eNewsletter: Aerobic and mental training, combined, can significantly improve brain and cognitive health

.

Time for a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ eNewslet­ter, cov­er­ing a range of brain, health and inno­va­tion top­ics. Enjoy!

New thinking:

• What Every­one Should Know About Stress, Brain Health, and Dance
• Vir­tu­al “Brain Games” round­table: Why we can–and should–train our brains
• Why shouldn’t behav­ioral ther­a­py, instead of med­ica­tion, be first-line treat­ment for ADHD?
• Iden­ti­fy­ing and treat­ing the brain roots of men­tal illness

New research:

• Com­bin­ing aer­o­bic and men­tal train­ing can sig­nif­i­cant­ly improve brain and cog­ni­tive health
• Neu­ro­sci­en­tists pin­point the brain and per­for­mance impact of a (per­ceived) judg­men­tal audience
• A per­son­al­ized brain fit­ness pro­gram can help grow hip­pocam­pal vol­ume and improve brain function
• Hear­ing aids, by reduc­ing cog­ni­tive load, can improve brain func­tion in per­sons with hear­ing loss
• Brain scans may pre­dict depres­sion risk bet­ter than clin­i­cal rat­ing scales

New tools:

• Neu­rotech + Vir­tu­al Real­i­ty firm Mind­Maze rais­es $100m
• Neu­ro­track rais­es $6.5m to mar­ket dig­i­tal cog­ni­tive assess­ment and intervention
• Brain mod­el­ling plat­forms, such as Baycrest’s Vir­tu­al Brain, to accel­er­ate brain health innovation
• Tar­get­ed neu­rotech­nol­o­gy to augment–perhaps even take over–neuropharmacology

And, a couple of fun brain teasers:

• Does per­cep­tion equal real­i­ty? Try this quick opti­cal illusion
• Test your men­tal self-rota­tion skills with this quick brainteaser

Have a great month of March!

The Sharp­Brains Team