Public libraries have long offered the public more than books. And now, recent demographic and scientific trends are converging to fundamentally transform the role of libraries in our culture. You may enjoy reading this recent article I wrote for the May-June 2009 Issue of Aging Today, the bimonthly publication of the American Society on Aging: Public Libraries: Community-Based Health Clubs for the Brain.

The Big Picture

Can You Outsmart Your Genes? An Interview with Author Richard Nisbett: David DiSalvo interviews Richard Nisbett, the author of Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count, who has emerged as a persuasive voice marshalling evidence to disprove the heredity-is-destiny argument.

Yes, You Can Build Willpower: Daniel Goleman discusses how the brain makes about 10,000 new cells every day, how they migrate to where they are needed, and how each cell can make around 10,000 connections to other brain cells. Implication? Meditate, mindfully, and build positive habits.

Bird's Eye View of Cognitive Health Innovation: Alvaro Fernandez opened the Cognitive Health Track during the Games for Health Conference (June 11-12th, Boston) with an overview of the serious games, software and online applications that can help assess and train cognitive abilities. The presentation is available Here.

Brain Tests and Myths

The Best Memory Tests, from the Alzheimer's Action Plan: Dr. Murali Doraiswamy discusses the Pros and Cons of the most common assessments to identify cognitive problems, including what the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) does and doesn´t, and innovative computerized neuropsychological tests.

Debunking 10 Brain Health Myths: Does your brain have a "Brain Age"? Is a Magic Pill to prevent memory problems right around the corner? Does "aging" equal "decline"? Check out the facts to debunk 10 common myths on brain health.

Resources

Free Webinar: On July 21st, 10am Pacific Time/ 1pm Eastern Time, Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg and Alvaro Fernandez, co-authors of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness, will cover the main highlights from this new book and address the questions submitted by readers. You can learn more and register HERE.
 

Research References: This is a partial list of the scientific studies reviewed during the research phase of SharpBrains´s new book, organized by relevant chapter, for those of you who like to explore topics in depth by reading original research (perhaps PubMed should promote itself as a never ending source of mental stimulation?).

Brain Teasers

Brain Teasers on Brain Fitness: Are you ready to test your knowledge of several key brain fitness metrics? For example: How many soldiers in the US Army have gone through computerized cognitive testing before being deployed, and why?
Finally, a request: if you have already read The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness, and could write a brief customer review at Amazon.com, we would surely appreciate! The Amazon.com book page is Here.

Best regards, and enjoy the month

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Yes, You Can:

New research suggests we can build our willpower

-- By Daniel Goleman

Those of us who struggle to resist junk foods or otherwise suffer a lack of willpower will be heartened by some good news from neuroscience. But there's some bad news, too.

First, the bad news. A slew of studies suggest that we each have a fixed neural reservoir of willpower, and that if we use it on one thing, we have less for others. Tasks that demand some self-control make it harder for us to do the next thing that takes willpower.

In a typical experiment on this effect, one group of people was made to watch a video of a boring scene; another was not. Then both groups had to circle every "e" in a long passage of writing. The result? The people who had to first sit through the boring video gave up faster. The same loss of persistence has been found when people try to resist tempting foods, suppress emotional reactions, or even make the effort to try to impress someone.

This all suggests we have a fixed willpower budget, one we should be careful in spending. Some neuroscientists suspect that self-control consumes blood sugar, which takes a while to build up again; thus, the depletion effect.

But the good news is that we can grow our willpower; like a muscle, the more we use it, the more it gradually increases over time. But doing this takes, of all things, willpower.

As the muscle of will grows, the larger our reservoir of self-discipline becomes. So people who are able to stick to a diet or an exercise program for a few months, or who complete money-management classes, also reduce their impulse-buying, junk food consumption, and alcohol intake. They watch less TV and do more housework. And this ability to delay grasping at gratification, much data shows, predicts greater career success.

This round-up of thinking on willpower comes courtesy of Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang, whose recent book, Welcome to Your Brain, details the evidence about willpower. But, writing in The New York Times, the duo poses a puzzle: While it's clear that willpower has limits, what brain mechanisms let us build it up?

That question brought to mind a recent conversation I had with Richard Davidson, the director of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin. Davidson's research these days focuses on neuroplasticity—how our experience shapes the brain throughout life. One surprise: though most of us learned that we have a fixed number of brain cells when we are born, and that we lose them steadily until we die, brain science now tells us the brain makes about 10,000 new cells every day, and that they migrate to where they are needed. Once there, each cell makes around 10,000 connections to other brain cells over the successive four months.

Davidson's research finds that the left prefrontal cortex—the brain's executive center located just behind the forehead—is a key site for helping us build willpower. Our plans and goals hatch here, and impulses are executed via this zone. There is a neural circuit in the prefrontal cortex that inhibits emotional impulse, and can be strengthened by a range of methods.

One of these methods, Davidson explained to me, is mindfulness training, a secular form of meditation widely used in settings from businesses to outpatient clinics. This is confirmed by a great deal of research. My own doctoral dissertation found (as have many others since) that the practice of meditation seems to speed the rate of physiological recovery from a stressful event. A string of studies have now established that more experienced meditators recover more quickly from stress-induced physiological arousal than do novices.

Research shows that other kinds of training can have similar effects, and the more time we devote to any of these trainings, the greater the result in the targeted areas of the brain. Brain imaging studies show that the spatial areas of London taxi drivers' brains become enhanced during the first six months they spend driving around that city's winding streets; likewise, the area for thumb movement in the motor cortex becomes more robust in violinists as they continue to practice over many months. A seminal 2004 article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that, compared to novices, highly adept meditators generated far more high-amplitude gamma wave activity—which reflects finely focused attention—in areas of the prefrontal cortex while meditating.

And so it makes perfect sense that we can build our willpower over time if we are committed to doing so, a process that changes our brains right down to the cellular level. Simply being consistently self-disciplined seems to help—going to the gym every day for months, or completing projects you begin—and so does mindfulness meditation. There are ways, it seems, to make it easier to "just say no" when we need to.

-- Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., is the author of the bestsellers Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence. His website is www.danielgoleman.info. Goleman’s full conversation with Richard Davidson can be heard as part of the audio series Wired to Connect: Dialogues on Social Intelligence, available through More than Sound Productions.

We bring you this post thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine, a UC-Berkeley-based quarterly magazine that highlights ground breaking scientific research into the roots of compassion and altruism.

Previous columns by Daniel Goleman:

- Should Social-Emotional Learning Be Part of Academic Curriculum?

- When Empathy moves us to Action-By Daniel Goleman

- The Power of Mindsight-by Daniel Goleman

See Bird's Eye View of Cognitive Health Innovation

Description: Scientific, technological and demographic trends have converged to create a new $265m market in the US alone: serious games, software and online applications that can help people of all ages assess and train cognitive abilities. Alvaro Fernandez will provide a Bird’s Eye View of the science, market segments and trends, competitive landscape, and main challenges ahead, based on The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2009 report released in May, which included Research Executive Briefs prepared by 12 leading scientists and a survey of 2,000+ decision-makers and early adopters.

61% of respondents to the survey Strongly Agreed with the statement “Addressing cognitive and brain health should be a healthcare priority.” But, 65% Agreed/Strongly Agreed with “I don't really know what to expect from products making brain claims.” In this session, Alvaro will publicly unveil the new book The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, To Keep Your Brain Sharp, co-authored by neuropsychologist Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg and himself, aimed at helping consumers and professionals understand and navigate this growing field.

To see slides, check out Bird's Eye View of Cognitive Health Innovation

Enjoy the 4th of July!

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

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While no single test (other than a brain biopsy, which is a very invasive and risky procedure) can conclusively prove that a person has Alzheimer’s, many tests can give us a good idea. A list of all the tests that help us assess memory and thinking problems appears at the end of this chapter. Meanwhile, let’s take a good look at the whys and hows of a thorough memory assessment.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE AN EXTRA TEST CAN MAKE

To understand why getting tested (and retested as symptoms change and the disease progresses) is important, check out the experience of Katherine, who went to the doctor complaining of a memory slowdown. She took five of the most important neuropsychological tests, which assess brain function without actually physically looking at the brain. Then she underwent brain scans, a cardiovascular workup, and blood tests to see what else was going on that might be undermining her mental function.

- BUT FIRST, PAYING FOR THE DIAGNOSIS-

Ignorance can be costly, yet so is information. At the first visit, ask the doctor to spell out which tests he or she wants to run, then check that your insurance covers those tests and whether there are any conditions that are not covered. At the end of this chapter you will find the approximate costs of different tests.

Was it all worth it? Well, if she had stopped at just the two most common tests, she could have walked away with a very inaccurate diagnosis.

First, the doctor wanted to know if she had a family history of Alzheimer’s and, if so, at what age the relative developed Alzheimer’s. The doctor also needed to know her age. That’s not surprising—seems the older you get, the more people ask. But for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, age really matters, because after age sixtyfive the risk of Alzheimer’s doubles every five years, and below age fifty the disease is relatively rare.Your education level is important, too. People who didn’t complete high school have a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s than people with a higher level of education. Finally, women are more likely to get Alzheimer’s than men.

Katherine was seventy-two, a college grad, and had no family history that she knew of.Her parents both died before their seventy-fifth birthdays, but they certainly didn’t have early-onset Alzheimer’s.

THE STANDARD OF MEMORY TESTS

The test that all doctors should give at the first memory assessment, which Katherine’s doctor did, and at every follow-up visit is the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), a short but very useful test that assesses a lot of different abilities.

• To demonstrate orientation:The patient tries to answer, “What is today’s date?” and “What county are we in?”
• To demonstrate memory skills: The patient tries to repeat the names of three objects immediately and again after five minutes.
• To demonstrate concentration: The patient tries to count backward or to spell backward.
• To demonstrate language abilities: The patient tries to name objects in the room, repeat a tongue twister, or follow simple directions such as to take, fold, and put a piece of paper on the desk.
• To demonstrate motor skills: The patient tries to copy a picture that includes intersecting shapes.

• Serves as a quick screen for dementia of any kind
• Provides a general measure of brain function
• Helps determine if the patient is in the early, middle, or late stage of Alzheimer’s
• Monitors changes in mental functioning over time, including the effects of treatment
• Provides a common language. Everyone from a general practitioner to a memory specialist understands the test results, so they serve as a common language spoken across different specialties.

What the MMSE Doesn’t Do

The MMSE doesn’t do subtle. It was developed thirty years ago to help doctors screen hospital patients for problems with their mental functioning. Now people are driving themselves to the doctor for a memory test, and the MMSE is not sensitive enough to pick up on subtle problems in thinking and memory. Nor does it probe any one aspect of mental functioning in depth or distinguish among memory disorders.

Some individuals with a very high IQ or those who are really good test takers appear merely “normal” on the MMSE when in fact they have an Alzheimer’s-induced memory slowdown. Doctors should, though not all do, consider IQ, gender, occupation, education level, and an individual’s age when scoring the MMSE. An assessment may not include a formal IQ test, but the doctor should find out about the person’s personality, capabilities, and occupation prior to developing memory problems, because Alzheimer’s is about a decline or change in memory and thinking. For example, the MMSE score of 26 is normal for a man in his early sixties who has an eighth-grade education, but it would be below normal if he had gone to college. (A chart showing what MMSE score is normal for a person’s age and education is available at www.tuftsnemc.org/ psych/mmse.asp.)

Katherine did okay on her MMSE. She scored a respectable 26 out of a possible 30. No big red flag there for most doctors, who don’t worry until they see a total score below 24. But the score actually concerned her doctor, who happened to know that for her years of education and age, normal for Katherine would be closer to a 28.

Doctors sometimes neglect to home in on how the test taker did on each set of questions. For example, forgetting today’s date is less important than missing other assessment questions. Before leaving the doctor’s office, find out your (or your relative’s) total MMSE score and what items were missed.

Katherine ended up taking the MMSE many times over the years. Her scores declined slowly because, as the tests revealed, she had MCI (mild cognitive impairment). But after three years, she, too,was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and her decline accelerated.

It’s Time . . .

Probably the second most popular test to screen for dementia is the clock-drawing test, which requires patients to draw a clock showing a specific time. The test is a good way to screen for overall mental abilities, and it can reveal problems that the patient has been able to hide during day-to-day activities. Katherine did great on the test, which was lucky for her daughter, whose own little girl was just mastering the skill of telling time. It’s upsetting for family members to see a parent or spouse fail at a task most kids master in grade school.

Most general practitioners consider talking with the patient, ordering some blood tests and a brain scan, and giving the MMSE and clock-drawing test sufficient for diagnosing dementia. It might be sufficient for someone with obvious signs of Alzheimer’s. But it could miss the early-stage Alzheimer’s or MCI. Fortunately for Katherine and her family, her doctor did more.

ASSESSING LANGUAGE SKILLS

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s requires being impaired in memory and one other mental function, such as language or attention. Language problems usually indicate that Alzheimer’s is somewhat progressed or that the problem is another type of dementia that strikes the language centers of the brain first.

To assess language, beyond just listening to how the person formulates and understands words, a doctor will ask the patient to name common objects, such as chair, shoe, or elbow. More sensitive tests of language skills involve asking the patient to name, for example, all the four-legged animals he or she can think of as quickly as possible, or to repeat complex phrases, such as “Nelson Rockefeller had a Lincoln Continental.” Katherine took one section of a language test called the Boston Naming Test that required her to name uncommon objects depicted in line drawings. She got only twentysix out of thirty right, which is slightly worrisome.

The Delayed Recall Test

One of the most sensitive tests to distinguish normal aging from Alzheimer’s is the delayed recall test, which tests a person’s memory for a story or list of ten to sixteen words heard thirty minutes earlier. It’s usually given as part of a larger memory test that also assesses immediate recall. Katherine’s MCI came out of the shadows here. She was in the bottom nineteenth percentile on these recall tests.

One delayed recall test, called the Buscke Selective Reminding test, helps distinguish Alzheimer’s from normal aging, because the tester is allowed to give clues to jog the test taker’s memory. A prompt usually does not help if Alzheimer’s is at the wheel, but it does help if the memory malfunction is due to depression or attention grabbers.

There are other tests, too. To assess attention, doctors see how well the patient can follow directions. They also ask the patient to spell words forward and backward or to subtract numbers forward and backward (for example, subtract by 7s starting at 100). There are computerized tests of attention as well, which are becoming increasingly popular in private practices and research centers.

Daily Living

The activities once taken for granted, from using the phone to fixing dinner, go from routine to frustrating to impossible as Alzheimer’s storms the brain. Katherine’s doctor used a Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) to rate her ability to perform several common daily activities. The questionnaire assigns one point if a person has trouble with the activity but can do it alone, two points if he or she needs assistance, and three points if he or she is dependent on someone else to do it. The highest score, 30, indicates impairment in all activities; a score below 9 is normal. Katherine scored a 5, because she needs some help balancing her checkbook and assembling tax records.

DEPRESSION, DEMENTIA, OR BOTH?

Depression is a must-check condition for every person complaining of impaired thinking. Depression and Alzheimer’s have an insidious relationship: Depression masks Alzheimer’s, is mistaken for Alzheimer’s, worsens Alzheimer’s, may precede the onset of Alzheimer’s, and can be caused by Alzheimer’s. To screen for depression, the doctor may start by just asking a few important questions:

1. Are you able to have fun or experience pleasure during a normal day?
2. Are you sleeping well?
3. Are you in pain?
4. Is everything okay with home and family life?
5. Have you lost weight unintentionally? Are you overeating?
Katherine’s answers were: 1. not really; 2. not really; 3. not really; 4. I don’t have much of a home life;
5. I wish.

Her doctor decided to give her the Geriatric Depression Scale— Short Form, which asks fifteen questions to probe for depression. A score greater than 5 warrants further assessment and a score greater than 10 indicates clinical depression. Katherine scored 11.After asking a few more questions and reviewing her medical record, the doctor prescribed an antidepressant. He also recommended that her family get her more involved in physical and social activities, including walking. Three months later, her depression eased. Her memory problems persisted, but she was thinking more clearly and her attention and concentration improved. Also, she regained a good portion of her former desire to see her friends.

Doctors often give the relative of the person with Alzheimer’s the brief Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) to assess changes in the patient’s sleeping and eating habits, appetite, depression, euphoria, irritability, hallucinations, paranoia, impulsivity, and nighttime behaviors.

The family member also describes how much each of these behaviors is disrupting the family.To fill out the survey, family members can rely on their memory or keep a weekly diary of changes they notice in the person with Alzheimer’s.The NPI can help a doctor:
• Be more thorough. Unusual symptoms, such as extreme euphoria or impulsivity, may point to frontal lobe dementia, for example.
• Determine if the person needs psychiatric drugs, such as antidepressants

• Identify the stage of Alzheimer’s—more severe behavior problems usually indicate more advanced dementia
• Monitor improvements following the start of new medications (such as Aricept or Namenda)

This scale is particularly useful if one is being treated by a nonspecialist, since most general practitioners often lack the time or experience to assess behavioral problems in detail. Doctors use the NPI when first assessing a patient and again at subsequent appointments to monitor change. Roughly one-third of people with MCI and twothirds of people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s have a behavioral change.

Computerized Neuropsychological Tests

For people with mild memory loss, computerized tests of all aspects of mental functioning, including memory, are particularly useful though not widely used. Unlike paper-and-pencil tests, computerized assessments can easily be made more difficult to challenge patients who are only slightly impaired or who are highly able test takers. Computerized tests are becoming very feasible to administer, as more patients (though not all) are becoming more technology savvy and comfortable with a keyboard. You probably have to go to a specialist to take them, however, as they are not readily available elsewhere.

...(to continue reading, check out  The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems).

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Dr. Murali Doraiswamy is the Head of the Division of Biological Psychiatry at Duke University's School of Medicine, and co-author of The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems, just released in paperback. The first article in this 2-part series focused on Alzheimer's Early and Accurate Diagnosis: Normal Aging vs. Alzheimer's Disease.

How to Register: Click HERE for more information and to Register.
Title: The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness:
18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp

Book description: While most of us have heard the phrase “use it or lose it,” very few understand what “it” means, or how to properly “use it” in order to maintain brain function and fitness. The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness is an invaluable guide that helps readers navigate growing brain research and identify the lifestyle factors and products that contribute to brain fitness. By gathering insights from eighteen of the world’s top scientists and offering tools and detailed descriptions of over twenty products, this book is an essential guide to the field of brain fitness, neuroplasticity and cognitive health.

An accessible and thought-provoking read, The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness educates lifelong learners and professionals in healthcare, education, business, etc., on emerging trends and forecasts of what the future will hold.

To order book via Amazon.com:

- Print book ($24.95): click Here
- Kindle version ($9.99): click Here

The book has also received two excellent new endorsements:

"Kudos for an excellent resource! This SharpBrains Guide is full of top notch information, provides practical tips and helps separate hype from hope in the brain health arena."
--- Elizabeth Edgerly, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer, Alzheimer's Association

"The SharpBrains' Guide to Brain Fitness helped answer many of my questions on the importance of both physical and mental exercise to stay sharp as we age, as they act in synergy on one another. The Guide also provided guidelines and specific calls to action to expand what we traditionally do in our fitness clubs. This is an important book for anyone in the fitness industry, and, for that matter, for anyone with a brain."
--- Robin Klaus, Chairman, Club One Fitness Centers

More information on the book: The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness

Also: Book Club Discussion Guide

Do supplements improve memory? Do you need both physical and mental exercise –or is one of them enough? Which brain training approach, if any, is worth one's time and money?

We tried to address these questions, and many others, in our recent book, The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness (182 pages, $24.95), that we presented at Games for Health Conference last week. The book is the result of over two years of extensive research including more than a hundred interviews with scientists, professionals and consumers, and a deep review of the scientific literature, led by neuropsychologist Elkhonon Goldberg and myself with the help of cognitive scientist Pascale Michelon. As we wrote in the Introduction, what we wanted to do first of all was to debunks these 10 myths on brain health and brain training:

Myth 1. Genes determine the fate of our brains.
Facts: Lifelong neuroplasticity allows our lifestyles and actions to play a meaningful role in how our brains physically evolve, especially given longer life expectancy.

Myth 2. Aging means automatic decline.
Facts: There is nothing inherently fixed in the precise trajectory of how brain functions evolve as we age.

Myth 3. Medication is the main hope for cognitive enhancement.
Facts: Non-invasive interventions can have comparable and more durable effects, side effect-free.

Myth 4. We will soon have a Magic Pill or General Solution to solve all our cognitive challenges.
Facts: A multi-pronged approach is recommended, centered around nutrition, stress management, and both physical and mental exercise.

Myth 5. There is only one “it” in “Use It or Lose it”.
Facts: The brain is composed of a number of specialized units. Our life and productivity depend on a variety of brain functions, not just one.

Myth 6. All brain activities or exercises are equal.
Facts: Varied and targeted exercises are the necessary ingredients in brain training so that a wide range of brain functions can be stimulated.

Myth 7. There is only one way to train your brain.
Facts: Brain functions can be impacted in a number of ways: through meditation, cognitive therapy, cognitive training.

Myth 8. We all have something called “Brain Age”.
Facts: Brain age is a fiction. No two individuals have the same brain or expression of brain functions.

Myth 9. That “brain age” can be reversed by 10, 20, 30 years.
Facts: Brain training can improve specific brain functions, but, with research available today, cannot be said to roll back one’s “brain age” by a number of years.

Myth 10. All human brains need the same brain training.
Facts: As in physical fitness, users must ask themselves: What functions do I need to improve on? In what timeframe? What is my budget?

Do you have other myths in mind you would like  us to address?

We have started to receive great feedback from the healthcare community, such as this email from a neurosurgeon in Texas:

"I really like the book, it is comprehensive without being too technical. I have recommended it to several patients. There are some other books that I expected would be greeted with enthusiasm, but were too complex for most of my patients. I think this book is right in the sweet spot".

And this great book review by an Internist Physician and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow, titled Is Your Brain A Couch Potato?:

“…a short, sweet, entertaining read of a complex topic, with timely (written in 1/09) reviews of 21 top technology products, as well as informed and expert predictions of where this burgeoning brain-fitness field is headed. More importantly, after you read it, you'll have a good, detailed sense of where you, personally, can act to improve your own couch-potato brain - and how to keep it fit and flexible your whole life. The SharpBrains Guide To Brain Fitness reminds of us all why books (and not just googling a topic) can be well worth your time and money. Two Stethoscopes Up - check it out. life."

—Doc Gurley, book review for SFGate.com (06/08/09)

The book:  The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness (available via Amazon.com Here, review copies available upon request).

Description: While most of us have heard the phrase “use it or lose it,” very few understand what “it” means, or how to properly “use it” in order to maintain brain function and fitness. The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness is an invaluable guide that helps readers navigate growing brain research and identify the lifestyle factors and products that contribute to brain health and fitness. By gathering insights from eighteen of the world’s top scientists and offering tools and detailed descriptions of over twenty products, this book is an essential guide to the field of brain fitness, neuroplasticity and cognitive health. An accessible and thought-provoking read, The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness educates lifelong learners and professionals in healthcare, education, business, etc., on emerging trends and forecasts of what the future will hold.

Products Reviewed (we reviewed scientific studies published before January 2009, when the manuscript text was closed):

- Overall brain maintenance: Brain Age series (Nintendo), BrainWare Safari (Learning Enhancement Corporation), FitBrains.com (Vivity Labs), Happy-Neuron.com (Scientific Brain Training), Lumosity.com (Lumos Labs), MindFit (CogniFit), (m)Power (Dakim)

- Targeted brain workout: Classic and InSight (Posit Science), Working Memory Training JM and RM (Cogmed), DriveFit (CogniFit), Earobics (Houghton Mifflin), Fast ForWord (Scientific Learning), IntelliGym (Applied Cognitive Engineering), Vision Restpration Therapy (NovaVision)

- Emotional self-regulation: emWave PC and Personal Stress Reliever (HeartMath), Journey to the Wild Divine (Wild Divine), RESPeRATE (InterCure), StressEraser (Helicor)

Q: How many soldiers in the US Army have gone through computerized cognitive testing before being deployed, and why?
A: Over 150,000, in order to establish an objective starting baseline and identify potential Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) problems upon their return.

Q: How big is the ongoing investment by OptumHealth, a division of UnitedHealth Group (UNH), in developing computerized cognitive assessments to inform clinical decision-making?
A: over $6m.

Q: How many Allstate policy-holders over the age of 50 have received a computerized cognitive training program to improve their driving safety?
A: Over 8,000, in the state of Pennsylvania.

Q: How many residential communities are offering computerized cognitive training programs to their residents?
A: Over 700, in the US alone, covering independent and assisted living.

Q: How much money has the Government of Ontario invested in setting up a new Centre for Brain Fitness as part of Baycrest research center in order to develop and commercialize technologies to assess and enhance cognitive functions?
A: $10m, matched with another 10m from local investors.

For more on our Cognitive Health Track at Games for Health Conference last week, see this USA Today article:

More doctor's prescriptions may include brain games to improve mental acuity

(pretty good overall, but please note that SharpBrains didn't organize the whole conference, "only" the cognitive health track, which was a lot of stimulating fun. Ben Sawyer and team did overall conference).

While the debate over intelligence rages on many fronts, the battle over the importance of heredity rages loudest. It’s easy to see why. If the camp that argues intelligence is 75 to 85 percent genetically determined is correct, then we’re faced with some tough questions about the role of education. If intelligence is improved very little by schools, and if the IQ of the majority of the population will remain relatively unchanged no matter how well schools perform, then should school reform really be a priority?

More to the point, if our genes largely determine our IQ, which in turn underlies our performance throughout our lives, then what is the role of school? For some in this debate the answer to that question is simply, “to be the best you can be.” But that seems little comfort for those who aspire to “be” more than what their IQ category predicts they will.

Those on the other side of this debate question whether heredity plays as big a role as the strong hereditarians claim. And for the role it does play, they question whether hereditability implies immutability. Heredity of height, for example, is about 90 percent, and yet average height in several populations around the world has been steadily increasing due to non-genetic influences, like nutrition. If such a strong hereditary trait can be radically altered by environmental factors–and height is but one example of this–then why is intelligence different?

It is not, argues the camp that might best be described as intelligence optimists. For them, the pessimism that colors the strong hereditarian position isn’t only discouraging, it’s dangerous. Too much is hanging in the balance for pessimism about the potential of our children to prevail.

Richard Nisbett is a champion of the intelligence optimist camp, and with his latest book, Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count , he has emerged as the most persuasive voice marshalling evidence to disprove the heredity-is-destiny argument. Intellectual advancement, Nisbett argues, is not the result of hardwired genetic codes, but the province of controllable factors like schools and social environments–and as such, improving these factors is crucially important. In the thick of controversy, he was gracious enough to spend a few minutes discussing his book with Neuronarrative.

In Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count , you counter the arguments of strong intelligence hereditarianism, but in a sense you’re countering heritability dogma overall. What led you to take on this challenge?

My only complaint was with the heritability of intelligence per se. I just had the strong intuition that intelligence, and certainly IQ scores, were heavily influenced by the environment and by gene-environment interactions. My research indicates that in fact heritability, especially for adult IQ, is substantially less than frequently assumed.

One of the topics you discuss in the book is that drawing inferences based on correlations often produces misleading results. What’s an example of this in the case of intelligence?

The correlation between identical twins reared apart gives an overestimate of heritability because the environments of identical twins reared apart are often highly similar. But the main contradiction of heritability estimates lies in the fact that adoption produces a huge effect on IQ – much bigger than could be explained if you believed the conclusion of heritability estimates based on sibling correlations.

You discuss the importance of early childhood education and provide some compelling statistics on the IQ-boosting effects of preschool. Why in a nutshell is early education so essential?

This is speculative at this point, but here goes. It is beginning to look like the IQ deficits of poor minority kids begin extremely early and have to do with rearing techniques. Parents of such kids don’t talk to them much and don’t do things that would stimulate intelligence. At any rate, we know of several socialization practices that correlate substantially with IQ, and for all those practices parents of poor minority kids are on the low side.

If a child doesn’t receive quality early education, will he or she still be able to bridge the gap later on?

We do know that interventions as late as early adulthood can have a big effect on IQ and academic achievement. College reduces the IQ gap between blacks and whites from one standard deviation (SD) to .4 SD. Just telling junior high school kids that their intelligence is under their control can produce a gain in GPA. You can put a great deal of educational effort in at middle school and junior high ages and produce marked IQ and academic achievement gains.

You mention that children with greater self-control tend to have higher intelligence. How are these linked, and is it reasonable to conclude that increasing self-control raises intelligence?

This is speculative. We know there is a correlation between self-control and intelligence, especially between self-control and both ACT achievement and SAT scores. What we don’t know is whether this relationship is causal. I don’t doubt that it is, but I can’t prove it.

We now know that the brain isn’t a static entity, but rather possesses remarkable plasticity – even, to a degree, well into adulthood. In light of this, and your own research, is it possible for adults to still boost their IQs?

We know that you can increase fluid intelligence even in adults by some kinds of computer-game-like programs. But that work is in its infancy. We know also that the hippocampi of London taxi drivers is 25 percent larger than normal – due to an increase in the spatial relations requirements of the job.

I took away the sense from reading the book that you’re a hopeful realist. If we could begin making changes to our educational system today, what do you think are the most important things we can do to create a brighter future for our kids?

Really effective intervention with parents of low socioeconomic status infants to help them with socialization practices, really good pre-K, KIPP-type elementary and middle school.

I am hopeful, for sure. In principle you could have all these things for the bottom third of socioeconomic status families for less per year than the bailout of AIG. But I hasten to say that we don’t really know how well any of the programs shown to be effective in demonstration projects would scale up.

The book: Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count

-- David DiSalvo, a freelance writer and research wonk who has written and lectured on topics involving public health, air and water quality, branding, education, energy efficiency, healthcare and social marketing. More info here. You can follow him on Twitter

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