Sep
22

Brain Health and Fitness News Links Sept 2009

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Below are a few of the best online links I’ve come across lately regarding brain health and fitness, exercise, brain games, memory improvement, and anti-aging. I hope you’ll find them as informative and useful as I did.

They noted that exercise reaped benefits even for previously sedentary 85-year-olds; their three-year survival rate was double that of inactive 85-year-olds.

Oldsters didn’t have to be super-athletes to live longer; walking at least four hours weekly counted, even if it was just in 15-minute strolls a few times daily.

How cool is that? And as previously written about here on this blog, it has been shown that physical exercise can even reverse brain decline.

  • 47 Ways to Fine Tune Your Brain – This article comes from the Dumb Little Man website, but these tips are far from dumb. The article looks at dozens of tactics that will help you maintain your brain into old age and help to increase your mental agility and cognitive development.
  • Increasing cognition by playing games – It’s estimated that at least 65% of Multiple Sclerosis patients endure cognition problems on a day to day basis. Can playing brain games help them?  From the article:

Is it really possible to improve some, MS related, cognition issues by playing computer games? Doctors from Baylor College of Medicine here in Houston seem to think so.

If this article motivates you to play some brain games, remember we’ve got a ton of free brain games right here on this site in addition to a great list of the top commercial brain games as well!

According to Zelinski, a brain game or any other activity can’t improve thinking or turn back the mental clock unless it’s both challenging and novel enough to build new connections between brain cells.

We think that’s excellent advice! In fact, if you wan to learn more about how to choose a brain game that will work for you specifically, subscribe to our newsletter and receive a free brain games guide.

A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.

Hefty jolts of caffeine have reinvigorated the brains of old, demented mice at the University of South Florida.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed the brain fitness news links presented this month and found them enlightening.

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Jun
09

Clues To Maintaining Brain Fitness Into Old Age

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In recent years scientists have become extremely interested in what could be called a super memory club. This club is made up of the fewer than 1 in 200 people who have lived past 90 years old without a trace of Alzheimer disease or other form of dementia. It’s a group that for the first time is large enough to provide a glimpse into the lucid brain at the furthest reach of human life. Begun by University of Southern California researchers in 1981 and called the 90+ Study, it has included more than 14,000 people aged 65 and older, and more than 1,000 aged 90 or older.

So what has the study uncovered thus far with respect to maintaining brain fitness as we age?

  • Stay mentally active – Keep doing things that are mentally challenging.  For instance playing brain games or other form of mentally challenging activity.
  • Stay socially active – Continue to visit with others and stay engaged with other people on a regular basis. Spend time doing things together with others.

Something as simple as participating in a bridge club or playing board games or other type of group activity with others on a regular basis can fulfill both of these requirements quite well.

You can read more about the study mentioned above and the results they’ve discovered thus far by clicking here.

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May
18

A Simple Yoga Exercise To Build Your Brain Power

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I recently stumbled upon an interesting Yoga brain training exercise that according to it’s developer can enhance ones brain function and fitness. It’s called SuperBrain Yoga and is being used by doctors and teachers alike to improve peoples thinking and mental function. Improved grades and increased mental focus among people who practice Superbrain Yoga are being reported, even among those with mental disabilities.

SuperBrain Yoga is essentially a form of acupressure and breathing technique used to balance both hemispheres of the brain and bring energy up to the brain. It was developed by Master Choa Kok Sui who has written a book on the subject. The exercise is easy to learn, takes only a few minutes to do and can be done by almost anyone, anywhere.

According to the book, Superbrain Yoga by Master Chao Kok Sui, a Superbrain Yoga pilot study conducted by doctors in New Jersey with children ages 5-to-9 years of age possessing a variety of neurological disabilities reported the following subjective results:

  • The children are more focused and ready to work.
  • The children are displaying improved emotional states.
  • The child displaying bizarre behaviors appears to have a normal behavior.
  • The memory and retention of new information appears to have improved.
  • The entire dynamic of the class has improved dramatically.

I’ve been practicing Superbrain Yoga myself for awhile now and can report improved mental clarity, focus and a feeling of calmness after each exercise. It’s great to do first thing in the morning or anytime you need a quick boost of energy.

The video below shows people performing the Superbrain Yoga technique and provides some great testimonials.

A few important points to remember when practicing Superbrain Yoga not mentioned in the video are:

  • Connect your tongue to your palate.
  • Face East
  • The left arm must be inside and the right arm must be outside (over the left arm).
  • Inhale while squatting down and exhale while standing up.
  • You thumbs should be touching the front part of your earlobes, index fingers behind the earlobes.
  • Perform the exercise 14-21 times, once or twice a day.

For more detailed information on Superbrain Yoga, you might also want to check out the book titled Superbrain Yoga by clicking here.

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May
06

Why Should You Pay For A Commercial Brain Game?

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There are literally thousands of free brain games available online. In fact, The Online Brain Games Blog itself has links to hundreds of them. So why then, would anyone want to pay cold hard cash for a brain game? Well, having played both free and commercial brain games for some time now, I have some experience in this regard. As a result, I can provide you with five good reasons as to why you might want to consider purchasing a commercial brain game.

1) Neuroscience

One of the biggest differences between a free brain game and a commercial one, besides the cost of course, is that most commercial brain games are either designed, reviewed or tested by Neuroscientists. The big benefit to you in this is that you’ll know that neuroscience is being used in the game methodology and design with respect to how our brains best grow and improve. So one of the things you need to do when checking out any commercial brain game for purchase is to see the list of Neuroscientists that either designed, reviewed, advised, or tested that particular brain game.

2) Targeted Brain Training

Another major benefit of a commercial brain game over a free one is that most commercial brain games are designed to target more than one aspect of brain enhancement. For instance, areas such as memory, attention, cognitive control, and processing speed can be targeted and trained separately. The best games provide specific brain training in more than just one aspect of brain enhancement. Check the particular game you’re looking into for what areas of brain enhancement it targets.

3) Game Challenge Adaptability

In order for your brain to grow, it needs to be continually challenged. One benefit of almost all commercial brain games is that they will continually adapt to you as you get better. In other words, the better you get at a given game, the harder or more challenging it will become. This aspect of game adaptability actually provides you with some longevity with respect to how long a particular game will be of benefit to you and your brain.

4) Progress, Record Keeping and Positive Feedback

A nice feature of commercial brain games is that they keep track of your progress over time. If the game trains you in different cognitive areas, it will score and track your progress separately in each area. This provides you with positive feedback which ultimately helps you stay with the program.  It also lets you know what areas you need to spend more time training on as well.

5) Support

When you purchase a commercial brain game, you’re buying from a company dedicated to that games success. As such, you’ll have support lines with which you can call or email should you need assistance of any kind. This is something you just don’t get with a free brain game.

As a final note, you need to understand that what might be greatly beneficial for one person with respect to a particular brain game (free or commercial) might not be as beneficial to another. There is no “one size fits all”. I cover this along with how you can best choose a brain game specifically for you in a special report I send out to The Online Brain Games Blog newsletter subscribers. If you’d like to obtain this report for free, fill out the request form below and it will be sent you via email immediately.

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