Heads up on a couple of good articles, one sharing great brain fitness tips based on the material discussed during our 2013 Summit, the other analyzing the growth of cognitive training service Lumosity.
7 Ways to Optimize Your Brain (Huffington Post):
- “3. Cross-train your brain. The saying “use it or lose it” clearly applies to brain fitness. It’s vital to constantly step out of your comfort zone. SharpBrains CEO Alvaro Fernandez emphasizes “novelty, variety and challenge.” If you play chess, then take up hiking. If you do a lot of physical activities, then learn another language.”
- “7. Monitor yourself. Remember the mood ring? Now there are a host of devices using biosensors to record things like brain waves, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and even mood. For example, Emotiv offers a wireless headset that monitors your brain activity and translates EEG into data you can understand…Misha Pavel, Ph.D., Program Director at the National Science Foundation, said, “We are now in the age of observation. The availability of data allows us to get smarter about our behaviors.”
Small Brain-Training Game Maker Getting Bigger (The Wall Street Journal):
- “Lumos Labs says its Lumosity brain-training game service has reached 50 million members, a nearly 43% increase from the 35 million it announced in January. The San Francisco-based company also says its revenue for the year is on track to more than double from the $23.6 million it rang up in 2012.”
- “Fernandez sees three groups of customers that appear to be most attracted to these products: aging baby boomers who want to stay sharp, professionals who want to get sharper, and parents of kids, particularly those with attention deficit troubles. “It’s for consumers who have done a million Sudoku puzzles and ask: ‘What can I do next to benefit my brain?’” he says.
