![]() Bite Size Medical News Friday March 12, 2010 Read the latest medical news now |
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Do Brain Trainer Games and Software Work?July 2, 2009, 10:00 am by Scientific American: Mind and BrainThe market for brain-training software continues to grow, but evidence of the programs’ ability to boost memory or intelligence in a broadly applicable way (rather than simply making people better at the task they are practicing) remains scarce. New studies offer a tantalizing suggestion that certain programs may work--but the bulk of the research is murky.Neuroscientist Peter Snyder of Brown University reviewed nearly 20 software studies and concluded that, as a group, they were underwhelming. They are marred by flaws that induce confounding factors, such as a lack of control groups and follow-up, Snyder warns. More than a third of those he reviewed were too shoddy even to include in the analysis he printed early this year in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia. “You’d be surprised at what gets published,” he says. Although some products claimed to treat dementia, Snyder did not find any evidence to back such claims. [More]
More from Scientific American: Mind and Brain Gene Target Beats Oil Remedy Scientific American: Mind and Brain: March 12, 2010, 9:00 am The 1992 tearjerker Lorenzo’s Oil told the true story of one family’s struggle to save their son from X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a deadly degenerative brain disease. Unfortunately, over the ensuing years, the MIND Reviews: The Other Brain Scientific American: Mind and Brain: March 12, 2010, 9:00 am The Other Brain: From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries about the Brain Are Revolutionizing Medicine and Science by R. Douglas Fields. [More] Readers Respond on "A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030" Scientific American: Mind and Brain: March 12, 2010, 8:00 am Winds of Change I found it surprising that in “ A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030 ,” Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi do not mention the effects Mine Injuries Rise Right After Daylight Saving Time Scientific American: Mind and Brain: March 12, 2010, 1:30 am Don’t forget to move your clocks forward this weekend. And then don’t forget to be more careful in the days after you adjust your clocks. Because a recent study found that the Consciousness-Raising: Kick-Starting the Brain's Dopamine System May Revive Some Vegetative Patients Scientific American: Mind and Brain: March 12, 2010, 1:23 am A drug targeting dopamine receptors might be able to "kick-start" an injured brain, enabling certain kinds of vegetative and minimally conscious patients to recover faster. [More]
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