Ed. Note: To coincide with Independence Day celebrations, we’re offering an educational 4-part series “Saluting our Soldiers.” We’re taking a closer look at the mental health issues facing today’s soldiers and veterans—and sharing the latest research news affecting military personnel. Overview: Official military figures report that about 115,000 troops have experienced a traumatic brain injury [...]

I’ve just gotten back from a very exciting scientific meeting in Greece (yes, the life of a brain scientist occasionally has its perks!) I had the opportunity to visit our collaborators in the Long-Lasting Memories consortium. This research group, with members in Greece, Spain, Austria, France, and Cyprus, is working to develop a combined brain [...]

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, debilitating disease that attacks the neurological system, affecting both body and brain function. A recent study of Canadian MS  patients revealed that fewer than half of them consistently use MS medications for 2+ years.  The drugs, known as DMDs (disease-modifying drugs) have been proven to slow the progress of [...]

A few days ago, we hosted a Q&A session on Facebook about brain plasticity and brain fitness with Posit Science founder Dr. Michael Merzenich. For those who missed the discussion and prefer to read it in transcript form, I’ve re-posted it here. Question: I would love to know what Dr. Merzenich thinks about brain plasticity [...]

A few weeks ago, we hosted an excellent Q&A session on Facebook about movement, exercise, and the brain. Movement specialist M.A. Greenstein, PhD, aka Dr. G, answered people’s questions and I think we all learned a lot! For those who missed the discussion and prefer to read it in transcript form, I’ve re-posted it here. [...]

Ed. Note: this article is cross-posted on Dr. Merzenich’s blog On The Brain. I had the great pleasure of visiting a wonderful research team studying the neurological origins and treatment of tinnitus at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis last week.  About 30 million U.S. citizens have tinnitus (chronic, persistent ringing in the ears).  For [...]

Time Magazine got it wrong.  Naming Mark Zuckerberg “Person of the Year” is okay but a better choice would have been the first Boomer to turn 65 in 2011.  That person, whomever he or she may be, is literally at the forefront of a tsunami that will change our world. NPR reported this morning that [...]

Last week I wrote about some very healthy, happy centenarians and talked about a recent study on people aged 100+ that found some commonalities across those living long and well. Today I saw that Dr. Mark Lachs has just come out with a new book called Treat Me, Not My Age which purports to give [...]

I’m really excited about the launch of Brain Odyssey, a new travel-mystery themed social game that includes Posit Science’s proven brain training exercises! We’re at the AARP convention telling the attendees about the game that is for baby boomers and their families.  Our initial launch partner is AARP Travel Center powered by Expedia, a perfect [...]

Barbara Strauch, author of The Secret Life of the Grown Up Brain, spoke this week at Stanford.  Strauch is the health/medical science editor for The New York Times and when she writes on brain topics, the articles consistently skyrocket to the top of the “Most E-mailed List.”  I attended her lecture at the Center for [...]