Brain Training Top 10 Future Trends | Health and Fitness, Wellness ...

In an emerg?ing, dynamic, high growth mar?ket, like brain train?ing,
it is dif?fi?cult to make pre?cise pro?jec?tions. But, we can observe a
num?ber of trends that exec?u?tives, con?sumers, pub?lic pol?icy
mak?ers, and the media should watch closely in the com?ing years, as
brain? fit?ness and train?ing becomes main?stream, new tools appear, and an ecosys?tem grows around it.

1. We pre?dict an increased empha?sis on brain main?te?nance in loca?tions rang?ing from retire?ment com?mu?ni?ties to gyms. As a computer-savvy baby boomer pop?u?la?tion looks for ways to stay men?tally fit, brain fit?ness, or brain train?ing, is becom?ing part of their vocab?u?lary and concern.

2. Phys?i?cal and men?tal exer?cise will be bet?ter inte?grated. Phys?i?cal exer?cise has been shown to increase the rate of neu?ro?ge?n?e?sis, whereas men?tal exer?cise helps ensure the sur?vival of any newly cre?ated neu?rons. Today both activ?i?ties usu?ally take place in very dif?fer?ent set?tings: the for?mer, in health clubs, the later, in uni?ver?si?ties. We pre?dict that the bor?ders between them will become more dif?fuse. Expect new pro?grams such as brain fit?ness pod?casts that allow us to train work?ing mem?ory as we jog or exer?cise bikes with built-in brain?games.

3. Watch for a broad gov?ern?ment ini?tia?tive, sim?i?lar to the one JFK led, to increase the pub?lic aware?ness of the need for brain fit?ness. It is becom?ing more widely under?stood by the med?ical and pol?icy com?mu?nity that a com?bi?na?tion of phys?i?cal exer?cise, nutri?tion, men?tal exer?cise and stress man?age?ment can help us main?tain our brain health as we age. As politi?cians and pol?icy mak?ers look for ways to delay the onset of Alzheimer-related symp?toms of our aging pop?u?la?tion, new ini?tia?tives may be launched.

4. Bet?ter and more widely avail?able assess?ments of cog?ni?tive func?tion will serve as objec?tive base?lines to mea?sure the impact of cog?ni?tive train?ing inter?ven?tions. There will also likely be bet?ter diag?nos?tic tests to iden?tify early Alzheimer?s symp?toms, for exam?ple. Reli?able diag?nos?tic assess?ments of cog?ni?tive abil?i?ties will help move this field for?ward just as jump?ing on a scale tells you if your phys?i?cal fit?ness and diet pro?gram is working.

5. Improved computer-based tools will come to mar?ket. The grow?ing pipeline of research stud?ies will enable the mar?ket lead?ers and new entrants to refine exist?ing tools and devise new ones. More clin?i?cal stud?ies will show the ben?e?fits of brain fit?ness pro?grams to address spe?cific clin?i?cal con?di?tions and learn?ing disabilities.

6. Low tech options will play an increas?ing role in the brain fit?ness field. Already, increas?ing research is show?ing the cog?ni?tive value and brain plas?tic?ity impact of inter?ven?tions such as med?i?ta?tion and cog?ni?tive ther?apy. More research and wider appli?ca?tions will help refine our under?stand?ing of when and how they can be most helpful.

7. Doc?tors and phar?ma?cists will help patients nav?i?gate through the over?whelm?ing range of avail?able prod?ucts and inter?pret the results of cog?ni?tive assess?ments. This will require sig?nif?i?cant pro?fes?sional devel?op?ment efforts, given that most doc?tors today were trained under a very dif?fer?ent under?stand?ing of the brain than the one we have?today.

8. Insur?ance com?pa?nies will intro?duce incen?tives for mem?bers to encour?age healthy aging. Many insur?ance plans today include rewards for mem?bers who, for exam?ple, vol?un?tar?ily take health-related ques?tion?naires that enable them to iden?tify steps to take to improve health. Increas?ingly, brain-related lifestyle fac?tors will become part of these incen?tivized interventions.

9. Invest?ments in new cog?ni?tive inter?ven?tions for the U.S. mil?i?tary will be com?mer?cial?ized. As the mil?i?tary increas?ingly funds research to improve the diag?nos?tic and treat?ment of prob?lems such as PTSD and TBI, the result?ing prod?ucts will ulti?mately find com?mer?cial?uses.

10. Brain train?ing will be added to cor?po?rate well?ness and lead?er?ship ini?tia?tives. Large employ?ers with exist?ing cor?po?rate well?ness and lead?er?ship pro?grams will intro?duce brain fit?ness spe?cific pro?grams aimed not only at improved health out?comes but also at increased pro?duc?tiv?ity and cog?ni?tive per?for?mance in the workplace.

These pre?dic?tions come from our ground?break?ing?Mar?ket Report titled The State of the Brain Fit?ness Soft?ware Mar?ket 2008,

Source: http://guidelines-to-health-fitness.blogspot.com/2012/08/brain-training-top-10-future-trends.html

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