“Brain Training” games don’t work

At last there is the evidence that brain training games don’t boost brain power. (BBC report)

When doing radio interviews, the most common question I am asked is how good are these electronic games recently promoted to improve brain function.  My reply is always the same…doing lots of sudoku puzzles simply makes you good at doing sudoku.  There is no wider neurological benefit which can be applied to other tasks.

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Rewards work like medication for ADHD

Rewarding children for positive behaviours can have the same benefits as medication for children with ADHD.  This is according to a recent study at Nottingham University. (BBC news report)

Whilst this study is positive, it really isn’t anything new.  However it does reinforce the benefits of brain training; be that your own or helping your children.

For instance, neurofeedback training is a growing field of brain training which has been proved to have great benefit is assisting those with ADD/HD.  neurofeedback is based on providing positive reward for improved behaviour.  For example if you are trying to train someone’s brain to pay attention better, using neurofeedback you might reward low-beta brainwave activity and perhaps inhibit with theta activity.

This is typically done with  a computer game – perhaps the spaceship flies faster when you concentrate, which is a rewards.

This research from Nottingham University is interesting as it could be interpreted as encouraging reward for a wider range of behaviours.  This is perhaps something which parents know instinctively – reward for good behaviour and inhibit for poor behaviour.  But it is always nice to know that science agrees with our instinctive behaviours.  It is particularly good to know that we all have an option to train our brains beyond taking medication.

This is the message at the heart of what The Brain Training Company is providing.

Theta brainwaves essential for memory

From Reuters:

“Scientists find how relaxed minds remember better.

Stronger and more lasting memories are likely to be formed when a person is relaxed and the memory-related neurons in the brain fire in sync with certain brain waves, scientists said on Wednesday….

…Synchronization in the brain is influenced by “theta waves” which are associated with relaxation, daydreaming and drowsiness, but also with learning and memory formation, the scientists explained in the study in the journal Nature.”

Accessing the theta brainwave is an integral part of the memory training I provide.  Memory techniques on their own are not enough. During both the memorisation and recall process, you need to increase theta brainwave activity and get both hemispheres balanced.

This research reinforces that The Brain Training Company is teaching cutting edge techniques.

You can only develop a really powerful memory with integrated brainwave training.  See the popular Mind Maximiser training course for more information on this subject.  Here you learn the techniques of memory and how to control your brainwave activity.

Have you tried a memory  training system or attended a course?  Did you learn how to access the theta state on demand and have this shown to you on an EEG system?

On a separate yet related matter, did you know that you need to be able to access a high-alpha state for speed reading?  So for effective learning skills, it is critical to be able to shift between the high-alpha and theta brainwave states (as well as other elements taught in the training course).

Brain Training Gold at Winter Olympics

Canada’s first gold medallist at Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics used brain training.

The first few reports are starting to come out of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, about those athletes who have utilised brain training technologies.  Various brain training systems are used by an increasing number of National teams.  However for many it is a closely guarded secret to gaining that competitive edge.

Sports Psychology has been applied for many years and is now seen is essential for any top athlete, whatever their sport.  The brain training I refer to is the Sports Neurology – a new field of peak performance giving athletes an extra edge.  This encompasses the maturing field of neurofeedback as well as more cutting edge systems as used by The Brain Training Company.

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What happens in an actor’s brain?

This is a fascinating article from the BBC.  It looks at what an actor’s brain is doing during a performance.

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By Nick Higham
Today programme

Original article here with additional video and images.

For an actor, the performance conditions weren’t exactly ideal: flat on her back in a large machine, under strict instructions to lie as still as possible, speaking in short bursts interspersed with the shrill sound of a magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

But last week Fiona Shaw, one of Britain’s leading actresses – who has in her time played everything from the tragic heroine Medea to Shakespeare’s Richard II – volunteered in the cause of science to spend an hour having her brain scanned while “acting”.

Professor Sophie Scott of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London wanted to know what happens physically in an actor’s head when they pretend to be someone else.

She hoped that scanning Fiona’s brain in action would be able to tell us.

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Brain Training – saves money and you live longer…

The value of brain training is becoming increasingly black and white – you save money and live longer.  This month I have written two separate comments on recent research backing up the value of quality brain training.  However here I want to promote that the two are intrinsicly linked. Brain training in a corporate environment can save companies billions of dollars / pounds each year.  High quality brain training courses for an individual can mean you have more chance of living longer…

Facts:

• Stress related illness cost the UK £28 billion each year
• This is a 1/4 of the UK’s sick bill
• More than 13 million working days a year are lost in the UK because of work related stress
• Stress is thought to contribute to coronary heart disease (CHD)
• More than $475 billion is spent annually in the USA treating CHD
• Meditation, or relaxing the brain, can reduce number of heart attacks and stroke by 47%

Brainwave training is a simple and cost effective way assist with these issues.

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Controlling brainwave activity ‘eases heart disease’

The American Heart Association has published research showing that 20 minutes of meditation twice a day can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke by 47%.  This is a very powerful endorsement for just how important is it to learn to control your brainwave activity.

Whilst many of my clients are looking to improve their levels of focus and concentration, especially top athletes, it is just as important to be able to slow your brainwaves down.  I describe this as having full mobility of brainwaves.

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Brain training the military

The future of military might may not just be in bigger and better hardware of warfare, but in fitter and faster brains of military personnel.

The Brain Training Company is at the cutting edge of mental fitness training.  What was seen ten years ago as kooky executive training or fringe athletic training to achieve the mental edge, may now become a mainstream component of military training.

It is demonstrably possible to improve someone’s mental fitness; be that to increase IQ, manage stress better, enhance levels of focus and concentration when under pressure, or learning information at a greatly increased speed.  The foundation of this at The Brain Training Company is brainwave training.  Developing the ability to consciously control brainwave activity.  From this there are knock on benefits, such as greater neural connectivity and increased blood flow to the brain.

For military personnel this is a critical step in improving personal performance – faster and better decision making when under pressure.

This article from Wired.com looks at this topic:

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Synchronized Brain Waves Focus Our Attention

For many years now, the courses of The Brain Training Company have promoted the importance of cerebral balance and synchrony between the two hemispheres.  Clients have gone on to show enhanced personal performance; be that in the classroom, boardroom or in sport.  This is an interesting article looking at the significance of synchronized brainwave activity and its role in mental focus and attention.

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Effect of brainwaves on movement and peak performance

This scientific study proves and reinforces one of the training objectives in our Peak Performance for Sport training course:- the importance of being able to control beta brainwave production.  Note especially the sentence I have highlighted and put in bold text.

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Study highlights effect of brain waves on human behaviour

Boosting a certain type of brain wave can slow people’s movements, UK researchers have discovered. The findings, published online by the journal Current Biology, offer the first direct evidence that brain waves can influence behaviour in otherwise healthy individuals. They could also lead to the development of new drugs for medical conditions characterised by either uncontrolled or slowed movements.

Different types of brain wave have different frequencies and different locations. In this study, the researchers investigated beta waves, which have a frequency of around 20 Hertz (Hz). Earlier studies have shown that beta waves are linked to sustained muscle activity, such as that employed when holding a book. Beta activity drops just before people initiate movement.

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