Winter is finally in full swing. That, of course, makes driving more dangerous. Icy roads, limited visibility, and early nights all make it harder to stay safe on the road.

It’s a great time of year to consider using Drivesharp, our brain fitness program designed specifically for driving. NIH-funded studies show Drivesharp helps people see more, focus better, and react faster. And when a split second makes the difference between a near miss and a bad crash, a faster, sharper brain can be life-saving. If you’d like to learn more about Drivesharp, click here.

Walking Through a Doorway Really Does Make You Forget

We’ve known for a long time that when it comes to improving the brain, our brain fitness programs beat out puzzles and games.A large new randomized controlled trial underscores that point.The Iowa Healthy and Active Minds Study (IHAMS) has just released interim results showing that our InSight brain fitness program is significantly better for enhancing cognitive function than recreational brain games—specifically, crosswords. To our knowledge, this is the first gold-standard study to put brain training software up against crossword puzzles—and brain training came out the winner.

A pretty amazing new study just came across my desk.Scientists at the University of Michigan published results of the MEMOIR Study earlier this month in the Journal of Cardiac Failure. The study found that using the Posit Science Brain Fitness Program can help ameliorate the cognitive impairments that up to 50% of people with chronic heart failure experience.

September 23 was the first official day of fall—and also National Falls Prevention Awareness Day. National Falls Prevention Awareness Day is dedicated to raising awareness about tools and methods that can help prevent older adults from falling.

Our visual processing brain fitness program, InSight, can help people avoid a fall. It does so by expanding useful field of view, the area a person can take in with a single glance. An NIA-funded study showed that people with poor useful field of view are at significantly higher risk for falls.

It's back to school time, a great time to make a new commitment to one of the most marvelous creations in the world-your brain. Neuroscientists know that the human brain craves learning, and starts to dull when we're not learning enough.

Using one of our programs is often the ideal way to meet that commitment. To make it easier for you, we're offering 30% off any of our programs this week. Just use coupon code BTS30 when ordering!

As always, please feel free to reach out to our Support Community with any questions or comments about Posit Science.

Warm regards,

I recently got back from a summer trip to the East Coast. I always look forward to vacations, where I can see new things, relax in the sun, and meet people I wouldn’t ordinarily meet. And vacations might be just what the doctor ordered for my brain health, too. Check out “Your Brain on Vacation,” a recent article in which our Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Michael Merzenich explains how taking a vacation can boost your brain fitness. You might feel better about taking a few days off and spending a few extra dollars for a special trip!

We’re excited to announce that the United States Department of Defense has awarded Brain Plasticity Inc. (BPI) a $2 million grant to determine the extent to which Posit Science training exercises can improve cognition in returning war veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). These veterans deserve effective, affordable, accessible treatment—and we are thrilled that the Department of Defense sees our training software as a possible solution. We’ll keep you posted over the next two years as the study progresses.

If you like reading news from the world of neuroscience in this newsletter each month, you might want to take a look at our blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. We use those to give more frequent updates on brain research, share fun facts and tips, and occasionally even give products away. There’s a lot happening around Posit Science, and every week I learn something surprising.

As regular readers of this newsletter know, Posit Science remains passionately committed to independent, publishable studies of the efficacy of the exerciseswe make available to the public. At present, there are about 46 published journal articles on the benefits of our exercises for healthy aging and about 15 more for clinical conditions. There are another 13 completed studies ontheir way to publication and 38 others that are underway.