Tracking Health and Wellness Applications of Brain Science

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Brain Training Evaluation Checklist

To help con­sumers and pro­fes­sion­als nav­i­gate through the grow­ing num­ber of pro­grams and apps mak­ing “brain fit­ness” or “brain train­ing” claims, we offer this Sharp­Brains SharpBrains ChecklistCheck­list, sourced from The Sharp­Brains Guide to Brain Fit­ness.

10 Ques­tions to Eval­u­ate Brain Fit­ness Pro­grams — and a brief expla­na­tion of why each ques­tion is important:

* 1. Are there sci­en­tists, ide­al­ly neu­ropsy­chol­o­gists, and a sci­en­tif­ic advi­so­ry board behind the program? 

Neu­ropsy­chol­o­gists spe­cial­ize in mea­sur­ing and under­stand­ing human cog­ni­tion and brain struc­ture and function.

* 2. Are there pub­lished, peer-reviewed sci­en­tif­ic papers in PubMed writ­ten by those sci­en­tists? How many?

PubMed is a ser­vice of the U.S. Nation­al Library of Med­i­cine that includes mil­lions of cita­tions sci­ence jour­nals. If a sci­en­tist has not pub­lished a paper that appears in that data­base, he or she can­not make sci­en­tif­ic claims.

* 3. What are the spe­cif­ic ben­e­fits claimed for using this pro­gram? What spe­cif­ic cog­ni­tive skill is the pro­gram training?

Some pro­grams present the ben­e­fits in such a neb­u­lous way that it is impos­si­ble to tell if they will have any results or not. “Brain train­ing” itself is a lim­it­ed ben­e­fit, because activ­i­ties like gar­den­ing or learn­ing a new lan­guage pro­vide “brain train­ing” too…you need to see some­thing more spe­cif­ic, like what cog­ni­tive or emo­tion­al skill that pro­gram is aimed at enhancing.

* 4. Does the pro­gram tell me what cog­ni­tive or emo­tion­al skill I am exer­cis­ing, and is there an inde­pen­dent assess­ment to mea­sure my progress?

The ques­tion is whether the improve­ment expe­ri­enced in the pro­gram will trans­fer into real life. For that to hap­pen we need assess­ments that are dis­tinct from the exer­cis­es themselves.

* 5. Is it a struc­tured pro­gram with guid­ance on how many hours per week and days per week to use it?

Cog­ni­tive train­ing, or brain train­ing, is not a mag­ic pill. You have to do the exer­cis­es in order to ben­e­fit, so you need clar­i­ty on the effort required.

* 6. Do the exer­cis­es vary and teach me some­thing new?

The only way to exer­cise impor­tant parts of our brain is by tack­ling nov­el challenges.

* 7. Does the pro­gram chal­lenge and moti­vate me, or does it feel like it would become easy once I learned it?

Good men­tal exer­cise requires increas­ing lev­els of difficulty.

* 8. Does the pro­gram fit my per­son­al goals?

Each indi­vid­ual has dif­fer­ent goals and needs when it comes to brain health. For exam­ple, some want to man­age anx­i­ety, oth­ers to improve short-term memory.

* 9. Does the pro­gram fit my lifestyle?

Some brain train­ing pro­grams have good short-term results but are very intense. Oth­ers may be bet­ter over time.

* 10. Am I ready and will­ing to do the pro­gram, or would it be too stressful?

Excess stress reduces, or may even inhib­it, neu­ro­ge­n­e­sis-the cre­ation of new neu­rons. So, it is impor­tant to make sure not to do things that stress us in unhealthy ways.

We hope this infor­ma­tion is use­ful. Feel free to share it!

SharpBrains Checklist 10 Ques­tions to Choose the Right Brain Fit­ness Pro­gram for You
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SharpBrains Checklist Bookmark 10 Ques­tions to Choose the Right Brain Fit­ness Pro­gram for You (Book­mark size)
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SharpBrains is an independent market research firm tracking health and performance applications of brain science. We prepare general and tailored market reports, publish consumer guides, produce an annual global and virtual conference, and provide strategic advisory services.

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