Wednesday, April 27, 2011

How Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter

How Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter

As one who hit middle age they often begin to realize that their memory and mental clarity are not what they used to.
We suddenly can not remember where we put the keys just moments ago, or the name of an old acquaintance, or the name of an old band we used to love. As a brain fade, we refined look of this incident as a "senior moments."


While a seemingly innocent, this loss of mental focus has the potential to have adverse impact on our well-being professional, social, and personal.

This happened to most of us, but is it inevitable?

Neuroscientists increasingly shows that in fact there's plenty to do. It turns out that the brain needs exercise in much the same way your muscles do, and the right mental exercise can significantly improve our basic, cognitive function. Thinking is essentially a process of making neural connections in the brain. To a certain extent, our ability to excel in making the neural connections that drive inherited intelligence. However, because the connection is established through the effort and practice, scientists believe the intelligence that can expand and fluctuate according to the mental effort.

Now, a San Francisco company's new Web-based it has taken a step further and developed a "brain training" was first designed to actually help people improve their mental acuity and back. Lumosity is called, it is designed by several leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology from Stanford University.

Lumosity is much more than an online place to practice your mental skills. That's because they have integrated this practice into a web-based program that allows you to systematically improve memory and attention skills. The program tracks your progress and give detailed feedback on your performance and improvement. Most importantly, continually modify and improve your game play to build the strength you develop - much like the effective exercise routine that requires you to increase durability and varied use your muscles.

Does it work?

Apparently, yes. In a randomized, controlled clinical trials, Lumosity shown to significantly increase the basic cognitive functions. One study showed students improve their scores on math tests by 34 percent after using Lumosity for six weeks, significantly greater gains than those made by other students in the same class, which is not training with Lumosity program.

The company said users have reported clearer thinking and faster, better memory for names, numbers, directions, increased vigilance and awareness, improved mood and better concentration at work or while driving.

While many of the games in free Lumosity, modest subscription fee is required to use the full program in the long term.

However, Lumosity is currently offering a free trial for new users of their programs so that they you can see how well it works before they decide to subscribe. The trial is absolutely free (no credit card required) and the company believes the results will speak for itself.