Ketchup on Tuesday: Musical Minds, Caffeinne & America’s Brain Health

Yes, I know. I *said* I was going to do a ketchup-catchup post every Friday. But I’m behind on my catching up; did you really expect anything else? Seriously, I’ve been buried in work for Brain Fitness Boot Camp all week… with a major forum upgrade and changes in how the course material is accessed, etc. Those of you who are members will be getting an email shortly, detailing the additions - and for those of you who aren’t signed up yet, well… what are you waiting for, dang nabbit?

But while my head was buried in code, some cool things crossed my desk… and some other things are still bubbling on the back burner.

First Up? A Cool Video (but hurry!)

IIf you get over to PBS’s website *TODAY*, you can still watch NOVA’s “Musical Minds” episode online. It’s pretty darn fascinating stuff, featuring neurologist/author Oliver Sacks as he explores exceptional individuals and their astounding musical minds. But the program goes offline tomorrow, so check it out before the day is over. If you miss the video, though, some of the extras are still pretty cool.

Next, A REALLY cool interactive:
America’s Brain Health

This is neat, and deserved it’s own post, but.. I’d rather get the info out there now! LifeDHA’s 2009 Index of America’s Brain Health a is a pretty incredible state by state breakdown of the US populations strengths and weaknesses when it comes to brain health habits. It’s pretty revealing, and maybe even predictable: For instance, residents of Nevada get the least amount of sleep (all night casino habits are likely responsible for that!) And my own state of Texas could do with a few more libraries and a whole lot more reading - something I’ve unfortunately noticed in our local population, a lot of Texans seem allergic to reading.

There’s also a quiz you can take to assess your own strengths and weaknesses, though your results won’t affect the indexed results, so don’t try and game it to make your state look better

Go check it out. Really. It’s cool.

And Finally, Some Brain Fitness Updates:

I‘m almost done with my review of Cognifit’s Personal Coach.
No, really, I am. Why’s it taking so long? Well, I’m seriously quite impressed with the program, and wanted to do it justice with something witty and clever. Yes, I know.. you’d rather get the info (and they’d rather have the publicity) than wait for me to figure out some sort of amusing approach. But that’s not how things work around here, ok? So if you’re that impatient, just head on over to Cognifit and see what they have to offer. It’s a sweet set up, really.

FitBrains has what looks like a fun new feature… their new “Brain Challenge” allows even free-account members to compete against up to five of your friends and family members. Now, I’m not much for competitions myself, and Fitbrains isn’t quite my cup of tea in general (being a little too gamey for my tastes) but some of the Brain Camp members seem to really like it. Here’s the link to the challenge thing: Challenge A Friend (Note: When I tried to sign up for a guest account, it sent me to an error page. But my account still seemed to be registered, so just ignore the error)

And in case you still haven’t seen the latest studies on caffeine and Alzheimer’s, I wrote about the buzz over on the Dakim sponsored blog - so if you’re a coffee junkie, hop on over there and so you can feel justified with drinking that extra cup.

So there you have it. Friday Ketchup, on Tuesday.
Better late than never, right?