Neurofitness games
Neuroscience

Neurofitness games


Via OmniBrain: PositScience offers a video game touted to improve cognitive skills, called the Brain Fitness Program. It tests auditory recognition speed then improves your score through memorization practice. It claims to reverse aging. I have a moisturizer that does that too; I should be 12 by now.

But in seriousness, numerous studies extoll the benefits of keeping sharp, especially for seniors (none say you can reverse age, but there are benefits, such as preventing and treating depression).

There's a free Check Your Brain Speed sample test, and since I'm inclined to take tests like Which Star Trek Species R U, I'm not going to turn down a chance to test my "brain speed."

Results reveal that I'm an Android or Hologram, but I'm embarrassed to tell you how "old" my "brain speed" is. I am, however, quick enough to know the results are graded that way to make me want to buy the game.

Nintendo offers Brain Age, a neurofitness video game that seems to have a bit more to it:

Brain Age is inspired by the research of Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a prominent Japanese neuroscientist. His studies evaluated the impact of performing certain reading and mathematic exercises to help stimulate the brain.

Brain Age presents quick mental activities that help keep your DS brain in shape. Activities include quickly solving simple math problems, counting people going in and out of a house simultaneously, drawing pictures on the Touch Screen, reading classic literature out loud, and more.




- High Impact Exercise
Initial results from The IMPACT Study (Improvement in Memory with Plasticity-based Adaptive Cognitive Training) were presented at a recent conference, as touted in this press release: New Research on Aging and Cognitive Training Researchers released...

- Abstract Of The Day: Olfactory Functioning
Wilson RS, Arnold SE, Tang Y, & Bennett DA. Odor identification and decline in different cognitive domains in old age. Neuroepidemiology. 2006; 26(2): 61-67. Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, and Department of Neurological...

- The Game Brain
The Wall Street Journal today has an article on the front page of its Marketplace section about Nintendo's entry to The Game Brain trend: Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. Nintendo's Brain-Training Game Targets Older Players Ginny...

- Software For A Game Brain
From sfgate.com: Calisthenics for aging brains S.F. firm develops software to improve mental agility The San Francisco Chronicle Monday, April 4, 2005 Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer [snip] ... Posit Science says its brain-training program takes...

- Neuroplasticity On Pbs
A recent Mind Hacks post alerted me to the upcoming PBS series Brain Fitness Program, to be shown as part of the December 2007 pledge drive. From the PBS Press Release: "Dr. [Michael] Merzenich, of the University of California San Francisco, has been...



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