Brain power - International Festival Of The Mind reveals the brain's secrets

- Mon, 22 Oct 2007

How to optomise your brain at any age is an increasingly important question worldwide. As scientists internationally look to find ways that baby boomers can protect their brains against age-related memory loss,  new discoveries about how our mind works are being reported virtually every day.

Now Malaysia is taking the initiative by holding the first International Festival of the Mind. (To find out more about the conference click here.) Key questions being explored and tested on attendees are: how good is your memory; how good is your hand-eye co-ordination; are you good at solving problems?

Already scientists know that from our middle years our capacity in all these areas declines as our brains produce less neurons (memory cells). But it has also been clinically proven that one of the most effective ways of counteracting age-related memory loss is to exercise and stimulate the brain's memory pathways. In the same way that physical exercise strengthens our muscles, doing specifically designed brain exercises strengthens the neural connections associated with memory and concentration. A leading supplier of brain exercises is HeadStrong Cognitive Fitness. There,  neuropsychologist Nicola Gates, has developed a training program of computer-based activities targeted at an individual's memory capacity and these tasks' difficulty increases as a participant's brain power grows. If you're interested in finding out more about how HeadStrong's brain training exercises work, click here.