Archive for Brain Fitness

On mental fitness beliefs, lifestyles and new tools like apps, digital therapeutics, virtual reality, “brain age gaps” and more

Welcome to a new edition of SharpBrains’ e‑newsletter, featuring timely brain & mental health news and a fun couple of math brain teasers.

#1. Study on the “ABCs of Mental Health” finds that simply believing you can improve mental wellbeing helps actually improve it

Beliefs matter.

#2. “Digital therapeutics” vs. “Mental health apps”: A growing debate on standards, regulation and efficacy

Definitions matter.

#3. How ’sleeping on it’ can help the prefrontal cortex regulate emotional responses, making us feel better in the morning

Sleep matters.

#4. NICE in the UK issues recommendation for Sleepio app, the digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia by Big Health

Innovation matters: “At a price of £45 per person, Sleepio is cost saving compared with usual treatment in primary care. This is based on an analysis of primary care resource use data before and after Sleepio was introduced in 9 GP practices. Healthcare costs were lower at 1 year, mostly because of fewer GP appointments and sleeping pills prescribed.”

#5. New book provides practical guidance for women (and men) to rebalance our lifestyles and build Cognitive Reserve

Lifestyle matters: “The more complex our lives are, the more we need simple things that can ground us and help us to be more resilient – to rebalance and rebalance and rebalance again. Building the mental muscles to find balance when one gets off balance is a critical skill thrive and to build cognitive reserve in our fast-changing times. As our monthly gatherings showed us over the years, practicing rebalance in good company not only reinforces neural pathways and capabilities but also strengthens the bonds of trust and confidence that are invaluable to build a healthy environment to thrive in.”

#6. Study: Automated VR psychotherapy can help reduce anxiety and distress, especially among those with psychosis and severe agoraphobia

One of the benefits of VR is that patients know they are in a simulation, which enables “psychological distance from problematic reactions,” the study authors wrote. “The process of finding the best uses and implementation methods of this immersive technology at scale in mental health is only beginning.”

#7. Funding for digital health start-ups, especially in mental health, fall substantially in Q1’22

“While all tech sectors received smaller funding totals than the previous quarter, digital health plunged much further than others did … investor interest in mental health tech wavered as the market and public companies like Talkspace and Cerebral come under scrutiny.”

#8. Deep learning model built on neuroimaging data identifies “Brain Age Gaps” as markers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

“The main finding of our study is that we could indeed find evidence that high brain age gap is behaving as an accelerated brain aging biomarker.” — Dr. David Jones, neurologist at Mayo Clinic

Finally, a couple fun brain teasers to help you flex your math/ cognitive mental muscles:

#9. Will you finish your thesis on time?

#10. Math brain teaser requiring no math — just perception and cognition

Wishing you and yours a healthy and stimulating June!

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E-newsletter: Understanding Brain Health via Cosmological Health, and vice versa

Welcome to a new edition of SharpBrains’ e‑newsletter, featuring fascinating findings, books and resources for lifelong brain health.

#1. “The human brain functions thanks to its wide neuronal network that is deemed to contain approximately 69 billion neurons. On the other hand, the observable universe can count upon a cosmic web of at least 100 billion galaxies. Within both systems, only 30% of their masses are composed of galaxies and neurons. Within both systems, galaxies and neurons arrange themselves in long filaments or nodes between the filaments. Finally, within both systems, 70% of the distribution of mass or energy is composed of components playing an apparently passive role: water in the brain and dark energy in the observable Universe.” Understanding Brain Health via Cosmological Health, and vice versa

#2. One very smart and generous brain to brighten your day: Indian teacher Ranjitsinh Disale wins annual $1M Global Teacher Prize; shares half with 9 finalists

#3. “Of all the qualities parents can cultivate in their children, hope and optimism are the most precious. We can nurture hope and optimism in our kids by demonstrating that we always have some control over our environment and ourselves. The future isn’t a tide that’s going to crush us, it’s a wave we’re a part of.” — Madeline Levine, author of Ready or Not. Three favorite 2020 books on parenting and mental health

#4. A superb memoir on becoming a psychotherapy pioneer and bestselling writer: Becoming Myself, by Irvin D. Yalom

#5. This survey of 2500 families about what ADHD treatments seem to work/ not work finds that 49% of parents report Exercise to be ‘Extremely or Very Effective;’ above any other treatment.

#6. On the dangers of “productizing” lifestyle guidelines that help build brain reserve and delay cognitive problems; Buyer beware: The story of a pricey and “credentialled” program to end Alzheimer’s Disease

#7. Now, given that “In a new McKinsey report, 62% of employees consider mental health issues a top challenge,” it is good to see growing resources and approaches aimed at addressing the challenge: Calm raises $75 million, expands into corporate mental health and wellness

#8. And, step by step, digital therapeutics are going mainstream: Click Therapeutics raises $30 million in debt to advance commercialization of smoking cessation app Clickotine

#9. Never two without three: Pear Therapeutics raises $80M; finds cost savings of $2,150 per patient with opioid use disorder

#10. Finally, we asked our team and trusted advisors to compile a list of ideas to stay sane and healthy in the months ahead, prioritizing habits shown to promote brain health, resilience and positive neuroplasticity: Enjoy these 3 New Year Resolutions and 36 Ideas for a Happier & Healthier 2021

Wishing you a safe, healthy and happy New Year!

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News, findings and resources for Brain Health and Resilience, plus a few fun Brain Teasers

Welcome to a new edition of SharpBrains’ e‑newsletter, featuring fascinating neuroscience findings and tips, combined with fun brain teasers.

#1. To celebrate this quite-challenging Thanksgiving, here are five fun brain teasers that readers have enjoyed the most this year so far. It is always good to learn more about (and appreciate) that most precious resource we all (yes, all) have up there! Five fun brain teasers to thank evolution for our human brains and minds

#2. Want more? Ready, Set, Go! A few brain teasers to flex those cognitive muscles

#3. “[Breathing techniques] are allowing you to consciously take control of your breathing so you can take control of your nervous system so you can take control of your anxiety” — James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. New book shares science and techniques to breathe better and promote calmness not anxiety

#4. Voice does matter…especially in areas of potential disagreement. To call, or to text, that is the (mental well-being) question

#5. Fascinating research + innovation event brought by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) and multiple partners. Save the Date: Promoting Brain Health for Life, December 15–16th, online.

#6. “This isn’t a battle between AI and doctors, it’s about how to optimize doctors’ ability to deliver better care” — P. Murali Doraiswamy, director of the Neurocognitive Disorders Program at Duke University. Next: Analyzing typing speed, speech and sleep patterns to identify cognitive decline, dementia, Parkinson’s, and more

#7. Google’s X team shares 3 valuable lessons learned from their ambitious and (for the time being) unsuccessful moonshot: Alphabet’s X shares Amber EEG system to expand the quest for mental health biomarkers

#8. “An exercise prescription is an important treatment option and a great adjunct to medications. The key is prescribing physical activity in a way that the patient will comply and remain engaged with.” Debate: How should doctors prescribe exercise to ensure compliance and engagement?

#9. As the study authors note, “The expansion of women into the labor force in the mid-20th century may have provided a new avenue of cognitive reserve for women via enhanced social stimulation and cognitive engagement.” Study: Work in adulthood seen to significantly delay memory decline after age 60, supporting the Cognitive Reserve theory

#10. “Throughout many subreddits, we found significant increases in the use of tokens related to isolation (eg, “lonely,” “can’t see anyone,” “quarantine”), economic stress (eg, “rent,” “debt,” “pay the bills”), and home (“fridge,” “pet,” “lease”), and a decrease in the lexicon related to motion (eg, “walk,” “visit,” “travel”).” Hopefully the promising vaccine news helps turn the tide; until then we need to promote mental health & resilience hard. Using Reddit as a population-level “mental health tracker” during the COVID pandemic

#11. “BCI devices can be non-invasive devices that users wear, or they can be invasive devices, which are surgically implanted,” says Veljko Dubljevi … “The invasive devices are more efficient, since they can read signals directly from the brain. However, they also raise more ethical concerns. For example, invasive BCI technologies carry more associated risks such as surgery, infection, and glial scarring — and invasive BCI devices would be more difficult to replace as technology improves.” Studies identify key ethical concerns raised by invasive and non-invasive neurotechnologies

#12. “(the app) uses the Watch’s sensors to track the heart rate and movement of users as they sleep. After establishing a baseline profile for the patient within one or two nights’ sleep, the machine learning algorithm spots heart rate or movement abnormalities presumably caused by a nightmare. The application then vibrates the smartwatch just enough to interrupt the wearer’s dreaming, but not enough to wake them up or disrupt their circadian sleep cycle.” FDA grants clearance for NightWare app designed to reduce PTSD-related nightmares

Wishing you a safe and healthy December,

Alvaro Fernandez and the SharpBrains Team

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eNews: Repetitive negative thinking seen to increase (or perhaps be caused by) Alzheimer’s pathology

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Time for a new edition of SharpBrains’ e-newsletter, featuring this month 13 research findings, resources and brain teasers for lifelong brain and mental health.

#1. “We found that people who exhibited higher repetitive negative thinking patterns experienced more cognitive decline over a four-year period. They also had specific declines in memory (which is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease), and had more amyloid and tau deposits in their brain … There’s increasing evidence that chronic stress is both harmful to your body – and your brain. But more research is needed to understand this link.” Repetitive negative thinking may increase (or perhaps be caused by) cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s pathology

#2. “…even simple cognitive processes like making a shopping list now require more brainpower. “Now, rather than thinking, ‘I’ll just run to the store’, you’re thinking about what you need, what stores are open and whether it’ll be safe to go there. Let’s say your brain can do four tasks at once. Now all of a sudden there are 10, and you can’t do any of them” … rebooting your working memory may also mean cutting down on your news consumption and considering a break from social media. But the most effective thing to do might simply be to convince yourself it’s OK to be struggling.” Why stress regulation and working memory are core building blocks of lifelong resilience

#3. Ten years from now, will we see DSM-6 or Something Much Better (SMB)-1? The way we approach Mental Health today is broken beyond repair. The question is, what comes next, and how fast can we get there?

#4. Now, please draw the letter J in your mind. Then, draw the letter D. Turn it 90 degrees to the left and put it in top of the J. What does this shape resemble? Enjoy these three quick brain teasers to exercise your working memory

#5. “Reading science fiction and fantasy can help readers make sense of the world. Rather than limiting readers’ capacity to deal with reality, exposure to outside-the-box creative stories may expand their ability to engage reality based on science … With increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and mental health issues for youth in the past two decades, it may be the case that young people, no different from American society generally, are suffering from reality overload.” — Esther L. Jones, Ph.D Reading science fiction can help children build critical thinking and resilience

#6. “For decades, use of biofeedback to help sufferers of anxiety, among other psychological conditions, has largely been limited to clinical settings with expensive—and somewhat tedious—medical equipment. Now, with an assist from developers of virtual-reality games, effective therapeutic biofeedback is becoming more affordable, accessible and engaging.” Virtual-reality gaming + affordable biofeedback = Anxiety therapy for all?

#7. Now comes the real challenge: getting doctors to prescribe it, insurers to pay for it, kids to use it and hopefully see significant improvements in daily life. FDA clears first videogame to be prescribed to kids with ADHD: EndeavorRx by Akili Interactive Labs

#8. Hope you enjoy this overview by Dr. Ricardo Gil-da-Costa at Neuroverse and our very own Alvaro Fernandez: Explore The State of Noninvasive Neurotechnology in 37 minutes and 1 image

#9. Here with neuroscientist Mara Dierssen, in Spanish: Cómo minimizar el impacto del Covid-19 en nuestro cerebro

#10. Ignoring problems doesn’t typically solve them — good to see serious attempts to understand, detect and address chemo brain. Growing research shows how two of the major cancer treatments, radiation and chemotherapy, can lead to long-term cognitive impairment

#11. “… COVID-19 may lead to anywhere from 27,644 to 154,037 additional U.S. deaths of despair, as mass unemployment, social isolation, depression and anxiety drive increases in suicides and drug overdoses.” Time to reimagine brain & mind care: Four immediate priorities to flatten the mental distress curve

#12. Moving beyond Either/ Or Thinking: Antidepressant vortioxetine combined with cognitive training may help delay cognitive decline

#13. Not the worst week to leave Earth, but still plenty of mental health challenges in space. Request for proposals to help astronauts combat behavioral health challenges such as stress and isolation

 

Have a good and safe summer,

The SharpBrains Team

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Update: Humankind’s evolving quest to enhance the brain and the mind

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Brain teaser to exercise those temporal lobes

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Language is processed in the temporal lobes, on the sides of your brain, next to you temples.

Different areas in the temporal lobes (mostly on the left side) deal with different aspects of language. For instance, the Wernicke area supports your ability to understand words. The Broca area, on the other hand, is the one that allows you to produce language or articulate words.

Let’s try a fun brain teaser to help exercise your brain’s language areas…are you ready to stimulate all those neurons in your temporal lobes?

Read each definition and try to find the corresponding word.

(Answers are below, but don’t check them until you have tried!)

Tease your brain:

_________________ = A plant having a permanently woody main stem, usually growing to a high height, and developing branches at some distance from the ground.

_________________ = A large, usually tawny-yellow cat, native to Africa and southern Asia, having a tufted tail.

_________________ = The nutritious, orange to yellow root of a plant of the parsley family.

_________________ = An article of furniture consisting of a flat top supported on one or more legs.

_________________ = An institution where instruction is given.

_________________ = A moving cage for carrying passengers from one level to another.

_________________ = A device for transmission of sound or speech to a distant point

_________________ = a body of water of considerable size, surrounded by land.

_________________ = A domestic fowl bred for its flesh, eggs, and feathers.

_________________ = A shallow, usually circular dish from which food is eaten.

_________________ = A precipitation in the form of ice crystals.

_________________ = Any circulating medium of exchange

 

 

Answers

Tree
Lion
Carrot
Table
School
Elevator
Telephone
Lake
Chicken
Plate
Snow
Money

 

For more cognitive stimulation, visit these Top 25 Brain Teasers for Teens and Adults, and explore What are Cognitive Abilities and Skills, and How to Boost Them?

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Thank you, Summit Sponsors @ 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit, for helping shape Brain Health & Enhancement in the Digital Age!

Thank you very much, great Summit Sponsors, for supporting the 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit taking place next week (Dec. 5-7th) and gathering 50+ Speakers and 200+ participants to working on ways to enhance brain health and performance in the digital age!

Gold Sponsors

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, social welfare organization with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families. Its Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH), founded in collaboration with Age UK, is an independent collaborative created to provide trusted information on how to maintain and improve brain health.brain

VieLight has a mission to engineer and commercialize non-invasive devices based on photobiomodulation that are safe and effective, easy to use and affordable – all to truly help improve one’s quality of life. It focuses on developing new-generation home-use brain stimulation devices that are enjoying a growing reputation to be helpful for mental acuity in various presentations. Its products are used by both practitioners and consumers all over the world.

Silver Sponsors

arpf

The Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation(ARPF) has a mission to empower people to build healthy brains and reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease by conducting clinical research and providing educational and professional development outreach. For 20 years, the ARPF has been on the leading edge by researching, advocating, and educating for an integrative approach to preventing memory loss and Alzheimer’s.

Arrowsmith Program

The Arrowsmith Program, available in 80+ schools in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, is a comprehensive suite of cognitive programs for students with learning disabilities to train key brain functions involved in learning.

Banner Health, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the USA, employing more than 50,000 staff members in 29 hospitals and other settings ranging from home care and long-term care, to laboratories and rehabilitation services.

EMOTIV is a bioinformatics company advancing understanding of the human brain using electroencephalography (EEG) with a mission to empower individuals and accelerate brain research globally.

Lumosity

Lumosity was founded to help people keep their brains challenged thanks to a simple online tool allowing anyone to train core cognitive abilities. From neuroscience to visual art, they combine diverse disciplines to create engaging brain training programs and, through the Human Cognition Project, they collaborate with over 100 leading researchers, clinicians and teachers from institutions around the world.

MindMaze has developed a breakthrough platform to build intuitive human machine interfaces combining virtual reality (VR), computer graphics, brain imaging & neuroscience, enabling exciting new applications in gaming, brain machine control, and healthcare.

During Expo Day–Thursday, December 7th–selected Summit Sponsors and Partners will showcase their most promising brain health & enhancement initiatives and solutions. All times below reflect US Pacific Time.

8.30-9am. Adam GazzaleyUCSF Professor of Neurology, will present Neuroscape.

9-9.30am. Dr. Walter Greenleaf, Medical VR/ AR Expert at Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab, will provide an overview of health applications of virtual & augmented reality (VR/AR).

9.30-10am. Dr. Lew Lim, Founder & CEO of Vielight, will discuss photobiomodulation as a new way to enhance brain function.

10.30-11am. Dr. Bob Schafer, Director of Research at Lumos Labs, will present their expanding vision for brain training, including mindfulness.

11am-Noon. Lunch break

Noon-12.30pm. Dr. Chris Walling, Chairman of the Educational Advisory Committee at
The Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation (ARPF), will present the new Brain Longevity Therapy Training.

12.30-1pm. Dr. Leanne Young, Executive Director of the Brain Performance Institute at UT-Dallas Center for BrainHealth will present the new 62,000-square-foot Brain Performance Institute.

1-1.30pm. Debbie Gilmore, Executive Director of The Arrowsmith Program, will present plans to better equip 100+ schools helping students with special needs.

1.30-2pm. Dr. Randal Koene, Lead Scientist at Kernel, will discuss future directions of neuroenginnering and human computer interfaces.

 

Looking forward to a great virtual summit!

__________

Learn more & Reserve your Spot HERE

(10%-off promo code for SharpBrains readers: sharp2017)

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The landscape of digital brain health & enhancement: 177 experts and pioneers in 23 countries (and counting)

Registrants for the 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit (December 5-7th) as of November 23rd, 2017

Quick update on how registration stands for the upcoming 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit: Brain Health & Enhancement in the Digital Age (December 5-7th) — THANK YOU to everyone who has registered already 🙂

We are pleased to report that so far 177 experts, pioneers and practitioners are registered to participate. 130 seem to be based in the US and 47 abroad (based on IP address during registration), with the following country breakdown: 

  • United States 130
  • Australia 7
  • Canada 7
  • Israel 5
  • United Kingdom 5
  • France 3
  • Italy 2
  • Norway 2
  • Spain 2
  • Sweden 1
  • Portugal 1
  • Singapore 1
  • Taiwan 1
  • South Korea 1
  • Japan 1
  • Estonia 1
  • India 1
  • Ireland 1
  • Brazil 1
  • Argentina 1
  • United Arab Emirates 1
  • South Africa 1
  • Brunei  1

 

 

THANK YOU also to the 14 just confirmed excellent additions to the stellar Speaker Roster.

As director of the Infancy Studies Laboratory at the Rutgers Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience,  Dr. April Benasich’s research focuses on brain development in infancy and early childhood, specifically the neural processes necessary for normal language and cognitive development. She uses a mix of cutting-edge technologies, including measurement of auditory evoked brain potentials (EEG/ERPs) and naturally sleeping MRI/fMRI, that add converging noninvasive physiological measures to her lab’s extensive behavioral battery.

Dr. Olivier Oullier, just appointed as the new President of EMOTIV, is a neuroscientist, strategist, and contributor to Fortune Magazine, He is the former Head of Strategy in Global Health and Healthcare and Member of the Executive Committee of the World Economic Forum, where he was in charge of an international project on value-based care involving more than 50 global companies and organizations. Olivier is a Full Professor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at Aix-Marseille University and taught at the Universities of Oxford and Geneva’s executive education programs.

And, pitching the latest thinking and solutions for brain health and performance, during the Brainnovations Pitch Contest we will see:

Dr. Albert Kwon, Co-Founder & CEO of AUGMENTx

Dr. Amy Serin, Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer at The Touchpoint Solution

Bill Wisialowski, COO of NeuraMetrix

David Klein, Co-Founder & CEO of Click Therapeutics

Greg Wong, VP Product Management at Savonix

Ignacio de Ramon, Co-Founder & CEO of Sincrolab

Jafar Sabbah, Founder & CEO of Beam Riders

Martina Ratto, Cognitive Scientist at MyCognition

Paul Lefrere, Innovation Lead at WEKIT — Wearable Experience for Knowledge Intensive Training

Ruth Poliakine Baruchi, Founder & CEO of MyndYou

Dr. Ryan D’Arcy, President & Chief Scientific Officer of HealthTech Connex

Tara Thiagarajan, Founder and Chief Scientist at Sapien Labs

 

Looking forward to a great conference!

__________

Please join us to explore the latest brain science, tech tools and market trends, and to help shape Brain Health & Enhancement in the Digital Age.

Learn more & Reserve your Spot HERE

(10%-off promo code for SharpBrains readers: sharp2017)

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The future (of Brain Health & Enhancement) is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed

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The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed” — William Gibson

Last week we asked the question, Have you ever used–for yourself or for others–technologies or products that you think would fall into the category of brain enhancement? a) If Yes, what did you use and what lessons learned can you share? b) If No, what issues would you like to see addressed before considering doing so?

Thank you everyone for your great answers and comments!

They are very valuable in helping us finalize the agenda of the the upcoming 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit: Brain Health & Enhancement in the Digital Age (December 5-7th).

As a token of appreciation, we are issuing 4 complimentary Summit passes for Eva, A. Mark, Kitt and Gwyneth to join the Summit and add their perspectives and questions to the mix, based on these insightful answers (lightly edited for clarity). Read the rest of this entry »

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Are you familiar with these research findings and neurotechnologies revolutionizing Brain & Mental Health?

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:

Emerging toolkit for brain health & enhancement:

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

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

 

Have a great month of November!

The SharpBrains Team

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