–> You can listen to the 16-minute summary HERE

Description: We occasionally take excursions into our gray matter. In May 2008, Alvaro Fernandez introduced us to the market for brain fitness. A lot has happened since then in brain health, including a shift away from pharma interventions in favor of non-invasive options. Alvaro’s just now publishing the second edition of his book, The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness. With Alvaro, let’s discuss:

• What are common misconceptions about the brain and the mind?
• What’s possible that we believed impossible?
• How can we personalize brain fitness options?
• Where are we headed in the way we invest in our brains?

Kirkus Review

“Your brain is your most precious asset, and it is wise to invest in it,” the authors write. Using charts, drawings, and up-to-date scientific studies, they present the case that any brain, at any age, can change for the better…The brain…is highly dynamic and constantly reorganizing, and it can be shaped and reshaped across a person’s entire lifespan. The authors suggest myriad activities to help the process along…

A stim­u­lat­ing, chal­leng­ing resource, full of solid infor­ma­tion and prac­ti­cal tips for improv­ing brain health.” –Kirkus Review (Full review Here)

Book Excerpts

Here are two book excerpts we believe you will enjoy:

• Does brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
• 6 tips to build resilience and prevent brain-damaging stress

What You Can Do Now

1. If you already have the book, we hope you are enjoying it. Once you finish it, would you mind leaving a customer review wherever you ordered your copy? That helps tremendously. Thank you in advance!
2. If you don’t have the book yet, YOU CAN ORDER IT HERE (print $15.95; e-book $9.95; available worldwide)

We hope you enjoy the book…we are finalizing logistics to host a few fun online events to discuss it in more depth with readers. Details will follow soon.

 How is brain training different from mental stimulation?

Anything we do involving novelty, variety, and challenge stimulates the brain and can contribute to building capacity and brain reserve. For instance, learning how to play the piano activates a number of brain functions (attention, memory, motor skills, etc.), which triggers changes in the underlying neuronal networks. Indeed, musicians have larger brain volume in areas that are important for playing an instrument: motor, auditory and visuospatial regions. However, we need to recognize that such an activity may take thousands of hours before paying off in terms of brain fitness. It constitutes a great and pleasurable mental effort, and helps build cognitive reserve, but it is different by nature from more targeted, efficient, and complementary brain training interventions. To take an analogy from the world of physical fitness, it makes sense to stay fit by playing pickup soccer games and also by training specific muscle groups and capacities such as cardio endurance, abdominal muscles, and thigh muscle. It is not one or the other.

Under what conditions can brain training work?

This is the million dollar question. Evidence is growing that brain training can work. The question remains, however, how to maximize the likelihood of transfer from training to daily life.

Why do we still often hear that brain training does not work? Because of the different understandings of what “brain training” and “work” mean. A machine to train abdominal muscles probably won’t “work” if what we measure is blood pressure. A “plane” won’t fly if it wasn’t a plane to start with, but a donkey.

The most critical factor in determining whether a brain training method or program works is the extent to which the training effects “transfer” to benefits in daily life. We know from common experience that practice usually triggers improvement in the practiced task. Based on our analysis of documented examples of brain training techniques that “work” or “transfer,” we propose that these five conditions must be met for any kind of brain training, from meditation to technology-based programs, to translate into meaningful real world improvements:

1. It must engage and exercise a core brain-based capacity or neural circuit identified to be relevant to real-life outcomes, such as executive attention, working memory, speed of processing and emotional regulation, as well as others discussed throughout the interviews with scientists in this book. Many supposed “brain training” games fail to provide any actual “brain training” because they were never really designed to target specific and relevant brain functions.
2. It must target a performance bottleneck – otherwise it is an exercise in vanity similar to building the largest biceps in town while neglecting the rest of the body. A critical question to ask is: Which brain function do I need to optimize? With physical fitness, effective training begins with a target in mind: Is the goal to train abdominal muscles? Biceps? Cardio capacity? So it goes for brain fitness, where the question becomes: Is the goal to optimize driving-related cognitive skills? Concentration? Memory? Regulating stress and emotions? The choice of a technique or technology should be driven by your goal. For instance, if you need to train your executive functions but use a program designed to enhance speed of processing, you may well conclude that this program does not “work.” But this program may work for somebody whose bottleneck is speed of processing (as often happens in older adults).
3. A minimum “dose” of 15 hours total per targeted brain function, performed over 8 weeks or less, is necessary for real improvement. Training only a few hours across a wide variety of brain functions, such as in the “BBC brain training” experiment, should not be expected to trigger real-world benefits, in the same way that going to the gym a couple times per month and doing an assortment of undirected exercises cannot be expected to result in increased muscle strength and physical fitness.
4. Training must adapt to performance, require effortful attention, and increase in difficulty. This is a key advantage of computerized “brain training” over pen-and-paper-based activities. Think about the number of hours you have spent doing crossword or Sudoku puzzles, or mastering any new subject for that matter, in a way that was either too easy for you and became boring or way too difficult and became frustrating. Interactive training has the capacity to constantly monitor your level of performance and adapt accordingly.
5. Continued practice is required for continued benefits. Just as you wouldn’t expect to derive lifelong benefits from running a few hours this month, and then not exercising ever again, you shouldn’t expect lifelong benefits from a one-time brain training activity. Remember that “cells that fire together wire together” – while the minimum dose described above may act as a threshold to start seeing some benefits, continued practice, either at a reduced number of hours or as a periodic “booster,” is a final condition for transfer to real-world benefits over time.

–This is an adapted excerpt from the new book “The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age” (April 2013; 284 pages). This user-friendly and thought-provoking how-to guide cuts through the clutter of media hype about the latest “magic pill” for better brain health, offering proven, practical tips and techniques that anyone can use to maintain and enhance brain function throughout life and even ward off cognitive decline.

Founder of SharpBrains talks about brain health

“We thought the book would be perfect to educate people on this new understanding of the brain and equally important how to apply it to oneself, which is after all what people really want to do,” Fernandez said. “It’s what we call brain fitness. How people can maintain their brains and minds in top shape.” Keep reading article

Recent studies show that chronic stress can also lead to depression, and even to a higher risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Why? Under stress, the brain’s limbic system — responsible for emotions, memory and learning — triggers an alarm that activates the fight-or-flight response, increasing the production of adrenaline (epinephrine) and cortisol, which work together to speed heart rate, increase metabolism and blood pressure, enhance attention, the immune system and anti-inflammatory response, and lower pain sensitivity — all good things when your very survival is on the line. When the stressful situation is over, the body resets back to normal.

However, under constant stress, the body is unable to reset. High adrenaline and cortisol levels persist, potentially causing blood sugar imbalances and blood pressure problems, and whittling away at muscle tissue, bone density, immunity and inflammatory responses. These events block the formation of new neural connections in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for encoding new memories. When these new connections are blocked, the hippocampus can actually shrink in size, hindering memory.

Too much stress can almost make us “forget” how to make changes to reduce that stress, limiting the mental flexibility needed to find alternative solutions and triggering general adaptation syndrome (GAS) — better known as “burnout” — which makes us feel unmotivated and mentally exhausted.  This is why, next time you forget someone’s name at a party, try to not obsess about remembering it. Instead, make fun of your DNA (we are all human, aren’t we). The name in question is then more likely to appear in your mind when you less expect it.

What Can You Do?

Rather than simply living with stress, learning how to effectively master our stress levels and build emotional resilience can not only help you feel and perform better on a daily basis, but also protect your brain from the long-term damaging effects of stress. Here’s how to do it:

1. Get some exercise: Studies show that aerobic exercise helps build new neurons and connections in the brain to counteract the effects of stress. In fact, a 2012 study found that people who exercised very little showed greater stress-related atrophy of the hippocampus (the part of the brain that stores memories) compared to those who exercised more. Regular exercise also promotes good sleep, reduces depression and boosts self-confidence through the production of endorphins, the “feel-good” hormones.
2. Relax: Easier than it sounds, right? But relaxation — through meditation, tai chi, yoga, a walk on the beach, or whatever helps to quiet your mind and make you feel more at ease — can decrease blood pressure, respiration rate, metabolism and muscle tension. Meditation, in particular, is tremendously beneficial for managing stress and building mental resilience. Studies also show that getting out into nature can have a positive, restorative effect on reducing stress and improving cognitive function. So move your yoga mat out into the yard, or turn off that treadmill and take a walk in the park. Your brain will thank you for it.
3. Socialize: When your plate is running over and stress takes over, it’s easy to let personal connections and social opportunities fall off the plate first. But ample evidence shows that maintaining stimulating social relationships is critical for both mental and physical health. Create a healthy environment, inviting friends, family and even pets to combat stress and exercise all your brains.
4. Take control: Studies show a direct correlation between feelings of psychological empowerment and stress resiliency. Empowering yourself with a feeling of control over your own situation can help reduce chronic stress and give you the confidence to take control over your brain health. Some videogames and apps based on heart rate variability can be a great way to be proactive and take control of our stress levels.
5. Have a laugh: We all know from personal experience that a good laugh can make us feel better, and this is increasingly backed by studies showing that laughter can reduce stress and lower the accompanying cortisol and adrenaline levels that result. Having fun with friends is one way to practice to two good brain health habits at once. Even just thinking about something funny can have a positive effect on reducing stress and the damage it causes to your brain.
6. Think positive: How you think about what stresses you can actually make a difference. In one study at Harvard University, students were coached into believing that the stress they feel before a test could actually improve performance on graduate school entrance exams. Compared with students who were not coached, those students earned higher scores on both the practice test and the actual exam. Simply changing the way you look at certain situations, taking stock of the positive things in your life and learning to live with gratitude can improve your ability to manage stress and build brain resilience.

Living with high levels of sustained stress can have a profound negative impact on your psychological and brain health. While often there is little we can do to change the stressful situation itself, there are many things we can do to alter or manage our reactions to it. Managing stress  and mastering our own emotions through simple lifestyle changes and the use of basic techniques that anyone can do can help reduce stress-related damage to the brain, improve emotional resilience and thwart cognitive decline as we age.

–This is an adapted excerpt from the new book “The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age” (April 2013; 284 pages). This user-friendly, how-to guide cuts through the clutter of media hype about the latest “magic pill” for better brain health, offering proven, practical tips and techniques that anyone can use to enhance and maintain brain function throughout life and even ward off cognitive decline.

Study:  Long-Term Enhancement of Brain Function and Cognition Using Cognitive Training and Brain Stimulation (Current Biology)

• Abstract: Noninvasive brain stimulation has shown considerable promise for enhancing cognitive functions by the long-term manipulation of neuroplasticity. However, the observation of such improvements has been focused at the behavioral level, and enhancements largely restricted to the performance of basic tasks… Five consecutive days of TRNS-accompanied cognitive training enhanced the speed of both calculation– and memory-recall-based arithmetic learning…Testing 6 months after training revealed long-lasting behavioral and physiological modifications in the stimulated group relative to sham controls for trained and nontrained calculation material. These results demonstrate that, depending on the learning regime, TRNS can induce long-term enhancement of cognitive and brain functions. Such findings have significant implications for basic and translational neuroscience, highlighting TRNS as a viable approach to enhancing learning and high-level cognition by the long-term modulation of neuroplasticity.

Related articles:

• Can Direct Brain Stimulation Boost Performance?
• When 1 + 1 = 5: Dyscalculia and Working Memory

Will be back up in Canada on June 12th, in Vic­to­ria, BC, to deliver a keynote on How Can We Invest In Our Brains To Boost Inno­va­tion and Resilience, at the Con­fer­ence Board of Canada’s Annual Coun­cil of Human Resource Executives. It’s been fascinating to observe the growing interest in Canada in how brain research can be applied to enhance living and well-being, in some aspects well ahead of us here in the US. This is one of the slides I’ll be making most emphasis on, as it captures the opportunity well:

Relevant recent study: Defense Automated Neurobehavioral Assessment (DANA)-Psychometric Properties of a New Field-Deployable Neurocognitive Assessment Tool (Military Medicine)

• Abstract: The Defense Automated Neurobehavioral Assessment (DANA) is a new neurocognitive assessment tool that includes a library of standardized cognitive and psychological assessments, with three versions that range from a brief 5-minute screen to a 45-minute complete assessment. DANA is written using the Android open-source operating system and is suitable for multiple mobile platforms. This article presents testing of DANA by 224 active duty U.S. service members in five operationally relevant environments (desert, jungle, mountain, arctic, and shipboard). DANA was found to be a reliable instrument and compared favorably to other computer-based neurocognitive assessments. Implications for using DANA in far-forward military settings are discussed.

Transforming Diagnosis

Patients with mental disorders deserve better. NIMH has launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project to transform diagnosis by incorporating genetics, imaging, cognitive science, and other levels of information to lay the foundation for a new classification system…”

No One Is Abandoning the DSM, but It Is Almost Time to Transform It (SciAm blog post): “Let me be clear: mental illness is real, but the discrete categories of illness in the DSM might not exist outside its pages…NIMH has, however, been working on an endeavor known as the Research Domain Criteria Project, or RDoC for short, which encourages psychologists, neuroscientists and other scientists to think outside the DSM box—to begin transitioning away from established DSM disorders and instead study fundamental biological and cognitive processes underlying mental illness. The important distinction here is between clinical practice and research. The NIMH is not in any way saying that clinicians should stop using the DSM, but it does think that the DSM has constrained research…

Insel echoed these comments in a separate e-mail: “We cannot ‘ditch’ or ‘reject’ terms like schizophrenia or bipolar. We just need to view them as constructs, perhaps including many different disorders that require different treatments or obscuring disorders than cut across the current categories. A symptom-only system will not be sufficient for identifying brain disorders—whether the initial label is dementia or schizophrenia…”

Related articles:

• The State of Per­son­al­ized Medicine: The Role of Biomarkers
• Per­son­al­ized Med­i­cine in Psychiatry: from DSM to brain-based RDoC, iSPOT-D and biomarkers
• Working with Healthcare Stakeholders towards Brain-Based Personalized Medicine

Pic courtesy of BigStockPhoto

Study shows mental agility game slows cognitive decline in older people

Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Training Using a Visual Speed of Processing Intervention in Middle Aged and Older Adults (PLOS ONE)

• Background: Age-related cognitive decline is common and may lead to substantial difficulties and disabilities in everyday life. We hypothesized that 10 hours of visual speed of processing training would prevent age-related declines and potentially improve cognitive processing speed.
• Methods: Within two age bands (50–64 and≥65) 681 patients were randomized to (a) three computerized visual speed of processing training arms (10 hours on-site, 14 hours on-site, or 10 hours at-home) or (b) an on-site attention control group using computerized crossword puzzles for 10 hours. The primary outcome was the Useful Field of View (UFOV) test, and the secondary outcomes were the Trail Making (Trails) A and B Tests, Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Stroop Color and Word Tests, Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), and the Digit Vigilance Test (DVT), which were assessed at baseline and at one year. 620 participants (91%) completed the study and were included in the analyses. Linear mixed models were used with Blom rank transformations within age bands.
• Conclusion: Visual speed of processing training delivered on-site or at-home to middle-aged or older adults using standard home computers resulted in stabilization or improvement in several cognitive function tests. Widespread implementation of this intervention is feasible.

–> To learn more about cognitive training and personalized brain training, check out our new book The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age