children, or our clients.
About ten years ago, there were discoveries made about the human brain that overturned all neuroscientific dogma in regards to the growth of new neurons. We do grow them and that growth can be encouraged. That is called neurogenesis.
(The following are good resources. Look up Norman Doidge,M.D., Helen Fisher,Ph.D., Simon Evans Ph.D, or Paul Burghardt,Ph.D.)
Evans and Burghardt in their book called Brainfit for Life talk about how to keep your mental aerobics rhythmic, metaphorically speaking, by managing stress, sleep, nutrition, and providing novel challenge for your brain.
Norman Doidge and Sharon Begley talk about the potential of the brain to overcome issues like stroke, and how regular practice changes brain maps, which the brain is OK doing anytime, in fact the brain is a data craving organ, and loves a stream of new experiences. It thrives on that, so if you are a musician, take up a foreign language, if you are a counselor, take up an instrument to change your brain maps.
By the way, changing brain maps is called neuroplasticity.
Brain fitness programs of the Computer Kind
There are new brain fitness programs out there that you can download to your computer which have research to back them up in regards to their effectiveness.
In fact, I believe that a combination of physical and mental aerobics is synergistic for the brain at any age.
The Mayo Clinic and University of Southern California have just released new research about the Posit Science program, which indicates (they say 'shows definitively') that "computerized brain exercises can improve memory and attention in older adults."
I do not think that maintaining an effective brain is a dull pursuit, especially when I can do it at my computer, on my schedule. Need a day off, because you know where your glasses are? Take it.
Brain fitness programs may even become part of the treatment regimen for ADD and autism, and many are looking to them to ward off alzheimers, or perhaps even reclaim lost brain function.
The brain fitness workout can vary given the program used. One requires 40 hours of time, one hour per day, for 40 days.
Another can be used daily in brief bursts, another requires 20-25 minutes per day for 19 days, and then maintenance practices subsequent to that.
Of course, reading a good book or practicing your instrument will require different time commitments with different purposes. (If I am learning some piano tunes to play for myself, I can learn at my own pace.)
Brain fitness programs do not have to be a drudgery. I can make them a fun part of my daily routine and reap the benefits of neuroplasticity and neurogenesis for a good long time, maybe until I can hold a grandbaby or two.
We will be reading more and more articles like that-which is good news for a nascent field. Now, I would recommend anyone considering such programs to always ask the questions:
1) What does the specific program look like: exactly how long does the program take, and to reach what goals? some programs we have seen leave it so open that it is unclear for us how users are supposed to get what benefits. When we go to the gym, and we tell the coach what our objectives are, we typically get a good structure and program to follow
2) What research has been published, or has been submitted to publication, that supports that if a person follows that precise program he or she will likely obtain those promised benefit?
3) How do any benefits transfer to real life and to our cognitive abilities/ skills? for sure, simply by prcticing something we get better at it. Which is great in itself, because we learn something new, and it builds self-confidence. Now, how do I know that transfers into an expanded "mental muscle" or cognitive ability, that will also help me in domains outside the game itself?
In the 90s, eating well and exercising were shown to be crucial to our well-being and healthy aging. We attend traditional fitness centers to exercise our bodies. Trainers teach us that novelty and variety are important and that having some structure helps us achieve our physical fitness goals. Now, the need to keep exercising our brains is starting to become understood, and Brain Fitness, or Mind Fitness, will grow to one day become as widespread as physical fitness, for kids, adults, and seniors. "Brain gyms" will complement today's gyms.
Posit Science has a great program focused on training auditory processing. Let me now announce some Brain Fitness Programs that the media will, I believe, start talking about over the next months. Brain Fitness is a broad category, relevant to all of us.
ACE4sports has developed IntelliGym, a software based product to train the "game-intelligence" skills of professional and amateur basketball players. More and more top teams, such as NCAA tournament winner Memphis, have been using the program given its results on individual and team performance.
Cogmed develops and markets a software-based working memory training product, RoboMemo. The Swedish researchers behind Cogmed, led by Karolinska Institute's Torkel Klingberg, MD, PhD, have shown that any person can improve his or her working memory by correctly designed and intense training. For people with serious attention deficits, improved working memory translates to tangible and measurable improvements in daily life.
A Vigorous Mind represents the product MindFit developed by CogniFit, using the latest scientific research to develop easy to use software that enhances human cognitive performance and health in a variety of applications, from improving driving skills and abilities to preventing cognitive decline.
The Institute of HeartMath (IHM) has been doing clinical studies and basic research on stress management and the physiology of learning and performance. As a result of such research, IHM offers technology offerings for stress management such as emWave Stress Relief (previously called Freeze-Framer).
And there are more. We will keep you informed. And we will support you in your decision-making process.
Both Michael Logan & Alvaro Fernandez are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Michael Logan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Brain, Brain Power and Brain. Michael S. Logan is a brain fitness expert, a counselor, a student of Chi Gong, and licensed one on one HeartMath provider. I enjoy the spiritual, the mythological, and psychological, and I am a late life father to Shane, 10, and Hannah Marie, 4, whose. Michael Logan's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
Alvaro Fernandez has sinced written about articles on various topics from Aging, Brain and Aspen Travel. SharpBrains, , provides the best science-based information, programs and support for. Alvaro Fernandez's top article generates over 201000 views. to your Favourites.