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Com­put­er-Based Cog­ni­tive Train­ing Improves Mem­o­ry Domains in Mul­ti­ple Scle­ro­sis (Neu­rol­o­gy Advi­sor):

“Com­put­er-based cog­ni­tive train­ing may assist in improv­ing mem­o­ry in patients with mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis (MS), accord­ing to a sys­tem­at­ic review pub­lished in Mul­ti­ple Scle­ro­sis and Relat­ed Dis­or­ders.

A total of 9 stud­ies report­ing the use of com­put­er-based cog­ni­tive train­ing in patients with MS were includ­ed in Read the rest of this entry »

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Try adding 3 and 8 in your head.

That was easy. Now, try­ing adding 33 and 88. That was prob­a­bly more dif­fi­cult. Final­ly, try adding 333 and 888.

Time for Sharp­Brains’ Octo­ber e-newslet­ter, this time dis­cussing a range of research find­ings and tech­nolo­gies rev­o­lu­tion­iz­ing brain and men­tal health.

New thinking about cognition, brain and mind:

• Study sug­gests the real deficit under­ly­ing Atten­tion Deficit Dis­or­ders is not Atten­tion, but Work­ing Mem­o­ry (and this is why we asked you try adding 333 and 888…)
• Johns Hop­kins study shows how brain train­ing, if cor­rect­ly tar­get­ed, can enhance cog­ni­tive and brain per­for­mance
• We bet­ter train the mind as we train the body: with cross-train­ing and in good com­pa­ny

Emerging toolkit for brain health & enhancement:

• Next: Brain scans to iden­ti­fy chil­dren at high risk of devel­op­ing mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis (MS) before symp­toms appear
• Tran­scra­nial Direct Cur­rent Stim­u­la­tion (tDCS) can reduce fatigue in patients with Mul­ti­ple Scle­ro­sis (MS)
• Aus­tralian neu­rotech firm rais­es $4m to devel­op neu­ro­feed­back-based head­band aimed at help­ing kids with autism relax and bet­ter engage

News about the 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit (December 5–7th):

• Neu­ro­engi­neer­ing pio­neer Ran­dal Koene to dis­cuss neur­al inter­faces
• Meet 40 Experts and Inno­va­tors shap­ing Brain Health & Enhance­ment on Decem­ber 5–7th
• Reminder: the Brainnova­tions Pitch Con­test is accept­ing sub­mis­sions until tomor­row Octo­ber 31st, 11 PM US Pacif­ic Stan­dard Time. We are look­ing for star­tups world­wide, found­ed no ear­li­er than 2012, for-prof­it or non-prof­it, work­ing on ways to har­ness brain research and emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies to help every per­son thrive in the dig­i­tal age.
• Check out the lat­est Agen­da & Reg­is­ter

And finally, a couple of fun brain teasers to start the week of the right foot:

• Which direc­tion is the bus going?
• The Emp­ty Tri­an­gle

Have a great month of Novem­ber!

The Sharp­Brains Team

White arrows indi­cate abnor­mal­i­ties on MRI brain scans in chil­dren with no symp­toms of mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis.

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MS risk in chil­dren spot­ted with MRI brain scans (Yale News):

“By the time mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis (MS) is diag­nosed in chil­dren, it may be dif­fi­cult to pre­vent the dis­abil­i­ties and relaps­es that come with the dis­ease. In a new Yale School of Med­i­cine study, researchers exam­ined MRI brain scans to iden­ti­fy chil­dren at high risk of devel­op­ing MS before symp­toms appear, which Read the rest of this entry »

Leigh Charvet, PhD and a mem­ber of her research team use the tran­scra­nial direct cur­rent stim­u­la­tion (tDCS) equip­ment. Cred­it: NYU Lan­gone Health

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Tran­scra­nial Direct Cur­rent Stim­u­la­tion Shown to Reduce Fatigue Asso­ci­at­ed with Mul­ti­ple Scle­ro­sis (NYU Lagone Health press release):

“Peo­ple with mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis (MS) who under­went a non-inva­sive form of elec­tri­cal brain stim­u­la­tion expe­ri­enced sig­nif­i­cant reduc­tions in fatigue, a com­mon and often debil­i­tat­ing symp­tom of the dis­ease Read the rest of this entry »

Mer­ck KGaA In Deal With HAP­PYneu­ron To Offer E-Health Solu­tion For MS Patients (Nas­daq):

“Ger­man drug mak­er Mer­ck KGaA (MKGAY.PK) announced Mon­day that it has entered into an agree­ment with HAP­PYneu­ron, a sub­sidiary of SBT Group of France, in which Mer­ck will receive an exclu­sive license to the company’s cog­ni­tive reme­di­a­tion train­ing pro­gram for peo­ple liv­ing with mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis Read the rest of this entry »