User:Ddscuriousdavid/sandbox

Ideas for improving:

A. Add to commercial programs listed:

1) LearningRX

2) Luminosity

3) Neuronation

4) BrainHQ (Posit Science)

B. Add information about marketing:Sharpbrain.com Virtual conferences

C. Add scientific research references.





Harvard Medical School Guide to Cognitive Fitness 

Alzheimer's Association Articles 

Dr. Michelle Braun's insights (also visit her Psychology Today blogs and her web page):  

A recent Oprah wellness presentation</a> </li>

<li><a href="https://brainhealth.nia.nih.gov">National Institute of Health/ Aging Resources</a> </li>

<li><a href="http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/reports/2017/preventing-cognitive-decline-and-dementia-a-way-forward.aspx">Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Way Forward (2017)</a> </li>

<li><a href="https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/">The Human Brain Project</a> </li>

<li><a href="https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/global-council-on-brain-health/?cmp=RDRCT-GCBH_Main_10_26_015">The Global Council on Brain Health</a> </li>

<li><a href="https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/neurological-institute/departments-and-centers/research-centers/center-for-brain-health-and-performance/news-and-events">Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center</a> </li>

<li><a href="https://www.sfn.org/public-outreach/brainfacts-dot-org">Brainfacts.org</a> </li>

</ol>


 * 1) Harvard Medical School Guide to Cognitive Fitness
 * 2) Alzheimer's Association Articles
 * 3) Dr. Michelle Braun's insights (also visit her Psychology Today blogs and her web page):
 * 4) A recent Oprah wellness presentation
 * 5) National Institute of Health/ Aging Resources
 * 6) Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Way Forward (2017)
 * 7) The Human Brain Project
 * 8) The Global Council on Brain Health
 * 9) Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
 * 10) Brainfacts.org

D. Want to (while remaining neutral) draw upon my wealth of knowledge as an expert in this area.Hence, want to draw from a number of blog pieces the facts with citations

I have spent quite a bit of time the past few years thinking about aging and more specifically about brain health and brain fitness training. Two books written by geriatric psychiatrist Marc E. Agroninhave very much shaped my recent thinking this summer about these topics. I shared some of my reactions to his latest book (The End of Old Age) in an earlier blog piece. NPR a few years ago provided a useful summary of Agronin's earlier book How We Age: A Doctor's Journey into the Hear of Growing Old.

In this earlier book Agronin acknowledges the known biology of the cellular aging process (e.g. the Hayflick Limit) and the successive shortening of telomereswith cellular divisions. However, heavily influenced by the thinking of the late geriatric psychiatrist Gene Cohen,  Agronin persuasively and eloquently argues in this earlier book that aging is notand should not be thought of as a disease. Reading this earlier book which is enriched with detailed case studies of his patients was enlightening about my own myopic, age-centric views.

Were I to teach a course on brain health, aging, or brain fitness, I definitely would include Marc E. Agronin's engaging, thought-provoking, and well-written recent (2018) book The End of Old Age: Living a Longer, More Purposeful Life.He asks three fundamental questions - Why age? (to grow in wisdom). Why survive? (to realize a purpose). Why thrive? (to create something new.)  He argues persuasively that aging can and should be seen notas a disease but as a life enhancing opportunity for developing strengths of wisdom, purpose, and creativity. His arguments are well supported both by germane case studies and by detailed chapter end notes. The author makes wonderful and creative use of metaphor and clever turns of phrase, provides useful chapter summaries and even gives the reader an action plan for redefining and "re-aging." This book definitely deserves careful reading and heeding by readers interested in a balanced, refreshing positive perspective about aging. Below are some resources I plan to further explore gleaned from the book.

Resources drawn from reading Agronin's provocative book:


 * 1) Marc Agronin Web site:
 * 2) Audrey de Grey's Research to End Aging.
 * 3) Margaret Morganroth Gulette: On Ending Ageism
 * 4) Becca Levy's Stereotype Embodiment Research
 * 5) Ellen Langer's Power Of Possibility.
 * 6) MIDUS: University of Wisconsin Longitudinal Study of How Americans Age
 * 7) Paul Baltes' Model of Wisdom
 * 8) Carol Ryff's research on positive aging
 * 9) Ezekiel Emmanuel: "Why I Hope to Die at 75."
 * 10) Barbera Myerhoff's Number Our Days

Here are some of my earlier blog pieces about the aging process:


 * 1) Ten Brain-enriching Resources
 * 2) Ruminations about Memory Loss
 * 3) Brain Fitness Software: Brain-boosting or Bloated Claims?
 * 4) Obsessing about Forgetting:
 * 5) Promising Research or Wishful Thinking?
 * 6) Sharpening My brain at the Summit:
 * 7) Brain Fitness Training: Fact and Fiction
 * 8) Pieces of the Puzzle:
 * 9) Retraining My Old Brain
 * 10) Reflections on the Myth of Multi-tasking

As I continue my investigations and writing about brain health and brain training, I am interested in "vetting" resources that I think are best evidence-based, rich in fact, and readable. Here are ten current favorite resource links. Click them for details.


 * 1) Harvard Medical School Guide to Cognitive Fitness
 * 2) Alzheimer's Association Articles
 * 3) Dr. Michelle Braun's insights (also visit her Psychology Today blogs and her web page):
 * 4) A recent Oprah wellness presentation
 * 5) National Institute of Health/ Aging Resources
 * 6) Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Way Forward (2017)
 * 7) The Human Brain Project
 * 8) The Global Council on Brain Health
 * 9) Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
 * 10) Brainfacts.org

11.  Today I made additional considerable progress obtaining, reading, and vetting information about brain health issues. Thanks to Alvaro Fernandez at Sharpbrains.com for corresonding with me about the forthcoming 3rd edition of the Sharpbrains Guide to Brain Fitness. I look foward to "attending" the 2018 Sharpbrains summit in December. LinkedIn feeds are now alerting me to a number of resources about Brain Health Summits (such as this one)  and dead-ends in pharma funded research (such as this one).

12.  Increasingly there is a need for paying attention to the good work of organizations such as the  Truth in Advertising Organization (truthinadvertising.org). Recently they did good work exposing false claims about memory enhancement supplements such as Prevagen.

13.

14.  I still hope to pull all this information into one place in e-book format before I leave Carroll for the summer on May 13. I have now discovered several easy ways to convert WordPress files into Word or pdf formats. Stay tuned!

15.  There is much interest today in using technology to improve one's brain power,  one's health, and one's well-being. Take a moment to conduct an online search on the topics of "brain fitness for seniors," "brain fitness games," "brain fitness apps, "and "brain training." You'll  be overwhelmed with the number of results. Unfortunately the social media and advertising claims are far removed from the science upon which legitimate claims can be made. How can one decide which claims are "snake oil," which represent vaporware, and which are based upon  well-done research? Which programs are merely entertainment? Which make false or unverifiable claims? Which claims are patently wrong? Are there some vaild brain training interventions that are appropriate and proven effective for special populations? How can one protect or improve one's brain heath?

16.  In part because a number of Carroll alumni have been actively involved in research involving aging and memory (e.g. Michelle Braun, John DenBoer and Mark Klinger), and in part because I am approaching the age of 70, I've taken an increased interest in memory research. I've always been fascinated by the too much-neglected research of Harvard's Ellen Langer exploring concepts of mindfulness and mindlessness. I found especially fascinating her book Counterclockwise, though I am still skeptical about its implications for age reversal. [There ISempirical evidence (needful of replication and extension) that subjective perceptions of age can be affected by the mere process of measuring variables related to aging].

17.  A day doesn't pass when I am not flooded with emails about  "brain fitness training opportunities" that I am implored to explore. Brain U Online gives me a friendly reminder of the availability of a brain training session invitation. Blinkistsuggests that I read a synopsis of the book Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect your Brain for Life. I am alerted that Episode #4 (of 10) "Six 'Brain Hacks' to Enrich Your Brain" from a gohibrow.com course awaits my viewing. An interesting NPR story invites me to explore the brain-enhancing benefits of bilingual education. I receive an invitation to take an AARP approved  (and United Health Care supported)"Life Reimagined"  free online course on "Brain Power: How to Improve Your Brain Health" taught by Wendy Suzuki, Ph.D. Posit Science urges me to become a "Smart Cookie" by joining their "...unique braining program ... which unlike others... is backed by more than 100 published scientific papers"... I think that I'll send them all  a copy of the recent review of brain training  research  n Psychological Science in the Public Interest(here is the link).

18.  How does one separate the wheat from the chaff of these claims? Which avenues are promising and which are merely advertising promises? Will I really get smarter with five-minute lessons delivered to my inbox every morning? Do I want to? Would I be well-served by following my heart and attempting to (re) learn long forgotten Spanish? Would I be better served by exercising more? Learning how to play an instrument? Should I become involved in creating an Elder hostel educational experiences? So many questions. What fun to begin systematically answering them with talented students, data, and critical thinking.

19.  '''Meet my Fall  2017 Carroll University student research seminar team. Jeff, Alexis, Sami, Abbey, Antonio, Nathan, Alex, Alex, and Ricky.'''

20.  We have begun developing answers to questions such as these and are in the process of writing a short book sharing our findings. What questions would you like us to answer? Stay tuned!

At Christmas time one of my nephews gave me some brain challenging puzzles. For a few minutes I was able to fool him (and myself!) by being able to solve two of them in a few minutes. Then my beloved, intellectually curious grand nieces and nephews (ages 5 through 8)  proceeded to provide a context for my achievements by taking apart the remaining two puzzles which I had recognized as too difficult for me! Alas, they then lost interest and I still haven't figured out how to put the puzzles back together!

Later I was invited by one to play a board game "Brain Games for Kids." My mind was indeed blown away as he outperformed me very quickly. My solace was that he probably had memorized all questions and answers. Also, he had earlier shown me (on "his" computer which he had "built") a school project he had on his Google-drive account.

Are these additional signs of effects on my aging brain? I must confess I find more of my research time focused on the topics of brain health and aging.

In an earlier blog piece I summarized five preliminary conclusions I had reached as a result of my immersing myself with my research students  investigating the claims of brain fitness training companies. I hope to continue that research in the Fall and to build upon what I learned at a Brain Health Virtual Summit.


 * 1) "Brain Training" and brain health products is a huge, lucrative and growing industry with very expensive market research reports! Alas, I did not have the $7,150 to purchase such a report. Click this link to read the abstract.
 * 2) There exist a number of excellent, current, well-written and understandable science-based guides to maintaining cognitive fitness and brain health (e.g.Click this link to see an example of this Harvard Medical School paper).
 * 3) There exist excellent scholarly reviews of the efficacy (and validity of claims made) of "brain fitness" programs. The best such review is by Daniel J. Simons et al.which can be found here: (Click this link to see it in full).

              Among the authors' important conclusions and advice most germane to this blog piece (and the next series i am contemplating writing) are the following:

"Consumers should also consider the comparative costs and benefits of engaging in a brain-training regimen. Time spent using brain-training software could be allocated to other activities or even other forms of “brain training” (e.g., physical exercise) that might have broader benefits for health and well-being. That time might also be spent on learning things that are likely to improve your performance at school (e.g., reading; developing knowledge and skills in math, science, or the arts), on the job (e.g., updating your knowledge of content and standards in your profession), or in activities that are otherwise enjoyable. If an intervention has minimal benefits, using it means you have lost the opportunity to do something else. If you find using brain-training software enjoyable, you should factor that enjoyment into your decision to use it, but you should weigh it against other things you might do instead that would also be enjoyable, beneficial, and/or less expensive.

When evaluating the marketing claims of brain-training companies or media reports of brain-training studies, consider whether they are supported by peer-reviewed, scientific evidence from studies conducted by researchers independent of the company. As we have seen, many brain-training companies cite a large number of papers, but not all of those directly tested the effectiveness of a brain-training program against an appropriate control condition. Moreover, many of the studies tested groups of people who might not be like you. It is not clear that results from studies of people with schizophrenia will generalize to people without schizophrenia, or that benefits found in studies of college students will generalize to older adults. Finally, just because an advertisement appears in a trusted medium (e.g., National Public Radio) or is promoted by a trusted organization (e.g., AARP) does not mean that its claims are justified. Consumers should view such advertising claims with skepticism."

4. Many cognitive training studies and brain training companies overpromise results, cite the same methodologically faulty studies, cite studies funded by their organization,  ignore best practice experimental designs (see point 2 above), and fail to take into consideration placebo effects (Here is a simple, well-designed,  study indicating how EXPECTATIONS may cause the outcome attributed to cognitive training.)

5. Many helpful insights into memory loss can be gleaned from literature such as Lisa Genova'sStill Aliceand from individuals sharing first-hand experiences such as in the beautiful bogging in Sally Remembers.

Over the next few months I plan to focus my writing on expanding upon these points by examining recent claims. I shall take a look at products such as that pictured below that claim their products are backed by "clinical trials." I actually still have the energy, motivation and developed cognitive skills to find, to read, to reflect upon and to evaluate such claims.

Can you train your brain to drive longer into your golden years? Such was the headline that appeared in my LinkedIn feed today that caught my interest. So I hunted down the original article (rather than trust that which was summarized) AND I contacted the author of the article asking her what she thought of the claims being made for her study.

Stay tuned...

-- Still curious at age almost 69,

David