• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Tracking Health and Wellness Applications of Brain Science

Spanish
sb-logo-with-brain
  • Resources
    • Monthly eNewsletter
    • Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle
    • The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness
    • How to evaluate brain training claims
    • Resources at a Glance
  • Brain Teasers
    • Top 25 Brain Teasers & Games for Teens and Adults
    • Brain Teasers for each Cognitive Ability
    • More Mind Teasers & Games for Adults of any Age
  • Virtual Summits
    • 2019 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • Speaker Roster
    • Brainnovations Pitch Contest
    • 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2016 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2015 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2014 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
  • Report: Pervasive Neurotechnology
  • Report: Digital Brain Health
  • About
    • Mission & Team
    • Endorsements
    • Public Speaking
    • In the News
    • Contact Us

Neuroethics

Time for a universal “exercise prescription” for kids and adults to boost cognition and mental health?

August 31, 2023 by SharpBrains 9 Comments

Wel­come to a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing this time a range of brain research find­ings, tools and con­tro­ver­sies plus some brain teasers to chal­lenge your (and our) work­ing memory.

#1. Major evi­dence review sup­ports an “exer­cise pre­scrip­tion” for most adults to boost men­tal health

“High­er inten­si­ty phys­i­cal activ­i­ty was asso­ci­at­ed with greater improve­ments” and “Effec­tive­ness of phys­i­cal activ­i­ty inter­ven­tions dimin­ished with longer dura­tion interventions.”
The sweet spot was four or five half-hour effort­ful ses­sions per week. Are you hit­ting it?

#2. (Sep­a­rate) Evi­dence review: Phys­i­cal exer­cise helps boost atten­tion, cog­ni­tive flex­i­bil­i­ty and inhibito­ry con­trol in chil­dren and ado­les­cents with ADHD

Not sur­pris­ing but impor­tant find­ings. Next to research: the type, inten­si­ty, and dura­tion that may help the most.

#3. Read­ing for plea­sure dur­ing child­hood may lead to high­er brain/ cog­ni­tive devel­op­ment and men­tal well-being dur­ing adolescence

Cru­cial­ly, “… read­ing for plea­sure in ear­ly child­hood was linked with bet­ter scores on com­pre­hen­sive cog­ni­tion assess­ments and bet­ter edu­ca­tion­al attain­ment in young ado­les­cence. It was also asso­ci­at­ed with few­er men­tal health prob­lems and less time spent on elec­tron­ic devices … can be ben­e­fi­cial regard­less of socioe­co­nom­ic sta­tus. It may also be help­ful regard­less of the children’s ini­tial intel­li­gence lev­el.” — Long Live Books and Read­ing (and, yes, Exercise)!

#4. Vir­tu­al cog­ni­tive behav­iour­al ther­a­py (CBT) accounts for over 30% of NHS men­tal health treat­ments — up from 10% in 2017

“Ear­ly inter­ven­tion is crit­i­cal in pre­vent­ing a patient’s mild to mod­er­ate symp­toms from wors­en­ing” … (but) online ther­a­py may not suit every­one and that it was still up to health­care pro­fes­sion­als to iden­ti­fy “who may and may not benefit”

#5. Just-pub­lished Apple patent sig­nals aim to mea­sure brain activ­i­ty using Air­Pods sen­sor system

Still ear­ly days, but rel­e­vant sig­nal to note and track

#6. Neu­rotech and brain data in con­text: Are “neu­ror­ights” the way to men­tal privacy?

Impor­tant point: “The poten­tial to col­lect brain data more direct­ly, with high­er res­o­lu­tion, and in greater amounts has height­ened wor­ries about men­tal and brain pri­va­cy …(but) We argue that by empha­siz­ing what is dis­tinct about brain pri­va­cy issues, rather than what they share with oth­er data pri­va­cy con­cerns, risks weak­en­ing broad­er efforts to enact more robust pri­va­cy law and policy.”

#7. Hopes and Ques­tions raised by Alzheimer’s drug Leqem­bi (lecanemab)

“Will Leqembi’s pri­ma­ry ben­e­fit — a slight slow­ing of decline in cog­ni­tion and func­tion­ing — make a sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence to patients and fam­i­ly mem­bers or will it be dif­fi­cult to dis­cern? … How many old­er adults in their 70s and 80s will be able and will­ing to trav­el to med­ical cen­ters for infu­sions twice a month and have reg­u­lar MRI scans and physi­cian vis­its to mon­i­tor for poten­tial side effects such as brain bleeds or swelling? Even with Medicare cov­er­age, how many peo­ple will be able to afford the suite of med­ical ser­vices required?”

#8. Its mas­sive price tag: $109,000 per patient, per year

“To qual­i­fy for Leqem­bi, patients must under­go a PET scan that looks for amy­loid plaques, the pro­tein clumps that clog the brains of many Alzheimer’s patients. About 1 in 5 patients who took Leqem­bi in the major clin­i­cal test of the drug devel­oped brain hem­or­rhag­ing or swelling, a risk that requires those tak­ing the drug to under­go fre­quent med­ical check­ups and brain scans called MRIs … Out­stand­ing doubts about Leqem­bi and relat­ed drugs have giv­en urgency to efforts to mon­i­tor patient experiences.”
#9. Final­ly, let’s piv­ot into some­thing more fun. Here are a few brain teasers aimed at chal­leng­ing your work­ing mem­o­ry and help­ing get that brain and mind in great shape for the new academic/ life­long learn­ing year. Please give them a try … they are not as easy as they may sound:

 

Say the days of the week in alpha­bet­i­cal order, then back­wards. If too hard, try the 5 work days first.

If you speak a lan­guage oth­er than Eng­lish, do the same in said language.

Say the months of the year in alpha­bet­i­cal order. Too easy? Well, try doing so back­wards, in reverse alpha­bet­i­cal order. (You will prob­a­bly need some pen and paper for this one.)

Find the sum of your date of birth, mm/dd/yyyy. For a tougher brain teas­er, do the same with your best friend’s date of birth (with­out look­ing it up…)

Look around you and, with­in a minute, find three green things that may fit in your pock­ets, and three red objects that are clear­ly too big to fit.

(more brain teasers here, for teens and adults of every age)
Have a great month of September!

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Red­dit
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Attention & ADD/ADHD, Brain Teasers, Brain/ Mental Health, Education & Lifelong Learning, Peak Performance, SharpBrains Monthly eNewsletter, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: AirPods, Apple, attention, boost mental health, Brain Teasers, brain teasers for adults, brain-activity, brain-teaser, cognitive, cognitive behavioural therapy, cognitive-flexibility, exercise prescription, fun brain teasers, lecanemab, Leqembi, mental health treatments, Neuroethics, neurotech, neurotechnologies, Physical-Exercise, reading, virtual cognitive behavioural therapy, Working-memory

On schools, mental health, digital surveillance, student privacy and parental input

January 5, 2022 by SharpBrains

Op-Ed: School sur­veil­lance on stu­dents’ lap­tops will not help solve the youth men­tal health cri­sis (Los Ange­les Times):

In the past year, school dis­tricts in Cal­i­for­nia and else­where have con­tract­ed with dig­i­tal sur­veil­lance com­pa­nies to spy on stu­dents at school and home, cit­ing the need for men­tal health sup­port dur­ing the pandemic.

Despite being a vig­i­lant and involved par­ent, I found out only recent­ly that my own kids, who attend high school in the Coro­na-Nor­co Uni­fied School Dis­trict, have been under con­stant dig­i­tal sur­veil­lance for the past year. [Read more…] about On schools, men­tal health, dig­i­tal sur­veil­lance, stu­dent pri­va­cy and parental input

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Red­dit
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: digital surveillance, Gaggle, mental health, mental health crisis, Neuroethics, Neurotechnology, parental notification

Studies identify key ethical concerns raised by invasive and non-invasive neurotechnologies

November 23, 2020 by SharpBrains

Stud­ies out­line key eth­i­cal ques­tions sur­round­ing brain-com­put­er inter­face tech (NCSU release):

Brain-com­put­er inter­face (BCI) tech­nolo­gies are no longer hypo­thet­i­cal, yet there are fun­da­men­tal aspects of the tech­nol­o­gy that remain unad­dressed by both ethi­cists and pol­i­cy-mak­ers. Two new papers address these issues by out­lin­ing the out­stand­ing eth­i­cal issues, offer­ing guid­ance for address­ing those issues, and offer­ing par­tic­u­lar insight into the field of BCI tech for cog­ni­tive enhance­ment. [Read more…] about Stud­ies iden­ti­fy key eth­i­cal con­cerns raised by inva­sive and non-inva­sive neurotechnologies

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Red­dit
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Peak Performance, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: BCI, brain-computer interface, cognitive, cognitive-enhancement, ethics, Neuroethics, Neurotechnology, non-invasive neurotechnologies, non-invasive neurotechnology

Lessons from Covid-19: Could a New Normal lead to better brains, bodies and societies?

April 29, 2020 by Alvaro Fernandez

 Image cour­tesy of Pixabay

__

In the age of Covid-19, what is the new nor­mal? How many of us have been expe­ri­enc­ing the heady cock­tail of con­fu­sion, anx­i­ety, and even some sur­pris­ing moments of respite from our recent-past busy rise-and-grind, hus­tle cul­ture routines?

Our social media feeds are filled with urgent and often con­flict­ing imper­a­tives to change our rou­tines and to direct increased vigilance:

  • don’t touch your face, wash our hands-don’t be obses­sive though;
  • cov­er our coughs with your elbow-not a tissue;
  • social dis­tance-with no inter­ac­tion, or maybe with some inter­ac­tion, just watch for your local busi­ness­es as you’re shel­ter­ing-in; and
  • no mat­ter what, don’t panic—you should be scared, but please, stay calm.

–> Keep read­ing my new arti­cle, co-authored with Dr. Karen S. Rom­melfanger, over at Emory Uni­ver­si­ty’s Neu­roethics blog: LESSONS FROM COVID-19: COULD A NEW NORMAL LEAD TO BETTER BRAINS, BODIES, AND SOCIETIES?

Relat­ed resources on stress, phys­i­cal and men­tal health:

  • Explor­ing the human brain and how it responds to stress (1/3)
  • On World Health Day 2020, let’s dis­cuss the stress response and the Gen­er­al Adap­ta­tion Syn­drome (2/3)
  • The frontal lobes, the lit­tle brain down under and “Stayin’ Alive” (3/3)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Red­dit
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health Tagged With: anxiety, confusion, COVID-19, Emory-University, mental health, Neuroethics, new normal

Will better neurotech regulations be enough to address privacy, effectiveness and potential harm concerns?

March 12, 2020 by Alvaro Fernandez

How to address pri­va­cy, eth­i­cal and reg­u­la­to­ry issues: Exam­ples in cog­ni­tive enhance­ment, depres­sion and ADHD from Sharp­Brains

See above the fas­ci­nat­ing pre­sen­ta­tions by Dr. Anna Wexler, Dr. Karen Rom­melfanger and Jacque­line Stud­er on pri­va­cy and ethics dur­ing the 2019 Sharp­Brains Vir­tu­al Sum­mit.

We still lack clear stan­dards and tax­onomies for neu­rotech­nol­o­gy but sev­er­al ini­tia­tives are under­way to antic­i­pate and address the chal­lenges. One impor­tant take-away is that it is impor­tant to be aspi­ra­tional and prag­mat­ic rather than “legal­is­tic” — by con­sid­er­ing diverse pol­i­cy and indus­try per­spec­tives, striv­ing for the widest ben­e­fit with the min­i­mum risks, and bet­ter edu­cat­ing users, we can enable ben­e­fi­cial inno­va­tion in ways that reg­u­la­tion alone –as impor­tant as it is– can­not. [Read more…] about Will bet­ter neu­rotech reg­u­la­tions be enough to address pri­va­cy, effec­tive­ness and poten­tial harm concerns?

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Red­dit
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: effectiveness, Neuroethics, neurotech, neurotech regulation, Neurotechnology, privacy, regulation

Let’s anticipate the potential misuse of neurological data to minimize the risks–and maximize the benefits

February 27, 2020 by SharpBrains

__

The per­ils of open­ing the mind (Boston Globe):

“For­get the joy­stick. Today you can use your mind alone to nav­i­gate vir­tu­al envi­ron­ments or fly real-world drones. You can buy sleek head­bands that read your brain sig­nals and help you med­i­tate or stay focused. Or you can get them for your kids to make sure they’re work­ing, not day­dream­ing [Read more…] about Let’s antic­i­pate the poten­tial mis­use of neu­ro­log­i­cal data to min­i­mize the risks–and max­i­mize the benefits

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Red­dit
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: aggression, brain signals, brain-activity, impulsivity, mind, Neuroethics, neurological, neurological data, neurological problems, perils

Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Top Articles on Brain Health and Neuroplasticity

  1. Can you grow your hippocampus? Yes. Here’s how, and why it matters
  2. How learning changes your brain
  3. To harness neuroplasticity, start with enthusiasm
  4. Three ways to protect your mental health during –and after– COVID-19
  5. Why you turn down the radio when you're lost
  6. Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle Is the Key to Self-Empowered Aging
  7. Ten neu­rotech­nolo­gies about to trans­form brain enhance­ment & health
  8. Five reasons the future of brain enhancement is digital, pervasive and (hopefully) bright
  9. What Educators and Parents Should Know About Neuroplasticity and Dance
  10. The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
  11. Six tips to build resilience and prevent brain-damaging stress
  12. Can brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
  13. What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?
  14. Eight Tips To Remember What You Read
  15. Twenty Must-Know Facts to Harness Neuroplasticity and Improve Brain Health

Top 10 Brain Teasers and Illusions

  1. You think you know the colors? Try the Stroop Test
  2. Check out this brief attention experiment
  3. Test your stress level
  4. Guess: Are there more brain connections or leaves in the Amazon?
  5. Quick brain teasers to flex two key men­tal mus­cles
  6. Count the Fs in this sentence
  7. Can you iden­tify Apple’s logo?
  8. Ten classic optical illu­sions to trick your mind
  9. What do you see?
  10. Fun Mental Rotation challenge
  • Check our Top 25 Brain Teasers, Games and Illusions

Join 12,437 readers exploring, at no cost, the latest in neuroplasticity and brain health.

By subscribing you agree to receive our free, monthly eNewsletter. We don't rent or sell emails collected, and you may unsubscribe at any time.

IMPORTANT: Please check your inbox or spam folder in a couple minutes and confirm your subscription.

Get In Touch!

Contact Us

660 4th Street, Suite 205,
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA

About Us

SharpBrains is an independent market research firm tracking health and performance applications of brain science. We prepare general and tailored market reports, publish consumer guides, produce an annual global and virtual conference, and provide strategic advisory services.

© 2023 SharpBrains. All Rights Reserved - Privacy Policy