Neuroscience Research
Our understanding of the human brain has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Until about the 1970s, the scientific community largely believed that the brain was only “plastic,” or changeable in early childhood, and was then “set” for the rest of one’s life.
However, the world of neuroscience has been flipped on its head. Decades of research now show that many aspects of the brain remain changeable throughout one's lifetime. These studies demonstrate that substantial changes occur in the lowest neocortical processing areas, and that these changes can profoundly alter the pattern of neuronal activation in response to experience. Neuroscientific research now indicates that experience can actually change both the brain's physical structure (anatomy) and functional organization (physiology).
This is GREAT NEWS!
As a result of this new realization, three terms have emerged as driving concepts in the world of neuroscience: Neuroplasticity, Cognitive Reserve and Neurogenesis.
-
Neuroplasticity - also known as brain plasticity, is an umbrella term that describes lasting change to the brain throughout an animal's life course. It is the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease, and to adjust their activities in response to new situations, or to changes in their environment. Simply put, the brain adapts, and changes itself, based on input from the body, and from the environment.
-
Cognitive Reserve - describes the mind's resistance to damage of the brain. In other words, it is the idea that mental exercise, social interaction, and brain-stimulating activities, like cognitive training, can build up “reserve”, thereby helping to stave off declining memory, thinking, and cognitive function. Think of it as your brain’s way of paving extra side routes, in case there is an accident on the main highway.
-
Neurogenesis – is the process by which neurons are generated from neural stem cells and progenitor cells. We now know that neurogenesis can occur throughout ones life. Learning new things, proper diet, some forms of exercise, and a healthy lifestyle can all enhance neurogenesis.
What does this mean to you…
-
Your brain is always changing/adapting based on how much, and in what ways, you challenge your brain each day, as well as your exercise and sleep habits, diet, ability to manage stress, and social interactions.
-
You can help direct the way your brain changes! Your brain is constantly trying to improve itself. You can help your brain thrive, by engaging in targeted cognitive exercises, specific physical exercises and a healthy lifestyle. The choice is yours!
The articles and studies below are just a sampling of the latest research in the world of neuroscience.
______________________________________________________
Heart Rate Variability
Proprioceptive Training
The Relationship Between Neurocognitive Function and Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries
Charles Buz Swanik, PhD, ATC, Tracey Covassin, PhD, ATC, David J. Stearne, PhD, ATC, Philip Schatz, PhD
"Neuromuscular control is influenced by sensory information from proprioceptive, kinesthetic, visual, and vestibular sources, as well as cortical and spinal motor commands."
3D Visual Tracking
Memory Training and Benefits for Quality of Life In The Elderly: Case Study
Dementia & Neuropsychologia
"The results suggest that the use of Neurotracker for training cognitive processes is valid for cognitive rehabilitation programs to promote improvements in quality of life in the elderly."
~ Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo
Enhancing Cognitive Function Using Perceptual-Cognitive Training
Parsons B, Magill T, Boucher A, Zhang M, Zogbo K, Bérubé S, Scheffer O, Beauregard M, Faubert
"Results indicate that 10 sessions of 3D-MOT training can enhance attention, visual information processing speed, and working memory, and also leads to quantifiable changes in resting-state neuroelectric brain function."
Millisecond Timing
Academic and Behavioral Improvements in 2nd Through 8th Grade Students in the Hardy Brain Camp Program
Jamshid Damooei, PhD, California Lutheran University
"Remarkable improvements where made in academic performance, attitude, ability to process information, and ability to deal with surrounding environment."
The Effectiveness of Interactive Metronome as a Restorative Modality to Improve Cognition and Motor Peformance in Healthy Older Adults
Journal of Neurology and Neuroscience
"Researchers concluded the participants improved scores on cognitive and fine motor dexterity measures might indicate IM could be beneficial in enhancing or maintaining individuals for this senior population"
Evaluation of Hardy Brain Camp
Hannah Grossman-Mary E. Brenner Gevirtz Graduate School of Education UCSB
"These results of analysis suggest that the Hardy Brain Training provided moderate improvement in processing speed and smaller improvements in reading and math fluency, based on statistical criteria."
Personalized Cognitive Training
10 Brain Exercises That Boost Memory
Linda Melone, Everyday Health-Longevity
"We don’t just lose muscle over time — our brains can atrophy, too. More specifically, your brain's cognitive reserve — its ability to withstand neurological damage due to aging and other factors without showing visible signs of slowing or memory loss — diminishes through the years. That can make it more difficult to perform mental tasks. But just as weight workouts add lean muscle to your body and help you retain more muscle in your later years, researchers now believe that following a brain-healthy lifestyle and performing regular, targeted brain exercises can also increase your brain's cognitive reserve."
Mental Strain Helps Maintain a Healthy Brain
Harvard Health Publications
" Just as your muscles grow stronger with use, mental exercise keeps your mental skills and memory in tone."
"Any brain exercise is better than being a total mental couch potato. But the activities with the most impact are those that require you to work beyond what is easy and comfortable. Playing endless rounds of solitaire and watching the latest documentary marathon on the History Channel may not be enough. “If it’s too easy,” Dr. Fabiny says, “it’s not helping you.”
Five of the Best App to Train Your Brain
Honor Whiteman
"CogniFit is perhaps the most advanced brain training app we reviewed, consisting of a variety of minigames designed to train more than 20 cognitive skills, including short-term memory, planning, hand-eye coordination, and auditory perception."
~Medical News Today, 2017
Computer-Based, Personalized Cognitive Training Versus Classical Computer Games
Peretz C, Korczyn AD, Shatil E, Aharonson V, Birnboim S, Giladi N.
"Personalized, computerized cognitive training appears to be more effective than computer games in improving cognitive performance in healthy older adults. "
~ Journal of Sport and Health
Dexterity-Dextercise™
Tripod Pinch Strength and Thumb Opposition are the Major Determinants of Manual Dexterity
Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychology
"Tripod pinch strength and thumb opposition are major determinants of manual dexterity in and should therefore be the focus of intervention strategies that aim to preserve or enhance manual dexterity"
Neuroplasticity & Brain Training
STUDY: To Improve Brain Health You Need BOTH Aerobic and Cognitive Exercise
by Dr Mark Esposito
“Cognitive brain training improves executive function whereas aerobic activity improves memory, according to new Center for Brain Health research at The University of Texas at Dallas…”
“While memory is important, executive functions such as decision-making and the ability to synthesize information are equally, if not more so, but we often take them for granted. The takeaway: Aerobic activity and reasoning training are both valuable tools that give your brain a boost in different ways.”
~ Sharp Brains
The Business and Ethics of the Brain Fitness Boom
by Alvaro Fernandez
“The growing interest in the science, practice, and business of brain fitness presents a significant opportunity to build mental capital, enhance mental wellness, and delay symptoms of brain-based decline and disease.”
~Alvaro Fernandez
Can you grow your hippocampus? Yes. Here’s how and why it matters.
by Dr. Majid Fotuhi
“…for the first time we have solid scientific evidence that we all have the capacity to grow the part of our brains that shrinks with aging and makes us prone to developing Alzheimer’s disease. A bigger hippocampus can protect us against dementia symptoms in our 70s and 80s. These exciting new discoveries should empower all of us to be proactive in keeping our brain healthy today and to ward off Alzheimer’s disease decades later.”
~Dr. Majid Fotuhi
Can brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions.
by Sharp Brains
“1. It must engage and exercise a core brain-based capacity or neural circuit identified to be relevant to real-life outcomes,
2. It must target a performance bottleneck
3. A minimum “dose” of 15 hours total per targeted brain function, performed over 8 weeks or less, is necessary for real improvement.
4. Training must adapt to performance, require effortful attention, and increase in difficulty.
5. Continued practice is required for continued benefits.”
~ Sharp Brains
You Can Retrieve Memories From Patients with Early-Stage Alzheimer’s
by June Javelosa, Futurism
“The important point is, this a proof of concept. That is, even if a memory seems to be gone, it is still there. It’s a matter of how to retrieve it,” says Susumu Tonegawa, the Picower Professor of Biology and Neuroscience and director of the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.
~ Susumu Tonegawa
Report: We are at the dawn of the Pervasive Neurotechnology age…
by Zack Lynch, Sharp Brains
“the next decade looks to be the one when neurotechnology will truly become pervasive in all of our lives. Everyone has a brain; and eventually everyone will leverage neurotechnology to improve their lives.”
~Zack Lynch, SharpBrains
Steph Curry Literally Sees the World Differently Than You Do
by Drake Baer, Science of Us
“He [Curry] told me that training his perceptive abilities — what his trainer Brandon Payne calls ‘neurocognitive efficiency’ — has helped make his ball-handling crisper, as well as boosting his creativity and giving him a better command of space on the floor. “
“University of Montreal professor Jocelyn Faubert, who studies athletes’ vision, says that a Messi or a Curry set themselves apart from merely excellent pro players by their ability to extract more information from their vision.
“Faubert says that the better you get at the visual tracking, the more mental space you free up….Watching Curry over the last few seasons, that’s what it looks like is going on: The more he’s mastering multiple stimuli, the slower the game gets in his brain, the faster he’s able to solve whatever riddle the defense is giving him. And the shots keep falling.”
Activites to Improve Dexterity
by Ashley Miller, AZ Central
“Improving your dexterity can help you maintain independence as you age, develop an increased ability to perform manual skills involving your hands, and artistic activities, such as painting or playing the piano, with greater ease.”
~ Ashley Miller, AZ Central
The Motor-Cognitive Connection: Early Fine Motor Skills as an Indicator of Future Success
by Bill Jenkins, Ph.D.
“…some facts are quite clear:
-
There is a clear connection in the circuitry of the brain between areas controlling fine motor skills and areas controlling cognition.
-
These areas are developing simultaneously, with exceptional speed during early brain development.
-
Motor skills are a proven indicator of future math and reading success.”
Circuit Train Your Brain; Add variety to your workouts to improve your memory, spark creativity, even tame your appetite.
by Beth Howard, AARP
“The studies show that different types of physical training activate specific parts of your brain, enhancing different cognitive functions. So if you want to optimize your brain's health, you need to diversify your routine. Here's what you need to do:
-
When it comes to keeping your memory sharp, both aerobic workouts and resistance training pay off.
-
"[Yoga] seemed to have improved the focus, attention and concentration of participants," says study author Neha Gothe, assistant professor in kinesiology, health and sport studies at Wayne State University in Detroit.
-
Tame your appetite with High-intensity interval training (HIIT) “those doing high-intensity training not only ate less right after their workouts, but improved their regulation of appetite overall.”
-
Spark your Creativity with leisurely walks
-
Reduce Cravings with Brisk walking or cycling. “Significantly, regions of the brain associated with addiction were less activated in smokers who exercised.”
-
Improve your Working Memory with balance and coordination exercises”
~ Beth Howard, AARP
STUDY: Beneficial effect from a cognitive training programme on children with acquired brain injuries demonstrated in a controlled study.
by Hooft IV, Andersson K, Bergman B, Sejersen T, Von Wendt L, Bartfai A.
The immediate effect of the training programme improved complex attention and memory functions, indicating that this method may be a valuable treatment option for improving cognitive efficiency
The studies provided here are written by independent third parties and the publication of such content by The Braining Center does not imply any affiliation with The Braining Center or endorsement of The Braining Center services. Nothing that you read on this website should be regarded as medical or health advice. Information and statements regarding brain training software and services such as those provided by The Braining Center have not been evaluated by regulatory authorities, and such services are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you require medical or other assistance, you should consult a health professional.