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10/22/2014 - Neuroscientists speak out against brain game hype

Aging baby boomers and seniors would be better off going for a hike than sitting down in front of one of the many video games designed to aid the brain, a group of nearly 70 researchers asserted this week in a critique of some of the claims made by the brain-training industry.  Read the full story at… Read more 10/22/2014 - Neuroscientists speak out against brain game hype

10/22/2014 - Center on Longevity hosts design challenge focusing on elderly mobility

Switching from last year’s theme of cognitive impairment, the 2014-15 Design Challenge will focus on mobility in older adults. Submissions are due Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. The Design Challenge is an annual competition that seeks to engage students worldwide in designing improvements for the elderly population. According to Ken Smith, director of mobility at… Read more 10/22/2014 - Center on Longevity hosts design challenge focusing on elderly mobility

10/22/2014 - Brain-Training Companies Get Advice From Some Academics, Criticism From Others

Your brain is a tree. Or, perhaps more fittingly, a bank account. With metaphors like those, brain-game companies entice people to buy subscriptions to their online training programs, many of which promise to increase customers’ “neuroplasticity,” “fluid intelligence,” and working memory capacity. They even claim to help stave off the effects of aging. Leading scientists have criticized… Read more 10/22/2014 - Brain-Training Companies Get Advice From Some Academics, Criticism From Others

10/22/2014 - Seeing More Gray in the College Classroom

Higher education faces a serious decline in its traditional 18-22 population. Having fewer potential students from the traditional demographic segment could have serious implications for funding. One part of the solution—open the doors to a new demographic segment. Read the full article at Library Journal.

10/22/2014 - What if Age Is Nothing but a Mind-Set?

One day in the fall of 1981, eight men in their 70s stepped out of a van in front of a converted monastery in New Hampshire. They shuffled forward, a few of them arthritically stooped, a couple with canes. Then they passed through the door and entered a time warp. Perry Como crooned on a… Read more 10/22/2014 - What if Age Is Nothing but a Mind-Set?

10/20/2014 - Stanford brain experts, others, say brain game benefits are exaggerated

“It is customary for advertising to highlight the benefits and overstate potential advantages of their products,” said Laura Carstensen, a Stanford psychology professor and the director of the Center for Longevity, in a press release.”But in the case of brain games, companies also assert that the products are based on solid scientific evidence developed by… Read more 10/20/2014 - Stanford brain experts, others, say brain game benefits are exaggerated

10/20/2014 - Scientific evidence does not support the brain game claims, Stanford scholars say

Sixty-nine scientists at Stanford University and other institutions issued a statement that the scientific track record does not support the claims that so-called “brain games” actually help older adults boost their mental powers. Read the full article at Stanford Report.

10/16/2014 - Stanford selects first cohort of Distinguished Careers Institute fellows

The program is designed for exceptional leaders with 20 to 30 years of experience who are interested in reinventing and redirecting their careers toward roles with a social impact. Read the full article at Stanford Report.

The Consensus on the Brain Training industry from the Scientific Community October 20, 2014 Computer-based “brain-games” claim a growing share of the marketplace in aging societies. Consumers are told that playing the games will make them smarter, more alert, and able to learn faster and better. The implied and often explicit promise is that adherence… Read more

10/16/2014 - Exercise Counteracts Genetic Risk for Alzheimer's

If you carried a gene that doubled your likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s disease, would you want to know? What if there was a simple lifestyle change that virtually abolished that elevated risk? People with a gene known as APOE e4 have a higher risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in old age. Even before behavioral symptoms appear,… Read more 10/16/2014 - Exercise Counteracts Genetic Risk for Alzheimer's