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Crosslinguistic Approaches to the Study of Language

Research in the Tradition of Dan Isaac Slobin

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Dan Isaac Slobin has been a major intellectual and creative force in the field of child language development, linguistics and psycholinguistics for the past 40 years. It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of his contribution. In this volume, conceived as a tribute to Slobin's enormous intellectual contribution, researchers take up the challenge of language differences to forward research in the major areas with which Slobin has been concerned throughout his career: (i) language learning from a crosslinguistic perspective (spoken and sign languages), (ii) the integration of language specific factors in narrative skill, (iii) theoretical issues in typology, language development and language change, and (iv) the relationship between language and cognition.

ISBN: 9780805859980

Published July 01 2008 by Psychology Press (formerly published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).

Consider Linda, a 31-year-old woman, single and bright. As a student, she was deeply concerned with discrimination and social justice and also participated in anti-nuclear protests.

Which is more probable? (a) Linda is today a bank teller; (b) Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist movement.

Quick, what's your answer?

If you answered (b), you are wrong.  At least you are in good company (that's what I answered the first time I saw this teaser in one of my Stanford Organizational Behavior classes).

It is more probable that Linda is a bank teller, which is a whole category, that she is both a bank teller AND active in the feminist movement, which is a subset of that category.

A recent Wall Street Journal article explains the phenomenon:

Free to Choose, But Often Wrong:

"When psychologists Daniel Kahneman and the late Amos Tversky conducted an experimental survey in the early 1980s asking people to answer this simple question, they discovered, to their surprise, that most respondents picked "b," even though this was the narrower choice and hence the less likely one. It seems that saliency – in this case, Linda's passionate political profile – trumps logic."

Related reading:

- Why Smart Brains Make Stupid Decisions

- Brain Teasers

Amos Tversky, Brain teasers, Daniel Kahneman, Decision making, Linda, logic, mind teasers, Organizational Behavior, saliency, smart brains, smartbrains

Try eating food with one chop stick. 

It is possible, for certain types of food. But probably not the best approach.

Let's now talk brain health.

Dr. Larry McCleary is a former acting Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Denver Children's Hospital, and author of the The Brain Trust Program (Perigee Trade, 2007). He agreed to help us answer an important, yet often neglected, question: Given That We Are Our Brains, How do We Nourish Them?

Alvaro: Dr. McCleary, Why did a former neurosurgeon such as yourself develop an interest in brain health public education?

Dr. McCleary: For two reasons ... I am a Boomer and am trying to maximize my own brain health. Also, there is much exciting research documenting how we can be proactive in this regard. This information needs to be disseminated and I would like to help in this process.

And what is the single most important brain-related idea or concept that you would like every person in the planet to fully understand?

The most important take home message about brain health is that we now know that no matter what your brain status or age, there is much you can do to significantly improve brain function and slow brain aging. Based on emerging information, what is especially nice is the fact that unlike many things in life our brain health is largely under own control.

What are the most important elements to nourish our brains as we age?

I approach this question much like an athlete prepares for competition. They utilize a holistic approach. This is also what a healthy brain requires. It should not be surprising that "what is good for the body is good for the brain." That is how our bodies and brains evolved.

Hence what I believe are valuable components of a well-rounded approach to brain health involve:

A) Appropriate nutrition.

The major fuel the brain consumes is glucose. The earliest sign of impending dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD) is a decrement in the ability of the brain to use glucose efficiently. Based on this observation, some neuroscientists are referring to AD as Type 3 diabetes because of the inability to appropriately use glucose in that disorder. This makes sense because people with diabetes have a four-fold increase in AD.

The brain is a fatty organ. The most important fats are those in the nerve cell membranes whose presence keeps them flexible. These are the long chain omega 3 fatty acid molecules found in fatty, cold-water fish and arachidonic acid (a long chain omega 6 fatty acid). These are both delicate fats and as such can oxidize easily (meaning they can become rancid).

Thus, we should include additional dietary components that provide free radical fighting activity to protect them against oxidation. Based on these observations, I recommend a diet containing fatty fish, veggies and salads, non-starchy fruits (like berries) - that are high in free radical fighting compounds - and nuts. Addition of specific nutritional supplements may be helpful for the elderly, those under chronic stress, in the context of medications that lower critical nutrient levels in the body, or when dietary quality varies.

B) Stimulating brain activity

To increase neuroplasticity (the continual ability of the brain to "rewire" itself) and neurogenesis (the formation of new nerve cells), brain stimulation is vital. All types count including school work, occupational endeavors, leisure activities and formal brain training. The key in any activity is to include novelty (to encourage thinking outside the box), challenge and variety.

C) Physical activity

Exercise delivers additional blood and oxygen to the brain. Yet, it does so much more. It actually causes alterations in the nerve cells. They produce more neurotrophins, which are compounds that increase the formation of new nerve cells and enhance their connectivity. They also make the neurons we have more resistant to the aging process. Cross train your brain by starting with a good aerobic program and mix in resistance (weight training) exercise and speed and agility components such as jumping rope, playing ping-pong, gymnastics and various balance drills.

D) Stress reduction

Chronic, unremitting stress kills neurons. This is especially detrimental to memory function. So include a component of stress reduction in your approach to optimal brain health and make sure to get plenty of sleep.

E) Be Aware of Side effects of medications

There are medications that lower the level of important brain nutrients in the body such as B vitamins and coenzyme Q10. Check with your doctor to screen for these. There are also many common medicines (many OTC) that have anti-cholinergic activities. These can impair the function of one of the most important memory neurotransmitters in the brain -acetylcholine.

Finally, what brain health-related information or practices would you suggest other doctors and health professionals pay more attention to, both for themselves and the patients they see?

They should counsel their patients on tips for brain health such as those listed above in much the same way they discuss cardiac risk factors and how to address them. I would like to see physicians encourage their patients to avoid high-fructose corn syrup because it has recently been shown to be associated with increased brain atrophy.

Dr. McCleary, many thanks for your great insights.

My pleasure!

-------------- 

For more information

- The Brain Trust Program (Perigee Trade, 2007).

- Evolution and Brain Health, an article by Dr. McCleary.

 

Enjoy the weekend...always a good time to nourish our brains.

Alzheimer disease, baby boomer, brain activity, brain food, brain function, brain health education, brain nutrition, Brain Training, improve memory, Larry McCleary, medications, neuroplasticity, neurosurgeon, nourish your brain, novelty, omega 3 brain, Physical activity, sleep, slow brain aging, stress reduction

Can exercise make you smarter? It can.

Is it the only thing that can? Keep reading...

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Physical Exercise and Brain Health

- By Dr. Pascale Michelon

Have you heard of or read John Ratey's book “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain”? According to Harvard Psychiatry Professor John Ratey nothing beats exercise for promoting brain heath.

I am sure you have also heard that exercising your mind promotes brain health.

What is the connection between physical and mental exercises? Do they have additive effects on brain health? Are they redundant?

Let’s start by reviewing what we know about the effects of physical exercise on the brain.

The effect of physical exercise on cognitive performance

Early studies compared groups of people who exercised to groups of people who did not exercise much. Results showed that people who exercised usually had better performance in a range of cognitive tasks compared to non-exercisers.

Laurin and colleagues (2001) even suggested that moderate and high levels of physical activity were associated with lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

The problem with these studies is that the exercisers and the non-exercisers may differ on other factors than just exercise. The advantage that exerciser show may not come from exercising but from other factors such as more resources, better brain health to start with, better diet, etc.

The solution to this problem is to randomly assigned people to either an aerobic training group or a control group. If the exerciser group and the non-exerciser group are very similar to start with and if the exerciser group shows less decline or better performance over time than the non-exerciser group, then one can conclude that physical exercise is beneficial for brain health.

In 2003, Colcombe and Kramer, analyzed the results of 18 scientific studies published between 2000 and 2001 that were conducted in the way described above.

The results of this meta-analysis clearly showed that fitness training increases cognitive performance in healthy adults between the ages of 55 and 80.

Another meta-analysis published in 2004 by Heyn and colleagues shows similar beneficial effects of fitness training on people over 65 years old who had cognitive impairment or dementia.

What is the effect of fitness training on the brain itself?

Research with animals has shown that in mice, increased aerobic fitness (running) can increase the number of new cells formed in the hippocampus (the hippocampus is crucial for learning and memory). Increased exercise also has a beneficial effect on mice’s vascular system.

Only one study has used brain imaging to look at the effect of fitness on the human brain. In 2006, Colcombe and colleagues randomly assigned 59 older adults to either a cardiovascular exercise group, or a nonaerobic exercise control group (stretching and toning exercise). Participants exercised 3h per week for 6 months. Colcombe et al. scanned the participants’ brains before and after the training period.

After 6 months, the brain volume of the aerobic exercising group increased in several areas compared to the other group. Volume increase occurred principally in frontal and temporal areas of the brain involved in executive control and memory processes. The authors do not know what underlying cellular changes might have caused these volume changes. However they suspect, based on animal research, that volume changes may be due to an increased number of blood vessels and an increased number of connections between neurons.

How does physical exercise compare to mental exercise?

Very few studies have tried to compare the effect of physical exercise and mental exercise on cognitive performance.

When looking at each domain of research one notices the following differences:

- The effects of cognitive or mental exercise on performance seem to be very task specific, that is trained tasks benefit from training but the benefits do not transfer very well to tasks in which one was not trained.

- The effects of physical exercise on performance seem broader. However they do not generalize to all tasks. They benefit mostly tasks that involve executive-control components (that is, tasks that require planning, working memory, multitasking, resistance to distraction).

To my knowledge only one study tried to directly compare cognitive and fitness training:

Fabre and colleagues, in 1999, randomly assigned subjects to 4 groups: an aerobic training group (walking or running for 2 h per week for 2 months), a memory training group (one 90 min session a week for 2 months), a combined aerobic and mental training group, or a control group (no training).

Results showed that compared to the control group, the memory performance of all 3 groups increased. The combined group showed greater increase than the other 2 training groups.

This suggests that the effects of cognitive and fitness training may be additive… However this study involved only 8 participants per group! More research is clearly needed before anything can be safely concluded.

In the meantime let’s play it safe and combine fitness and cognitive training for better brain health…!

References

 •    Colcombe, S. & Kramer, A. F. (2003). Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults: A meta-analytic study. Psychological Science, 14(2), 125-130.

•    Colcombe, S. J., Erickson, K. I., Scalf, P. E., Kim, J. S., Prakash, R., McAuley, E., Elavsky, S., Marquez, D. X., Hu, L., & Kramer, A. F. (2006). Aerobic exercise training increases brain volume in aging humans. Journal of Gerontology, 61A(11), 1166-1170.

•    Fabre, C., Msse-Biron, J., Chamari, K., Varray, A., Mucci, P., & Prefaut, C. (1999). Evaluation of quality of life in elderly healthy subjects after aerobic and/or mental training. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 28, 9-22.

•    Heyn P.; Abreu B. C.; Ottenbacher K. J. (2004). The effects of exercise training on elderly persons with cognitive impairment and dementia: a meta-analysis. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 85(10), 1694-704.

•    Laurin, D., Verreault, R., Lindsay, J., MacPherson, K., & Rockwood, K. (2001). Physical activity and risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in elderly persons. Archives of Neurology, 58(3), 498-504.
 

--- This article was written by Pascale Michelon, Ph. D., for SharpBrains.com. Dr. Michelon, Copyright 2008. Dr. Michelon has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and is a Research Scientist at Washington University in Saint Louis, in the Psychology Department. She conducted several research projects to understand how the brain makes use of visual information and memorizes facts. She is now an Adjunct Faculty at Washington University, and teaches Memory Workshops in numerous retirement communities in the St Louis area.

aerobic training, Alzheimer’s disease, brain, Brain health, Brain Imaging, cognitive performance, Cognitive Training, Colcombe and Kramer, executive control, exercise, fitness training, hippocampus, memory, mental exercises, Physical Exercise, Working memory

Dr. Arthur Kramer is a Professor in the University of Illinois Department of Psychology, the Campus Neuroscience Program, the Beckman Institute, and the Director of the Biomedical Imaging Center at the University of Illinois.

I am honored to interview him today.

Dr. Kramer, thank you for your time. Let’s start by trying to clarify some existing misconceptions and controversies. Based on what we know today, and your recent Nature piece (Note: referenced below), what are the 2-3 key lifestyle habits would you suggest to a person who wants to delay Alzheimer’s symptoms and improve overall brain health?

First, Be Active. Do physical exercise. Aerobic exercise, 30 to 60 minutes per day 3 days per week, has been shown to have an impact in a variety of experiments. And you don’t need to do something strenuous: even walking has shown that effect. There are many open questions in terms of specific types of exercise, duration, magnitude of effect…but, as we wrote in our recent Nature Reviews Neuroscience article, there is little doubt that leading a sedentary life is bad for our cognitive health. Cardiovascular exercise seems to have a positive effect.

Second, Maintain Lifelong Intellectual Engagement. There is abundant prospective observational research showing that doing more mentally stimulating activities reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Let me add, given all media hype, that no “brain game” in particular has been shown to have a long-term impact on Alzheimer’s or the maintenance of cognition across extended periods of time. It is too early for that-and consumers should be aware of that fact. It is true that some companies are being more science-based than others but, in my view, the consumer-oriented field is growing faster than the research is.

Ideally, combine both physical and mental stimulation along with social interactions. Why not take a good walk with friends to discuss a book? We lead very busy lives, so the more integrated and interesting activities are, the more likely we will do them.

 

Great concept: a walking book club! Now, part of the confusion we observe is due to the search of “magic solutions” that work for everyone and everything. We prefer to talk about several pillars of brain health, and different priorities for different individuals. Can you elaborate on what interventions seem to have a positive effect on specific cognitive abilities and individuals?

Perhaps one day we will be able to recommend specific interventions for individuals based on genetic testing, for example, but we don’t have a clue today. We are only beginning to understand how the environment interacts with our genome.

But I agree on the premise that there probably won’t be a general solution that solves all cognitive problems, but we need a multitude of approaches. And we can’t forget, for example, the cognitive benefits from smoking cessation, sleep, pharmacological interventions, nutrition, social engagement.

Physical exercise tends to have rather broad effects on different forms of perception and cognition, as seen in the Colcombe and Kramer, 2003, meta-analysis published in Psychological Science (Note: referenced below).

Cognitive training also works for a multitude of perceptual and cognitive domains – but has shown little transfer beyond trained tasks.

No single type of intervention is sufficient. Today there is no clear research on how those different lifestyle factors may interact. The National Institute on Aging is starting to sponsor research to address precisely that.

 

Earlier you said that no brain software in particular has been shown to maintain cognition across extended periods of time. Now, didn’t the ACTIVE trial (Note: referenced below) 5-year results show how cognitive training (computerized or not) can result in pretty durable results? For context, are there comparable controlled studies to ACTIVE where 10 or so hours of physical exercise today can result in measurable (yet, incomplete) cognitive benefits 5 years from now?

Actually we don’t yet now whether the task performance is retained more than a couple of years. It seems unlikely that this would be the case with the relatively little training (e.g. 10 hours in the ACTIVE study) that has been provided in training studies thus far.

On whether there are controlled studies similar to ACTIVE that have measured the long-term cognitive benefits of physical exercise, not that I know of.

 

To wrap up this part of the conversation, what's in your mind the best way to explain the relative benefits of physical vs. cognitive exercise? From a fundamental point of view, it seems clear that physical exercise can help enhance neurogenesis (Note: the creation of new neurons), yet learning/ cognitive exercise contributes to the survival of those neurons by strengthening synapses, so I see more how those two "pillars" are complimentary than "one or the other".

I agree. Given what we know today I would recommend both intellectual engagement and physical exercise. However, we do know, from a multitude of animal studies, that physical exercise has a multitude of effects on brains beyond neurogenesis, including increases in various neurotransmitters, nerve grown factors, and angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels).

 

Tell us more about your work with cognitive training for older adults.

We have now a study in press where we evaluate the effect of a commercially available strategy videogame on older adults’ cognition.

Let me first give some context. It seems clear that, as we age, our so-called crystallized abilities remain pretty stable, whereas the so-called fluid abilities decline. One particular set of fluid abilities are called executive functions, which deal with executive control, planning, dealing with ambiguity, prioritizing, multi-tasking. These skills are crucial to maintain independent living.

In this study, we examined whether playing strategy-based video game can train those executive functions and improve them. We showed that playing a strategy-based videogame (Rise of Nations Gold Edition) can result in not only becoming a better videogame player but it transferred to untrained executive functions. We saw a significant improvement in task switching, working memory, visual short-term memory, and mental rotation. And some, but more limited, benefits in inhibition and reasoning.

I can share a few details on the study: the average age was 69 years, and the experiment required around 23 hours of training time. We only included individuals who had played videogames 0 hours/ week for the last 2 years.

 

That last criteria is interesting. We typically say that good “brain exercise” requires novelty, variety and challenge. So, if you take adults who are 69-years-old and haven’t played a videogame in 2 years, how do you know if the benefit comes from the particular videogame they played vs. just the value of dealing with a new and complex task?

That’s a great question. The reality is that we don’t know, since we had a “waiting list” control group. In the future perhaps we should compare different videogames or other mentally stimulating activities against each other and see what method is the most efficient. Perhaps the National Institutes on Health may be interested in funding such research.

 

In any case, your study reinforces an important point: older brains can, and do, learn new skills.

Yes. The rate of learning by older adults may be slower, and they may benefit from more explicit instruction and technology training, but, as a society, it is a massive waste of talent not to ensure older adults remain active and productive.

Another recent study we conducted, this one still under review, is titled Experience-Based Mitigation of Age-Related Performance Declines: Evidence from Air Traffic Control. It deals with the question: “Can Age Itself Be an Obstacle for someone to perform as an Air Controller? And the Answer is: age itself, within the age range that we studied, is not an obstacle. Our results suggest that, given substantial accumulated experience, older adults can be quite capable of performing at high levels of proficiency on fast-paced demanding real-world tasks.

 

Now, the field of computerized cognitive training has potential in a variety of applications beyond “healthy aging”. You are obviously familiar with Daniel Gopher’s work training military pilots using Space Fortress. Is your lab doing something in that cognitive enhancement direction?

Yes, I have been involved in that area of work since the late 70s, when I helped design the protocols for Space Fortress. Which provides indeed a very interesting example of real-life transfer: pilots do seem to fly better as measured by real-life instruments.

Our lab is now embarking on a 5-year study for the Navy to explore ways to capitalize emerging research on brain plasticity to enhance training and performance. MIT and my lab will analyze the best training procedures to increase the efficiency and efficacy of training of individual and team performance skills, particularly those skills requiring high levels of flexibility. The results from this study will be in the public domain, so I hope they contribute to the maturity of the field at large.

That’s an important point. What does the field of cognitive fitness at large need to mature and become more mainstream?

We need more research. But not any kind of research. What we need is a kind of independent “Seal of Approval” based on independent clinical trials. Most published research of cognitive training interventions is sponsored and/ or conducted by the companies themselves. We need independent, objective and clear standards of excellence.

 

The Department of Education maintains a What Works Clearinghouse to review existing evidence behind programs that make education-related claims. Perhaps we need a similar approach for programs making cognitive claims with adults. We also see a need for more solid and widely-available cognitive assessments, to have better baselines and independent measures of cognitive abilities.

Good news there: the NIH is preparing an “NIH Toolbox” to provide valid, reliable instruments to researchers and clinicians, to solve the problem that exists today, namely, the lack of uniformity among many measures used. The initiative was launched in 2006, and it is a 5-year effort, so we’ll need to wait to see results.

 

Dr. Kramer, many thanks for your time and work. My apologies for having you stay by your desk during this interview. Next time I am in Illinois, I will invite you to a walking interview.

Excellent idea! The pleasure has been mine. Let me thank you as well, for the very important work you are doing.

 

References

Willis SL, Tennstedt SL, Marsiske M, et al. Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults. JAMA. 2006;296:2805-14.

Stanley Colcombe, Arthur F. Kramer (2003). Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults: A Meta-Analytic study. Psychological Science 14 (2) , 125–130.

Charles H. Hillman, Kirk I. Erickson & Arthur F. Kramer Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9, 58-65.

Related Interviews

- Cognitive Simulations for Peak Performance- with Dr. Daniel Gopher

- Improving Driving Skills, and the ACTIVE trials- with Dr. Jerri Edwards

- Build Your Cognitive Reserve- with Dr. Yaakov Stern

 

ACTIVE trial, Aerobic exercise brain, aging, Air Traffic Control, Art Kramer, biomedical, brain game, cognition, cognitive, cognitive enhancement, cognitive exercise, Cognitive Training, delay Alzheimer’s, Executive Functions, Intellectual Engagement, Learning, Lifelong learning, Navy, Neurogenesis, Neurons, neuroscience, NIH, NIH toolbox, perception, physical exercise brain, Psychology, Rise of Nations, Space Fortress, strategy, synapses, training, videogame brain, What Works Clearinghouse, Working memory

A few colleagues referred me over the weekend to a very nice article at business publication Portfolio.

While the article does an excellent job at introducing the reader to the concept and promise of computerized cognitive assessments, it also contributes to the mythology of "Brain Age".

Let's first take a look at the article How Smart Are You: The business of assessing cognition and memory is moving from testing brain-impaired patients to assessing healthy peoples' brains online.

A couple of quotes: 

- "Cognitive Drug Research is one a handful of businesses, most of them outside of the U.S., that work with pharmaceutical companies to test how new drugs for everything from nicotine addiction to Alzheimer’s disease affect the mind’s ability to remember things, make decisions, and analyze information."

- "Cognitive tests have been around for a century as examinations taken with paper and pencil. In the 1970s and '80s the tests shifted to computers, Cognitive Drug Research founder Keith Wesnes says.

So far, so good. In fact, one of the key highlights from the market report we released in March was that "Large-scale, fully-automated cognitive assessments are being used in a growing number of clinical trials. This opens the way for the development of inexpensive consumer-facing, baseline cognitive assessments." And we profiled a few leading companies in the space: Brain Resource Company, Cognitive Drug Research, CNS Vital Signs and CogState.

Now, the article is accompanied by a 5-7 minute quick test that promises to give us our "Brain Age". And this doesn't come from Nintendo, but from Cognitive Drug Research, a respected science-based company.

You can check it out yourself: Take the Test

Why do I find this misleading? Because the concept of having a "brain age" is, itself, profoundly unscientific. It is one thing to have that concept popularized by a game developer such as Nintendo through its popular Brain Age/ Training Series, and another one to have it reinforced by companies that are developing and marketing science-based applications.

Another example: the radio ads for the PBS program titled Brain Fitness Program, where listeners of all ages get the impression (as many friends and colleagues have reported) that, should they buy the Posit Science Brain Fitness Program, they can expect their brains "rejuvenated" by 10 years. This, I hear often, must be true, coming from PBS.

Unfortunately, it isn't. And it isn't because the claim is founded on the same faulty premise of having a "brain age".

What is going on?

First, the good news. Today we know today that the brain retains lifelong plasticity (the ability to change itself through experience). Aging does not mean automatic decline.

Furthermore, we know that a variety of lifestyle factors, including physical and mental exercise, can influence how our mental abilities evolve as we age. We can delay or slow down age-related decline. Not only that, we can improve our abilities, and a number of computer-based programs have shown how they can help specific groups of people train and enhance specific cognitive skills. 

Now, what is important to recognize is that there is not one overall "brain age". We can view our brain functions or cognitive abilities as a variety of skills, some more perception-related, some more memory-related, some more language-related, some more visual, some more abstract-thinking and planning oriented. All science-based brain fitness products in the market today target specific cognitive skills. The research that has been published shows how specific brain functions can be improved. But there is no general "brain age" that can be measured or trained in a meaningful way.

Let's analyze the PBS Posit Science-related message: you can rejuvenate your brain by 10 years. What would this mean, were it to be true? perhaps that ALL cognitive abilities would go back to where they were 10 years before. and that this would happen for individuals of all ages: in our 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and so on. It would also mean that, given that rejuvenated "brain age", our risk of developing Alzheimer's symptoms would be adjusted to reflect our "new" brain age. And that the evolution of our cognitive abilities over the rest of our lives would reflect our new-found "brain age".

Has this been shown? Unfortunately, not. The "10 years" claim seems based on one published study, and several unpublished ones, where individuals with an average age of around 70 years take on a very intense auditory processing training program that enables them to improve related auditory cognitive skills by a significant percentage. Whereby, on average, and on those specific skills, they reach a level comparable to people 60 years old.

But this doesn't say anything about other cognitive skills. Or Alzheimer's related risks. Or the cognitive trajectories that will follow.

Just think about this: if, by attending an intensive tennis camp, you were able to serve at a level comparable to people 10 years younger than your age...would you say that your body is now 10 years younger? Probably not. You'd say that now you play tennis better. Which is a significant benefit in itself if that's what you are after.

I am aware that these distinctions, rooted in cognitive science, may not be as compelling as one that promises "you can reduce your brain age by 10 years". But it is important to invest in education for the public and health professionals to help the market mature in a rational way. Not to try to outcompete Nintendo.

In summary, the great news is that there are more tools available than ever before to assess and train a variety of cognitive skills, in what is still today a very small, but growing market. Nintendo, Posit Science, Cognitive Drug Research and others are offering valuable products and services.

The bad news (is this really news?) is that we shouldn't be expecting magic pills and that "brain age" is a fiction.

In case you wonder...I do have and enjoy my copy Nintendo Brain Age, and appreciate it as a stimulating game. I simply don't outsource my brain fitness to Dr. Kawashima.

Attention Digg users: this post is starting to climb in Digg, would you mind voting for it Here. Thank you very much!

Further reading:

- Neuroscience Interview Series

- It is Not Only Cars That Deserve Good Maintenance: Brain Care 101

- 10-Question Program Evaluation Checklist

 

 

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A great new edition of this twice-a-month collection of best neuroscience and psychology blog posts. Enjoy!

Encephalon #48: The Usual Suspects, hosted by Neuroanthropology.

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Books, brain, brain books, Dark Force, Decision making, Harvard, Huffpost Books, Irrational, Living News, Ori Brafman, Psychology, rational, Smart Brain, smart brains, Stanford, Sway

One of the best articles so far on the growing brain fitness market, by the Associated Press.

Click Here to check out story:

"This is not just a Nintendo-fueled fad," he says. "The brain fitness market passed a tipping point in 2007 thanks to the convergence of a very proactive boomer generation hitting their 60s."

Article: Here. Highly recommended. 

Now, as you read it, please remember the theme of our most recent newsletter: Emerging Tools, Not Magic Pills.

And, for all new readers who are joining us given the extra coverage (CNN, CBS, CHicago Tribune, dozens of other papers and websites), let me reprint now an article I wrote here in February:

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A spate of recent news coverage on brain fitness and "brain training" reflects a growing interest in natural, non-drug-based interventions to keep our brains sharp as we age. This interest is very timely, given the aging population, increasing Alzheimer's rates, and soaring health care costs that place more emphasis than ever on prevention and changing lifestyle.

This past Tuesday, the MIT Club of Northern California, the American Society on Aging, and SmartSilvers sponsored an event on The Emerging Brain Fitness Software Market: Building Better Brains to explore the realities and myths of this growing field. The panel was moderated by Zack Lynch, Executive Director of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization, and composed of a venture capitalist and 3 CEOs of program developers in the field. Before the panel, I had the chance to present an overview of the state of the Brain Fitness Software Market based on our upcoming report to be released on March 4th.

Why are we talking about this field at all? Well, for one, an increasing number of companies are achieving significant commercial success in packaging "brain exercise". An example is the line of Nintendo games, such as Brain Age and Brain Training, that have shipped over 15 million units worldwide despite limited scientific support, since 2005. What is less visible is that a number of companies and scientists are partnering to bring products to market with a more solid clinical validation. We estimate the US market was $225m in 2007 (growing from $100 in 2005). Wheras K12 Education used to be the major segment, adult consumers are responsible for most of that growth: we estimate the consumer segment grew from a few million in 2005 to $80 m in 2007.

Who is buying these products? Yes, of course, many adults over 50 who want to protect their memory are among the pioneers. 78 million baby boomers are eager to try new approaches. A growing number of retirement communities and nursing homes are offering programs to their residents to expand their usual fitness and social activities. And we can't forget about K12 education: certain brain fitness software packages have shown they can help kids who have dyslexia and related difficulties.

Is there science behind these claims? Do these products work? It depends on how we define "work". If "working" means quantifiable short-term improvements after a number of weeks of systematic "brain training" to improve specific cognitive skills, then the answer is that a number of programs do seem to work. If , on the other hand, "working" means measurable long-term benefits, such as better overall brain health as we age, or lower incidence of Alzheimer's symptoms, the answer is that circumstantial evidence suggests they may, but it is still too early to tell.

Are there any public policy implications? We certainly believe that there are. The Center for Disease Control recently partnered with the Alzheimer's Association to develop a comprehensive Cognitive Health roadmap to better guide research efforts and improve public education on the lifestyle habits that every proud owner of a brain could benefit from following. Given the high rates of traumatic brain injuries and stress disorders found in a large number of the men and women coming home from the Iraq war, the military is investing heavily in research to help identify problems to develop tools to solve them, and we expect that research will translate into wider health applications. No presidential candidate, to our knowledge, has directly addressed his or her priorities in the cognitive health realm but, given the growing importance and economic impact of brain-related disorders, we expect that to happen soon.

What are some trends that executives and investors should be looking at to understand this growing market? Let me make a few predictions:

1) An increased emphasis on Brain Maintenance, from retirement communities to gyms and health clubs. Will health clubs one day offer brain fitness programs, and perhaps "brain coaches"? We think so.
2) Better and more widely available assessments of cognitive function will enable of all us to establish an objective baseline of how our minds are evolving, identify priorities for "workouts" and lifestyle interventions, and help us measure progress. Science-fiction? Not really. there are already pretty good tests used in clinical and medical environments, the challenge will be to refine and package those assessments in a consumer-friendly way.
3) We will see more and better computer-based tools, each of which may be more appropriate to work on specific priorities. Just as we find a variety of machines in health clubs today, in the future we can expect different programs tailored to train specific cognitive skills.
4) More non-computer based tools will also provide much value. There is more and more research on how meditation and cognitive therapy, to mention 2 examples, can be very effective in literally re-wiring parts of the brain.
5) Insurance Companies will introduce incentives for member who want to follow brain fitness programs. Perhaps even companies will offer such programs to employees to attract and retain mature workers who want access to the best and the latest innovations to keep their minds sharp.

Now, this being a pretty new field, the panel discussed several open questions, that will only be clarified with time:
- What is the right business model? are we talking about content-driven edutainment? or therapeutic applications, perhaps with some regulations by the FDA? selling software products? online subscriptions?
- What is the killer application? fun games with unproven brain benefits? programs that improve the mental skills involved in specific activities, such as driving? applications that help slow down the progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment to full-blown Alzheimer's symptoms?
- How will consumers and institutions receive quality information and education to navigate through the emerging research and the overwhelming number of new programs, separating reality from hype?

In summary, what were the main take-aways from the event?

1. Research indicates that a number of cognitive abilities (attention, memory...) can be assessed and trained
2. An emerging market is starting to develop-growing from an estimated $100m in 2005 to $225m in 2007, in the US alone-, and is poised to keep growing at significant rates.
3. Many companies are currently selling products direct to consumers (as well as through institutions) with sometimes unclear claims - this threatens to confuse consumers and present a major obstacle to the growth and credibility of the sector.

These topics, and more, are covered in depth in our report "The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008". Click Here for more information.

 

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Here you are have the twice-a-month newsletter with our 10 most popular blog posts. Please remember that you can subscribe to receive this Newsletter by email, simply by submitting your email at the top of this page.

Our first Brain Training/ Fitness Webinar Series was a success with several hundred participants and great feedback. If you could not participate, you can still review the presentation slides by clicking Here. A key message from the series: it is exciting that our brains remain more flexible, at all ages, than was once thought possible. The implications? Every single owner of a brain can benefit from learning more about how to maintain the "It" in "Use It or Lose It." And which tools, if any, can be helpful. But, remember, there are no magic pills for cognitive health and performance.

Market News

National Neurotechnology Initiative: Neurotech leaders ask for help to support a pending bill on funding for applications of brain research.

Lumos Labs raises $3 m in venture capital:  This website provides a stimulating user experience at a reasonable cost. However, there is no clinical validation showing the efficacy of their specific brain training program. If you are in the market for programs than make brain-related claims, please check out our 10-Question Evaluation Checklist. Click Here.

Report for Brain Fitness Centers: We are happy to see more organizations, from retirement communities to health systems, benefit from our market report to navigate the brain fitness field and make better informed decisions.  

Research

Executive Functions, Education and Alzheimer's Disease: What we find exciting is the growing amount of research showing how specific cognitive skills (attention, memory, etc....) can be improved. An important reason why the search for a "magic pill" will prove elusive is because there is a variety of brain structures and functions to care care of, not just one. An area that deserves more attention: our frontal lobes and so-called executive functions.

Promising Cognitive Training Studies for ADHD: Dr. David Rabiner reports the results from two recent scientific studies highlighting that "cognitive training interventions may provide an important complement to traditional medication treatment and behavior therapy" to help children with attention deficits. 

Education

Cognitive and Emotional Development Through Play: Enough about "exercise" and "training". Dr. David Elkind, author of The Power of Play: Learning That Comes Naturally, discusses the need to build a more "playful culture."

Health & Wellness

Physical or Mental Exercise for Brain Health?: Both are important.  Advice for a couch potato: Be Active. For a teenager: Don't Drop Out of School, Go To College. For a middle age person: Make Sure you Have a Stimulating Job. For a retired person: Find and Try to Master A New Hobby Every Few Years.

Professional Development

Your Trading Brain: Expert or Novice: Information is power, yet, how often do we ask ourselves, "how does my brain work?". Trader and neuropsychologist Dr. Janice Dorn provides an in-depth discussion to help traders make better decisions and be more successful.

Brain Teasers

Brain Games: Spot the Difference. You can exercise your brain without spending a dime. In fact, you may well already be. 

We hope you enjoy this newsletter. Please stay tuned for the next one at the end of June. It will include a fascinating interview with Dr. Arthur Kramer on the cognitive benefits of physical exercise and his cutting-edge cognitive training work with the Navy and air controllers.

 

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Several hundred people participated in our first Brain Fitness Webinar Series, and are glad how the experiment well. We are already thinking of topics and speakers for a second one, so stay tuned!

In case you couldn't attend them, we are sharing the slides we used (we did not record the webinar sessions). Here you go:

----ATTENTION!!: the external website we are using to share the slides is not working right now for reasons beyond our control. Please leave a comment below, or email us: support at sharpbrains dot com, and we will send you an email when the links are working. My apologies for this!---

1) Webinar #1: Presentation Slides Here.

In “The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market, 2008,” I provided an overview of the science, market, and vendor landscape of the emerging brain fitness software market, based on our recent market report.
- Target audience: Executives, professionals, investors, reporters and bloggers interested in learning more about the brain fitness market.
- More information: Market Report.
 

2) Webinar #2: Presentation Slides Here.

In “Brain Rules for Thinking Smarter,” John Medina, developmental molecular biologist

 and author of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Striving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School emphasized the importance of physical exercise, stress management…and avoiding multitasking altogether.
- Target audience: Anyone who wants to learn more about brain health and performance.
- More information: The Science of Thinking Smarter, by John Medina.
 

3) Webinar #3: Presentation Slides Here.

In “The Science and Practice of Brain Fitness,” I provided an overview of the Brain 101, latest research findings and implications for how to improve brain health and performance based on my classes and speaking engagements.
- Target audience: Anyone who wants to learn more about brain health and performance
Have a good day!

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As noted in our Market Report, we expect  the field of cognitive training (or "brain fitness") software to grow in a variety of education and health-related areas over the next years. One of the most promising areas in our view: helping children and adults with attention deficits improve brain function to reduce ADHD symptoms.

I am glad to present this in-depth discussion on the results of two recent high-quality scientific studies. Let me start with Dr. Rabiner's conclusion:

"Results from these two cognitive training studies highlight that cognitive training interventions may provide an important complement to traditional medication treatment and behavior therapy. Both studies included appropriate control groups, employed random assignment, and had outcome measures provided by individuals who were "blind" to which condition children were assigned to. They are thus well-designed studies from which scientifically sound conclusions can be drawn. They add to the growing research base that intensive practice and training focused of key cognitive skills can have positive effects that extend beyond the training situation itself."

Without futher ado...enjoy the article!

------------------

Two New Cognitive Training Studies for ADHD Yield Promising Findings  

-- By Dr. David Rabiner

Although medication treatment is effective for many children with ADHD, there remains an important need to explore and develop interventions that can complement or even substitute for medication. This is true for a variety of reasons including:

1) Not all individuals with ADHD benefit from medication.
2) Among those who benefit, many have residual difficulties that need to be addressed via other means.
3) Some individuals experience adverse effects that prevent them from remaining on medication.
4) Medication treatment does not result in benefits that extend beyond when medication is being taken.

Except for #3 above, the same limitations hold for behavior therapy, which is the other intervention for ADHD that is widely considered to have a strong evidence base at this time.

Because of these limitations, some researchers have pursued cognitive training as an alternative method of treatment. The basic idea behind cognitive training is that important cognitive skills such as attention and working memory can - like any other skill - be strengthened and enhanced with intensive and focused practice. Furthermore, when an individual builds these skills the benefits may endure beyond the time when the actual training is provided.

Although this is a logical and compelling idea, the research base as it applies to individuals with ADHD is rather limited and the idea that attention is a skill that could be strengthened by focused training has not been carefully studied. In fact, when I was preparing a grant application several years ago for an attention training study, I was surprised to locate fewer than 5 studies of this issue. Furthermore, these were generally small preliminary studies that would be considered pilot investigations.

In recent years, however, researchers in the ADHD field have devoted greater attention to examining the potential benefits of cognitive training for ADHD. Below, I review 2 recent studies that highlight the potential value of training oriented approaches.

- Study 1: Computerized Progressive Attentional Training for Children with ADHD -

This study was conducted with 36 6-13-year-old children in Israel who were diagnosed with ADHD. Results from this study were published last year in Child Neurospsychology [Shalev, Tsal, & Mevorach (2007). Computerized progressive attentional training: Effective direct intervention for children with ADHD. Child Neuropsychology, 13, 382-388.]

Participants were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of computerized attention training (one hour sessions two times per week) or to a control group. The basic premise of computerized attention training is simple: the program requires children to attend to a variety of computer exercises and to make different responses depending on the stimuli presented. For example, a particularly simple task would require the child to press the space bar each time the number 2 was flashed but to refrain from responding when any other number is flashed. To perform well, the child must sustain their attention and refrain from responding impulsively.

Although other tasks may be far more complicated, and place demands on both problem solving skills and working memory, all tasks require sustained attention to do well. They also become more difficult and longer as the child moves through the training program. Thus, the child receives repeated practice in sustaining attention to increasingly challenging tasks that last for longer time periods. Ideally, the difficulty level adjusts to match the child's ongoing performance so that the child is constantly challenged to perform at their best possible level - not too easy but not too hard.

By succeeding in the program, the child is demonstrating an increasing ability to sustain their attention to challenging cognitive activities. Although children may get better at attending to the actual computer exercises, however, the important question is whether this generalizes to the classroom and other settings where focused attention is critical for success. If not, become better at attending to the attention training exercises would be of little value.

The attention training program tested in this study was designed to train 4 different aspects of attention: sustained attention (the ability to maintain attention and persist on task until completion), selective attention (the ability to maintain a specific cognitive set in the face of competing distractions), orienting attention (directing one's attention to critical stimuli), and executive attention (allocating attentional resources between competing demands and choosing what to attend to). During each session children were trained on these different types of attention and the tasks become more difficult as children's performance improved.

Children in the control group played computer games - rather then receiving attention training - for the same amount of time. These games also required children to sustain their attention to succeed and became more difficult as children progressed. Thus, the amount of time children spent under adult supervision working on computer activities that became more difficult as they progressed was the same for each group. Unlike children randomly assigned to the attention training group, however, children in the video game control condition were not exposed to activities that focused on training specific components of attention.

Before and immediately following training, parents rated their child's ADHD symptoms using a standardized behavior rating scale (the authors report that parents were blind to which group their child was in). In addition, academic performance was tested pre- and post-training using math problems, reading comprehension problems, and passage copying problems taken directly from children's school books. Standard achievement tests were not used because such tests are not available in Hebrew. Information about whether any children were on medication during the training or during testing was not provided.

- Results -

Encouraging results were obtained. Parents of children in the attention training group reported a significant decline in their child's inattentive symptoms compared to parents of children in the control group. The change in hyperactive-impulsive symptoms was in the same direction but was not significant.

After controlling for academic performance before training, children who received attention training did significantly better than controls in reading comprehension and in their speed of copying passages. Math performance was in the same direction but was not significant.

- Summary and Implications -

The authors conclude that their attention training program produced significant improvements in parents' ratings of inattentive symptoms and on academic tests. This is the first demonstration I am aware of that suggests attention training may improve academic performance.

The authors note several important limitations to their study. First, the sample is relatively small. Second, no behavioral data was obtained from children's teachers. Third, there was no extended follow-up so the duration of the benefits observed at post-test is unknown. To these concerns I would add that the academic results would be stronger if a standardized achievement measure had been used. Finally, I wonder if parents truly remained blind to whether their child was receiving attention training or was in the video game control group.

These limitations not withstanding, these are promising results that highlight the potential of attention training procedures for children with ADHD. A larger controlled trial that addresses the limitations of the current work is certainly warranted.

Note - To my knowledge, this attention training program is not currently available outside of Israel.

 

- Study 2: The impact of different types of working memory training for children with ADHD -

Working memory is a key cognitive function that allows individuals to hold information in mind for brief periods of time. This ability plays an important role in countless daily tasks including following directions, accurately tracking conversations, reading comprehension, solving complex math problems, and staying focused on a project. Current theories of ADHD that emphasize the critical role of executive functions highlight working memory deficits as an important aspect of the disorder; in fact, research has shown that many individuals with ADHD have poor working memory compared to same age peers without the disorder.

A study published several years ago reported evidence that working memory is a skill that can be improved with intensive training. In a randomized controlled trial conducted with 53 children diagnosed with ADHD, working memory training was found to yield significant gains in non-trained working memory tasks and a reduction in ADHD symptoms as reported by parents (you can find a review of this study Here). Additional controlled studies of working memory training have reported positive results in other groups including younger and older adults without ADHD, typically developing preschoolers, and stroke victims. Until recently, however, additional controlled studies documenting positive effects in children with ADHD have not been reported.

At the May 2008 recent meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Christopher Lucas and his colleagues at NYU Medical School presented new data on the use of worki