This is about brain functionality today and tomorrow, not about developing Alzheimer’s disease 20 years from now,” he says.
“For example, insurance companies and AAA are now promoting computerized cognitive training for driving safety of older adults. This emphasis, says Fernandez, is interfering with a more important fact about brain fitness: Beginning and adhering to a regular brain exercise program can improve functionality today and tomorrow for people of all ages. Rather, the debate in the research community centers on whether exercising the brain can delay or even prevent the onset of dementia and exactly what types of brain exercise are most effective. The fact that regular brain exercise improves cognitive function is not contested. Neuropsychological and neuroscientific research has demonstrated that vigorous and regular mental activity can improve brain fitness, resulting in better memory and attention, as well as faster information-processing skills that deteriorate as the brain ages.
What exactly is brain fitness? “Brain fitness is our brain’s ability to strengthen connections between neurons and even to promote new neurons in certain parts of the brain in order to maintain important brain functions,” according to Alvaro Fernandez, cofounder and CEO of San Francisco’s SharpBrains, an independent research and advisory company on brain fitness, and coauthor of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness. Originally, products were designed specifically for older adult communities and elder assisted living facilities, but they have now expanded to serve the average aging adult. More than one year later, the debate continues, but even in the face of uncertain effectiveness, the brain fitness market has continued to expand. In “Sharpening the Aging Brain” (Summer 2008 issue), Aging Well first reported on the emerging brain fitness movement and the debate regarding the effectiveness of new computer technologies for improving older adult memory and possibly delaying the onset of dementia.
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