Time for the November edi­tion of the monthly Sharp­Brains eNewslet­ter, fea­tur­ing a wealth of resources and insights on how to invest in our brains, including topics such as brain health, meditation, neuropsychology, brain training games, chemo brain, dyslexia, neuroplasticity, cognitive biases, stress, and more. Not to forget a couple of fun teasers. Enjoy!

Brain Fitness Q&A Sessions:

• Transcript: Alvaro Fernandez on Mental Capitalism and Non-invasive Cognitive Enhancement
• Transcript: Dr. Gary Small on Enhancing Memory and the Brain
• Transcript: Dr. Paul Nussbaum on Meditation and Neuropsychology

The Big Picture:

• Steve Jobs: Computers are the Bicycles of the Mind
• Brain Fitness: Definition, Priorities, and Links to Neuroleadership, by Alvaro Fernandez
• Is the University Centered on The Learner or the Professor?, by Miguel Angel Escotet
• Grand Rounds: Best of Health and Medical Blogging, by Alvaro Fernandez

New Research:

• Can Brain Training Games and Biofeedback Help Prevent Depression, by Dr. Pascale Michelon
• ‘Chemo Brain’: MRI Shows Brain Changes After Chemotherapy
• Dyslexia not related to intelligence. Implications for discrepancy model?
• Veterans learn to use yoga and meditation exercises to reconnect with their emotions
• Applied Neuroplasticity: Rewiring the Brain to Ease Pain

New Books:

• What makes your brain happy and why you should do the opposite, by David DiSalvo (We’ll have a Live Q&A on December 9th)
• How cognitive illusions blind us to reason
• The Series on Stress & the Brain, by Dr. Jerome Schultz, continues with: The Little Brain Down Under, The Stress Response Explained, The Human Brain Likes to Be in Balance, To Fight, Flee or Freeze –That is the Question

Brain Teasers:

• Math Teaser: Unfinished Thesis, by Maria Lando
• Math Teaser: How to Choose a Mans Shirt, by Maria Lando
• How many Share This Article links, right below, do you know how to use? Try a couple of them and share via Facebook and Twitter!

Thank you for your interest and attention and have a great December.

AARP recently released a list of Top 5 Best Books for Brain Fitness. SharpBrains.com is honored to have published one of those Top 5 books and to present this Live Q&A Series for you to ask questions to the authors of 3 of those best books on brain fitness. Participants will submit written questions, moderators will select the most important and relevant questions, and book authors will write their answers for everyone to read.

• November 1st, 2011, 2-3pm ET: Dr. Gary Small, author of The Memory Bible
• November 15th, 2011, 2-3pm ET: Alvaro Fernandez, co-author of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness
• November 22nd, 2011, 2-3pm ET: Dr. Paul Nussbaum, author of Save Your Brain
• (in Spanish) November 29th, 2011, 2-3pm ET: Alvaro Fernandez, co-autor de The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness Read the rest of this entry »

We are honored to announce that AARP has included our very own book The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness (182 pages; $14.95) in its new List of Best Books on Brain Fitness, which will be unveiled during AARP’s upcoming Life@50 National Event. We hope this list will help many more individuals and institutions learn about our resource: given that 80% of respondents to a recent AARP survey selected “Staying Mentally Sharp” as their top priority, we certainly know there is a significant need for quality information!

AARP’s Best Books Guide


Brain Fitness

The Dana Guide to Brain Health, by Floyd E. Bloom, M. Flint Beal, and David J. Kupfer (Dana Press, 2006).

The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp, by Alvaro Fernandez and Elkhonon Goldberg. (SharpBrains Inc., 2009).

Save Your Brain: The 5 Things You Must Do To Keep Your Mind Young and Sharp, by Paul Nussbaum. (McGraw-Hill, 2010).

The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind, by Barbara Strauch (Viking, 2010).

The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young, by Gary Small (Hyperion, 2003).

___________

Also Recommended:

The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain, by Gene Cohen (Basic Books, 2006).

The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge (Penguin, 2007).

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, by John Ratey and Eric Hagerman (Little, Brown and Co., 2008).

Think Smart: A Neuroscientist’s Prescription for Improving Your Brain’s Performance, by Richard Restak (Riverhead, 2010).

Compiled by:
Office of Academic Affairs, AARP

Everyone these days is talking about education and testing reform, but why is relevant brain research often ignored? Which organ if not the brain does the learning and teaching part? Renowned educator and brain expert Dr. Robert Sylwester shares his recommended Top Brain Books for Educators and Learners to help inform the conversation. A must read!

Save the Date: the 2011 SharpBrains Summit, the second edition of our annual industry and research conference, will take place virtually from March 28th to March 31st 2010. Details will follow soon.

Without further ado…please enjoy the November edition of our monthly eNewsletter:

Research Bites

Football and brain damage: In high-contact sports such as football, even hits not lead­ing to con­cus­sions can affect the brain.

How to take omega-3: Eat­ing fish (source of omega-3) reduces risks of dementia but DHA sup­ple­ments have no effect on Alzheimer’s symp­toms.

Vitamins against Alzheimer’s? A good review shows that Vit­a­min B has unclear effects on memory and cognitive decline.

Brain training helps older drivers: targeted cognitive train­ing can help reduce older dri­vers’ car crashes. Dr. Michelon explains why and how.

Resources and Tips

Top 10 Q&A about Child’s Brain Development: In the 1st part of our series, The Brain across the Lifespan, we answer 10 questions to help you understand the developing brain.

Our Brain on Music: Scott Kaufman shows that there is little evidence that listening to Mozart’s music boosts brain functions. Music can have an effect, but we need to do more than listen.

Working Memory: What is work­ing mem­ory? Why do we care? How can we best enhance it? Dr. Michelon answers these questions through concrete examples and a Q&A.

Books

Rethinking Alzheimer’s Prevention and Treatment: In this excerpt from their recent book “The Alzheimer’s Solu­tion” Ken Kosik and Linda Clegg pro­pose a new model for brain care: The “cog­ni­tive shop”.

Did You See the Gorilla? Daniel Simons, co-author of  “The Invisible Gorilla”, interviewed by David DiSalvo, tells us about the myth of multi-tasking.

Cognitive Development in the first 20 years: In this excerpt from his latest book “A Child’s Brain”, Dr. Sylwester syn­the­sizes the first 20 years of devel­op­ment.

Council Insights

How will we assess, enhance and repair cognition across the lifespan?: Learn about a brain health revolution in the making and how we can shape it, straight from the new Sharp­Brains Coun­cil for Brain Fit­ness Inno­va­tion.

Brain Teasers

Brain Games for each Cognitive Ability: To understand why we need to go beyond crossword puzzles, stimulate your whole brain with this selection of brain teasers and games.

Have a great December, and please don’t forget to engage via Facebook and Twitter!

The powerful National Association for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has now issued a report that encourages pre-service and graduate teacher education programs to incorporate cognitive neuroscience discoveries about child and adolescent development into their curricula.  This link to a Washington Post article on this development will also get you to the NCATE report.