Brain Teaser of the Day: Today’s brain teaser is called Alphabetical Disorder. Your task is to compare the different writing characters from each other in the image below. Take no more than 30 seconds to find out which ones are present in the right group and not in the left group.

What’s the point? In addition to your visual memory, this exercise primarily stimulates your attention, which is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. Further, this task will stimulate your concentration and your visual analysis of the shapes of characters. Visual scanning skills and your ability to attend to detail is put to the test.

What’s the Answer? Can you figure it out?

AMERICANS may worry about heart disease, stroke and diabetes, but they downright dread Alzheimer’s disease, a recent survey found. For good reason. One in eight adults over 65 is affected by the disease.

Those who are spared know they may end up with the burden of caring for a parent or a spouse who is affected. Even though the number of older adults with dementias is rising rapidly, only a few drugs that have been approved to treat symptoms are on the market, and they slow down the disease but do not cure it. Researchers, however, are more optimistic than ever about the potential of the aging brain, because recent evidence has challenged long-held beliefs by demonstrating that the brain can grow new nerve cells and that Brain Training can be a big help. Read the informative New York Times article here…..

Today we released a new version of the Happy Neuron system - 5 new games, a new personal coaching update with many custom options, easier interfaces on the games overall and a crisp new look. Check it out at here and, as always, give us your feedback by emailing us at feedback@happy-neuron.com.

Happy Neuron is proud to be selected, from a pool of 74 amazing entries, as a finalist in a competition entitled Why Games Matter: A Prescription for Improving Health and Health Care facilitated by Changemakers and the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

This is a collaborative venture that showcases innovative and creative solutions that merge computer and video games with health and health care. The winner of the competition will be offered a wealth of resources including ideas, finances, and human capital in order to take their innovation to scale around the world. We invite you to be part of the decision making process.

The competition is open for voting now and the winners are announced November 7th. Any registered user can vote on the competition entries. Registration is open to the public and is FREE.

To register for FREE and vote click here…

Click on “Use it or Lose it! Brain Training for a better quality of life with age, By Happy Neuron Inc.”, read about it and vote.

Thanks for your support.

Brain Activity Reduces risk of Developing Neurodegenerative Diseases

A new study now confirms our beliefs: Train your brain on a regular basis and you should be able to considerably reduce risks to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

In Chicago, a major 5 year project that studied over 700 patients aged 80 and over has just come to an end and the medical team’s findings are unequivocal: an elderly person not practicing a brain activity is 2.6 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than a person with regular and stimulating brain activities such as reading, writing, listening to music or any other cultural activity.

The study also emphasizes the fact that these observations still apply when the activity is only taken up at an advanced age.

So it may never be too late to start training!

source: Reuters Health, Neurology 27, 2007

Another study showing the impact of learning on our brains.

“These remarkable findings suggest stimulating the mind with activities such as reading books or completing crossword puzzles may help delay and/or prevent Alzheimer’s disease in senior citizens.”

The full piece can be read 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

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.]