If you haven’t noticed, we offer a wide variety of games on our site that work with different cognitive functions. My favorite are games that work with executive function. But what exactly is executive function? Does it involve running a large corporation? Executive function allows you to distinguish between different kinds of tasks that you would want to accomplish, so in games that work with executive function you might keep track of many separate processes and variables, your hand eye coordination and speed of processing would be less important than your ability to think through complex problems. If your interested in working on our ability to multitask between different abstract tasks, executive function games could be for you.

The breakthroughs in neuroplasticity research in the past decade have been truly remarkable, even more remarkable than the changes in computers. One of the most helpful upgrades for technology has been the arrival of plug-and-play technology, which lets you attach all sorts of other devices to your computer, like your camera. In the 90s you might spend hours finding the right software to attach your new gizmo, now it takes just a minute. Researchers at Ruhr university in German have found that adults brains have a very similar property for integrating new parts of the body map. Instead of withering away, adults brains grow and change to adapt to the environment. Researchers at the University of California have gone even further, showing in monkeys that after learning to move a computer cursor with their minds, the monkeys had developed stable memories of their expanded body map. We have the technology, and your brain learn to use it.

If you really want to get the most out of your brain, you need to get plenty of regular sleep. Inadequate sleep can cause substantial declines in cognitive functions. Some researc has shown that extra sleep after you have gotten too little, so-called recovery sleep, can start to mitigate some of the effects of inadequate sleep. However, a great deal of research has shown that even with recovery sleep, your brain still shows signs of slowing down even a week later.

The message is clear: eat right, get plenty of sleep, and keep on thinking.

Eating is both an essential life function and a contested act in everyday life. No other single daily life sustaining task has the cache of cultural meanings and anxiety as the choice about what to put in our mouths. In a New York Times article, Micheal Polan offers a preview of the upcoming trajectory of his work on the politics of food. Polan’s argument to this point has been a subtle analysis of the production of food and the production of knowledge about food that produces bad, fad diets, and distinctively undelicious meals. Polan’s coming work with push on the specific articulation of science to eating, where dazzling science comes between us and a real relationship with our bodies. The power for Polan lies with individuals who can make meaningful decisions about their own lives without scientific super-diets or mountains of information that can scarcely aid in daily food choices.

Nutrition is an important aspect of your cognitive health. Just like how you can empower yourself to improve your speed of processing or executive function, you can think through your relationship too food.  A recent study from the University of South Carolina found that people experiencing change in their lives were more willing to give up comfort foods in favor of healthier choices; which begs the question, why do we call them “comfort” foods in the first place. You can make good dietary choices, even without a fancy chemistry set.

Every week we write about the importance of keeping your brain active for cognitive health, in our opinion it is an open and shut case. Using your brain, builds your brain. At the same time, the body and the brain are linked in all sorts of important ways. Even though Descartes might write compelling philosophy, he is wrong when he conjectures that we might just be brains without bodies. We definitely have bodies, and we need to take care of them.

More research comes out all the time confirming that eating fruits and vegetables and getting enough sleep are critical for your health, remember your brain is made of what you eat.

In addition to getting your brain workout in with Cognitive Media, the keys to cognitive health are nutrition and cardiovascular exercise.

In a fascinating article, Daniele Seiss tells the story of a woman who overcame depression through running. The woman in the article had been suffering from depression symptoms for years with little resolution from conventional sources, as therapy and medication had been ineffective. her eventual relief came from regular exercise. Research has detailed how regular exercise can increase the production of certain neurotransmitters in the brain, and further that it can promote neuroplasticity.

So, what does all this have to do with the blood-brain barrier?

The blood-brain barrier is a protective device that your body uses to protect your brain from potentially harmful substances.  By carefully filtering what can reach the brain, the barrier also restricts the flow of potentially helpful chemicals.  One of the largest challenges in using drugs to treat brain disorders is getting them into the brain in the first place.

In a study of nearly 500 seniors in New York found that playing games to stay mentally active substantially delayed the onset of dementia. This new research followed patients over five years, connecting their level of cognitive activity to the onset of dementia. Even when the researchers tried to use other factors to explain the findings, the connection between cognitive activity and avoiding dementia was undeniable.

The evidence keeps on coming in, playing games can build your brain.

Research on has shown that physical work that you want to do, does more for you than work that you don’t want to do. We think the same goes for mental work.  If you are working your brain in a way that is fun, you will keep doing it.  All too often in cognitive health programs the reward is trivial, a pat on the back at best.  We don’t think this is a strategy for you to succeed building your brain, so we and our partner Pancheros Mexican Grill will give you a real reward for a real brain workout.  If you work your brain for 600 minutes within 60 days, we will give you a $5 gift card for Pancheros.

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you – if you play games with your Cognitive Media account, you will get free food.

Research has shown that the brain is much more durable than was once thought.  In fact there is now scientific consensus that neuroplasticity and neurogenesis are commonplace in the brain.  More interesting is power of human interactions with media to produce positive changes and increase neuroplasticity, a capacity found in all media.  In short, using media doesn’t rot your brain, it builds it.

The past several years have seen the development of several approaches to harnessing the power of the brain to grow and change, the majority of these approaches depending on proprietary computer software and even entire dedicated console systems.  These approaches from medical research firms have been expensive and repetitive, offering only a few games with an extremely limited user experience.  Who wants to pay hundreds of dollars to be told to play tic-tac-toe for hours?  In order to get the benefits of playing brain games, you actually have to play them.

Cognitive Media has developed a state-of-the-art system that can track the activity and cognitive benefits for users across multiple devices, including personal computers, console games and smart phones.  In addition to improved tracking and usability on multiple devices, Cognitive Media has a large number of different games that have been analyzed for cognitive benefits, and a recommendation system that can help users select games ideal for them.  Our approach allows users to train their brains with a wide variety of content on a wide variety of platforms.  You can build your brain and love every minute of it, wherever and whenever you want.

Combining the latest in neuroscience research with the freshest entertainment – this is the Cognitive Media approach.

Since the beginning of what might be called the mass media, there has been an anxiety that the media might be damaging.  In the 1890′s the concern was that the Boston Globe was rotting the brains of its readers and the 1960′s introduced the boob tube.  In a recent article from the New York Times, a writer insinuated that text messaging causes “sore thumbs.”  The concern moved from newspapers to television, video games, the Internet and cell phones.  Even with new media, same old challenge returns – an anxiety about the relationship between people and technology.

Although the revolution in neuroscience has been relatively quiet, the ability to show how people and technology relate has be striking.  If you are a regular reader of our site, you know that the best new research shows that intentional cognitive exercise improves users outcomes, that you really can build your brain.  It might seem strange for some people to think that playing computer games isn’t just a waste of time.  It is important to remember that the science shows that playing those games can do real good, a repeated cliche that has been around since the dawn of mass media doesn’t.