People from many different walks of life use BrainHQ, often with very different goals. This month our work with the military and veterans was in the spotlight. My co-founder Dr. Michael Merzenich and our CEO Dr. Henry Mahncke just got back from Rome—where Mike was the keynoter at a NATO symposium on Neuroscience and Human Performance. Our work with the US military began more than a decade ago with a focus on helping service members recover from brain injuries. These days, the work has expanded (across the globe) from that initial focus on post-injury recovery to performance metrics involving readiness and resilience. Militaries are deploying BrainHQ to evaluate and prepare recruits, to train service members in skills needed to excel at their jobs, to train elite forces for peak performance, to condition service members to be more resilient, and, of course, to assist with recovery from injuries and other clinical conditions. You may recall a couple studies from earlier this year that measured the impact of training with BrainHQ on people with long-standing (7+ years) issues from brain injuries. Henry wrote passionately this month for TechCrunch on those studies and the need to step up and address that continuing battle for so many service members and veterans who’ve come home from recent wars. Members of the military are just one of the many types of people who use BrainHQ to improve performance. All sorts of folks benefit from BrainHQ—as you can see in our stories from our users. |
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Best regards, Jeff Zimman Co-founder Posit Science |
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| | The “Wisdom of the Crowds” Human brains grew throughout evolutionary history, but about 3,000 years ago, they shrunk noticeably. Why? A group of scientists from diverse fields looked at an unlikely source—ant colonies—to propose an answer. They hypothesize that human brain size decreased as our societies became more complex. As people started making decisions as a group, and dividing up labor, they could rely more on other peoples’ knowledge, allowing their individual brains to become smaller and more efficient. Learn more. |
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Whatever Your Age, Watch Your Blood Pressure for Long-Term Brain Health A new study found that having a healthy blood pressure over the course of life—ideally around 110/70—is associated with a younger “brain age” and a lower risk of dementia and stroke in later years. This finding is particularly concerning since the rates of high blood pressure in people over 30 has skyrocketed. Learn more. |
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An Effective Therapy: Robotic Pets for Dementia Patients Although it can be challenging for people with dementia to care for a pet, they still may benefit from the companionship. That’s where robotic pets come in. A new study shows that interactive robotic cats (from our friends at Ageless Innovation) boosted both mood and cognition in people with mild to moderate dementia, among other benefits. These improvements in the patient can, in turn, improve the quality of life for caregivers. Learn more. |
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Living in Space Harms the Brain With interest in space travel on the rise (Blue Origin—Jeff Bezos’s spaceflight company—has even announced that it will open its own space station later this decade), a new study might be a cause for alarm. The study, conducted on Russian cosmonauts who spent more than five months in space, showed indications that prolonged time in space caused brain cell damage. This is the most concrete evidence to date of the negative cognitive side effects of space travel. Learn more. |
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Reconsidering Indoor Air Quality Thanks to the coronavirus, over the past 18 months or so the quality of indoor air—in workplaces, airplanes, restaurants, and homes—has gained attention. But a recent study shows that catching a virus isn’t the only problem with some indoor air. The study followed people working in offices in five countries—the US, India, Mexico, Thailand, and the UK—and found that those working in offices with poorer air quality performed more poorly on cognitive tests. Learn more. |
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Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (2021) By Anna Lembke In this fascinating—and at times, both chilling and hopeful—book, Dr. Anna Lembke (a professor of psychiatry at Stanford)—makes the convincing argument that “we are essentially titillating ourselves to death.” What she means is that in this age of plenty, we are overdoing pleasure—with addictions not just to traditional vices like drugs and alcohol, but also to shopping, social media, and more—which is changing the chemistry of our brains. Our brains are being flooded with dopamine, the “feel-good hormone.” But there is a downside: we always want more, and often, we can no longer find enough in the simpler pleasures of a beautiful view or good meal with a friend. The result is that in our constant pursuit of pleasure, we cause ourselves pain through disconnection and apathy. Learn more. |
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