The Science and Practice of
Brain Fitness
Alvaro Fernandez. June 10th, 2008

An Introduction to SharpBrains
 Brain Fitness Market Research and Advisory Services:
Independent, not affiliated with products/ vendors.
 For institutions: Market Research, Consulting and Training Services.
 For individuals: Blog and Educational Website
 Co-Founded by neuroscientist Elkhonon Goldberg and
executive & educator Alvaro Fernandez.
 Member of Scientific American Partner Network.
 Over 10 scientists, educators, as blog Expert Contributors.
 Featured by NYT, US News & World News, Reuters…
 Learn more: www.sharpbrains.com
 You can find all teasers that follow at:
www.sharpbrains.com/teasers
 Contact: Alvaro Fernandez at information@sharpbrains.com

Industry-leading publications
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)

An Introduction to our Webinar Series
#1: “The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market,
2008”
 May 27th
#2: “Brain Rules for Thinking Smarter”, with John Medina
 June 3rd
#3: “The Science and Practice of Brain Fitness”, based
on classes ad speaking engagements
 June 10th

Key take-aways
 Groundbreaking studies show the value of Mental
Stimulation and Stress management, on top of nutrition
and physical exercise.
 We have “3 brains” and 7 key “mental muscles”.
 Good brain exercise requires:
- Novelty
- Variety
- Challenging Practice
 There is an increasing number of science-based
computer-based programs to train specific cognitive
skills. None is a General Solution/ “magic pill”.

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Executive
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual

And let’s create some synapses
 Which word in the English language is most
often pronounced incorrectly?
 Would you rather a crocodile attack you or an
alligator?
 What is the next number in the sequence
2 5 7 12 19 31 _

Let’s work out some neurons while checking
our attention and processing speed
Quickly, name the colors of the following words

How Accurate is your Memory?
Draw the face of a penny.
Which penny is the right one?

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Executive
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual

The “3 brains”
1) Reptilian:
3) “Human”: 2) Mammalian:
breathing,
thoughts emotions
movement
Graph by Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind

Parts of the cortex- the “human” brain
Deals with the most integrated brain functions:
Frontal Lobe
thinking, conceptualizing and planning.
Movement, orientation, calculation and certain
Parietal Lobe
types of recognition.
Temporal Lobe Auditory and language
Occipital Lobe Visual
Graph by Morphonix

New research at the intersection of Cognition
and Emotion
 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
 Problem-solving
 For all, our actions influence the rate of improvement and/ or
decline
Source: Laura Carstensen, several papers (2005)

The source of a few miscommunications
Graph by Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind

What happens when we learn something new
New Old
Graph by Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind

The promise of neuroplasticity
 Salk Institute: enriched environments for mice
 London cab drivers: vigorous cognitive
stimulation offset detrimental ageing effect
 Jugglers: the visual brain grows
 Studies on bilingual people
 School Sisters of Notredame in Mankato,
Minnesota, and the Cognitive Reserve
 Cognitive Therapy
 Meditation
 Biofeedback
© SharpBrains.

Intervention modalities

Program for Working Memory Training

Stress management: the balloon gains altitude
and overcomes obstacles as you relax

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Executive
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual

What does a complete brain workout look
like?

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual
 Executive

Motor coordination
 Draw a circle with the right hand and a
square with the left one
 Now, draw a square with the right hand and a
circle with the left one
 Sign up for a dancing class!

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual
 Executive

Visualization for relaxation
Travel back to a time
 Index: when you felt a healthy exhaustion
 Middle: loving exchange
 Ring: most caring gesture you have ever received
 Little: most magnificient place you have seen
Source: Five Good minutes, by Jeffrey Brantley

The interaction of Emotion, Focus and
keeping an Open Mind (basket example)

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual
 Executive

What is a memory and what is a pattern
 Usual perception: memories are like snapshots
taken by a camera
 Reality: memories are circuits of neurons. We
recreate experiences, not retrieve copies
 Intuition: condensation of analytic experiences.
Illustration by Elkhonon Goldberg, The Wisdom Paradox

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual
 Executive

Sensory Activities
 Chocolate melting experiment: eyes closed,
let the chocolate melt in your mouth

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual
 Executive

Haiku
 Write a haiku that expresses what area of
brain research you are most interested in and
why.
Haiku: A Japanese lyric verse form that has three
lines of five, seven, and five syllables.

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual
 Executive

Visual: Which one doesn’t fit

Content
 First, let’s warm-up
 Science and trends
 Training the 7 main “mental muscles”
 Motor coordination
 Emotions
 Memory
 Sensory
 Language
 Visual
 Executive

Executive Functions: What box should come
next?

Towers of Hanoi: What is the minimum
number of moves you need to place the disks
in column C (you can not place a large plate
on top of a smaller one)?
A B C

Key take-aways
 Groundbreaking studies show the value of Mental
Stimulation and Stress management, on top of nutrition
and physical exercise.
 We have “3 brains” and 7 key “mental muscles”.
 Good brain exercise requires:
- Novelty
- Variety
- Challenging Practice
 There is an increasing number of science-based
computer-based programs to train specific cognitive
skills. None is a General Solution/ “magic pill”.

Thanks for your attention!
For information and teasers:
 Visit www.sharpbrains.com
 contact Alvaro at
information@sharpbrains.com