Table of Contents

Fore­word by Glo­ria Cavanaugh
Intro­duc­tion: Debunk­ing 10 Brain and Brain Fit­ness Myths 
Chap­ter 1. The Brain and Brain Fit­ness 101 
1.1. Brain structures
1.2. Brain functions
1.3. The aging brain
1.4. Neuroplasticity
1.5. Life­long learning
1.6. What is brain fitness?
1.7. Interviews
* Dr. Mike Pos­ner: What is atten­tion and how to train it.
* Dr. James Zull: What is life­long learning?.
* Dr. Eric Jensen: Learn­ing and the brain.
* Dr. Robert Syl­west­er: Cog­ni­tion and Brain development.
* Lee Woodruff: Recov­er­ing from trau­mat­ic brain injury.

Chap­ter 2. The 4 Pil­lars of Brain Maintenance
2.1. Why your lifestyle matters
2.2. Pil­lar 1: Nutri­tion guidelines
2.3. Pil­lar 2: Stress management
2.4. Pil­lar 3: Phys­i­cal exercise
2.5. Pil­lar 4: Men­tal stimulation
2.6. Brain main­te­nance: Alzheimer’s pre­ven­tion or cog­ni­tive enhancement?
2.7. Brain main­te­nance: sum­ma­ry and guidelines
2.8. Interviews
* Dr. Yaakov Stern: The con­nec­tion between build­ing a cognitive
reserve and delay­ing Alzheimer’s symptoms.
* Dr. Lar­ry McCleary: A mul­ti-pronged approach to brain health.
* Dr. Art Kramer: Why we need both phys­i­cal and men­tal exercise.
* Dr. Eliz­a­beth Zelin­s­ki: Healthy aging enhanced with com­put­er-based programs.

Chap­ter 3. Men­tal Exer­cise vs. Men­tal Activity
3.1. What is men­tal exer­cise or brain training?
3.2. Dif­fer­ent types of brain training
3.3. Cog­ni­tive therapy
3.4. Meditation
3.5. Biofeedback
3.6. Com­put­er-based Software
3.7. Brain train­ing soft­ware: An emerg­ing field
3.8. Do brain train­ing soft­ware pro­grams real­ly work?
3.9. Flood of brain train­ing soft­ware with­out taxonomy
3.10. Interviews
* Dr. Judith Beck: The link between brain train­ing and weight loss.
*Dr. Andrew New­berg: The val­ue of meditation.
* Dr. Brett Steen­barg­er: Achiev­ing peak per­for­mance in high-pres­sure professions.
* Dr. Mar­tin Buschkuehl: Can intel­li­gence be trained?
* Dr. Arthur Lavin: Work­ing mem­o­ry train­ing at a pedi­a­tri­cian office.

Chap­ter 4. Brain Train­ing Soft­ware: Pro­files, Eval­u­a­tion Cri­te­ria and 21 Quick Picks
4.1. Which exer­cis­es are most relevant?
4.2. Sharp­Brains check­list to eval­u­ate com­put­er-based programs
4.3. Map­ping the brain train­ing soft­ware landscape
4.4. Top 21 Quick Picks, by purpose
4.5. Top 8 over­all brain main­te­nance products
4.6 .Top 8 tar­get­ed brain work­out products
4.7.Top 5 stress man­age­ment products
4.8. Prod­ucts descrip­tion and highlights
4.9. Over­all brain main­te­nance products
4.10. Tar­get­ed brain work­out products
4.11. Stress man­age­ment products

Chap­ter 5. A Grow­ing Range of Applications
5.1. Healthy aging
5.2. Brain fit­ness cen­ters in res­i­den­tial facilities
5.3. Cog­ni­tive assessments
5.4. Pro­grams to improve dri­ving skills
5.5. Brain disorders
*Stroke / Trau­mat­ic brain injury
* Atten­tion deficit disorders
5.6. Schools
5.7. Insur­ance companies
5.8. Interviews
* Dr. Daniel Gopher: Appli­ca­tions for com­put­er-based cog­ni­tive simulations.
* Dr. David Rabin­er: Brain exer­cise impli­ca­tions for chil­dren with ADD/ADHD.
* Dr. Torkel Kling­berg: Expand­ing work­ing mem­o­ry for chil­dren with ADD/ADHD.
*Dr. Jer­ri Edwards: Improv­ing dri­ving skills.

Chap­ter 6. Ready for the Future?
6.1. Brain fit­ness goes mainstream
* Increased empha­sis on brain maintenance
* Inte­gra­tion of phys­i­cal and men­tal exercise
* Broad gov­ern­ment initiatives
6.2. Lever­ag­ing bet­ter tools
* Assess­ments of cog­ni­tive functions
* Com­put­er-based tools to improve clin­i­cal conditions
* Low tech options
6.3. A grow­ing ecosystem
* Psy­chol­o­gists and physicians
* Insur­ance companies
* U.S. military
* Cor­po­rate America
6.4. Conclusions

Chap­ter 7. Open­ing the Debate
7.1. The case for social engagement
7.2. Book club dis­cus­sion guide

Glos­sary
References
About SharpBrains
Index