apps

To stimulate your brain, find new ways to challenge yourself every day

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For Effec­tive Brain Fit­ness, Do More Than Play Sim­ple Games (The New York Times):

“…Legions of baby boomers already use com­put­ers or apps to stim­u­late the brain, but they should be thought of as part of a larg­er engage­ment with the world…Finding new ways to chal­lenge your­self every day, Mr. Rebok said, is a good idea. This can include lots of ordi­nary activ­i­ties like doing men­tal cal­cu­la­tions rather than reach­ing for a cal­cu­la­tor, or tak­ing a new dri­ving route or eat­ing with the oppo­site hand…

Mr. Fer­nan­dez of Sharp­Brains said he would like to see a more sys­tem­at­ic way to mea­sure cog­ni­tion, such as annu­al men­tal health check­ups. “If we had bet­ter assess­ments, we could empow­er con­sumers,” he said. “That’s the next frontier.”

To learn more:

5 ideas to help knowledge workers increase lifelong learning and productivity

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worker-brains—–

Some apps aim to help you train spe­cif­ic brain func­tions, such as work­ing mem­o­ry. Oth­ers are meant to help you main­tain spe­cif­ic skills, such as use­ful field of view for safe dri­ving. But sup­pose you are read­ing a very insight­ful book and need to mas­ter some of its knowl­edge gems.

What kind of app might you use? [Read more…] about 5 ideas to help knowl­edge work­ers increase life­long learn­ing and productivity

Since more than 50% of people worldwide can’t access appropriate mental health treatments, let’s welcome (and test) mobile health apps

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mobilehealthMen­tal Health: There’s an App for That (Nature):

“Type ‘depres­sion’ into the Apple App Store and a list of at least a hun­dred pro­grams will pop up on the screen. There are apps that diag­nose depres­sion (Depres­sion Test), track moods (Opti­mism) and help peo­ple to “think more pos­i­tive” [Read more…] about Since more than 50% of peo­ple world­wide can’t access appro­pri­ate men­tal health treat­ments, let’s wel­come (and test) mobile health apps

Harnessing virtual reality to practice meditation?

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Med­i­tat­ing in vir­tu­al real­i­ty (Penin­su­la Press):

“Imag­ine you are on a beach in Bali prac­tic­ing yoga at dawn, watch­ing the sun rise beyond the lagoon. The image is so vivid that you almost for­get you are actu­al­ly sit­ting in an office in San Fran­cis­co, wear­ing a vir­tu­al real­i­ty (VR) head­set. [Read more…] about Har­ness­ing vir­tu­al real­i­ty to prac­tice meditation?

Next: Technology to enable patient-centered, collaborative behavioral health and chronic care management

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Tech Is Dri­ving Col­lab­o­ra­tion In Behav­ioral Health (TechCrunch):

“Col­lab­o­ra­tion amongst providers is crit­i­cal in all aspects of med­i­cine, but nowhere is this more true than in behav­ioral health (men­tal health and sub­stance use dis­or­ders), where the costs of poor col­lab­o­ra­tion are sky-high…There is a moun­tain of evi­dence to sug­gest that [Read more…] about Next: Tech­nol­o­gy to enable patient-cen­tered, col­lab­o­ra­tive behav­ioral health and chron­ic care management

Mobile cognitive therapies gain traction as first-line mental health intervention

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thoughtjournalMen­tal health apps let you access ther­a­py from your smart­phone (New Scientist):

“Lie down any­where that suits: the world is now your therapist’s couch. A wide range of apps now deliv­er men­tal-health care straight to your smartphone.

With PTSD Coach, users can dis­creet­ly screen them­selves and learn more about the dis­or­der. Mood­notes keeps track of [Read more…] about Mobile cog­ni­tive ther­a­pies gain trac­tion as first-line men­tal health intervention