Depending on where you live, you may have seen our new commercial on TV. We are really proud of it- because it reminds people that among other benefits, Posit Science programs are clinically proven to help people improve their memory and auditory processing, cut crash risk in half, and protect health-related quality of life for [...]
Tags: brain fitness, brain training, commercial, contest, giveaway
Posted March 16, 2010 by Karen under Benefits of Brain Fitness, Brain Fitness Marketing, Brain Fitness Program, Brain exercise, DriveSharp, InSight, Memory, Posit Science software, Processing speed, Research studies
I’ve never really been a “beach person” when it comes to vacations. For me, a great vacation is about going to new places and immersing myself in different cultures. Experiencing a new language, finding new ways of seeing, and pushing culinary boundaries are my idea of good fun. Yes, I’ve gotten lost, had to rely [...]
Tags: brain function, lifestyle, neurology, travel
Posted March 15, 2010 by Sharon under Odds and Ends, Research studies
It has become clear over the last few years that one of the many benefits of regular physical exercise is a better functioning brain. In a recent review paper Erickson and Kramer (2009) noted the following:
People who exercise regularly have larger volumes of grey matter in important regions of the [...]
Tags: brain fitness, Brain plasticity, Exercise, lifestyle, scientific studies
Posted March 10, 2010 by Peter under Brain exercise, Exercise, Physical exercise, Posit Science software, Research studies
Of all the issues around brain development, the most interesting to me has always been that of language learning- especially relating to second language learning. It probably has to with my background: my Dad is from Iran, and in my early childhood I spoke Farsi with him and English with my Mom. Eventually, though, my [...]
Tags: bilingual, brain development, dementia, Foreign language, language, monolingual
Posted March 9, 2010 by Cyrus under Benefits of Brain Fitness, Brain plasticity, Neuroscience, Odds and Ends, Research studies
Does thinking burn calories? I’ve often wondered about that, and today I came across a Q&A article in New Scientist on that very topic. According to behavorial neuroscientist Ewan McNay, who has conducted research in this area,
“A rough calculation suggests that thinking hard about a task for 30 minutes might burn about 1/30th of a [...]
Tags: calories, Exercise, thinking
Posted March 3, 2010 by Karen under Neuroscience, Odds and Ends, Research studies
As someone with a deep interest in music, I’ve often wondered about that age-old question: where does music come from? It’s become a cliché for musicians to wax philosophical about how their creative impulses come from “deep within” or that improvisation is a way of expressing their “true self”, but good luck getting anything more [...]
Tags: Charles Limb, creativity, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, improvisation, jazz, Johns Hopkins, medial prefrontal cortex, MRI, music
Posted March 1, 2010 by Cyrus under Brain exercise, Neuroscience, Odds and Ends, Research studies
There was an intriguing article in Scientific American last week called “Think Twice: How the Gut’s ‘Second Brain’ Influences Mood and Well-Being.” Although I work at a neuroscience company, I was unfamiliar with the “second brain.” It turns out it’s a mass of tissue in our intestines that shares many qualities with our brains–millions of [...]
Tags: central nervous system, neurology, peripheral nervous system, second brain
Posted February 22, 2010 by Marghi under Odds and Ends, Research studies
Science magazine is reporting on a new study that found that oxytocin, the so-called “trust hormone”, may be beneficial in dealing with the symptoms of autism. In two small studies conducted in Toronto, researchers administered oxytocin inhalers to children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. Following the oxytocin dose, the children, who previously had difficulty interacting [...]
Tags: Asperger's syndrome, autism, oxytocin
Posted February 19, 2010 by Karen under Brain plasticity, Neuroscience, Odds and Ends, Research studies
Recently, I read an article about the promise of a nutritional drink called Souvenaid for Alzheimer’s treatment. (My co-worker wrote a great blog post about it a couple of weeks ago.) As reported in CNN, early studies showed the drink had the potential to improve certain types of memory in Alzheimer’s patients.
Then I found another [...]
Tags: Alzheimer's, Brain plasticity, breakthrough, CNN, media, murali doraiswamy, science claims, scientific studies, Souvenaid
Posted February 18, 2010 by Marghi under Brain Fitness Marketing, Brain plasticity, Neuroscience, Odds and Ends, Research studies
At the Transportation Research Board annual meeting last year I attended a talk by Dr. Fredric Wolinsky of the University of Iowa. Along with his colleagues, he conducted an analysis of participants in the ACTIVE clinical trial, the largest study of cognitive training performed to date. He found that people who had done ten hours [...]
Tags: ACTIVE study, brain fitness, brain training, Fredric Wolinsky, medical expenditures, Medicare, scientific studies, University of Iowa
Posted February 16, 2010 by Peter under Benefits of Brain Fitness, Brain exercise, DriveSharp, Exercise, InSight, Neuroscience, Posit Science software, Processing speed, Research studies