More brain exercise ideas

These are great - and they may spark some ideas for your own interactive exercises.

http://www.braingle.com/

http://www.sharpbrains.com/teasers/brain-games-the-latest/

http://www.scilearn.com/products/brainapps/lunar-tunes/index.php Lunar Tunes is an exercise that will test your auditory and visual-spatial memory.

http://www.scilearn.com/products/brainapps/hoop-nut/index.php Hoop Nut is an exercise that will test your auditory processing speed and ability to focus your attention.

Radica Brain Games - low tech game for those not ready for a Nintendo DS

The iBrain book also suggests some low tech ideas like learning how to play chess, taking up the tuba and volunteering at a local hospital. Maybe 2009 is the year to learn a foreign language, as well?

Google your way to a younger brain

UCLA researchers compared people 55 to 76 who surfed the Internet and those who didn't. MRI scans showed more brain activity in those who routinely do web searches compared to novice web surfers. However, even novices boosted their brain activity after spending an hour a day for 5 days surfing. Web surfing stimulates the brain, particularly the frontal lobe, which is involved in complex decision-making.

In iBrain, Dr. Gary Small, one of America's leading neuroscientists and experts on brain function and behavior, explores how technology's unstoppable march forward has altered the way young minds develop, function, and interpret information. iBrain reveals a new evolution catalyzed by technological advancement and its future implications: Where do you fit in on the evolutionary chain? What are the professional, social, and political impacts of this new brain evolution? How must you adapt and at what price?

To compete and thrive in the age of brain evolution, and to avoid these potential drawbacks, we must adapt, and iBrain—with its Technology Toolkit—equips all of us with the tools and strategies needed to close the brain gap.

Brain Games

Yet another way to get your brain exercising .. improve memory with scientifically designed brain games from Lumosity. I got sucked into Brain Age on the Nintendo DS last year so I thought I'd give this site a try.

This site offers a large catalog of quick-to-play visually appealing browser-based flash games that claim to boost and sharpen your cognitive powers. They are organized into progressive levels of difficulty and different categories of brain challenge – like “cognitive control” and “processing speed.” The idea is to incorporate a few minutes of game play into your daily routine… which they have made easy and pleasant to do. The games don’t require any special knowledge or preparation – they are largely interactive variations on games you’d remember from childhood like the popular card game concentration.

Check it out: http://www.lumosity.com/

There's a 7 day free trial and then it costs $9.95 a month or $79.95 for a year. Speedbrain is available for the iPhone via their apps store. I looked for a Blackberry version which led me to a product called "skyfire". I'll discuss this product in another post ... for now, I'm getting through basic training at the online site. It's harder than it looks!