What’s an eight-letter word for brainy? Know it or
not, when you answered or attempted to answer the question, you exercised your
brains – or did what’s perhaps the cerebral equivalent of a bicep
curl in the gym.
Call it brain fitness, mental gymnastics, or cerebral calisthenics, all
across the country a cornucopia of computer software, games, and gadgets with
names like BrainBuilder, Happy Neuron, and Mindfit have sprung up, proffering
the promise of sharper, longer-lasting brain cells. The pitch: Just as exercising
at the gym is good for your body, cranial crunches will reward you with a better
brain.
For the longest time, humans believed that the brain was hard-wired by adulthood,
setting the stage for inevitable decline as one’s finite number of brain
cells slowly but surely disappear.
But new research has proven otherwise – you can, after all, teach an old
mind new tricks. “Over the last two decades or so, there has been a revolution
in brain science,” explains Dr. Peter Delahunt, a scientist with San Francisco-based
Posit Science, which develops mind-fortifying software to help halt mental decline.
“We now know that the brain can change [rewiring itself and adding new neurons]
at any age, given the right type of stimulation.”
The burgeoning brain fitness industry is obviously cashing in on million of baby
boomers entering their sunset years, but experts say the benefits are not limited
to seniors hoping to stave off Alzheimer’s or dementia. In fact, according
to Alvaro Fernandez, co-founder and chief executive officer of SharpBrains –
an online “brain gym” with a slew of brain-boosting programs –
with the information age causing more mental distraction than stimulation, people
need to train their brains more than ever before.
Trawling websites, Fernadez adds, might, in fact,
be hazardous to the health of our brain cells, “because that’s basically
training you not to pay attention, not to remember things – [because] you
know you can always find them over the internet…. Many people, I think,
in that sense, outsource their brain to Google.” Training the brain can
help process the flood of information, prioritize what’s important, and
manage stress.
But not all brain exercises are equal, Fernandez stresses. Just as different gym
machines work different parts of the body, different tools sharpen different parts
of the brain. For a well-rounded mental workout, you should attempt something
new, work on variety, and ensure that it gets more difficult over time. In short,
just doing sudoku puzzles or reading a book everyday won’t cut it.
“If you do the same thing over and over again, you’re only exercising
one part of the brain and neglecting others – it’s more entertainment,”
Fernandez explains. “If you work on a machine at the gym but always at the
same difficulty level, you’re using muscle but not building it. The same
thing applies to the brain – you have to always push the limits.”
That’s why computer-based programs, though just one option among many others,
often work best, because they pose active challenges for the brain to solve in
a set amount of time.
“[It’s] not magic …but [these programs] can be very effective
to make sure that every second of that half hour that you have will be used to
exercise your brain, versus just attending a lecture and hearing a guy talk for
half an hour – which, from a cognitive point of view, is not too different
from just watching TV.”
All this talk of brain buzz begs the question: Can brain
exercises make us smarter or more creative? Fernandez says it’s important
to distinguish between intelligence and cognitive abilities. “What people
call IQ is basically logical intelligence, and it neglects to take into account
many other things. Reality is closer to the concept of multiple intelligences,
how some are good at running, some at dancing,” he explains. Cognitive abilities,
on the other hand, which are rooted in neuroscience and neuropsychology, refer
to specific brain functions that can be measured with tests: for example, attention,
memory, language, and the ability to visualize. “The benefit of that approach
is that it’s more real, and it explains how those areas can be trained.”
As for creativity, “pumping neurons,” so to speak, could help, albeit
indirectly. “For instance, a great obstacle to creativity is stress,”
Fernandez continues. “So indirectly, if you reduce the amount of stress
[by improving cognitive functions], you enable people to be more creative.”
Bear in mind, however, that not everything can be trained. “I cannot tell
you how to train your ability to plan better for the future,” Fernandez
admits. “There’s not one specific tool right now in the market with
good results.” Then again, he adds, maybe it’s just a matter of time:
“I’m sure in five years, there will be a very good computer-based
program that improves your ability to plan better in general, because there is
a part of the brain that deals with planning. It’s just we don’t have
that tool right now.”
Not all scientists share his optimism. With studies on the benefits of brain training
still limited in size and scope, some researchers are not convinced computer programs
are the way to go, or if mental gymnastics have any long-term benefits at all.
Dr. Timothy Salthouse, a psychology professor from the University of Virginia
who analyzed an extensive number of studies supporting the popular “use
it or lose it” view of mental aging, concluded in his report published in
the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science that the mental-exercise
hypothesis “is more an optimistic hope than an empirical reality.”
He didn’t discourage it, however, recommending in his report that “people
should behave as though it were true… If you can still do it, then you know
you have not lost it.” Now, what’s a 12-letter word for good thinking?
WHERE TO GET YOUR GRAY MATTER IN GEAR: Brain Fitness Program 2.0 www.positscience.com
The program – 40 one-hour lessons – focuses on listening and memory.
More programs that target other brain processes, such as vision, muscle control,
hearing, and balance, are underway.
BrainBuilder.comwww.brainbuilder.com
The program focuses on improving a person’s working memory with exercises
such as recalling numbers in order.
Happy Neuronwww.happy-neuron.com
Forty web-based games that hone five brain functions: memory, attention, language,
reasoning, and visual/spatial skills.
MindFitwww.e-mindfitness.com
Twenty-four sessions designed to use thrice-weekly with exercises to strengthen
skills such as attention, multitasking, and short-term memory.
MyBrainTrainer.comwww.mybraintrainer.com
Ten short exercises aimed at improving reflexes and skills such as memory, mental
ability, visual recognition, and memory.
SharpBrainswww.sharpbrains.com
This one-stop “brain gym” offers a host of mental fitness programs
that help improve everything from stress management to a basketballer’s
game intelligence. *This Article appeared in Volume
7, Issue 06 of The Wave Magazine.
