Brain games, 'the new frontier of fitness' - L.A. Times

- Mon, 29 Oct 2007

Brain training is rapidly becoming the recognised solution to age-related memory loss, according to the L.A. Times. "There is plausability, both biological and behavioural, to the claim that these may work," Molly Wagster, chief of the National Institute on Ageing's neuropsychology department told the paper.

In fact insurance companies Humana and Penn Treaty American Corp have begun distributing software brain training programs to millions of its older members.

The L.A. Times also reports that retirement communities are rushing to establish brain gyms to help current residents sharpen their mental skills and to attract baby boomers who may one day put such ammenities on a par with a weight room and gym.

"I see this as a new fronter of fitness overall," said Alvaro Fernandez, founder of SharpBrains.com, which tracks the business and science of brain-training. He says that Americans already understand the value of physical fitness in staying healthy and preventing age-related diseases. And he predicts cognitive fitness -  keeping our brain in peak condition and staving off memory decline - will soon become a personal goal for baby boomers equal to physical fitness.

SharpBrains have acknowledged Headstrong Cognitive Fitness as the most credible brain training exercises on the market. Founded by neuroscientist Dr Elkhonon Goldberg, the world's leading authority on cognitive fitness, the exercises have been developed to sharpen the brain pathways associated with memory and concentration. You can insure your future mental health for as little as US$20 a month. To find out more, click here.