Notes

Train THE HUMAN BRAIN With a New $225m Market Predicated on Latest Brain Health Research
A spate of recent news coverage on brain fitness and "brain training" reflects a growing fascination with natural, non-drug-based interventions to help keep our brains sharp as we age. This interest is quite timely, given the aging population, increasing Alzheimer's rates, and soaring healthcare costs that place more emphasis than ever on prevention and changing lifestyle.

This past Tuesday, the MIT Club of Northern California, the American Society on Aging, and SmartSilvers sponsored a meeting on The Emerging Brain Fitness Software Market: Building Better Brains to explore the realities and myths of this growing field. Before the panel, I had the chance to present an overview of the state of the mind Fitness Software Market.

Why are we talking about this field at all? Well, for just one, an increasing number of companies are achieving significant commercial success in packaging "brain exercise". A good example is the line of Nintendo games, such as Brain Age and Brain Training, which have shipped over 15 million units worldwide despite limited scientific support, since 2005. What is less visible is that numerous companies and scientists are partnering to bring products to advertise with a far more solid clinical validation. We estimate the united states market was $225m in 2007 (growing from $100 in 2005). Whereas K12 Education was previously the major segment, adult consumers are responsible for the majority of that growth: we estimate the consumer segment grew from the few million in 2005 to $80 m in 2007.

Who is buying the products? Yes, needless to say, many adults over 50 who wish to protect their memory are on the list of pioneers. 78 million seniors are eager to try new approaches. An increasing number of retirement communities and nursing homes are offering programs to their residents to expand their usual fitness and social activities. And we can't just forget about K12 education: certain brain fitness software packages have shown they are able to help kids who have dyslexia and related difficulties.

Will there be science behind these claims? Do these products work? It depends on how we define "work". If "working" means quantifiable short-term improvements following a number of weeks of systematic "brain training" to boost specific cognitive skills, then your answer is that several programs do seem to work. If , alternatively, "working" means measurable long-term benefits, such as for example better overall brain health as we age, or lower incidence of Alzheimer's symptoms, the solution is that circumstantial evidence suggests they could, but it continues to be too early to inform.

Are there any public policy implications? We certainly believe that there are. THE GUTS for Disease Control recently partnered with the Alzheimer's Association to build up a thorough Cognitive Health road map to raised guide research efforts and improve public education on the approach to life habits that every proud owner of a brain could reap the benefits of following. Given the high rates of traumatic brain injuries and stress disorders within a large number of the men and women coming home from the Iraq war, the military is investing heavily in research to greatly help identify problems to build up tools to resolve them, and we expect that research will result in wider health applications. No presidential candidate, to our knowledge, has directly addressed his or her priorities in the cognitive health realm but, given the growing importance and economic impact of brain-related disorders, we expect that to occur soon.

What exactly are Business Strategies in a Recession that executives and investors ought to be looking at to comprehend this growing market? I want to make a few predictions:

1) An increased emphasis on Brain Maintenance, from retirement communities to gyms and health clubs. website , as well as perhaps "brain coaches"? We think so.

2) Better and more widely available assessments of cognitive function will enable of all us to establish an objective baseline of how our minds are evolving, identify priorities for "workouts" and lifestyle interventions, and help us measure progress. Science-fiction? Not really. there are already pretty good tests used in clinical and medical environments, the challenge is to refine and package those assessments in a consumer-friendly way.

3) We will have more and better computer-based tools, each of which may be more appropriate to work on specific priorities. Just as we find many different machines in health clubs today, in the foreseeable future we can expect different programs tailored to teach specific cognitive skills.

4) More non-computer based tools may also provide much value. There's a growing number of research on what meditation and cognitive therapy, to mention 2 examples, can be very effective in literally re-wiring parts of the brain.

5) INSURANCE FIRMS will introduce incentives for member who wish to follow brain fitness programs. Maybe even companies will offer such programs to employees to attract and retain mature workers who would like access to the best and the most recent innovations to help keep their minds sharp.

Now, this being truly a pretty new field, many questions remain open. For instance, how will consumers and institutions receive quality information and education to navigate through the emerging research and the overwhelming amount of new programs, separating reality from hype?

In conclusion, what were the main take-aways from the function?

1. Research indicates that a number of cognitive abilities (attention, memory...) could be assessed and trained

2. An emerging market is needs to develop-growing from an estimated $100m in 2005 to $225m in 2007, in america alone-, and is poised to help keep growing at significant rates.

3. website are selling products direct to consumers (in addition to through institutions) with sometimes unclear claims - this threatens to confuse consumers and present a significant obstacle to the growth and credibility of the sector.

If you are thinking about this rapidly growing field, please keep tuned in! You can find fascinating research reports on a monthly basis.

Copyright (c) 2008 SharpBrains

Alvaro Fernandez may be the Co-Founder of SharpBrains.com, that may release the report "The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008" on March 4th. SharpBrains has been identified by Scientific American Mind and Newsweek as expert resource for Online Brain Training. Alvaro holds MA in Education and MBA from Stanford University, and teaches The Science of Brain Health at UC-Berkeley Lifelong Learning. It is possible to find out more at http://www.sharpbrains.com
My Website: https://www.inventables.com/users/leharboe8294