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Brain Training Online | Brain Fitness Pro in The News
Brain Fitness Pro | NY Times - Top Picks
Bob Tedeschi selects Brain Fitness Pro as a Top Pick
"Brain Fitness Pro can be tough — like boot camp for the brain, as one reviewer characterized it. Through a variety of timed quizzes, it promises to improve your short-term memory and problem-solving ability."
vibrantBrains Selects Mind Sparke
vibrantBrains, the US's first and foremost 'brain gym' has added a custom version of Mind Sparke's Brain Fitness Pro to the lineup of leading brain training programs offered at its two California facilities:
"We are extremely excited to add Mind Evolve from vibrantBrains to our product offerings," said Lisa Schoonerman, co-founder and CEO of vibrantBrains, "The ability to offer a scientifically validated program that has been shown to increase fluid intelligence by 40% is a powerful new option for our members who want to increase their competitive edge, whether at the office, sitting an important exam, or trying to get into MENSA. This challenging exercise isn't for the faint of heart; with Mind Evolve we now have a product that takes us well beyond the realm of slowing age-related cognitive decline and into the realm of cognitive enhancement at any age."
Research in The News
NY Times - Memory Training Shown to Turn Up Brain Power
"Until now, it had been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience ... is innate and cannot be taught ... But in the new study, researchers describe a method for improving this skill, along with experiments to prove it works...
"...the longer they trained, the higher their scores were. All performers, from the weakest to the strongest, showed significant improvement."
Telegraph - 'Brain Training' games do work
"'There is a huge market of software concerning brain training, IQ-training, and so on. But there is no real scientific evidence that these programs actually work...' says Dr Jaeggi.
"A key question, she says, is 'why we found transfer, while so many others failed.' ... Rather than focus on strategies ... they wanted to focus on tasks that depend on many processes (including task coordination, working memory processes, focusing your attention).
"And [Jaeggi] says motivation is important too. 'Same in sports: you can not expect to get better in football if you merely run around a little bit and not really want to improve.'"
CBS News - Boost Your Memory, Become Smarter?
"The [researchers'] findings challenge current beliefs that the only way to increase fluid intelligence scores is by directly practicing on the tests used to calculate the score. Until now, there has been no evidence to suggest that other types of brain training would increase such scores in adults."
WIRED - Forget Brain Age: Researchers Develop Software That Makes You Smarter
"'The most important point of our work is that we can show that it is possible to improve fluid intelligence,' said Martin Buschkuehl...
"[people can] improve their IQ scores by taking lots of IQ tests. Trouble is, learning how to take IQ tests doesn't improve the underlying smarts ..."
London Times - Mind games may improve our performance at work
"A daily regime of mental gymnastics can improve people’s intelligence and make them better at their jobs, a study has shown. ... Devoting 25 minutes a day to specially designed mental exercises is enough to bring about significant improvements, but even five minutes should be enough to help.
"Su doku, The Times crossword and other tests provide valuable mental exercise for the brain but have limited value because they help mental improvement only at similar tasks. The new study, however, stimulated problem-solving abilities in the brain that can be applied to a variety of circumstances."
National Science Foundation - Plastic Brain Outsmarts Experts
"... Crystallized intelligence draws on existing skills, knowledge and experiences to solve problems ... Fluid intelligence draws on the ability to understand relationships between various concepts, independent of any previous knowledge or skills, to solve new problems. The research shows that this part of intelligence can be improved through memory training.
"General intelligence is a key to determining life outcomes such as academic success, job performance and occupational advancement ... Researchers also surmise that this same type of memory training may help children with developmental problems and older adults who face memory decline."
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Research in The News
New York Times - Memory Training Shown to Turn Up Brain Power
Wired - Forget Brain Age: Researchers Develop Software That Makes You Smarter
Science News - Smarten Up
"...an intellectual picker-upper that doesn't come in a pill... jump-starts general reasoning skills and problem-solving proficiency..."
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