Cognitive-Training

Bayer to support 11 digital health startups, 5 of which are developing behavioral/ cognitive/ mental health solutions

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Bay­er inks deals with eleven star­tups under G4A Dig­i­tal Health Part­ner­ships pro­gram (press release):

“Bay­er announced today that the com­pa­ny has signed col­lab­o­ra­tion agree­ments with eleven dig­i­tal health star­tups. As part of the pro­gram, Bay­er will sup­port these start­up com­pa­nies aim­ing for longer-term col­lab­o­ra­tions to dri­ve for­ward the devel­op­ment of spe­cif­ic dig­i­tal solu­tions to improve patients’ health [Read more…] about Bay­er to sup­port 11 dig­i­tal health star­tups, 5 of which are devel­op­ing behavioral/ cognitive/ men­tal health solutions

Report calls for wide classroom-based adoption of ten brain fitness programs designed to improve foundational executive functions

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Nation­al Non­prof­it Releas­es Report Call­ing for Brain Fit­ness Inter­ven­tions in All U.S. Schools (press release):

“Brain­Fu­tures released a report today that makes a clear case for inte­grat­ing proven brain fit­ness pro­grams into all U.S. class­rooms. Over a decade of research has shown that evi­dence-based pro­grams can improve stu­dents’ exec­u­tive func­tion skills and proso­cial behav­iors, which are more accu­rate pre­dic­tors of aca­d­e­m­ic readi­ness and life suc­cess than IQ or any oth­er per­for­mance mark­ers. [Read more…] about Report calls for wide class­room-based adop­tion of ten brain fit­ness pro­grams designed to improve foun­da­tion­al exec­u­tive functions

Can trained older brains outperform untrained younger ones at demanding cognitive tasks? Quick answer: YES

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Online brain games can extend in-game ‘cog­ni­tive youth’ into old age (Sci­ence News):

“A Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Irvine-led study has found that online brain game exer­cis­es can enable peo­ple in their 70s and even 80s to mul­ti­task cog­ni­tive­ly as well as indi­vid­u­als 50 years their junior. This is an increas­ing­ly valu­able skill, giv­en today’s dai­ly infor­ma­tion onslaught, which can divide atten­tion and be par­tic­u­lar­ly tax­ing for old­er adults [Read more…] about Can trained old­er brains out­per­form untrained younger ones at demand­ing cog­ni­tive tasks? Quick answer: YES

Trend: Consumers spend significantly more on digital brain health and neurotechnology apps

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Peo­ple spent $1.9 bil­lion last year on apps to keep their brains sharp as they age — here’s what actu­al­ly works (Mar­ket­Watch):

“With an aging pop­u­la­tion wor­ried about cog­ni­tive decline and demen­tia, such train­ing pro­grams have seen a burst in pop­u­lar­i­ty in recent years. Con­sumers spent an esti­mat­ed $1.9 bil­lion on dig­i­tal brain health and neu­rotech­nol­o­gy apps in 2018, a four­fold increase from $475 mil­lion in 2012, accord­ing to glob­al data from Sharp­Brains, an inde­pen­dent mar­ket-research firm.

But despite the ris­ing inter­est in cog­ni­tive train­ing, evi­dence of its ben­e­fits is still a mixed bag, experts say. [Read more…] about Trend: Con­sumers spend sig­nif­i­cant­ly more on dig­i­tal brain health and neu­rotech­nol­o­gy apps

Study finds training-induced neuroplasticity even in patients with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI)

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Images show pre­frontal con­nec­tiv­i­ty pat­terns after cog­ni­tive train­ing in indi­vid­u­als who suf­fered trau­mat­ic brain injury. Kih­wan Han et al (2018)

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Cog­ni­tive train­ing reduces depres­sion, rebuilds injured brain struc­ture & con­nec­tiv­i­ty after trau­mat­ic brain injury (UT-Dal­las release):

“New research from the Cen­ter for Brain­Health at The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas at Dal­las shows that cer­tain cog­ni­tive train­ing exer­cis­es can help reduce depres­sion and improve brain health in indi­vid­u­als years after they have suf­fered a trau­mat­ic brain injury (TBI).

The recent study [Read more…] about Study finds train­ing-induced neu­ro­plas­tic­i­ty even in patients with chron­ic trau­mat­ic brain injury (TBI)

Lifestyle and neurotechnology over genetics

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Dear col­league,

It’s remark­able how quick­ly things are chang­ing, final­ly, in brain health and men­tal health — see for exam­ple what’s new with Inter­ax­on, Akili, Neu­raMetrix, Apple, Calm, Halo Neu­ro­science, Mind­strong Health, Novar­tis, Pear Ther­a­peu­tics, and life­long neu­ro­ge­n­e­sis, all in the last 6 months!

Please enjoy the May edi­tion of Sharp­Brains eNewslet­ter below, and con­sid­er join­ing the Sharp­Brains Vir­tu­al Sum­mit this Decem­ber to dis­cuss the lat­est and help shape the next 🙂

New research:

New tools:

New thinking:

 

Have a great month of June,

 

The Sharp­Brains Team