In winning the gold medal in the 200m butterfly in Beijing, Michael Phelps swam 7% faster than Mark Spitz had when Spitz won the same event back in 1972. Phelps would have beaten Spitz by 14 meters. Even the slowest swimmer in the 2008 Olympic butterfly final would have beaten Spitz by 5 seconds. This progress doesn't diminish Spitz's achievements. It just shows us how much more we know today about training for peak physical performance than we did in 1972.
Brain training has begun to establish itself as a field with the same kind of proven practical benefits as physical training. New studies describing improvements in everything from children's math scores to the prevention of the symptoms of Alzheimer's show up on a weekly basis. A study from the spring of 2008 even demonstrated that with the right kind of brain exercise leads to an increase in intelligence.
Some recent examples:
Daily Brain Training Boosts Test Scores
A broad study involving over six hundred children in Scotland measured increases in test scores of more than fifty percent for children who played brain games for just twenty minutes a day for ten weeks.
Brain Fitness Program Helps Prevent Memory Decline
The Alzheimer's Association of Australia has endorsed brain training as a way to maintain good brain health into later life. In randomized, controlled trials, program participants more than doubled their processing speed and had gains of more than 10 years in standardized measures of memory and attention.
Demanding Memory Training Increases Intelligence
A study published in April, 2008, is revolutionizing the way we think about intelligence. With thirty minutes of rigorous daily training in working-memory, scientists from the Universities of Michigan and Bern demonstrated increases in fluid intelligence of more than 40% in less than 20 days.
I Use My Brain All The Time, Why Do I Need Brain Training?
Just as a sedentary life won't keep us in top physical shape, achieving peak mental function needs more than everyday mental exertion. Scientists have found that a program of focused, structured mental exercise stretches and tests our thinking in ways that stimulate the growth of new nerve cells in the brain and a remapping of neural connections. Far from being a fixed gray lump, the brain can grow and restructure itself with dramatic implications. Intensity and novelty are key elements of successful brain exercise. The particular brain training program that's right for you will depend upon your goals.
Academic Success & Learning
Far from being superfluous, brain training for children can increase the effectiveness of a standard educational environment. The children not only score better on tests, they learn better, too. And when it comes to SATs, ACTs, GREs, MCATs, etc. brain training should be right there alongside standard test prep as a way to help maximize scores.
While it's become an accepted practice to help children with learning dysfunctions by providing workarounds or accommodations for a child's particular weakness, some pioneering learning specialists (such as Barbara Arrowsmith Young, founder of the Arrowsmith School in Canada) have begun to tackle the dysfunctions head on with brain training. By targeting and strengthening the particular brain function that is underdeveloped, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the dysfunction altogether.
Career Success & Self-Improvement
Often stressful, invariably placing competing demands on our attention, the modern workplace provides conditions that actually inhibit brain health. Stress and fractured attention prevent new cell growth and curtail the formation of new memories and brain maps. Brain training provides the information worker with a tool that mitigates this problem. Not only does brain training provide a way to ensure continued cell growth and brain change, the right kind of brain training can also help strengthen problem-solving ability and processing speed, faculties highly valued in the workplace.
Anyone interested in maximizing his or her full potential should consider adding brain training to their routine. Brain exercise has even been found to bring improvement to areas as diverse as self-esteem and musicianship. Not surprising when we consider that the brain is involved in everything we do, think, and feel.
Brain Maintenance and Mental Health
A study published in 2003 in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that by adding just one mental activity to their weekly routine, people could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer symptoms by almost two-thirds. Not only that, but the same study found a significantly reduced risk of dementia for the more mentally active. Studies have also shown that we can reverse the deleterious effects of aging on memory through brain training. No matter what our age, it's never too late, nor too early to begin a regular program of brain exercise.
And as if these weren't sufficient reasons to run out and invest in a good brain training tool, scientists have also linked new cell growth with the efficacy of antidepressants and reduction in the stress that can lead to depression. Brain training then also promises the ideal conditions to help counter and mitigate depression.
Brain training has begun to establish itself as a field with the same kind of proven practical benefits as physical training. New studies describing improvements in everything from children's math scores to the prevention of the symptoms of Alzheimer's show up on a weekly basis. A study from the spring of 2008 even demonstrated that with the right kind of brain exercise leads to an increase in intelligence.
Some recent examples:
Daily Brain Training Boosts Test Scores
A broad study involving over six hundred children in Scotland measured increases in test scores of more than fifty percent for children who played brain games for just twenty minutes a day for ten weeks.
Brain Fitness Program Helps Prevent Memory Decline
The Alzheimer's Association of Australia has endorsed brain training as a way to maintain good brain health into later life. In randomized, controlled trials, program participants more than doubled their processing speed and had gains of more than 10 years in standardized measures of memory and attention.
Demanding Memory Training Increases Intelligence
A study published in April, 2008, is revolutionizing the way we think about intelligence. With thirty minutes of rigorous daily training in working-memory, scientists from the Universities of Michigan and Bern demonstrated increases in fluid intelligence of more than 40% in less than 20 days.
I Use My Brain All The Time, Why Do I Need Brain Training?
Just as a sedentary life won't keep us in top physical shape, achieving peak mental function needs more than everyday mental exertion. Scientists have found that a program of focused, structured mental exercise stretches and tests our thinking in ways that stimulate the growth of new nerve cells in the brain and a remapping of neural connections. Far from being a fixed gray lump, the brain can grow and restructure itself with dramatic implications. Intensity and novelty are key elements of successful brain exercise. The particular brain training program that's right for you will depend upon your goals.
Academic Success & Learning
Far from being superfluous, brain training for children can increase the effectiveness of a standard educational environment. The children not only score better on tests, they learn better, too. And when it comes to SATs, ACTs, GREs, MCATs, etc. brain training should be right there alongside standard test prep as a way to help maximize scores.
While it's become an accepted practice to help children with learning dysfunctions by providing workarounds or accommodations for a child's particular weakness, some pioneering learning specialists (such as Barbara Arrowsmith Young, founder of the Arrowsmith School in Canada) have begun to tackle the dysfunctions head on with brain training. By targeting and strengthening the particular brain function that is underdeveloped, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the dysfunction altogether.
Career Success & Self-Improvement
Often stressful, invariably placing competing demands on our attention, the modern workplace provides conditions that actually inhibit brain health. Stress and fractured attention prevent new cell growth and curtail the formation of new memories and brain maps. Brain training provides the information worker with a tool that mitigates this problem. Not only does brain training provide a way to ensure continued cell growth and brain change, the right kind of brain training can also help strengthen problem-solving ability and processing speed, faculties highly valued in the workplace.
Anyone interested in maximizing his or her full potential should consider adding brain training to their routine. Brain exercise has even been found to bring improvement to areas as diverse as self-esteem and musicianship. Not surprising when we consider that the brain is involved in everything we do, think, and feel.
Brain Maintenance and Mental Health
A study published in 2003 in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that by adding just one mental activity to their weekly routine, people could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer symptoms by almost two-thirds. Not only that, but the same study found a significantly reduced risk of dementia for the more mentally active. Studies have also shown that we can reverse the deleterious effects of aging on memory through brain training. No matter what our age, it's never too late, nor too early to begin a regular program of brain exercise.
And as if these weren't sufficient reasons to run out and invest in a good brain training tool, scientists have also linked new cell growth with the efficacy of antidepressants and reduction in the stress that can lead to depression. Brain training then also promises the ideal conditions to help counter and mitigate depression.
About the Author:
Martin Walker is the founder and CEO of Mind Evolve, LLC. For more information on the science behind brain fitness and brain training as well as details of Martin's effective and affordable brain training products, visit the Mind Sparke website.
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