Directory: Web Sites and Articles

Rec­om­mend­ed Websites 

> The Dana Foun­da­tion offers sev­er­al excel­lent online resources:

- Brainy Kids Online offers chil­dren, teens, par­ents and teach­ers links to games, labs, edu­ca­tion resources and les­son plans.

- Brain­Web: gen­er­al infor­ma­tion about the brain and cur­rent brain research, as well as links to val­i­dat­ed sites relat­ed to more than 25 brain disorders.

- Brain Resources for Seniors pro­vides old­er adults and their care­tak­ers with links to sites relat­ed to brain health, edu­ca­tion and gen­er­al information.

> PBS’s The Secret Life of the Brain: fun web­site includ­ing a his­to­ry of the brain, anato­my, illu­sions, brain scan­ning, and devel­op­ment from child through adulthood.

> Brain Aware­ness Week 2008: an inter­na­tion­al series of events to increase pub­lic aware­ness about the brain.

> Soci­ety for Neu­ro­science: neu­ro­science infor­ma­tion for sci­en­tists, the gen­er­al pub­lic, the press, leg­is­la­tors, and educators.

> Healthy Brain Ini­tia­tive: pol­i­cy ini­tia­tive led by the CDC to devel­op a com­pre­hen­sive Cog­ni­tive Health roadmap.

> Brain Health: resources and lifestyle advice pro­vid­ed by AARP.

> Main­tain Your Brain: resources and lifestyle advice pro­vid­ed by the Alzheimer’s Association.

Rec­om­mend­ed Arti­cles and Papers
Good gen­er­al arti­cles in the busi­ness and gen­er­al media:

Want a sharp mind for your gold­en years? Start now

You’re Wis­er Now

Change or Die

On how new neu­rons are born and grow in the adult brain:

Salk Sci­en­tists Demon­strate For The First Time That New­ly Born Brain Cells Are Func­tion­al In The Adult Brain 

Old Brains, New Tricks

On the sur­pris­ing plas­tic­i­ty and devel­op­ment poten­tial through­out life:

Brain Plas­tic­i­ty, Lan­guage Pro­cess­ing and Reading

Jug­gling Jug­gles the Brain

Suc­cess­ful Aging of the Healthy Brain

On Train­ing the Brain to help peo­ple with ADD/ADHD:

Train­ing the Brain: Cog­ni­tive ther­a­py as an alter­na­tive to ADHD drugs

On the impor­tance and impact of men­tal stim­u­la­tion and training:

Brain Work-outs

Train­ing Improves Cog­ni­tive Abil­i­ties of Old­er Adults

On the role of men­tal stim­u­la­tion in pro­tect­ing the brain:

Men­tal stim­u­la­tion staves off dementia

Mind-Build­ing Hob­bies Pre­vent Alzheimer’s

On the impor­tance of build­ing a Brain Reserve:

Lev­el of Job Dif­fi­cul­ty Linked to Alzheimer’s

Oth­er impor­tant aspects:

Stress and the Brain

Exer­cise and the Brain

Humor, Laugh­ter and The Brain

Select­ed Sci­en­tif­ic Abstracts:

Ball K, Berch DB, Helmers KF, et al. Effects of cog­ni­tive train­ing inter­ven­tions with old­er adults: a ran­dom­ized con­trolled tri­al. JAMA. 2002;288:2271–81.

Kling­berg T, Fer­nell E, Ole­sen PJ, et al. Com­put­er­ized train­ing of work­ing mem­o­ry in chil­dren with ADHD–a ran­dom­ized, con­trolled tri­al. J Am Acad Child Ado­lesc Psy­chi­a­try. 2005;44:177–86.

Mah­ncke HW, Con­nor BB, Appel­man J, et al. Mem­o­ry enhance­ment in healthy old­er adults using a brain plas­tic­i­ty-based train­ing pro­gram: a ran­dom­ized, con­trolled study. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006;103:12523–8.

Scarmeas N, Stern Y. Cog­ni­tive reserve and lifestyle. J Clin Exp Neu­ropsy­chol. 2003;25:625–33.

Tar­ra­ga L, Boa­da M, Modi­nos G, et al. A ran­domised pilot study to assess the effi­ca­cy of an inter­ac­tive, mul­ti­me­dia tool of cog­ni­tive stim­u­la­tion in Alzheimer’s dis­ease. J Neu­rol Neu­ro­surg Psy­chi­a­try. 2006;77:1116–21.

Willis SL, Tennst­edt SL, Mar­siske M, et al. Long-term effects of cog­ni­tive train­ing on every­day func­tion­al out­comes in old­er adults. JAMA. 2006;296:2805–14.