Brain Researchers Inform Senate of Brain Technologies
Over the last decade brain research and technology have multiplied. Posit Science Corporation is one of the companies who done extensive research into brain injuries and base there treatments on neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reconnect neurons through intensive, repetitive and progressively challenging activity. Posit works with more than 50 brain scientists from leading universities around the world to create training programs that enhance cognitive performance. “Many believe that we have already entered the 'Cognitive Age,' where the greatest value we create comes from what we know,” observed Posit Science Chairman and CEO Jeff Zimman. “In the next few years, newly developed technologies that actually enhance cognitive abilities will not only create our greatest gains in personal productivity, but will also be critical in addressing a host of public policy challenges.” Scientists visiting the U.S. Senate believe that recent breakthroughs in brain research and technology will have a great impact on public policy issues. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) invited the researchers to the Senate. Scientists summarized more than 30 peer-reviewed papers emphacizing the power of cognitive training technologies and offered hands-on demonstration of products using those new technologies. “Recent studies show that the right cognitive training exercises can improve processing speed, accuracy, attention and memory in older adults,” Dr. Mahncke continued. “Most recently, we have learned that this can be done in ways that generalize to everyday life and persist after the training ends. These gains are large -- roughly equivalent to a reversal in the normal decline we see over a decade in an average person over age 50.” This is an important advancement for those in the public domain that our U.S. Senate is taking notice.
