Brain-Training

For anyone interested, I’ve added a follow up on this conversation: The Big Brain Building Debate: A Citizen Journalist’s Role In The Discussion

Two of my favorite Mind/Brain Bloggers are having an interesting conversation about different approaches to cognitive fitness, and I’ve decided to butt in. (Because that’s the only way I know to do this social media thing, you know. I butt in)

If you’re not familiar with Jeremy Dean of Psyblog, or Alvaro Fernandez of SharpBrains, hop on over to their sites, and subscribe. They both blog circles around me, frankly, so it’s worth your time (and hopefully that plug will make up for the photo of stuffed animals I’ve plonked next to their names… sorry guys. )

But about that conversation…

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Just got an email from the brain-training folks at PositScience. They’re offering a danged good deal for Father’s Day… [click to continue...]

Last month, Posit Science thoughtfully sent me a review copy of their latest brain training product,  Insight.   I popped it into the computer, jotted down my preliminary thoughts, and embarked on the program, fully intending to blog about my progress along the way.  

The blogging hasn’t happened, because  “along the way” hasn’t happened.

Mind you, I have no doubts that program is effective - in fact, my exposure to the software makes me think it’s quite capable of helping users sharpen the targeted vision processing areas in the brain.  

But I’m not seeing progress.

I’m not seeing progress,  because I haven’t been doing the training sessions.  

Yes, yes,  I am a negligent brain-trainer.   But stop that  finger wagging! There’s a reason for my negligence, and it *does* lay in the software itself. You see,  the recommended training program takes 40 minutes a day.  It’s broken up into 4 sessions of ten minutes each - but still… 

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When the brain fitness gurus over at PositScience offered me a chance to review their latest offering, Cortex, with InSight, I happily accepted. After all, I’ve been wanting to peer under the hood of their software for quite some time. The package arrived on Friday, and after a bit of a delay ( due to blog design issues and the descent of Danish relatives) I finally popped it into the DVD drive and got the old neurons fired up.

The original PositScience program focuses on training with sound (which makes sense, given founder Dr. Michael Merzenich’s previous work with cochlear implants). In contrast, InSight is targeted towards the visual side of things. Several of the exercises work with the “Useful Field of View” training technology, which don’t really understand just yet, but I promise to find out more about it

Installation went smoothly; it should pose no problem even for those with little computer experience. The program comes with a printed, illustrated installation guide, each step laid out in easy to read fonts. Even the registration code is printed in a decent sized font, something even my nearsighted self appreciates. (I do get tired of trying to make out at serial numbers in size 4 fonts. ) [click to continue...]

I was just finishing up the other brain-training program’s mini-review, and was stumbling around for this week’s tweak, when who should discover Twitter? My *other* set of brain training software gurus, Lumosity! And one of the first things they tweeted? They’ve just released this nifty little brain warm up widget. Enjoy!

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MindTweak: “You cannot travel on the path
until you become the path itself.” - Buddha
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For Easter weekend, the weather decided it would celebrate spring, too. The sky was blue, the sun was out, the temperature called for short sleeves and putting the top down on the convertible.

It called us to take a drive in said convertible (which just happens to be an appropriate sunshine yellow)

It called to our elderly neighbors to get out of the house for a walk.

When you’re driving a sunshine-yellow convertible with the top down, any elderly neighbors who might happen to be out for a walk find you more approachable. Friendly, even.

They tend to wander over as you pull out of the drive, and strike up conversations. We don’t mind as long as we’re not in a hurry, and we weren’t, this time.

But one of our neighbors looked troubled as he talked, telling us about the headaches that had recently sent him to the VA for an MRI. “The say my brain is shrinking,” he said. “Sort of like early Alzheimer’s, I guess. They told me to stay active… “

His voice sort of trailed off.

For once, I was in the position to do something other than make sympathetic noises.

I could actually *help*! I quickly asked if he had access to a computer, then told him I’d bring over a paper on some science-backed software and training programs designed for exactly this sort of thing.

His face brightened, and it felt like I’d offered more than help. I’d offered hope.

That was a very, very good feeling.

So one of my tasks today is to put together a large print, easy to read handout on the best of the brain training options, for my friendly veteran neighbor, Ellis.

I’ll be sure to include a bright yellow graphic or two - the color of sunshine, the color of the friendly convertible, the color of hope.

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MindTweak: Ellis offered me hope, too - Hope and encouragement that this slowly developing MindTweaks project could become a very, very good thing. Thanks Ellis!

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