Here is another report that links exercise and the brain.

“Physical activity may be beneficial to cognition during early and middle periods of the human lifespan and may continue to protect against age-related loss of cognitive function during older adulthood”.

You can see this story in full here 

Here is a great new study that supports what we are doing at Happy Neuron.

Certain mental exercises can offset some of the expected decline in older adults’ thinking skills and show promise for maintaining cognitive abilities needed to do everyday tasks such as shopping, making meals and handling finances, according to a new study.

You can read the complete article here

There is an article on Happyneuron.com over at KillerAPP.com.

“You can’t just practice the mental skills you’re good at, according to Happy Neuron. You need to practice a broad range of skills — memory, attention, language, executive functions (logic, problem solving, etc.) and spatial and visual skills. The site offers games in each category so that you can develop a balanced workout.”

Read the full piece here

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 

Science Daily reports on a new study:

“The brain is like a muscle that should be exercised through the retirement years as a defense against dementia, cognitive lapses and memory failure.”

Read more here

A very interesting post from the Eide Neurolearning blog.

“This study shows that revising is more effective if you mix new facts in with the old. You actually learn better, even though your brain is also tied up with new information.”

Read in full here

Here is a recent press release on AARP’s website.

The AARP Foundation, has received a $200,000 grant from the MetLife Foundation to expand the Staying Sharp initiative. The Staying Sharp series is for Brain Initiatives that promotes cognitive fitness (“brain health”) as people enter their later years. This new grant provides funding for Staying Sharp forums and activities to be held in 2007.

For more information, read at AARP

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.]

A very interesting post from the Eide Neurolearning blog. They pose the question “Is blogging good for you?”

Why ask this question? The primary reason can be found in one of the central tenets of modern neuroscience: “The neurons that fire together, wire together.” What this basically means is that our mental activities actually cause changes in the structures of our brains—not only what we think, but how we think as well. Given such activity-directed change, it always makes sense to ask whenever large numbers of people start using their brains in new and different ways, what effects these new activities are likely to have on brain structure and function.

The Eides (physician-parents with a national referral practice for children with learning difficulties) stipulate that blogging is likely good for you for a number of reasons.

1. Blogs can promote critical and analytical thinking.
2. Blogging can be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking.
3. Blogs promote analogical thinking.
4. Blogging is a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information.
5. Blogging combines the best of solitary reflection and social interaction.

Some very interesting points with good background and justification. Well worth a read!