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 [...]

1. Saluting our Soldiers Series: Part 4 – Cognition and Combat
2. Saluting our Soldiers Series: Part 1 – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
3. Saluting our Soldiers Series: Part 3 – Mental Health & Older Veterans

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 [...]

1. BBC Study on Brain Training in Nature Magazine: BBC Brain Training Program Does Not Work
2. Our Brain Awareness Q&A Session on Movement, Exercise, and the Brain with Dr. G
3. Our Brain Awareness Session on Brain Plasticity & Brain Fitness with Dr. Michael Merzenich

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 [...]

1. Live Blogging the SharpBrains Summit – Day 2
2. Chemobrain and cognitive training
3. HIV-Related Cognitive Decline – Webinar with Dr. Sean Rourke

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 [...]

1. Evaluating Brain Fitness Programs – Which Should I Choose?
2. Our Brain Awareness Session on Brain Foods with Karen Merzenich
3. Our Brain Awareness Q&A Session on Movement, Exercise, and the Brain with Dr. G

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. [...]

1. Our Brain Awareness Session on Brain Plasticity & Brain Fitness with Dr. Michael Merzenich
2. Early Results: European Study Combines Exercise and Brain Training for Memory
3. Our Brain Awareness Q&A Session on Music and the Brain with Kimberly Sena Moore

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 [...]

1. Tinnitus, Music, and Brain Plasticity
2. Tinnitus: A Special Example of a Failure Mode for your Plastic Brain
3. Chemobrain and cognitive training

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 [...]

1. Boomer Coverage, Continued
2. The Coming Costs of Alzheimer’s
3. Why isn’t brain health top of mind?

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 [...]

1. Our Brain Awareness Session on Brain Plasticity & Brain Fitness with Dr. Michael Merzenich
2. Posit Science training programs provide many real-world benefits
3. Live Blogging the SharpBrains Summit – Day 1

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 [...]

1. Brain Games vs. Brain Exercises
2. Announcing the Posit Science Brain Games Page
3. Live Blogging the SharpBrains Summit: “Beyond the Con­tro­versy: Defin­ing ‘Brain Train­ing’ and Its Appli­ca­tions”

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 [...]

1. The Surprising Talents of the Middle Aged Mind
2. For Middle-Aged Women, a Drink a Day Keeps the Doctor Away?
3. Less Meat in Middle Age, Better Memory When You’re Older?