The State of the Brain
Fitness Market 2008
Alvaro Fernandez.
Brain Fitness Series, May 2008.
© SharpBrains 2008. All rights reserved.

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First Market Report on the Brain Fitness
Category
State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008 (87-pages, $495)
http://www.sharpbrains.com/market-report/
Editorial
Executive Summary
Chapter 1: Why now? Market Overview
Chapter 2: The Science of Brain Fitness
Chapter 3: Consumers – Taking Charge of Their
Brain Health
Chapter 4: Healthcare and Insurance Providers –
Focus on Preventive Health & Clinical Conditions
Chapter 5: K12 School Systems – Responding to
Learning Disabilities in New Ways
Chapter 6: Fortune 1000 Companies, Military &
Sports Teams – Improving Productivity
Chapter 7: Future directions: market trends 2007-
2015
End Notes

Content
1. 4 Pillars for Brain Health
2. Cognitive and emotional abilities
can be assessed and trained
3. An emerging field, and poised to
grow
4. A confusing player landscape.
Think “What For”, not “Best”

The Brain Reserve
To maximize chances of healthy aging, focus on 4 main
\"brain health\" pillars:
 a balanced diet.
 stress management,
 physical exercise,
 brain exercise,
And the earlier the better to build a Brain Reserve that may
delay Alzheimer's related symptoms. Studies have
shown a risk reduction of up to 38% thanks to these
lifestyle habits.
© SharpBrains 2007. All rights reserved.

Cognition and Aging
 Some areas that typically improve as we age
 Self-regulation
 Emotional functioning
 Wisdom: move from Problem solving to Pattern recognition
 Some areas that typically decline as we age
 Effortful, deliberative and resource-intensive
 Processing speed
 Memory: working, recall, source
 Attention: selective, divided
 Mental imagery
 For all, our actions influence the rate of improvement and/ or
decline
© SharpBrains.

Working Memory as we age
Source: Klingberg et al

Content
1. 4 Pillars for Brain Health
2. Cognitive and emotional abilities
can be assessed and trained
3. An emerging field, and poised to
grow
4. A confusing player landscape.
Think “What For”, not “Best”

A baby with 3 parents
© SharpBrains 2008

Software tools can help assess and train
cognitive skills.
Source: Klingberg et al.

Intervention modalities

Content
1. 4 Pillars for Brain Health
2. Cognitive and emotional abilities
can be assessed and trained
3. An emerging field, and poised to
grow
4. A confusing player landscape.
Think “What For”, not “Best”

Why Now?
© SharpBrains 2008

2007 welcomed an Emerging Brain Fitness
Market (US numbers)
1. Seminal year 6. Randomized controlled trials
2. Over 20 companies 7. FDA Clearance
3. Nintendo Brain Age 8. Cognitive assessments
4. Confusion 9. K12 Education
5. > 400 residential facilities 10. Productivity angle
© SharpBrains 2008

Market Segment Break-Down
Segment Size Some Players Value Proposition
(2007E)
Consumer 80 Nintendo, Lumos Contribute to healthy
Labs, CogniFit, aging.
Posit Science
Healthcare & 65 NovaVision, BRC, Assess and train
Insurance Dakim, Posit cognitive skills to
Providers Science, Cogmed identify/ help
alleviate cognitive
symptoms.
K12 School 60 Scientific Learning, Help solve cognitive
Systems Earobics bottlenecks, as in
dyslexia.
Corporate, 20 ACE, CogniFit Enhance task-
Military, Sports related performance.
© SharpBrains 2008

Content
1. 4 Pillars for Brain Health
2. Cognitive and emotional abilities
can be assessed and trained
3. An emerging field, and poised to
grow
4. A confusing player landscape.
Think “What For”, not “Best”

Many Programs. Think, “What For”
Cognitive Skills Target Buyer
17
© SharpBrains 2008

What for?

Scenario of use

Companies covered in Market Report
 Advanced Brain Technologies  Houghton Mifflin
 Applied Cognitive Engineering  Lexia Learning
 Brain Resource Company  Lumos Labs
 BrainTrain  MyBrainTrainer
 CNS Vital Signs  Nintendo
 Cogmed  NovaVision
 CogniFit  Posit Science
 Cognitive Drug Research  Scientific Brain Training
 Cogstate  Scientific Learning
 Dakim  TeachTown
 Gemstone

How To Navigate: Evaluation Checklist
1. Are neuropsychologists behind the program
2. What peer-reviewed research supports it
3. Is there a solid Scientific Advisory Board
4. What are the specific benefits claimed
5. What cognitive function does it train
6. How many hours/ days per week to use it
7. Do the exercises teach something new
8. Always challenging
9. Does the program fit user’s specific goals
10. No stress
© SharpBrains 2008

Market research and Thought-leadership:
http://www.sharpbrains.com
State of the Brain Brain Fitness 101 eGuide: 10-Questions Checklist
Fitness Software Answers to Your Top 25 to Evaluate Programs
Market 2008 ($495) Questions (Free) Making Brain Fitness
Claims (Free)

SharpBrains
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