Brain Fitness the Latest Fad to Prevent Memory Loss?
February 8th 2010 14:52
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From: AOLnews
Robert Stock
A week before the world economic summit got under way in Davos, Switzerland, last month, a self-proclaimed "global summit" of a very different sort was winding down. Its 250 or so participants from 15 countries were meeting in cyberspace –- and their topic had more to do with what goes on in your head than with economics, though there was plenty of that as well.
In the last few years, there has been a surge of interest -– by scientists and by entrepreneurs –- in brain fitness.
Both parties were well represented at the online summit. They share a burning desire to understand why and how we suffer memory loss as we age and what can be done about it.
We used to assume that forgetfulness was just another inevitable byproduct of aging, something to be accepted with a shrug and a laugh.
What could be funnier than Grandpa's forgetting he already locked the barn door? On the other hand, what could be more upsetting for Grandpa, and for the rest of us ancients who are constantly forgetting friends' names and where we left our glasses? Next stop, dementia?
Then researchers discovered that even in later years the normal brain retains its plasticity, its capacity to change and build new connections among cells. Suddenly it seemed possible to combat memory loss the same way we combat physical decline – by exercising. New, really challenging games and activities might actually rebuild our mental muscles, including reasoning, speed of processing and attention, as well as memory.
Enter the entrepreneurs. A huge market beckoned: The 78 million baby boomers were entering the age of forgetfulness. In 2008, sales of brain-fitness software hit $265 million. The industry expects that number to reach at least $1 billion within five years.
Meanwhile, anything and everything that could possibly enhance our brain fitness was being tested or ballyhooed.
Last year, for example, ginkgo was ruled out, but blueberries, grape juice and specific sounds played during deep sleep were in. Studies have shown that diets devoted to a healthy heart – little sugar, much fish – are especially good for brain function, as is regular aerobic exercise.
The pioneer in the development of brain-fitness software is San Francisco-based Posit Science, whose founders include a pioneering neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Merzenich.
positscience.com
This screen grab shows "Word Wanderer," one of the online "Brain Games" offered by Posit Science.
Merzenich created the Brain Fitness Program. It takes the user through a series of six basic exercises of ever-increasing difficulty, aimed at improving the brain's ability to process sounds and strengthen short-term memory of things like names and elusive words. The company's second product, Insight, uses visual exercises to increase the brain's ability to process and recall what is seen.
There have been all sorts of studies to determine the effectiveness of brain-fitness software. In one major study, a group of elders was given cognitive tests after completing the Brain Fitness Program. Elizabeth Zelinski, a professor at the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology, who was one of the study's authors, summarized the results: "People in their 70s using the Posit Science software had scores comparable to those of people in their 60s who had not completed the program."
That shows up as "improves memory by the equivalent of 10 years" on the Posit Science Web site.
Zelinski emphasized the limits of the study. "The principles of brain plasticity training work, but for healthy, motivated adults," she said. "The study does not show it works for people with serious cognitive impairments. We don't know how long the benefits will last or whether booster training would help in that regard. We don't know whether the benefits come from the whole program or some particular part of it."
Posit Science is far from alone in the brain-fitness business. Nintendo offers a hand-held device with all sorts of games to exercise the mind, as does Dakim's elaborate touch-screen computer console. Both emphasize how much fun their programs provide. That's because anything that can really boost old folks' memories is hard work.
I speak from experience. I've tried.
The way I've been losing chunks of my memory reminds me of the Dance of the Seven Veils, but in reverse. You start out having trouble remembering something like a phone number and then, over time, one layer of mist after another rises into place between you and the information stored in your brain.
No, the doctor says, it's not Alzheimer's – you're just getting a little senile.
Senile? Who, me?
I could have registered to learn a new language or taken up the piano. Instead, I signed up for Posit Science's Brain Fitness program for (gasp!) $395. It seemed to have the strongest scientific backing.
For a few weeks I went at it hammer and tongs, an hour a day -– distinguishing one sound from another, trying to remember a series of verbal instructions to move icons around a make-believe city street. Pretty soon that hour a day shrank to 30 minutes every other day.
Have all those exercises worked their magic? Truth to tell, I simply don't know. I stopped signing on to the program months ago.
Why? Partly because I have more work, so less spare time. But there's another reason, which you've probably already guessed. Yup, I keep forgetting to do it.
Filed under: Nation, Science, Health
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