Brain Trainer
How to conquer cognitive decline, one game at a time
From: Technology Review - March / April 2006
By: Emily Singer

At a retirement community in San Francisco, a 71-year-old woman is having her
brain trained. She sits at a computer, poised to react to a sequence of
sounds, like "baa, tack, tab, cat." As she hears them, she clicks on the
written equivalents on the computer screen. As her speed and accuracy
improve, the sounds come faster, the sequences grow longer. The process,
researchers say, could give her more years of auditory acuity. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.technologyreview.com/BioTech/wtr_16447,306,p1.html

Links:
Posit Science
http://www.positscience.com/

Michael Merzenich
http://www.ucsf.edu/neurosc/faculty/neuro_merzenich.html
http://www.positscience.com/company/management/executives.php

Charles Decarli
http://alzheimer.ucdavis.edu/research/pis.php

Jeffrey W. Elias
https://ned.nih.gov/SrchDetail.asp?IndvUID=0010961954

National Institute on Aging
http://www.nia.nih.gov/

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Exercise May Be Key to Keeping Your Brain Fit
From: Local ABC (KGO) News - 02/24/2006
Produced and written by: Jennifer Olney

People used to think losing your memory and mental sharpness was an
inevitable part of getting old. But a growing body of research shows you may
be able to keep your brain fit the same way you do your body -- with
exercise. ABC7 gives you a look at computer software designed to teach old
minds new tricks. 

Sooner or later, it happens to everyone -- a momentary lapse that reminds us
we're not getting any younger.  

Kathy: "I'm not 50 yet and I walk into a room and can't remember why I am
there." 

Ralph: "I can remember everything in World War II, but I don't remember what
I did yesterday." 

This graduation ceremony in Livermore is for senior citizens who may have
just turned back the clock on some of that memory loss.  

Grace Curran: "I seem to remember things better and things that I didn't know
was down there just come to the surface." 

The seniors just finished an eight week class using "The Brain Fitness
Program." 

It's computer software designed to improve memory and thinking skills.  

The program was created by a Bay Area company called Posit Science, using
research from a top neuroscientist at UC San Francisco.  

Henry Mahncke, PhD, Posit Science: "This training program really rewires the
way the brain processes, speech." 

Dr. Henry Mahncke: "When you want to remember what you've heard, that
information is sent up here to the front of the brain as well as to
structures in the middle of the brain that deal with memory, and again, the
training program has exercises here that are specifically designed to
strengthen those connections." 

Users do the program for one hour a day, five days a week, for 2 months.  

In this exercise you have to tell if the sound gets higher or lower.  

It's not easy, and it's not supposed to be.  

Maryalyce Fales: "You got very irritated at times, but it was worth every day
I went." 

The company says results vary from person to person. But many show
significant improvement that seems to reverse the brain's aging process.  

Dr. Henry Mahncke: "We typically see in our studies an improvement in memory
and cognitive function of around an average of ten years." 

Stanford University is using brain imaging to try to pinpoint the exact
effects of the program. But the users we talked to are already convinced.  

Johann Hill: "You'll go looking for something, your classes or keys or
something you know. And I found that I can remember where they are a lot
better than I did before the class." 

Dick Angel: "It's opened up doors for keeping aware and alert and growing a
little bit more. At 82, there's still life ahead." 

The brain fitness program is available for groups or individuals, but it's
not cheap. Prices start at $500 dollars.  

Article at:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=assignment_7&id=3939370

Links:
Posit Science
http://www.positscience.com 
