As baby boomers approach retirement age, the field of cognitive fitness has begun to gain more prominence. In this interview with health blogger, David William, I speak about the magnitude of the economic impact of Alzheimer’s and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), the strategies that can be used to slow mental decline, and how HAPPYneuron is helping to educate the industry. Read here or Listen here….

Do women remember better then men do? Research shows that females may have an advantage over men when it comes to episodic memory, the type of long term memory based in personal experiences. A Swedish team of psychologists showed, for example, that women are better on average than men at remembering faces.

Previous studies have shown that women also have a superior memory for verbal information, which they may use to detect a person’s underlying motives or intentions - a skill that, “seems to elude many men”.

I want to introduce myself to you and let you know about changes underway at Happy Neuron.

I am Laura Fay and I have recently joined the Happy-Neuron team leading operations in the United States and working closely with our overseas Happy Neuron family in France, Germany, Japan and other regions.

Fueled by continual research in the field of Cognitive Assessment and Training, Happy Neuron continues to lead with the most scientifically thorough and the best game variety of any company in the Brain Fitness arena. In the coming weeks and months, you’ll begin to see a series of changes at Happy Neuron, all designed to improve your knowledge, experience, and scientific effectiveness of your brain workout.

I, and the entire happy Neuron team, welcome your comments and suggestions. Please email me at feedback@happy-neuron.com with it all. We want to know what you like best (don’t forget to tell us this!), what you like least, what you’d love to see more of and suggested additions. Be assured that we in active listening mode.

Associated Press writer looks at brain work-outs on the web. Special attention is made to our www.happyneuron.com site and the article acknowledges the richness of our site compared to other online brain work-outs. It also states that mental calisthenics are good for you.

In other words, rigorous mental activity appears to be good for brain health, and, as a result, doctors are starting to reccomend mental calisthenics. But as with heart-disease or cancer prevention methods, nothing is foolproof.

You can read more here 

Following the success of Nintendo’s Brain Age, mobile publisher Digital Chocolate is releasing Brain Juice–a series of ‘casual games’ for your brain.

Juice your brain with three fun, brain-stimulating modes! Boost your brain with mind blowing Mini Games that give your brain a well-deserved workout! Timed Mini Games include Quick Math, Path Memorization, Color Counting and more! Track your daily progress and challenge up to three friends at the same time in the ultimate battle of the minds! (more)

Some reviews suggest however, that the games may not completely reach their goal.

Not only does boredom set in after the first couple of days, the exercises come down to your dexterity with your phone’s keypad as much as they do to the power of your brain.

A practice game mode enables you to try your hand at any of the challenges you’ve unlocked so far, but with the results not counting toward your brain wattage, it adds little interest. The multiplayer mode wears thin just as quickly. There’s just no incentive to keep going.

Still, the casual game category will be one to watch–both online and on mobile in the coming years–as it often finds success with audiences who don’t enjoy the traditional ‘gamer’ style console and handheld games.

[More on Digital Chocolate and the casual game market via Australian IT magazine.]