Posts Tagged ‘brain fitness’

What is Your Brain Performance Index?

Lumosity, a leader in the growing field of cognitive training, has introduced the brain performance index.  The index is an empirical and comparative measure of your ability to focus and sustain attention, processing speed, memory, problem solving skill and mental flexibility.  You can set up an account and build your profile for free. If you want to know how you compare to others in your age group you need to subscribe.

Like other instruments that assess your cognitive abilities, the brain performance index (BPI)  gives insights into strengths and weaknesses. It should help you define goals for working on your next brain.

Interested to hear from readers that use the BPI or other assessment instruments to set goals for how best to achieve peak cognitive performance.

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?

Do You Have You Membership to a Brain Gym?

Over the last five years dozens of companies offering software to “train your brain” have sprung up.   The software is often a structured time-based test or some form of a game. It can run on your PC , game console  or even your smart phone.   The idea is to give your brain a work out much like going to a gym.  To see a brain working out click on the image to your right.

But what are they proven to do for your brain? Many claim to improve memory, visual perception, planning and help avoid cognitive decline as we age.  Most have studies that show you will improve on the tasks in the software but what is less clear is if that transfers to doing similar cognitive tasks in other setting such as those in daily living or at work.

Brain or cognitive training software is rapidly advancing and will be a regular topic on this blog. There is little doubt that it is an important tool for building YourNextBrain!

To give brain fitness software a try, click on this demo of the Personal Coach from CogniFit (you may need to scroll down the page and click the demo button). To get a better understanding of how CogniFit approach brain training works watch a 3-minute video of why it is effective.

I am not endorsing the CogniFit product just offering it as an example. If you are interested in this type of technique for building YourNextBrain! comment on this post and I will reply with a list of leading vendors and products.

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences at the brain gym.

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Source for image above of brain exercising can be found here.