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Health & Fitness

2013 Brain Awareness Week: "IQ can change!"

Brain Awareness Week is a week set aside for educating people about brain research. For BAW 2013, educate yourself about this little fact that can impact your daily life: you can change your IQ!

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is the global campaign to increase public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. This year’s Brain Awareness Week will be celebrated this March 11 – 17, 2013. 


What is the most important thing for people to know this Brain Awareness Week?

 The human brain can become faster, smarter and more efficient at any age. Contrary to what we used to believe, IQ can be increased!  By improving the underlying cognitive skills like memory, focus, reasoning, and processing speed, one can actually increase his or her intellectual capability.

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Why is this message so important?

 Strengthening cognitive skills leads to a smarter, faster, more efficient brain, a higher IQ, and all the benefits that tend to go along with it, like more confidence, a competitive edge in school or the job market, and eventually, a higher likelihood of a successful career.

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This ability to change and improve the brain is especially important for people struggling with a learning disability like dyslexia, ADHD or a memory issue. These do not have to be lifetime diagnoses!  Strengthening the cognitive skills can often alleviate the symptoms of such diagnoses and make learning easier and even more fun.


How can brain training help people get smarter?

Cognitive skills are improved when they are exercised properly.  The most effective way to do this is through one-on-one brain training.  Professional brain trainers use intensive game-like mental exercises to create new synapses in the brain and gradually strengthen the connections that allow the brain to perform a certain cognitive skill.  This methodology is used to strengthen weak cognitive skills like memory, attention, and auditory processing. When those skills are improved, so is that person’s ability to think, reason, and process information. 

 

Is there any proof that this works?

As neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to change and improve) becomes a more widely studied concept, research has proven time and time again that brain training works.  The efficiency of computerized brain training varies by program and is still widely debated, but the effectiveness of in-person, one-on-one brain training is strongly supported.  For more specific studies, talk to a local brain training center (such as LearningRx, located in Atlanta, Alpharetta, and Kennesaw) or visit www.learningrx.com/brain-training-research.htm.  

 

Are IQ scores accurate?

 IQ scores (when obtained from a reputable IQ test) are an accurate summary of a person’s overall intelligence.  However, they can be very deceptive.  The IQ number is simply an average of all the underlying cognitive skills, so it’s possible for a person to have a high IQ score and a learning problem at the same time. For example, a child who has ADHD may have a severe deficiency in the mental skill of attention, and be well above average in other cognitive abilities, which results in an average IQ. Serious cognitive issues can go undetected when IQ scores are “average.”  This is why, for the most accurate information, one should seek out testing that measures not only a single IQ score but also the various components of intelligence, such as the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Cognitive Ability.  These tests are offered at many psychological offices, and most brain training centers also offer these tests at a lower cost.

 

Pop open some Brain Awareness Week champagne, because this is reason to celebrate!  Proper brain training and mental exercise can actually make people smarter, and for those with learning disabilities, improving cognitive skills can even decrease the need for extra interventions like tutoring or medication.  But for a smaller brain boost, try some of these games to exercise your cognitive skills:

To improve auditory processing: Bop-It Extreme, Dance Dance Revolution, Mad Gab

To improve logic and reasoning: Apples to Apples, Battleship, Sudoku

To improve long-term memory: Perfection, Stare!, Scrabble

To improve math computations: Brain Age, Simon

To improve processing speed: Tetris, Bejeweled, Skip-Bo

To improve selective attention: Perfection, Slapjack, Where’s Waldo

To improve visual processing: Blokus, Pac-Man, Uno

 

*LearningRx brain training centers provide cognitive skills training that empowers anyone of any age to learn faster and easier.  Tutoring and other programs reinforce WHAT students must learn (information).  LearningRx brain training centers identify and strengthen the skills behind HOW students learn.  We provide testing and life-changing training for students of all ages who desire to learn and read better for life.  LearningRx Atlanta-Buckhead opened in March 2008 and expanded to the Alpharetta-Johns Creek area in October 2012.

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