Update: New brain science leads to new tools and to new thinking

We often view mem­o­ry, think­ing, emo­tions, as com­plete­ly sep­a­rate enti­ties, but they tru­ly are part of the same process. So, if we want to improve brain health, we need to pay atten­tion to the “weak link” in that process. In today’s soci­ety, man­ag­ing stress and neg­a­tive emo­tions is often that weak link, as we dis­cuss dur­ing Octo­ber Q&A ses­sion with par­tic­i­pants in Sharp­Brains’ new e‑course. Time now for Sharp­Brains’ Octo­ber 2012 eNewslet­ter, fea­tur­ing new sci­ence, new resources and new thinking.

New sci­ence:

• Why Both aer­o­bic and cog­ni­tive exer­cise pro­mote brain health
• Beta amy­loid build-up in the brain may increase risk of cog­ni­tive impair­ment more than hav­ing “Alzheimer’s gene”
• Sur­vey: 40% who dis­con­tin­ue ADHD med­ica­tion treat­ment con­cerned about loss of self
• Dri­ving with satel­lite nav­i­ga­tion con­tributes to inat­ten­tion­al blindness
• SSRI anti­de­pres­sants linked to increased risk of stroke

New tools:

• Can biofeed­back-based videogames help kids reg­u­late anger and emotions?
• Mon­i­tor­ing cog­ni­tion via mobile appli­ca­tions: iPad app analyzed
• Biofeed­back now a “Lev­el 1 — Best Sup­port” inter­ven­tion for atten­tion & hyper­ac­tiv­i­ty behaviors
• Com­bin­ing non-inva­sive brain stim­u­la­tion with cog­ni­tive train­ing to treat Alzheimer’s Disease
• The Dig­i­tal Future of Men­tal Health
• New self-paced course: How to Be Your Own Brain Fit­ness Coach

New think­ing:

• Can brain train­ing reduce can­cer risk?
• Har­ness­ing neu­ro­plas­tic­i­ty to dri­ve and repair brain development
• Mas­ter a new lan­guage and grow hip­pocam­pus and cere­bral cortex
• Mea­sur­ing and treat­ing Chemo Brain
• Medicare to update reim­burse­ment cri­te­ria for degen­er­a­tive dis­eases such as Alzheimer’s, MS, Parkinson’s disease
• Octo­ber Q&A ses­sion with par­tic­i­pants in Sharp­Brains new e‑course

That’s it for now. Have a Hap­py Halloween!

Pic cour­tesy of Big­Stock­Pho­to