We instinctively know that sleep is important if we want to think clearly. Now, according to a study published on April 3 in the journal Science, researchers from University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health found more evidence that sleep resets the brain to allow more growth and learning the next day. Read about their fascinating research here and get a good nights sleep - your brain will thank you for it.

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Check out the Cognitive Progress graphs in your personal profile page. These have been updated to better show your overall progress since the beginning of your cognitive training with HAPPYneuron. We hope they will encourage you to keep up with your brain workouts!
There are six progress charts – one showing your overall HAPPYneuron Performance Index (HPI) progress, and one for each of your cognitive functions of Memory, Language, Attention, Visual-Spatial skills and Executive Function. As always, you can drill down for more detailed information in each area. Check it out and give us your comments.

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You may find this primer about brain development and functioning, created by the Society of Neuroscience, quite interesting. This is a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians whose mission it is to research and educate. The primer is called Brain Facts. It's written with a non-medical audience in mind and it's available for free. Definitely worth checking out if you have an interest in how the brain works, how memory is stored in the brain, how changes in the neural pathways effect our memory, the process of learning, and more.

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Last week HAPPYneuron’s Laura Fay spoke with Adriane Berg of the Longevity Club Radio Show about the cross training program, the history of brain science, the impact of technology on the effectiveness of the program and the resulting cognitive health benefits for life. Listen on (about 5 minutes into the show).

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Cognitive capabilities are important to strengthen for continued safe driving as we age. In recent years, state-sponsored research in Maryland has shown that if a driver fails a cognitive test, he is 25 percent more likely to be involved in a crash. That’s quite a statistic! The good news is that the cognitive abilities important to driving can be prolonged and even rehabilitated even if they are in decline. Read Dr. Croisile's full article here...

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I am asked this question all the time. There are many memory disorders and it's often difficult to understand the differences. Here's a brief overview.

Normal memory loss: Everybody's brain ages. As the connections and chemicals in the brain alter with time, many people forget things like names, keys, and what the they went in the next room for. This is pretty normal, and doesn't automatically lead to deterioration if a person is leading a brain healthy lifestyle.

Mild cognitive impairment: Problems with memory, language, or other problem solving functions are now noticeable to others but may not interfere with daily life. For example, Mom continually loses her keys ...

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Exposing your brain to new information is important. On this St. Patrick's Day (Tuesday, March 17th) ask yourself what you really know about it except that people wear green and lots of beer is consumed? Like most holidays we celebrate, the history and the traditions go way deeper than that. Impress your Irish and non-Irish friends alike, with your knowledge. Read about the History of St. Patrick's Day and about who was St. Patrick?.....hint - he wasn't actually Irish.

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A drink may actually be good for your brain. A 2007 study led by researchers at the Department of Geriatrics at the University of Bari, Italy, and published by the American Academy of Neurology, found that for people with mild cognitive impairment, consuming up to one drink of alcohol a day may slow their progression to dementia.

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Laura Fay, HAPPYneuron's CEO discusses importance of staying mentally fit and how to improve cognitive abilities on the "Coping with Caregiving" Radio show last weekend. Revealing that brain decline starts as early as our 30s, she discusses all the elements required to keep your brain healthy and how to lower your risk of accelerated brain decline. For your listening pleasure, the 10 minute show was recorded and is available for listening here.

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We all know that learning new skills is good for the brain. The scientists tell us that learning new information of any kind is important. So let's learn. Perhaps you know the 3rd Monday in February as President’s Day?.. unless you live in a state where it’s known as Washington’s Birthday or Lincoln/Washington Day. Confusing? Sort it all out for yourself, and your friends, by watching a short video explaining the whole thing…and then some!

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We all know that learning new skills is good for the brain. The scientists tell us that learning new information of any kind is important. So let's learn something about Valentine's Day.....Just who was St. Valentine? What was the date of the first mail-posted valentine card on record? Why do we celebrate it on Feb 14th? Impress your friends with your knowledge...go to the HERE for all you need to learn.

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Sandrine Belier, Ph. D., Cognitive Psychology, discuss this question. She also talks about how a fit and healthy brain can guard against all the doom and gloom that seems to be in the news every day. Read what she has to say on these topics at the HAPPYneuron Blog.

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For many years, I and, the HAPPYneuron scientific team have been working with prestigious medical institutions and universities to collaborate on the effective use of interactive Cognitive Training activities for the deferral of brain decline in addition to the remediation of specific conditions such as Mild Cognitive Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, Depression and Schizophrenia. Many of you have expressed interest in these so we recently posted a list of research studies. There are many more in progress and they will be posted as the information becomes available.

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Age, gender and education level are the three primary variables that influence your cognitive reserve and your natural cognitive orientation. Therefore, from a cognitive performance perspective, your peers are the people of the same age, gender and education level as you and they can be expected to have a similar cognitive performance as you. Therefore, scientifically, it is essential that all comparisons relative to others are performed factoring these 3 important factors. With almost 18.5M data points in the HAPPYneuron database, these comparisons are very accurate and are becoming ever more accurate with each passing day. So the more YOU workout your brain, the more it helps OTHERS ...

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Woman’s Day Radio Host Barbara Brody, Health Editor at Woman’s Day Magazine, interviews Dr. Coleman of the Alzheimer’s Association and Dr. Robert Bender of the Johnny Orr Memory Center and the HAPPYneuron Scientific Team, on the topic of keeping our brain’s young. The program is about 30 minutes long. Definitely worth a listen! Click here to go to WD Radio and hear the show.

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The Alzheimer’s Association has done a very nice job of offering a wonderful Interactive Tour of the Brain in 13 languages. Check it out....

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Dr. Bernard Croisile, MD Neurology, Ph.D. Neuropsychology, gives you some easy tips on how you can take control of your brain's health and make the most of your mind.

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This article has been written by Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D. a subject expert from Prevention, a strong HAPPYneuron partner. "Many of us are unaware that head injury, especially repeated head injury or concussion, is a risk for our brain's long term health. As I wrote last time, new evidence suggests that repeated head injury among athletes may increase their risk for a progressive cognitive disorder. However, even those of us"

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Author of Dental Floss for the Mind, Get your Brain in the Fast Lane and Broccoli for the Brain, neurologist Dr. Bernard Croisile, Ph.D., gives you some easy tips on how you can take control of your brain's health and make the most of your mind.

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Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities. The most common form of dementia among older people is Alzheimer's disease (AD), which initially involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. Although scientists are learning more every day, right now they still do not know what causes AD, and there is no cure.

In this Time/CNN article, Walter Kukull, director of the U.S. National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center explains how researchers could reduce people's risk of Alzheimer's Disease. In this brief yet informative interview, he talks about genetics, drug discovery, and mitigating diseases.

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We're entering the season of graduations, summer vacations and parties, as well as family reunions. Often we see people during these events that we haven't seen for awhile and the faces are familiar, but we can't recall their names. Christine Green, Ph.D. and blog contributor to Prevention Magazine's website, has some tips for how to remember names and avoid those embarrassing pauses while you search your memory bank for clues.

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Ever wonder what the biggest misconception is about the role of brain training? This article is an insightful piece based on an interview with Dr. Michel Noir, co-founder of Happy-Neuron. An engaging look into his research and observations, you will discover how cognitive abilities are developed over the span of a person's lifetime, starting from when they are born. Learn how brain training actually works, including the underlying phsyiological mechanisms that explain how mental training benefits the brain.

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Research has shown that diet and exercise have an impact on preventing this dreaded disease. Vitamins, fish oil and a daily stroll can be your best defense, not to mention making your quality of life more enjoyable. Gale Maleskey, MS, RD (registered dietician), writes for Stop Aging Now about ways to keep your brain sharp and prevent Alzheimer's.

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In a recent article posted on BeautyEats.com, there were 7 reasons listed to drink green tea. One of the 7 reasons was to "PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM'S." Green tea may keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.