Unless you have been living in a cave, you have read by now
multiple articles about the brain training and brain
exercise craze: sudoku, Nintendo BrainAge, multiple online
games, software like MindFit and Posit Science...
How do you know which of them can help you more, or whether
you need any of them? Well, that's why we are publishing
the SharpBrains Checklist below, to help you navigate
through the overwhelming and conflicting media reports and
company announcements.
We have spent over 18 months interviewing scientists and
reviewing available Brain Fitness and Exercise Programs
worldwide, and we are going to share with you, right now,
the research-based criteria we use to evaluate them.
***** 10 Questions to Choose the Right Brain Fitness
Program for You (and a brief explanation of why each
question is important)*****
* 1. Are there scientists, ideally neuropsychologists, and
a scientific advisory board behind the program?
(Neuropsychologists specialize in measuring and
understanding human cognition and brain structure and
function.)
* 2. Are there published, peer-reviewed scientific papers
in PubMed written by those scientists? How many?
(PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of
Medicine that includes millions of citations science
journals. If a scientist has not published a paper that
appears in that database, he or she cannot make scientific
claims.)
* 3. What are the specific benefits claimed for using this
program?
(Some programs present the benefits in such a nebulous way
that it is impossible to tell if they will have any results
or not.)
* 4. Does the program tell me what part of my brain or
which cognitive skill I am exercising, and is there an
independent assessment to measure my progress?
(The question is whether the improvement experienced in the
program will transfer into real life. For that to happen we
need assessments that are distinct from the exercises
themselves.)
* 5. Is it a structured program with guidance on how many
hours per week and days per week to use it?
(Brain exercise is not a magic pill. You have to do the
exercises in order to benefit, so you need clarity on the
effort required.)
* 6. Do the exercises vary and teach me something new?
(The only way to exercise important parts of our brain is
by tackling novel challenges.)
* 7. Does the program challenge and motivate me, or does it
feel like it would become easy once I learned it?
(Good brain exercise requires increasing levels of
difficulty)
* 8. Does the program fit my personal goals?
(Each individual has different goals/ needs when it comes
to brain health. For example, some want to manage anxiety,
others to improve short-term memory...)
* 9. Does the program fit my lifestyle?
(Some brain exercise programs have great short-term results
but are very intense. Others may be better over time)
* 10. Am I ready and willing to do the program, or would it
be too stressful?
(Excess stress reduces, or may even inhibit,
neurogenesis-the creation of new neurons-. So, it is
important to make sure not to do things that stress us in
unhealthy ways.)
We hope this information is useful. Now, go and exercise
your brain!
----------------------------------------------------
Alvaro Fernandez is the CEO and Co-Founder of SharpBrains,
which provides the latest science-based information for
Brain Health and Brain Fitness. Alvaro holds MA in
Education and MBA from Stanford University. He has been
teaching the class Exercising Our Brains at the San
Francisco State University, and will be teaching The
Science of Brain Health at UC-Berkeley Lifelong Learning
Institute. Learn more at
http://www.sharpbrains.com/hottopics .
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