Given cognitive strengths and needs are diverse, what brain training may work best for each person and under which conditions?

Does ‘Brain Train­ing’ Actu­al­ly Work? (Sci­en­tif­ic Amer­i­can): If there were an app on your phone that could improve your mem­o­ry, would you try it? Who wouldn’t want a bet­ter mem­o­ry? After all, our rec­ol­lec­tions are frag­ile and can be impaired by dis­eases, injuries, men­tal health con­di­tions and, most acute­ly for all of us, aging.

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Update: A life of cognitive and physical exercise helps you stay sharp in your 70s and beyond

Wel­come to a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing 13 fas­ci­nat­ing brain research find­ings, use­ful resources–and a brain teas­er to test your atten­tion skills. #1. Good news of the month: Elders today are in sig­nif­i­cant­ly bet­ter shape–physically and cognitively–than three decades ago #2. A dis­tinc­tion WITH a dif­fer­ence: Actu­al, sus­tained practice–not mere knowledge–is need­ed to…

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Study: Self-driving cars will increase motion sickness…unless we retrain our brains to improve visuospatial skills

Is brain train­ing the cure for car sick­ness? (The Sun­day Times): RESEARCHERS from the Uni­ver­si­ty of War­wick think they’ve found the cure for motion sick­ness, a con­di­tion to which a third of peo­ple are high­ly sus­cep­ti­ble and from which any­one can suf­fer. The impli­ca­tions could be sig­nif­i­cant should ful­ly dri­ver­less vehi­cles become a real­i­ty, with passengers…

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Study: Actual, sustained practice–not mere knowledge–is needed to harness neuroplasticity and improve cognition over time

Lifestyle improve­ments may lessen cog­ni­tive decline (Wiley): ” … 19 indi­vid­u­als old­er than 65 years of age who were expe­ri­enc­ing cog­ni­tive decline were ran­dom­ized to a con­trol group or an inter­ven­tion group for 8 weeks. The con­trol group received online infor­ma­tion relat­ed to demen­tia and lifestyle risk fac­tors, Mediter­ranean diet, phys­i­cal activ­i­ty, and cog­ni­tive engagement.…

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Sports teams find creative ways to cross-train the brain off-field

__ HOW TO TRAIN THE BRAIN: COGNITIVE TRAINING IN LACROSSE (US Lacrosse Mag­a­zine): “Bon­nie Rosen has always been inter­est­ed in find­ing a train­ing method that extends beyond the lacrosse field. That pur­suit has tak­en her beyond the restraints of phys­i­cal train­ing in its entire­ty. The Tem­ple women’s lacrosse coach uses vir­tu­al real­i­ty technology 

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Latest brain research, tools and teasers to think outside the mental health status quo box

__ Time for a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing a range of  research find­ings, resources, brain teasers and rid­dles to help trans­late emerg­ing neu­ro­science into real-world appli­ca­tions and improve our col­lec­tive brain & men­tal health. New think­ing: Neu­ro­science tips about grat­i­tude, aging, pain and the brain: An inter­view with Dr. Daniel Lev­itin What’s normal?…

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