At first the students who were playing it with me got tripped up by exercise that built muscles (strength) but wasn’t aerobic. Ohhhhh, they chimed and got busy on round two. None were confused by the sedentaryactivity bubbles but, ooops, sometimes old Chicken Dawg bumped in to one of those bubbles on the way to “gymnastics” or “tennis.”

The unusual thing about the students that were playing the game with me was that they were moving the cursor with their feet! Yes, they had a FootPOWR computer mouse on the floor. As they moved left and right, up and down on the FootPOWR the cursor moved as well. Sometimes they did move Chicken Dawg less than accurately – at first.  It was a bit more challenging to get to the right bubbles in the alotted time when they were FootGaming so we threw in a little math.

The students played Bubble Rubble with the regular mouse and then played the same level game with the FootPOWR.  After ten students did this we started averaging.  The average score with the conventional mouse (usually the higher score) minus the FootGaming score left us the bonus score.  We totaled all of the differences(bonus scores) and then averaged the total.  We then simply gave that number (105 that day) as a bonus to the students who used the FootPOWR.

It was lots of fun watching the students hunt down examples of aerobic exercise while doing aerobic exercise.  Teachers – best of all there is a full complement of lessons plans on the Playnormous website just for you.  Send us photos if you’d like or add your comments or questions.

Other recent studies provide some preliminary answers. In an experiment published in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, 21 students at the University of Illinois were asked to memorize a string of letters and then pick them out from a list flashed at them. Then they were asked to do one of three things for 30 minutes — sit quietly, run on a treadmill or lift weights — before performing the letter test again.  The students were noticeably quicker and more accurate on the retest after they ran compared with the other two options.

“There seems to be something different about aerobic exercise,” Charles Hillman, an associate professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Illinois and an author of the study, says.

Similarly, in other work by scientists at the University of Illinois, elderly people were assigned a six-month program of either stretching exercises or brisk walking. The stretchers increased their flexibility but did not improve on tests of cognition. The brisk walkers did. Why should exercise need to be aerobic to affect the brain?

“It appears that various growth factors must be carried from the periphery of the body into the brain to start a molecular cascade there,” creating new neurons and brain connections, says Henriette van Praag, an investigator in the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging. For that to happen, “you need a fairly dramatic change in blood flow,” like the one that occurs when you run or cycle or swim. Weight lifting, on the other hand, stimulates the production of “growth factors in the muscles that stay in the muscles and aren’t transported to the brain,” van Praag says.

Researchers are finding that brisk walking or running is more intense and leads to improvements in “muscle aerobic capacity,” and this increased aerobic capacity, in turn, affects the brain more than something that is less strenuous for the individual.

Do we have to really go outside our aerobic “comfort zone” in order to gain the cognitive benefits of exercise? Researchers conclude that any form of regular exercise, if it is aerobic, should be able to maintain or even increase our brain functions. Give it a try, and stay with the physical activity.  Your entire wellness will benefit along with your cognition.

PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual video games, today announced that preliminary results of a new study being conducted by East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab have identified improvements in cognitive function through the playing of “casual” video games such as Bejeweled® and Peggle™. (PopCap Games, maker of the aforementioned games used in the study, did not underwrite the study.) The study, which has been underway for nearly six months and will be completed later this year, involves dozens of U.S. consumers age 50 and older, and explores the effects of the games on subjects’ short-term cognitive acuity. In each instance, sizable improvements were identified in the performance of the experimental group as compared to the control group.Dr. Carmen Russoniello, Director of the Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic at ECU, is presenting initial data and analysis from the study today at the 6th annual Games for Health Conference in Boston. Full study results will be submitted this fall for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.”The initial results of the study are very intriguing, in that they suggest that the ‘active participation’ required while playing a casual video game like Bejeweled provides an opportunity for mental exercise that more passive activities, like watching television, do not,” said Russoniello. “Future applications could include prescriptive applications using casual video games to potentially stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-type disorders.”More than 40 test subjects have participated in the study so far, with dozens more being included by the study’s completion. Measurements were achieved through tracking of Electroencephalography (EEG) brain waves as well as subjects’ participation in the standardized Trail Making Test™ parts A and B. Both cognitive response time (the speed with which a subject completes a task) and executive function (the frequency of correctly completing parts of the task) were tracked. Those subjects who played Bejeweled or Peggle for short (30 minute) periods showed an 87% improvement in cognitive response time and a 215% increase in executive functioning when compared to a control group. According to ECU, these improvements in overall cognitive acuity are comparable to changes recorded after other types of cognitive interventions such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and cognitive remediation therapy.”Video games with more complex rules and controls, and more sophisticated or detailed imagery — so-called ‘hardcore’ video games — might provide similar cognitive benefits for many people,” said Russoniello. “But those games take significantly longer to learn to play and appeal to a considerably narrower subset of the overall population, especially older consumers. In our experience, ‘casual’ video games are ideal both in terms of their accessibility and ease of understanding and because they appeal to nearly everyone.”

In April’s American Journal of Preventive Medicine a new study (Television and Screen-Based Activity and Mental Well-Being in Adults) added more support that watching too much television can have an adverse affect on the brain. It isn’t only about the “screen” entertainment.  Sedentary leisure choices deliver results none of us want – read on!

The study examined the connection between recreational sedentary behavior (based on TV- and screen-based entertainment) and mental health.

The study was conducted by reviewing the survey data of 3920 men and women from the 2003 Scottish Health Survey. This sample group was given the General Health Questionnaire which contained a mental health component (a 12-Item Short-Form Survey) which was administered to obtain information on their respective mental health. Self-reported TV- and screen-based entertainment viewing time, physical activity, and physical function was also measured.

Approximately a quarter of the participants in the study engaged in at least four hours a day of watching screen-based entertainment. After all other data points were factored out, participants in this group had the highest instances of mental health problems. This led the researchers to conclude that this type of leisure time activity is independently associated with poorer mental health scores than the participants that watched less television.

Why not make the active choice, like 88 year old Lou in the photo above?  More and more research is pointing towards the benefits of getting off the couch and partaking in activities that engage both your body and your brain. Explore the ExerBrainGames blog and the FootGaming website for lots of ideas.

Our featured game of the day is “Dance of the Fireflies” from HAPPY Neuron.

The hitch is that the tasks and exercises should be novel and challenging enough to stimulate your brain in ways it hasn’t seen before, but not so difficult that you burn out. In other words, says Small, “you want to train, not strain, your brain.”

Many of the programs are, in fact, designed to challenge the brain at just the right level. “But my question is: Compared to what?” says Johns Hopkins neurologist Guy McKhann, M.D. “I don’t know that they do this any better than playing competitive bridge or learning a new language would.” Our comment to that is more supportive of using brain game software as an option, a choice for more variety, fun and consistently delivered programs.

The need for social contacts

There’s also the issue of what you’re skipping while parking yourself at a computer for hours of brain training. “Some folks are saying these things are detrimental because they take people away from social interactions, and it’s very clear that social interaction is very important for challenging the mind to think outside of ways you’re used to,” Mapstone says. After all, mental stimulation isn’t the only thing that helps your brain stay fit as you get older. A healthy, balanced diet, regular aerobic exercise, social interaction and stress management also contribute to keeping your brain in top shape.

Here we go again – why not add a “mouse” to your computer that allows you to play select brain games while you stand, get aerobic exercise, balance training and eye-foot coordination.  Try FootGaming the brain game way.

You can get “brain games” from $20 to upwards of $4000 if you pick the BrainBike.  It’s well-documented that exercise slows memory decline – but it’s less clear how effective  the memory games one plays while on the bike might be.  While Sudoku and crossword puzzles improve logic and other brain functions, we do like our gadgets. The growing number of us passing age 55 like a car speeding down life’s highway really do not like our “senior moments.”  We look to technology for fun and perhaps some future “cognitive reserve.”

At least six weeks of sustained, intense learning generally results in increased brain thickness.  This extra brainpower can help an aging mind compensate and, in essence, delay the onset of dementia.  In a study published in April 2009 in the Journal of the American geriatrics Society, scientists at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Southern California used standardized memory tests to assess 487 healthy adults over the age of 65, half of whom were asked to complete Posit’s 2-month brain fitness program.  That group improved their mental speed by about 60% compared to a control group with 7% improvement.  Later, in real life situations both groups self-reported improvement.  I guess we aren’t such reliable reporters for ourselves.

Some researchers like P. Murali Doraiswamy of Duke’s psychiatry and geriatrics school would love to see a sort of Consumer Reports for brain-fitness products.  For now, one well-documented way to slow memory decline is through plain old aerobic exercise, says Art Kramer, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Illinios.  He found that six months of walking for about an hour three times a week improved memory, attention and decision making among study participants, whose average age was 72.  “Physical activity appears to be neuro-protective,” says Kramer.

We’re good with that.  The cardio-cognitive combination of playing select “brain games” with the FootPOWR peripheral continues to be a great way to have fun and hedge against “senior moments.”  Now where did I put those keys? Now I have to go for a walk.

The inspiration behind this author’s commitment to bringing the FootPOWR controller to market is the connection between physical activity and getting the least active inspired to add 20-40 extra minutes of moderate activity to what one might already do : play casual games, brain games and video games while seated at a computer.

Along this same commitment to connecting game play fun to physical activity, innovative  health benefits company Humana Inc. (Louisville, KY) has placed Dancetown Fitness Systems into six senior communities across the country and has researched their effect on senior health. “Dancetown is a perfect way for the older generation to enhance not only their body strength and cardiovascular health but also their cognitive skills. It also provides a fun reason to come together to socialize,” said Paul Puopolo, Humana’s Director of Consumer Innovation.  Humana’s commitment to games and health is both innovative and long-term.

Research on Dancetown conducted by Humana’s Health Services Research Center found that the game positively affected the participants’ perceptions and attitudes in regards to their ability to perform certain activities as well as their feelings about their general health. Research also showed significant improvements in the participants’ ability to climb stairs, walk more than a mile, and a reduction in overall bodily pain as well as lower levels of depression. Potential benefits include improved cardiovascular health, and improved memory and attention, reduced risk of falls and osteoporosis.

For seniors, and the inactive or least active among our population at any age, harnessing physical activity to video game play delivers a complete fitness system for enhancing physical, mental and emotional health.  See video here

 Recent research coming out of the Mayo Clinic, and published in the Archives of Neurology, adds to the growing body of evidence that adults who engage in moderate exercise during midlife or late in life are less likely to suffer from mild cognitive impairment.  The study, titled Physical Exercise, Aging, and Mild Cognitive Impairment, showed the following key findings:

• Moderate exercise performed in either midlife or late-life significantly reduced the likelihood of mild cognitive impairment.
• Individuals who exercised moderately in midlife were 39 percent less likely to have mild cognitive impairment at the time of the study than those who did not exercise.
• Similarly, individuals who exercised moderately in late life were 32 percent less likely to have mild cognitive impairment than those who did not exercise.
• Forms of moderate exercise included brisk walking, strength training, swimming and aerobics.Colin Milner, CEO of the International Council on Active Aging had this to say about the study, “This research represents another step toward recognizing the importance of physical activity as it relates to cognitive fitness. Maintaining cognitive abilities is among the top five issues that concern older adults. This study reinforces the fact that as you age, it is especially imperative to take preventative measures when it comes to your overall health.”

Actively engaging in maintaining a healthy brain through a well-rounded approach that consists of eating healthily, participating in brain fitness, and taking part in moderate exercise is generally regarded as the ideal way to reduce your risk of cognitive impairments.

While seniors get a lot of attention in the “cognitive studies” area, employers are watching the results of research very closely. For executives with their eyes on the bottom line, the thought of employees playing online video games at their desks may sound like a complete waste of time.  In the spirit of great time management, we at FootGaming designed a new sort of computer “mouse” that allows low to moderate physical activity expenditure while employees play any of their favorite games at their desk.

Studies have shown that certain games can actually improve brain power and some argue that cognitive brain exercises may be so helpful that employers should include them as part of their corporate-wellness programs.

 We have found manyof the HAPPY Neuron titles work extremely well with an active “mouse” controller.  HAPPY neuron games  are brain-teasing puzzles developed by a neurologist, an education expert and a computer scientist that are specifically designed to stimulate the five main cognitive areas of the brain: attention, language, visual spatial skills, executive functions and memory.

“Think about it as an insurance policy against brain decline,” says Laura Fay, CEO of HAPPY Neuron.