Brain Health & Brain Fitness Blog » casual games

BRAIN FITNESS GAMING SITE KEEPS MINDS FIT AND MOTIVATED

Michael Cole — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:20:42 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Brain games and tools at FitBrains.com stimulate the brain to maintain peak brain fitness
while having fun playing casual games

VANCOUVER, Canada – Research has shown that brain health begins to lag as early as age 25. However, the same research has shown that with regular brain fitness training, the brain can create new neural connections and pathways at any age.

In response to this research, Vancouver’s Vivity Labs has created FitBrains.com, a new online brain fitness platform that hosts fun, casual games developed by brain fitness experts, specifically designed to exercise the brain and improve the five major cognitive brain functions – memory, concentration, language, executive functions (logic and reasoning), and visual-spatial skills.

The team behind FitBrains.com – including award-winning Neuroscientist Dr. Paul Nussbaum from the University of Pittsburgh and a board of scientific advisors – has created individual brain fitness workouts for players of all ages. More than fifteen brain games can be played for free, with daily and weekly brain fitness leader boards, a Brain Health Blog with top brain fitness tips, and a 30-day brain fitness chart for players looking to track their brain games progress and develop a competitive edge. A premium section of the site offers additional features like in-depth brain tracking charts and the ability to play against family and friends.

“FitBrains.com is designed to provide something for everyone who’s looking to improve their brain fitness,” Dr. Nussbaum said. “Our online brain games and tools use scientific principles to maximize brain fitness impact while providing a fun way to spend time playing casual games online.”

Michael Cole, founder and CEO of FitBrains.com, said fun and motivation were key factors in the design of FitBrains.com.

“We want to tap into as many motivational drivers that get individuals of all ages to integrate brain fitness work-outs into their daily life as we can,” Cole said. “With FitBrains.com, we provide the highest quality brain fitness gaming experience on the web. The site fuses the right balance between science and entertainment, which is critical for mass adoption. ”

For more information about how brain games can help improve brain fitness, please visit www.fitbrains.com

Brain Games: Hidden Gem Bingo

Michael Cole — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:04:48 +0000

Hidden Gem Bingo is a colorful, Concentration-based brain game that takes the classic game of Bingo to the next level with challenging new layers designed to improve your focus and attention. Create a variety of “Bingo Words” by matching letters and colors on increasingly complex boards full of gems, bonus patterns, hidden jackpots, and more!

Features:

Inspired by the widely popular game BINGO, packed with fun Bonuses and other incentives.
Targets all areas of Concentration, increasing in challenge and complexity as the game progresses.
Uses strategic gameplay, layered Game Boards and a wide variety of BINGO Words for increased replayability.

Hidden Gem Bingo a concentration game. Click here to play Hidden Gem Bingo!

Obesity and a Happy Brain

Dr. Paul Nussbaum — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:41:59 +0000

As most of us get into middle age we might take special notice of our body’s ability to keep a few extra pounds around the waist. Most of us understand the importance of eating healthy and the disease risk associated with extra weight around the belly.

Recent research suggests the brain’s ability to sense gratification may be critical to overeating behavior. We may have a gene that assists us with knowing when we are filled after eating. Research now indicates that a brain that does not express satiation will lead to continued eating and increased risk of obesity.

We know that a healthy diet and regular exercise are very important for maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding obesity. However, genetics also plays a role in which an important neurochemical, Dopamine, may play a critical role. Dopamine is the primary neurochemical that regulates our pleasure sensation.

Eating temporarily boosts dopamine levels, but obesity may be associated with fewer Dopamine receptors which lead to less sensation of pleasure with eating. Research now suggests that the brain regions important to Dopamine expression when eating treats such as a milkshake does not get activated in those who are obese.

Interestingly, Dopamine has been studied as a primary mechanism for addiction and impulsive behavior including eating. Attempts are underway to try and understand how Dopamine might be triggered even in obesity to reduce impulsive eating so as to reduce gaining more weight. To read more about Dopamine, click here

Brain Games: Busy Bistro

Michael Cole — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:36:51 +0000

Busy Bistro helps you to improve short and long-term aspects of memory amidst the distractions of a busy kitchen environment. In this brain game, you are the apprentice of a chef with a variety of great recipes, but a poor memory for the finer points. Can you help the chef remember the finishing details on his next delightful creation of culinary genius? Your ability to remember details is the key, and practice makes perfect. Let’s get cooking!

Features:

Fun cooking-themed characters, appliances and environments to keep you motivated
Hundreds of real recipes to challenge your memory
Designed to improve short and long term memory

Busy Bistro is a game of Memory. Click here to play Busy Bistro!

Practical Tips for Improving Language

Dr. Paul Nussbaum — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:07:54 +0000

Language is perhaps the most important cognitive function we possess after memory. An argument can even be made that it is more critical than memory because we need language first to learn or encode any new information. Regardless, there is little doubt that language serves a fundamental neurobiological and psychological need for the human being.

It is common to experience slips in language processing including word finding and name recognition as we enter our forties or fifties. This is normal and probably relates more to stress and being hurried than anything pathologic. Our vocabulary tends to remain fixed which is nice, but we have the ability to grow our library of words at any age. Our verbal fluency or speed of expressing words also slows down with advanced age, but this is not necessarily a problem and may even be of value. Our ability to read and write remains intact, though our ability to comprehend what we read may not be as efficient.

So, what are some practical mental exercises that you can do to boost up your language skills?

1. Reading everyday including the dictionary is one good way to increase your vocabulary. With an increased vocabulary other parts of language such as word finding and fluency will improve.

2. Practice reviewing the names of your friends and peers by mentally associating a name with their face. You can also engage in a fun exercise in which you place unfamiliar pictures of faces on a table, apply a written name to each and then repeat each association until you no longer need the written names to recall the correct name for each face.

3. Take any letter of the alphabet and try and state aloud as many words as you can that begin with that letter in 60 seconds. With practice you may notice that your list of words generated gets longer.

4. Write a short segment on your day’s experience in a journal. This will help your articulation and emotional skills while practicing the motor skill of writing. Some research suggests that writing with passion have been known to live a longer life.

5. Write with a focus on increased ideas per sentence as research suggests this is good for the brain.

6. Work on your public speaking as this is a wonderful exercise to stimulate the brain and engage it in a complex, but fun language exercise. Talk about what you love and your anxiety will be reduced. Most let the anxiety prevent them from trying!

7. Crossword puzzles are fine as they promote reading and vocabulary. The same is true for word search games.

8. Name objects that you see on your way to work or the store. Object naming is a good mental exercise.

9. Work on the art of story telling.

10. FitBrains.com offers some good mental exercises for language. These include

The Wonder Juice Machine

Michael Cole — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:12:29 +0000

The Wonder-Juice Machine is a brain game of Executive Functions (Logic) that strengthens your deductive and visual skills. Use your skills of reasoning to direct a variety of colorful fruit and vegetables through a tricky, juice-making contraption, in order to create healthy “Wonder Juice” smoothies for your customers. The puzzles get more challenging as the game progresses, so be sure to put on your thinking cap!

Features:

Game helps to strengthen Logic and Reasoning skills in a fun way
Healthy theme includes hundreds of nutrition tips and healthy smoothie recipes
Hours of challenging puzzles for all levels of players, from easy to hard

The Wonder Juice Machine is a game of Logic. Click here to play The Wonder Juice Machine!

Brain Better than Calculator

Dr. Paul Nussbaum — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:15:19 +0000

I have the wonderful opportunity of traveling the nation and internationally to speak about the wonderful miracle of the human brain. During my public presentations I always describe the brain as the most complicated, integrated, and miraculous system ever designed in the history of the Universe! I then scream from the mountaintops that we need to understand that our greatest moments of innovation, creativity, cures for illness, and ability to communicate in ways we only dream about now will be accomplished by learning how to tap into the greatness of our brain!

It is from this context that I read my local newspaper to find the following headline “Brains beat buttons for learning mathematics.” New research finds that third graders learn multiplication better when they use their brains before they use a calculator. The results of this study can be found in the next issue of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology and the article is published in The Pittsburgh Tribune Review (Sept 4, 2008).

We have known for some time that learning is enhanced when the person doing the learning “does it on his or her own.” This is another way of saying “uses his or her brain.” We also know that the more one is exposed to a particular stimulus the more deeply they will remember or encode it. This again reflects the ability and efficiency of the human brain. The calculator is an external device that appears to have a secondary and reinforcing purpose to what the brain has already learned.

From a brain health perspective, we as a society will be better off when we use our brains first and rely on technological devices (invented by the human brain) in secondary roles. The former involves stimulation of the cortex that will develop brain reserve. A reliance on technologies such as a calculator will cause the brain to use the subcortex which is more rote, passive and procedural in its processing.

By using our cortex in complex pursuits we will always be on a path to brain health (brain fitness, brain games). Reliance on passive behaviors such as using a calculator will put us on a path to rote processing with less health benefit.

So… tonight I will remind my sons to use their brain first to solve the math homework as I have a personal interest in their learning and in their brain health!

Try the Fit Brains brain games.

Brain Health in our Home

Dr. Paul Nussbaum — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:13:14 +0000

Brain health can occur wherever brains exist! The home is a setting that is often neglected regarding brain health. Ask yourself the question….is my home a setting for brain health?

Turning to Dr. Nussbaum’s brain health lifestyle we know there are five factors or slices of the brain health pie. These include (1) socialization, (2) physical activity, (3) mental stimulation, (4) nutrition, and (5) spirituality. You can apply the activities within each of these brain health slices in your home and a brain health residence will be born.

Consider the following brain health for the home tips:

1. Increase the number of social events in your home. This includes meetings, parties, and simply having friends or family over. Remember brain health is a lifespan issue so all age groups need a little attention and love (Socialization).

2. Increase the number of meals that include fish (salmon, herring, sardines), unsalted nuts including walnuts, fruits and vegetables. Eat at least one meal a day when the family and friends sit down and spend quality time together. Eating with utensils also promotes healthier food consumption and less caloric intake (Nutrition).

3. Get the family on a regular exercise program that includes daily walks, some form of aerobic exercise, dance, gardening and even knitting. You want to promote physical activity and increased cardiovascular activity (Physical Activity).

4. Have everyone in the family engage in mental exercise on a daily basis. This should involve something that is novel and complex (not passive and rote). Play a family board game, complete a Fit Brains game online, write a short story, talk and debate world affairs and even take a trip as a family to a new area of your region (Mental Stimulation).

5. Make sure the family is getting plenty of sleep, take time to slow down and simply have time to be rather than to complete some task. Relaxation procedures, meditation, prayer and yoga can help slow the world down. Give yourself 30 minutes a day to do what you want. Remove some of the stress from your life (Spirituality).

These are some simple tips for turning your own home into a brain health residence!

Try the Fit Brains brain games.

Activity and Breast Cancer Survival

Dr. Paul Nussbaum — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:10:02 +0000

While it might seem odd to write about breast cancer on a site dedicated to brain health, there are two compelling reasons to do so: First, many of us have a loved one who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and second, activity is one of the major components of the brain health lifestyle.
A recent study conducted at the Yale School of Medicine indicates women who stay active after being diagnosed with breast cancer have a better chance of surviving the disease. This includes those who take up exercise for the first time after diagnosis and even if the women just do a little exercise. This study reinforces many other studies that link exercise to reduction in risk of breast cancer.
Women who got the equivalent of two to three hours of brisk walking each week in the year before they were diagnosed with breast cancer were 31 percent less likely to die of the disease than women who were sedentary before the diagnosis. Further, two years after diagnosis, women who did any recreational activities at all had nearly 65% lower risk of dying then women who were inactive at that point. Women who got at least two hours of brisk walking in weekly reduced their risk of death by 67%. Perhaps most glaring is the study’s finding that women who decreased their physical activity after diagnosis were actually four times more likely to die of breast cancer than those who remained sedentary.

In all, exercise is an important lifestyle behavior for women undergoing breast cancer treatment.

Try the Fit Brains brain games.

Brain Tips for the Summer Months

Dr. Paul Nussbaum — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:24:57 +0000

The summer months provide a great opportunity to review the health of your brain and to get started following some of the simple steps articulated in Dr. Nussbaum’s Brain Health Lifestyle. You will soon be on your way to building brain reserve, promoting your own brain health, and enhancing your brain’s ability to delay the onset of neurodegenerative disease.

1. Get Moving!

Research indicates that daily walking, aerobic exercise several times a week, dance, gardening, and knitting all have a positive effect on the brain. It is important to note that 25% of the blood and nutrients from each heartbeat goes directly to your brain. In contrast, passivity in midlife increases the risk of dementia later in life. Get your pedometer and start moving, shaking, and planting!

2. Improve Those Eating Habits

Summer finds us on the go between events and the many activities of our children. We develop routines of eating more and more fast food and less time sitting down to eat with the family. It is important to try and promote the following:

A. Consume more water on a daily basis
B. Push the fruit and veggies
C. Minimize the fast food and processed foods
D. Try to consume more fish
E. Eat with utensils and not your fingers and you will eat less and healthier
F. Try to eat seated meal with the family per day

3. Develop a New Hobby or Two

Mental stimulation (e.g. brain fitness, brain games) remains important in the summer months. Get started on that project or activity/hobby you have been resisting. Challenge your brain to develop a new talent or skill this summer. Your brain will thank you!

4. Take Time to Slow Down

Summer can be a time of too much activity. This is not good for the brain as stress can be health demoting. Give yourself 30 minutes every day to do nothing. Learn to turn inward through meditation, prayer, being in nature, or simply taking a walk. Having time to just exist can be very rewarding and a great opportunity for creativity.

5. Have Fun with Others

Socialization is a great thing for the brain as it provides interpersonal chemistry, sharing of ideas, laughter, and learning. Recreation and family functions or adult play can be important to reduce stress and promote happiness.

Try the Fit Brains brain games.