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The Science and Practice of Brain Fitness
1. The Science and Practice of
Brain Fitness
Alvaro Fernandez. June 10th, 2008
2. An Introduction to SharpBrains
Brain Fitness Market Research and Advisory Services:
Independent, not affiliated with products/ vendors.
For institutions: Market Research, Consulting and Training Services.
For individuals: Blog and Educational Website
Co-Founded by neuroscientist Elkhonon Goldberg and
executive & educator Alvaro Fernandez.
Member of Scientific American Partner Network.
Over 10 scientists, educators, as blog Expert Contributors.
Featured by NYT, US News & World News, Reuters…
Learn more: www.sharpbrains.com
You can find all teasers that follow at:
www.sharpbrains.com/teasers
Contact: Alvaro Fernandez at information@sharpbrains.com
3. Industry-leading publications
State of the Brain Brain Fitness 101 eGuide: 10-Questions Checklist
Fitness Software Answers to Your Top 25 to Evaluate Programs
Market 2008 ($495) Questions (Free) Making Brain Fitness
Claims (Free)
4. An Introduction to our Webinar Series
#1: “The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market,
2008”
May 27th
#2: “Brain Rules for Thinking Smarter”, with John Medina
June 3rd
#3: “The Science and Practice of Brain Fitness”, based
on classes ad speaking engagements
June 10th
5. Key take-aways
Groundbreaking studies show the value of Mental
Stimulation and Stress management, on top of nutrition
and physical exercise.
We have “3 brains” and 7 key “mental muscles”.
Good brain exercise requires:
- Novelty
- Variety
- Challenging Practice
There is an increasing number of science-based
computer-based programs to train specific cognitive
skills. None is a General Solution/ “magic pill”.
6. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Executive
Sensory
Language
Visual
7. And let’s create some synapses
Which word in the English language is most
often pronounced incorrectly?
Would you rather a crocodile attack you or an
alligator?
What is the next number in the sequence
2 5 7 12 19 31 _
8. Let’s work out some neurons while checking
our attention and processing speed
Quickly, name the colors of the following words
9. How Accurate is your Memory?
Draw the face of a penny.
Which penny is the right one?
10. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Executive
Sensory
Language
Visual
11. The “3 brains”
1) Reptilian:
3) “Human”: 2) Mammalian:
breathing,
thoughts emotions
movement
Graph by Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind
12. Parts of the cortex- the “human” brain
Deals with the most integrated brain functions:
Frontal Lobe
thinking, conceptualizing and planning.
Movement, orientation, calculation and certain
Parietal Lobe
types of recognition.
Temporal Lobe Auditory and language
Occipital Lobe Visual
Graph by Morphonix
13. New research at the intersection of Cognition
and Emotion
Some areas that typically improve as we age
Self-regulation
Emotional functioning
Wisdom: move from Problem solving to Pattern recognition
Some areas that typically decline as we age
Effortful, deliberative and resource-intensive
Processing speed
Memory: working, recall, source
Attention: selective, divided
Mental imagery
Problem-solving
For all, our actions influence the rate of improvement and/ or
decline
Source: Laura Carstensen, several papers (2005)
14. The source of a few miscommunications
Graph by Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind
15. What happens when we learn something new
New Old
Graph by Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind
22. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Sensory
Language
Visual
Executive
23. Motor coordination
Draw a circle with the right hand and a
square with the left one
Now, draw a square with the right hand and a
circle with the left one
Sign up for a dancing class!
24. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Sensory
Language
Visual
Executive
25. Visualization for relaxation
Travel back to a time
Index: when you felt a healthy exhaustion
Middle: loving exchange
Ring: most caring gesture you have ever received
Little: most magnificient place you have seen
Source: Five Good minutes, by Jeffrey Brantley
26. The interaction of Emotion, Focus and
keeping an Open Mind (basket example)
27. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Sensory
Language
Visual
Executive
28. What is a memory and what is a pattern
Usual perception: memories are like snapshots
taken by a camera
Reality: memories are circuits of neurons. We
recreate experiences, not retrieve copies
Intuition: condensation of analytic experiences.
Illustration by Elkhonon Goldberg, The Wisdom Paradox
29. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Sensory
Language
Visual
Executive
31. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Sensory
Language
Visual
Executive
32. Haiku
Write a haiku that expresses what area of
brain research you are most interested in and
why.
Haiku: A Japanese lyric verse form that has three
lines of five, seven, and five syllables.
33. Content
First, let’s warm-up
Science and trends
Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
Motor coordination
Emotions
Memory
Sensory
Language
Visual
Executive
37. Towers of Hanoi: What is the minimum
number of moves you need to place the disks
in column C (you can not place a large plate
on top of a smaller one)?
A B C
38. Key take-aways
Groundbreaking studies show the value of Mental
Stimulation and Stress management, on top of nutrition
and physical exercise.
We have “3 brains” and 7 key “mental muscles”.
Good brain exercise requires:
- Novelty
- Variety
- Challenging Practice
There is an increasing number of science-based
computer-based programs to train specific cognitive
skills. None is a General Solution/ “magic pill”.
39. Thanks for your attention!
For information and teasers:
Visit www.sharpbrains.com
contact Alvaro at
information@sharpbrains.com