Brain-Training

Brain fitness, brain games and braintraining software seems to be promoted everywhere these days, from the NYTimes to PBS to small blogs (ahem!)

And ok, so you’ve come to understand the importance of brain fitness, and that all these trainers and games are somehow related to it.

But are these software trainers, coaches and games really *necessary*? After all, some of them can be pretty pricey, with the best known programs running hundreds of dollars.

The answer is a bit confusing….

Yes, No, and Maybe!

I know, I know, I’m being unnecessarily obscure here, but the answer really does depend on you.

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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...]