Software

The Amazing Brain Train

A playful way to do a little brain training using games: “Fueled by your mental energy, Professor Fizzwizzle’s Brain Train will take you on a brain-boosting adventure!

Put your mighty mind to the test and see how far you can go!”

15 online games for training your brain in planning, memory, spatial reasoning and numbers all for $6.99 or free for 24-hours.  For a quick look check out this video.

Brain Challenge HD on Sale for Only $0.99

iPhone and iPad users can get Brain Challenge HD at a discount. If you like this brain teasing approach be sure to check out Brain Challenge 2, 3 and 4 by Gameloft.

Integrated Brain Training Over the Web

MyBrainSolutions offers a software-based brain training program over the web. There are also some apps for your smart phone. You can sign up for the basic membership for free or pay $9.95/month for the premium service. With the premium service you complete a brain assessment and get training recommendations based on your specific needs. You also get access to more training exercises. The basic membership gives you four. With both memberships you get a personal dashboard (web page) that provides access to your tools and results.

The program appears unique in its emphasis on emotions,  thinking, feelings and self-regulation and how they work together in an integrated way.  You can watch a five minute video on the site that explains it.  The emphasis on automatic processing of emotional queues (mainly facial expressions) and how that shapes our intuitions and decision-making, is right on. I have not seen any other brain training program tackle that.

I am using the basic membership and like what I see. Interested to hear from readers that have purchased the premium membership. Is it worth $10 per month? Thanks.

Develop Your MOT – Multiple Object Tracking Skills

CogniSens Athletics is a small company dedicated to translating the latest neurophysics into tools for improving the cognitive performance of athletes. They just announced the release of 3D-MOT a three dimensional (3D) immersive training environment for developing the cognitive skills needed for multiple object tracking (MOT).  It uses a computer and specialized goggles to teach you how to visually track more than one moving object at a time. A key cognitive skill in sports.  To quote a news release:

“D-MOT is a scientifically designed system for improving perceptual tracking skills by expanding an athlete’s capacity to absorb and process complex movement information. … players have shown that just one hour of distributed 3D-MOT stimulation yielded an average of over 50% increase in capacity to track at speed, with greater increases being realized with extended training. ”

Most of us won’t have the opportunity to use such technology but I wonder if there is not more generally available options that produce some of the same effects. My guess is that some video games are an example.

Consider Geometry Wars. Definitely need to be able to track multiple moving objects at once to get anywhere with this game. Indeed, in playing it, I have had to learn to defocus my eyes to increase my score. Most likely a sign that I am learning a new perceptual skill.

I am interested to hear from readers about examples of video games or other methods that can help us develop MOT (multiple object tracking) skills.

Spas and Storefront Gyms for Your Mind

The Next Brain blog frequently covers software and services that provide online gym-like training for improving brain function and cognitive performance. But there are a growing number of  physical locations opening that offer spa and gym experiences for those interested in cognitive training.  For example, there is the Mind Spa in Sarasota Florida offering everything from neurotherapy to brain games and sensory immersion.

Or there is vibrantBrains in San Francisco that bills itself as a health club for your brain.  They offer a checkup and a variety of circuit training programs using some of the best brain training technology on the market. For a more info on vibrantBrains check out this blog post.

Interested to hear from readers that know about other storefront brain gyms or spas. What is the experience is really like?

Medical Grade Neurofeedback at Home for $995

Neurofeedback is one of the most promising techniques we have for improving brain function and cognitive performance through systematic training. As we have discussed on the Next Brain Blog before:

Neurofeedback training devices translate brainwaves into an external signal such sounds, graphs on a computer screen, movement of your computer’s cursor, action in a video game and even the motion of remote controlled toys.

Getting access to professional grade equipment can be very expensive. Consumer devices such as Neurosky’s headset or Emotiv’s EPOC (both of which I own) cost just a few hundred dollars but have limited functionality.

The market might be changing.

ICAP Technologies is offering the ICAP Release Meter, a professional grade neurofeedback system for $995.  To get this price you need to use the coupon code available on the Mindware Forum.  The Mindware Forum offers a good review of ICAP including a video interview.

Interested to hear from readers that have used the ICAP system or any at-home EEG-based neurofeedback training device.

Benchmark Your Cognitive Fitness with Precision

According to a recent press release, Happy Neuron, a brain training  company has amassed a database of some 50 million training results. This is the biggest database of its kind and allows them to compare your cognitive training results to peers more precisely than anyone else on the market.

Happy Neuron uses games to train your brain.  They have games for attention, language, memory, visual-spatial and executive function.

I am interested to hear from readers that use Happy Neuron’s products.

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.

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?