Tools

Fish Oil Fails to Boost Cognition in Older Adults

Another major scientific study on a technique for improving brain function and cognitive performance has delivered a negative result. The study looked at the cognitive impact of taking Omega 3 fatty acid or fish oil over a two year period on 70-80 year olds. The study found:

No cognitive improvements as compare to a placebo.

The author of the study cautions drawing strong conclusions as it may take more than two years to see an effect or it might be essential to start earlier in life. To quote:

“From the data we have collected in the OPAL study there is no evidence of an important benefit for memory or concentration of increased omega-3 fatty acid consumption over a two year period among older people with good cognitive health. However, it is important to keep in mind that poor cognitive function can take many years to develop and although this is the longest trial of its kind ever conducted, it may be that it was not long enough for any true beneficial effects to be detected among this healthy cohort of older people”.

OPAL stands for Older People And omega-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.  The OPAL study seeks to discover simple dietary supplements that will help maintain cognitive and retinal function later in life.  We will continue to track their work and report results on the Next Brain Blog.

Brain Training Software Fails Key Scientific Test

Last year the BBC in collaboaration with leading neuroscientists conducted a large-scale scientific test of brain training software. They wanted to answer the question – does brain training software work?

The study recruited over 11,000 healthy adults of all ages and had them train their brains using software 3 times per week for 6 weeks.  The results were negative.

Those that did the brain training showed no cognitive improvement  beyond what you get from surfing the internet for the same period of time.

Scores on the tests provided by the brain training software did improve but none of that translated into better cognitive performance on tasks outside the software.  This held up for a wide range of cognitive activities including reasoning, planning, problem-solving, short-term memory, attention, visual spatial processing and mathematics.

This is a landmark study that calls the relative effectiveness of brain trainig software into question. To quote the study:

The results are truly amazing. The Brain Test Britain study found no evidence that the benefits of playing brain training games transfer to other brain skills. (However, the results do suggest that further research into brain trainers aged 60 and over is required. Dr Adrian Owen (pictured to the right) said: “The result is crystal clear. Brain training is only as good as spending six weeks using the internet. There is no meaningful difference.”

You can review the findings, look at the details behind the work and even play the games that were used for the training at UK Lab. They are continuing the study with participants that are 60 years and older.

I am interested to hear from readers that do regular software-based braining training exercises. What do you think of this study? Will it change your brain training routine?

A Store Just for Your Brain

Marbles is a store just for your brain. They have four locations in Illinois and are looking to expand. Fortunately, their products are available online.

They offer an overview of brain fitness, a free self assessment and products to improve memory, critical thinking, coordination,  word skills and visual perception.  They provide books, brain software, toys and novelty items from many different vendors. Marbles takes the time to make gift bundles for the Wordsmith, Trickster, Creative Genius, Brainetics (whatever that is) and others. They offer some free Brain Coaching and sponsor a number of interesting events.

Marbles could well be a superstore for anyone looking to improve brain function and cognitive performance. They will be the subject of regular posts on the Next Brain Blog. I am interested to hear from readers that have visited one of the store locations.

Get Benefits of Long-Term Meditation in Just Days?

It was about 10 years ago when research studies began to suggests that a little bit of physical activity could be good for you. Taking a short walk or even just climbing a flight of stairs might be heart-healthy. This was a big surprise for many as traditional wisdom was that you must work-out multiple times per week for many weeks to see benefits.

Now the same may be emerging for brain training at least in the area of mindfulness and meditative practice.  I am seeing studies that suggest a few days of training may produce what we once thought took months or years. The Science Daily Blog reports one such study, Brief Meditation Helps Cognition:

“Psychologists studying the effects of a meditation technique known as “mindfulness ” found that meditation-trained participants showed a significant improvement in their critical cognitive skills (and performed significantly higher in cognitive tests than a control group) after only four days of training for only 20 minutes each day.”

Specific improvements included increased mental energy, reduced anxiety and improved working memory, visual/spatial processing and executive functioning (attention, planning thinking).

Interestingly, no special training technique was used.

As described in the paper, “participants were instructed to relax, with their eyes closed, and to simply focus on the flow of their breath occurring at the tip of their nose. If a random thought arose, they were told to passively notice and acknowledge the thought and to simply let ‘it’ go, by bringing the attention back to the sensations of the breath.”  Subsequent training built on this basic model, teaching physical awareness, focus, and mindfulness with regard to distraction.

Mindfulness training is not as natural as climbing a flight of stairs or taking a walk but clearly it is something we can learn.  I am interested to hear from readers that practice mindfulness, especially how they were able to initially learn the technique.

Source: Image of Meditating Man

Fast, Free and Fun Cross-Training for Your Brain

Crossword puzzles, a quick round of Sudoku, spot the difference, cryptograms or dozens of other short single-player games turn out to be a great way to improve memory, mental focus, problem solving ability and a host of other cognitive functions.   They are a bit old school compared to the new brain games engineered on the latest neuroscience but research shows they can be just as effective!

For a great collection of  free, short and single player games and puzzles that will build your brain check out Smart Kit.  The variety on this site is amazing. That is the key.  You should be able to easily find one that is fun and when it gets boring there will be another waiting for you! The idea is to immerse yourself in a variety of short games and puzzles that cross-train your brain.

Interested to hear from readers that do any form of online cross-training for the brain. What products and sites do you use?

Which Fish are Best For Your Brain?

A reader asked, is fish really good for brain function and if so which fish is best? Some fish contain Omega 3 fatty acids which have been shown to improve memory function, increase serotonin (elevate mood) and support longer-lasting cells and more efficient messaging.

Mindpower Magazine has an interesting post claiming that Tilapa (a popular fish) has little brain benefit as it contains Omega 6 rather than Omega 3 fatty acids. Here is their list of the best brain fish:

• Salmon (wild salmon is preferred to the farmed variety)
• Mackerel
• Trout
• Whitefish
• Bluefin Tuna
• Sardines

Jean Carper, author of Your Miracle Brain (discussed in another post) offers this list of Ten Fish with the Most Smart Fats:

• Anchovy
• Bluefish
• Herring
• Mackerel
• Sablefish
• Salmon
• Sardines
• Lake Trout
• Tuna, bluefin
• Whitefish

There is considerable overlap in the two lists. Interested to hear from reader about their favorite brain fish or about which fish to avoid and why.

Sources:

Image of Fresh Fish Market and image of Omega-3 Poster

Build Problem Solving Skills with Visual Thinking

Drawing  a diagram can be a powerful problem solving technique.  Creating a visual representation forces our brain to process information in a specific way and it provides something new for us to see or perceive.  Any technique, no matter how simple, that cause us to think differently and see differently holds the promise for improving problem solving and creativity.

Visual techniques designed to systematically stimulated improved thinking will be a frequent topic on the Next Brain Blog.  Take for example, the recent work by Dan Roam. He has two books on on using visual thinking including The Back of the Napkin and Unfolding the Napkin.

His work is based on a four-step approach to visual thinking including look, see, imagine and show.

If you want to a jump-start on Roam’s approach to visual thinking, check out this 8-page BPTrends review of the Back of the Napkin.

I am interested to hear from readers that have used visual thinking techniques to improve problem solving, creativity or other aspects of cognition.

Smart Phone Apps for Boosting Your Brain

A reader suggested Brain Boost, a new iPhone app.

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Like to hear from readers that use this or other apps designed to improve cognitive performance.

Working Memory Training

Working memory loads and processes the information we can pay attention to at any given time.  It is has a limited capacity (4-9 pieces of information) and it does not last long (3-20 seconds). Technically working memory is different but related to short-term memory.  It involves the control and attentional processes for manipulating the information. Some experts call it the search engine of the brain:

“Working Memory is an essential cognitive function that allows us to keep information in mind, manipulate it, and use it in our thinking. It is the way that we process the onslaught of information that we encounter every day.”

A simple thing but clearly it plays a major role how well we perform all manner of mental activities. Techniques for improving working memory will be a frequent topic on the Next Brain Blog.

One program that has seen some real success is Cogmed. This is a neuroscience-based program that is geared to age group and goal.  The program uses software, is coach-guided for first few weeks and has a self administered maintenance phase.  They have a high completion rate,  many specific success stories and are backed by clinical studies.

I am interested to hear from readers that have used Cogmed or other working memory training programs to achieve peak cognitive performance.

Source:  Image of Brain

Right Words Boost Infants’ Mental Development

One question new parents ask is what natural things can I do to stimulate the development of my baby’s brain and make them smarter?  There are number of very simple things that have good scientific evidence behind them.  For example,  new research from Northwestern University confirms that talking to your baby accelerates their cognitive development. Using the right words improves their ability to categorize objects.

It has long been held that talking to your baby is good for mental development but the Northwestern research found that this is so for the very young, only 2-4 months.  The researchers write:

“We suspect that human speech, and perhaps especially infant-directed speech, engenders in young infants a kind of attention to the surrounding objects that promotes categorization,” said Waxman, a co-author and professor of psychology. “We proposed that over time, this general attentional effect would become more refined, as infants begin to cull individual words from fluent speech, to distinguish among individual words and kinds of words, and to map those words to meaning.”

Hearing object-correlated words influences  infants’ cognition even in the first few months of life! The key is to clearly use “real words” or ones that properly pick out objects.

It is not clear what the longer term brain-boosting advantages of this are but the ability to categorize is fundamental to how we think.

To get started you may want to check out the talking pointers from the Center for Early Literacy.     If you use this technique, or others to boost your baby’s brain development, please share your experience with other readers by leaving a comment.