BRAIN HEALTH BREAKTHROUGH

For a long time, people have wondered–why does memory decline as we get older?

And for a long time, scientists thought they knew the answer–the brain just wears out over time. Like an old car, it just slows down because of wear and tear. Eventually, it just doesn’t work that well any more.

When a brain doesn’t work that well anymore, a person can show cognitive symptoms like:

Those cognitive symptoms can lead over time to real-world problems like

And of course, over time, the onset of significant cognitive decline–like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

But twenty years ago, a world-renowned neuroscientist asked a simple question–was any of this actually true?

Dr. Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist at the University of California San Francisco, asked himself this: What if the brain didn’t actually just passively wear out like an old machine? Wwhat if brain aging was an active process? And more importantly–what if that process could be reversed?

Asking this question would change the world of neuroscience–and change everything we thought we knew about brain aging and brain health.

The Science of Brain Plasticity

Dr. Merzenich already had a reputation in the world of brain science as a great scientist who took on prevailing beliefs about how the brain worked and showed that the expert consensus was wrong.

His first breakthrough came early in his career, where he led the team at UCSF that invented the cochlear implant. This is a breakthrough that replaces the ear’s system for converting sound waves into neural signals–and lets a deaf person hear. You can watch an incredible video of a child hearing for the first time thanks to Dr. Merzenich’s invention here on YouTube.

When Dr. Merzenich invented the first cochlear implant–and was able to have a conversation with a person who had been deaf for years–he was shocked. Somehow, the patient could comprehend normal speech–even though the first cochlear implant was very simple, and couldn’t capture all of the rich sound detail that scientists assumed was required to convey speech to the brain.

Dr. Merzenich realized that for this miracle to happen, the adult brain had to change itself in order to re-learn how to understand speech through the cochlear implant.

Now, at this point in time, no serious scientist believed the adult brain could change itself. They thought that brain change–known as brain plasticity–was limited to childhood.

But the cochlear implant results led Dr. Merzenich to see it differently. If the brain of a person with a cochlear implant could rewire itself, then maybe all of our brains could rewire themselves–at any age–with the right type of training.

That single insight led to a revolution in scientific understanding of how the brain works, and as a result of his discovery, Dr. Merzenich is now regarded as one of the greatest neuroscientists of his generation.

What Actually Happens to an Aging Brain

When you understand the science of brain plasticity, what happens to the aging brain makes perfect sense.

As we get older, just about everyone experiences some hearing and vision loss. We can’t hear high-pitched sounds as well, and maybe our vision gets a little blurry close-up or far away. Part of that is due to changes in our ears and eyes.

But because of brain plasticity, when our vision and hearing get a little “blurry” our brains rewire in response–and brain processing gets a little “blurry” as well. That’s the neuroscience behind “senior moments.”

But here’s the good news: If brain plasticity can cause blurry information processing in the brain, then brain plasticity also has the potential to fix blurry information processing.

Harnessing Brain Plasticity to Build a Sharper, Faster, and Better Brain

So how can you direct brain plasticity in ways that are good for your brain?

Thanks to decades of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Merzenich and his team of researchers figured this out. To make a lot of complicated science simple, it turns out that the best way to drive positive brain plasticity is to make the brain faster.

And how can we make our brains faster? The answer is speed training for the brain.

To take this science out of the lab and into the world, Dr. Merzenich developed BrainHQ–a brain training program that puts the power of brain plasticity to work to make the brain faster–and even reverse brain aging.

What’s the Proof?

You may have heard of “brain games”–and you may have heard that they don’t work. And that’s true–a lot of brain game companies have gotten in trouble because they haven’t had real science to back up their big claims.

BrainHQ is something different–not “brain games” but scientifically based exercises built on the very real science of brain plasticity.

What’s the proof? Well, there are more than 300 scientific publications using BrainHQ exercises showing that BrainHQ helps people think faster, focus better, and remember more–helping people be happier, healthier, and more in control of their lives.

Two recent breakthrough studies show how powerful this science is–and what it can do for an aging brain.

Reversing Brain Aging–The INHANCE Study

The first breakthrough result came from the INHANCE study–a gold-standard study of speed training in BrainHQ funded by the National Institutes of Health. Scientists used an advanced form of brain imaging available at only one research institute in the world–a way to measure the health of a key neurochemical in the brain called acetylcholine.

Why? Because acetylcholine is extremely important to attention and memory. Your brain pumps acetylcholine when you pay attention–which enables learning and the formation of new memories.

And it plays a major role in Alzheimer’s disease. One of the first biological signs in people developing Alzheimer’s is a decrease in the health of the brain systems that produce acetylcholine.

In the INHANCE study, researchers recruited 92 healthy seniors. Half did speed training with BrainHQ, and the other half was a control group that did ordinary video games.

The researchers found something incredible–the group that did speed training in BrainHQ significantly increased the levels of acetylcholine in their brains–reversing 10 years of normal brain aging.

This was the first time ever that a study has shown that health of this key brain system can be improved. That’s the power of brain plasticity.

This scientific breakthrough was covered in more than 2,000 news articles across the globe. Have a look at NPR’s article titled “Mental exercise can reverse a brain change linked to aging, study finds.” Or Science Daily’s story titled  “Online brain training reverses 10 years of aging in memory and learning.” The science is real.

But as incredible as this result is, it’s not the biggest news about brain plasticity and speed training.

Preventing Serious Cognitive Decline–the ACTIVE Study

The biggest news about brain plasticity and speed training came from an incredible twenty-year study of cognitive training funded by the National Institutes of Health called the ACTIVE study.

The ACTIVE study is one of the largest studies of cognitive cognitive training ever done. It put three programs to the test:

• a memory training program
• a reasoning training program
• and a speed training program.

The memory and reasoning training programs taught people strategies–a bit like college classes. The speed training program was something different entirely: a computerized exercise that automatically adapted to each person who trained, designed to make the brain faster.

Sound familiar? The speed training exercise used in ACTIVE was one of the exercises used in INHANCE–and it’s now part of the BrainHQ program.

Twenty years after the start of the study, the researchers asked a question: How many people from each group had gone on to severe cognitive decline, as measured by a Medicare record indicating Alzheimer’s disease or dementia? And most importantly, did any of these training programs protect against severe cognitive decline?

It turns out that over the 20 years, almost 50% of the people in the control group went on to severe cognitive decline. But people who did speed training–and did “booster” sessions one and three years later-–showed a 25% reduction in their risk of severe cognitive decline over the next 20 years.

This is a simply astonishing result. For the first time, scientists have shown that brain aging and severe cognitive decline are not inevitable, nor are they set by a fixed clock. There is something specific you can do that can significantly lower your risk–and that is a computerized speed training program that uses the power of brain plasticity to make your brain faster.

This news was covered in even more news articles around the globe–3,000+ and counting. Read NPR’s story “This form of mental exercise may cut dementia risk for decades or watch the news about the study on NBC news.

This is breakthrough science.

Putting the Science to Work for People

Throughout his illustrious scientific career, Dr. Merzenich has always lived by a motto–the purpose of science is to help people.

You can watch a video of Dr. Merzenich explaining why he wanted to get the science of brain plasticity out of the lab and into the world.

He worked with scientists all over the world to develop BrainHQ–a set of plasticity-based computerized exercises, including the one used in the INHANCE and ACTIVE studies–that you do on your own computer or mobile device. Brain exercise is like physical exercise–you do it several times a week, on a schedule that fits your needs.

BrainHQ is built to help you succeed.

• Each BrainHQ exercise automatically personalizes to you–so that you are always working at the right level of challenge for your unique brain.
• BrainHQ has a built-in personal trainer that ensures you get the right brain exercises at the right time.
• BrainHQ helps you understand and track your progress as you train.
• And BrainHQ is supported by an incredible US-based support team available by phone, chat, or email, ready to help you get started and succeed.

Importantly, BrainHQ is not an expensive drug with side-effects, and it’s not a risky medical device. BrainHQ uses the natural power of your own brain’s plasticity to improve your brain health and sharpen your cognitive function.

A Choice Ahead of You

You’ve learned a lot about brain aging, brain health, and brain plasticity. And now you have a choice ahead of you.

You can keep doing what you’re already doing. Maybe you do crossword puzzles, or read a lot of books. They might keep your brain busy, but they’re not making your brain faster in the way that’s needed to drive the benefits seen in the studies shown here.

Maybe you just prefer to put your head in the sand–cognitive decline isn’t fun to think about–so you’d rather just put it out of your mind and pretend not to worry about it.

Or you can take action now, and start training your brain to get faster, stay healthier, and reduce your risk of serious cognitive decline.

The brain health revolution is happening now–and you can be a part of it. 

What to Do Now

If you’re ready to take action–and start a science-based brain training program clinically proven to build brain health and sharpen cognitive function–click here to start BrainHQ. A full year of BrainHQ is available for just $96 – that’s just $8/month for better brain health, and putting the power of brain plasticity on your side on your hands.