New Study Is First to Show Brain Training Exercises Are More Effective at Improving Cognitive Function than Crossword Puzzles

More older adults age 50-87 had better cognitive functioning after using brain fitness software for just 10 hours, with improvements evident within 6-8 weeks and lasting at least a year

San Francisco, Calif. – November 22, 2011 – A new study shows that the use of brain training exercises are more effective at improving cognitive function than simply performing knowledge or ingenuity games, like crossword puzzles. This is the preliminary analysis of the results of the first 511 of 681 participants to complete the Iowa Healthy and Active Minds Study (IHAMS) that was presented today at the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) 64th Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston.

The study, which will be completed in January and for which the interim results were published this week in BMJ Open, found that just 10 hours of using the brain training software improved cognitive function on several standard neuropsychological tests. This is the case whether it is used in a supervised clinical setting, or self-administered at home using the family PC. Moreover, this study included younger (60-64 year old) and older (65-87 year old) participants, and the brain training software worked equally well for both groups.

The IHAMS is a follow up to the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) multi-site study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In a series of articles in medical journals over the past five years, the ACTIVE study showed brain plasticity software improved visual processing speed, reduced predicted medical expenditures, protected against major declines in health-related quality of life, reduced the chances of increasing depressive symptoms and the onset of suspected clinical depression, improved self-rated health, and improved the sense of control for up to five years.

Led by principal investigator Dr. Fred Wolinsky from the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Iowa, the NIH-funded IHAMS was designed to overcome the limitations of the ACTIVE study (whose participants were all age 65 or older) by including younger participants (ages 50 or older). The 681 IHAMS participants were randomized into four groups: the first received 10 hours of onsite brain training with the Posit Science® Road Tour brain training exercise program in a clinical setting where they were monitored. The second group did the same, but also had 4 hours of ‘booster’ training after 11 months. The third group engaged in 10 hours of crossword puzzle activity in a monitored clinical setting. The fourth group took the brain training software home to use on their own PC at their leisure. All groups were assessed prior to the start of the study, at 6 to 8 weeks into the study, and then at 12 months.

Early results are that participants who used the brain training software showed significantly larger improvements in their cognitive capabilities on several standard neuropsychological tests of cognitive functioning than did the participants who trained on crossword puzzles. The improvements in cognitive function were the same whether the brain exercises were done in the monitored clinical setting or in the participant’s home. These positive changes were observed in as little as 8 weeks, and were sustained over 12 months. The improvements for the younger participants were just as large as those for the older participants, indicating that brain training could and should be started sooner rather than later.

"There has been debate in the scientific community regarding how well brain training works versus other recreational mental activities, such as learning a new language or doing crossword puzzles," said Dr. Fred Wolinsky, John W. Colloton Chair in Health Management and Policy, University of Iowa. “This study clearly demonstrates that the use of specially constructed exercises for the purpose of brain fitness – such as the speed-of-processing core of DriveSharp and InSight – not only work, they are far more effective at improving cognitive function than other games or recreational activities."

The Road Tour brain training exercise used in IHAMS is one of five exercises in the Posit Science InSight brain fitness DriveSharp™ software, and is also part of DriveSharp, a shorter cognitive training program focused around driving safety. The purpose of InSight is to improve visual capability by speeding up the brain’s ability to process what it sees, and refine visual memory and precision. One of the improvements will be in a user’s ‘useful field of view’ (UFOV): the visual scope within which details can be viewed and from which the brain can extract information, without eye movement. Over time, a person’s UFOV can shrink. UFOV is also a visual training and evaluation technology, and there are many published studies exploring UFOV. Improving UFOV has proven to boost automobile driving skill and safety. The format of the Road Tour exercise is a spotlight view of a road trip being driven down Route 66. It works to expand the edges of a user’s UFOV.

Clinical studies have shown that InSight speeds up visual processing by up to 300%, enhances visual working memory, and improves brain activation in areas related to attention and focus. InSight and DriveSharp both have been clinically shown to help drivers cut risk of a car crash by 50%, avoid unexpected dangers on the road, stop up to 22 feet sooner when traveling at 55 mph, expand UFOV by an average of 200%, and reduce dangerous driving maneuvers like unsafe lane changes by 38%.

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

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Email: PR@PositScience.com
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U.S. Department of Defense Awards $2 Million to Brain Plasticity Inc. to Study Impact of Brain Training for Traumatic Brain Injuries

Brain Plasticity Inc. (BPI), a technology incubator dedicated to the discovery and development of novel technologies that harness the basic principles of brain plasticity to improve the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric disorders, was recently awarded a $2 million grant from the United States Department of Defense.

The grant will fund a two-year clinical trial of an internet-based program designed to improve cognitive function in people suffering from cognitive impairment following mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) as a result of active duty with the United States Military. The award of this grant reflects the tremendous promise of brain-plasticity-based cognitive training technology, which has already shown to be effective in more than a dozen clinical trials in healthy aging, and is now entering clinical trials in schizophrenia and stroke rehabilitation.

TBI has been described as "the signature injury" of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with an estimated 32,243 thousand soldiers and veterans suffering from head injury in 2010 alone.(1) The consequences of TBI are enormous - the problems with memory, concentration, and thinking that accompany head injury can significantly impair a person's ability to return to family life, their job, and their role in their community.

Head injury is not a uniquely military problem -1.7 million people in the United States have such an injury every year, and 5.3 million Americans have resulting lifelong disability.(2)

"TBI can ruin lives, and while existing cognitive therapies can be helpful, they are often not enough. Brain-plasticity-based cognitive training offers a fundamentally new approach to treating these disabling injuries, and because it is delivered over the internet, it can reach every soldier and veteran in need," said Dr. Henry Mahncke, Chief Operating Officer at BPI and Principal Investigator on the grant. "We are honored that the Department of Defense has selected BPI and our cognitive training technology for this grant. The trial will allow us to decisively demonstrate that the appropriate type of brain training program can have a significant and long-term impact on the lives of these wounded warriors."

The grant will fund a trial of 132 people suffering from ongoing cognitive impairment following TBI across five separate locations in the United States, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Tripler Army Medical Center, VA Boston, VA Houston and VA Connecticut. The trial is anticipated to begin enrolling participants this year and be completed in 2013.

The technology used in this trial is derived from similar brain-plasticity-based cognitive training programs developed at San Francisco-based Posit Science, which continues to apply this core technology to develop new training programs that improve cognitive function in healthy individuals seeking to stay sharp and perform at their best.

About Brain Plasticity Inc.
Brain Plasticity, Inc. is a technology incubator dedicated to the discovery and development of novel technologies that harness the basic principles of brain plasticity based to improve the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric disorders with non-invasive, safe, clinically effective treatments. BPI is initially focused on applying this technology to schizophrenia, brain injury, and movement disorders; and works with a worldwide network of researchers to design and evaluate novel treatments.

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Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
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Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
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New Study Finds Brain Training Improves Real World Skills in Adults

SAN FRANCISCO -- A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) proves that the right kind of brain training can produce cognitive improvements that transfer to real-world skills. The study, available online and in the November 2010 issue of JAGS found that older drivers who completed 10 sessions of speed-of-processing training or reasoning training had an approximately 50 percent reduction in at-fault motor-vehicle collisions (MVC) compared to the control group.

The study, led by scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, John Hopkins University, Pennsylvania State University, Indiana University School of Medicine, the University of Florida/Wayne State University and other institutions, included 908 drivers (mean age 73.1) who drove a total of more than 25.5 million miles over the time of the study, were randomized into one of three different training programs or a control condition as part of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) clinical trial. The first group of participants completed up to 10 hours of computerized training designed to improve the speed of their visual attention. The second set of participants completed up to 10 hours of classroom training where they learned strategies to improve their memory. The third set of participants completed up to 10 hours of classroom training where they learned ways to improve their reasoning and problem-solving skills. The participants in the control condition completed no brain training exercises at all.

Scientists then reviewed the study participants' driving records over the next six years. The paper, authored by Karlene Ball, PhD, Jerri D. Edwards, PhD, Lesley A. Ross, PhD and Gerald McGwin, Jr., MS, PhD, shared the finding from the study, specifically that those participants randomized to reasoning and speed training had a 50 percent lower rate of at-fault car crashes than the control group. There was no significant difference observed in the group that used the memory training.

"Considering the importance of driving mobility and the cost of crashes, cognitive training has great potential to sustain independence and quality of life in older adults," said Dr. Jerri Edwards, Associate Professor of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida, and co-author of the paper. "But importantly, this study provides further evidence that the right kind of brain training program can generalize to improve real-world activities among older adults."

The speed-of-processing training program used in the study was licensed by its inventors to Posit Science, which has made it available to consumers as part of the DriveSharp and InSight brain fitness programs. Allstate Auto Insurance is currently running a pilot program to test the benefits of this software for its members. Early results show that Allstate customers who trained for 10 or more hours experienced a significant decrease in damage claim frequency relative to a control group that did not go through the training.

"There has been ongoing discussion in the scientific community regarding how well brain training works and how well it transfers to real world activities," said Dr. Henry Mahncke, Vice President of Research & Outcomes at Posit Science. "This study clearly demonstrates that some types of training don't work, but the right types of training – including the speed-of-processing core of DriveSharp and InSight – do work, and produce real world benefits that can help people live better."

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

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Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
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Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
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PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC LEARNING AND POSIT SCIENCE EXPANDS BRAIN FITNESS PROGRAMS TO EDUCATORS

Oakland, Calif. – Dec. 12, 2007 – Scientific Learning Corp. (NASDAQ: SCILE) and Posit Science Corp. today announced a co-marketing partnership under which Scientific Learning will provide brain fitness programs from Posit Science to K-12 educators, administrators and adult education programs nationwide.

The Posit Science Brain Fitness Program™ was developed and tested by a global team of more than 50 university-based brain scientists including Dr. Mike Merzenich, co-founder of both companies, and the Francis A. Sooy Professor at the Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences at University of California San Francisco. The program enables people to think faster, focus better and remember more by improving brain processing speed and accuracy.

The research behind the Brain Fitness Program is the same science upon which Scientific Learning's Fast ForWord® family of educational software products is based. Fast ForWord software provides struggling readers with computer-delivered interventions and intensive exercises that build the cognitive skills required to read and learn effectively. Posit Science likewise licenses Scientific Learning's patents and technology for the Brain 'ness Program.

"K-12 educators are well aware of the positive results these neuroscience research based products bring to their students, thanks to the Fast ForWord software products," said Robert Bowen, CEO of Scientific Learning Corp. "Now, through this partnership, educators can experience the power of brain fitness programs to improve their own brain processing efficiency."

Research on the Posit Science program, like the Fast ForWord program, shows significant gains among aging learners. At the Gerontological Society of America's annual conference last month, Dr. Elizabeth Zelinski of the University of Southern California presented initial findings from the IMPACT Study, the first large-scale randomized controlled trial of a non-invasive, computer-based cognitive intervention for aging adults that is available for widespread, individual use. The study shows that people who used the Posit Science program increased processing speed by 131 percent, improved an average of 10 years on standard cognitive assessments, and that 75 percent of people noted experiencing positive changes in their everyday lives.

"It's not just students who can benefit from software designed to enhance cognition now," said Posit Science CEO Jeff Zimman. "The IMPACT Study shows that Posit Science has cracked the code on how to improve cognition in a way that generalizes for adults."

Indeed, there is a growing trend of school districts offering brain fitness programs as part of their adult education programs. In the past two months many schools have licensed the Posit Science Brain Fitness program for adult education classes. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which is the nation's largest, was the first district to offer brain fitness.

"Students who sign up for the Posit Science program rarely miss a class and are impressed that they are able to track their progress," said Arlene Torluemke, Coordinator of the Program for Older Adults at LAUSD. "They report big changes in their lives and better engagement with the world."

About Scientific Learning Corporation
Scientific Learning creates educational software that accelerates learning by improving the processing efficiency of the brain. The patented Fast ForWord family of products provides struggling readers with computer-delivered interventions and intensive exercises that build the cognitive skills required to read and learn effectively. Based on more than 30 years of neuroscience and cognitive research, the Fast ForWord products apply patented technology and validated neuroscience principles of brain plasticity to help children, adolescents, and adults improve processing efficiency and achieve enduring gains. The efficacy of the products and the science behind them has been established by more than 550 research studies and publications. For more information, visit www.scientificlearning.com and www.brainconnection.com, or call toll-free 888-452-7323.

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

Press Contact
Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
415-295-4575 ext 12
Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
San Francisco, CA 94104

Brain Plasticity Inc. Awarded $3.65 Million From National Institutes of Health

NIH BRDG-SPAN and SBIR Grants Awarded To Support Clinical Development of Brain Remediation Programs for Schizophrenia and Stroke

SAN FRANCISCO -- Brain Plasticity Inc. (BPI), a new technology incubator dedicated to the discovery and development of novel technologies that harness the basic principles of brain plasticity to improve the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric disorders, was recently awarded $3.65 million dollars in two separate grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

These grants will help BPI fund the development of and clinical trials for software-based programs designed to improve cognitive function in people with schizophrenia and visual attention in people with stroke. This work offers the promise of radically new, non-invasive, safe and effective treatments for these currently untreated medical conditions, which affect millions of people and contribute to billions of dollars of medical costs.

The NIH's Biomedical Research, Development, and Growth to Spur the Acceleration of New Technologies (BRDG-SPAN) program was created to help innovative technologies that improve human health move from basic research into commercial applications. BPI was awarded a $3 million BRDG-SPAN grant to build a novel cognitive remediation program specifically designed for people with schizophrenia. The goal of this program is to apply proven principles of applied brain plasticity -- the science of driving structural, functional, and chemical brain change through scientifically designed brain exercises -- to help improve memory, attention and other cognitive functions in people with schizophrenia.

Researchers believe that improving cognitive function is the key to helping people with schizophrenia live more independently, find and maintain employment, and broadly re-integrate into society; and independent clinical trials have already shown significant promise of the technology in schizophrenia. The funds will also be used to run a definitive large-scale clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of the program, and to help BPI seek FDA clearance for the program as a medical device.

BPI was also awarded $650,000 as part of NIH's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop exercises and run clinical studies on a novel software-based program for the treatment for hemi-spatial neglect. Hemi-spatial neglect is a devastating consequence of certain kinds of strokes that can lead to an inability in patients to notice or interact with half of their visual world, frequently leading to significant long-term disability.

BPI is basing both programs on proven technology originally developed at San Francisco-based Posit Science as well as academic institutions and now licensed to BPI for application to clinical conditions. Posit Science continues to apply this core technology to develop new training programs that improve cognitive function in healthy individuals seeking to stay sharp and perform at their best.

"We're honored that the NIH shares our enthusiasm for the data collected to date showing the promise of this approach in schizophrenia and stroke, and the further clinical advancements that are possible with this work," said Dr. Henry Mahncke, Chief Operating Officer at BPI. "Posit Science has proven that the right type of cognitive exercises are capable of improving cognitive function in normally aging individuals. At BPI, we are now taking this core technology and applying it to people with medically significant cognitive impairments that are currently not treatable with conventional approaches. These NIH awards lay the foundation for the next decade of progress in this new therapeutic approach."

About The BRDG-SPAN Program
This Biomedical Research, Development and Growth to Spur the Acceleration of New Technologies (BRDG-SPAN) Pilot Program, or "BRDG-SPAN," is a new initiative funded by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program was created by the National Institutes of Health to address the funding gap between promising R&D and the transition to the market by contributing to the critical funding needed by applicants to pursue the appropriate milestones toward commercialization, including later-stage research activities. The program also aims to foster partnerships among a variety of research and development collaborators working toward these aims. For more information about the program, go to www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/brdgspan.html.

About the National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), is dedicated to transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) (the Nation's Medical Research Agency) includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov

About Brain Plasticity Inc.
Brain Plasticity, Inc. is a technology incubator dedicated to the discovery and development of novel technologies that harness the basic principles of brain plasticity based to improve the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric disorders with non-invasive, safe, clinically effective treatments. BPI is initially focused on applying this technology to schizophrenia, brain injury, and movement disorders; and works with a worldwide network of researchers to design and evaluate novel treatments.

Press Contact
Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
415-295-4575 ext 12
Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
San Francisco, CA 94104

Brain Fitness Program Study Reveals Visual Memory Improvement In Older Adults

A commercial brain fitness program has been shown to improve memory in older adults, at least in the period soon after training. The findings are the first to show that practicing simple visual tasks can improve the accuracy of short-term, or “working” visual memory. The research, led by scientists at UCSF, is also one of the first to measure both mental performance and changes in neural activity caused by a cognitive training program.

In the study, healthy older participants trained on a computer game designed to boost visual perception. After ten hours of training, they not only improved their perceptual abilities significantly, but also increased the accuracy of their visual working memory by about ten percent – bringing them up to the level of younger adults. Few brain training programs have been subjected to such rigorous research evaluation to reveal such a transfer of benefits, the researchers say.

Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind for brief periods. It is essential to accomplish immediate tasks, such as engaging in conversation with several people.

If improvements in a simple perception skill can transfer to a higher level function such as memory, as this research found, then other interventions might further improve brain function in aging people, the scientists say. The researchers recorded participants’ brain activity before and after the visual perception training, and found a direct link between improved performance and changes in brain activity. After the training, activity had decreased in a key brain area involved in processing visual input. The people who improved the most in the visual training showed the biggest drop in neural activity – as if the brain didn’t have to work as hard to take in information. The research is being published in the journal PLoS One on July 14, 2010.

“This confirms our understanding that the brains of older adults, like those of young people, are ‘plastic’ – the brain can change in response to focused training,” said Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at UCSF and senior author of the research paper. Gazzaley is associate professor of neurology, physiology and psychiatry at UCSF.

“The study shows that perceptual improvements with simple discrimination training can transfer to improved working memory in older adults, and it also shows that this increase in memory accuracy is linked to changes at the neural level.”

There are many brain fitness programs being marketed, but there has been little rigorous testing and evaluations of their effectiveness, Gazzaley said. “We zeroed in on one specific regimen, and we can see that at least with this approach, some brain fitness program claims may be warranted.”

Gazzaley’s team worked with researchers at Posit Science Corp., a producer and promoter of brain fitness programs. Posit Science was co-founded by Michael Merzenich, PhD, a leader in brain plasticity research and an emeritus professor at UCSF. Posit Science funded the research.

Memory improvement was measured about one week after the visual perception training ended. The scientists did not assess how long the memory improvement might last beyond that period without continued training.

A further test showed that if participants had to multi-task during the memory testing, they did not receive the memory boost from the previous perception training. Gazzaley hopes that more studies can lead to ways to help people improve their ability to mentally process simultaneous tasks – a skill that declines in many older adults.

The study involved two sets of 15 healthy adults from age 60 to 89. One group participated in the training. The second group served as the control, taking the memory tests but not the visual perception training. No participants had dementia, but the group showed a range of mental fitness typical of an aging population. The average age was 72. Most were college educated, middle class people.

People in both groups were given a baseline working memory test consisting of watching dots move across the computer screen, followed by a short delay and then re-testing to see if they remembered exactly in which direction the dots had moved. The memory test was given to both groups again after the experimental group had participated in ten hours of visual perception training. This training challenged players to discriminate between different shapes of sine waves, or S-shaped patterns, moving across the screen.

The training program was designed so that as a participant’s skill level improved, the task became progressively harder. The drills lasted 40 minutes, and were given three to five times a week for three to five weeks. All trained participants improved their ability to distinguish between the two different moving shapes.

Scientists measured participants’ brain activity by electroencephalography, or EEG, during the memory tests, both before and after the visual training. People were fitted with caps consisting of non-invasive electrodes that measure electrical activity caused by neurons firing in the cerebral cortex, the site of higher cognitive functions.

The research team focused on brain activity known to be involved in processing visual information, in a region called the visual association cortex located near the back of the brain. Neurons at this site generate an internal representation of what is seen, Gazzaley said. The research team found that as peoples’ visual perception improved, activity generated by this region decreased.

“This suggests that the brain processed the visual input more efficiently,” Gazzaley said. “So, we find for the first time that improved perceptual learning transfers to improved working memory performance, and that this improvement may well be explained by changes in neural activity. This gives us direction for developing even better interventions to improve brain function in older adults.”

When asked if older adults would have to continue these repetitive drills in order to maintain improved memory, Gazzaley says, “Well, I like to keep physically fit. I work out almost every day, and I know that if I stopped, I would get out of shape. Maybe it’s the same with the brain. You’ve got to continue to work it.”

Lead author on the paper is Anne S. Berry, a staff research associate in the UCSF departments of neurology and physiology. Co-authors are Theodore Zanto, PhD and Wesley Capp, PhD, both postdoctoral scientists at UCSF. Co-authors at Posit Science Corporation are Joseph L. Hardy, PhD, Peter Delahunt, PhD and Henry Mahncke, PhD.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care

Learn more about InSight, the program used in this study.

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

Press Contact
Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
415-295-4575 ext 12
Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
San Francisco, CA 94104

Brain Fitness Exercises Help Older Drivers Cut Accident Risk In Half – But Do They Believe It’s True?

Hartford, CT -- Although there is a clinically proven brain fitness training tool that helps older adults reduce their likelihood of being in a car accident, according to a survey from The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), 74 percent of drivers are unaware of those benefits. Playing the game-like, computer-based program DriveSharp™ for 20 minutes a day, three times a week helps older drivers cut their crash risk up to 50 percent, stop 22 feet sooner when driving 55 mph and increase confidence while driving at night and in stressful conditions.

"It is important for drivers to understand that they can take an active role in staying safe on the road as they age," said Jodi Olshevski, gerontologist and assistant vice president of The Hartford. "We all have a responsibility to maintain our driving skills throughout our lifetime. DriveSharp is research-based program that helps older adults think faster, focus better and react quicker on the road."

About half of all adults surveyed believe older drivers can improve their skills to allow them to safely drive for more years, but drivers under 40 are least likely to believe there is anything an older driver can do to improve their skills to allow them to drive safely longer.

"DriveSharp is the only clinically proven program to improve the driving skills of older drivers," said Steven Aldrich, CEO, Posit Science Corporation. "It was tested by a global team of more than 50 scientists and based on research funded by the National Institutes of Health."

The brain fitness survey also found that while more than 60 percent of adults participate in an activity with the specific purpose of improving their brain, adults 60+ are the most likely age group to say they often participate in activities with the specific purpose of improving their brain.

10 Brain Fitness Tips

Eat dark chocolate – Dark chocolate causes your brain to release dopamine, a chemical that improves overall brain function and improves your memory.

Eat fish – Studies suggest that a diet rich in fish – especially fatty fish like salmon – can improve brain function.

Play ball – Throwing a ball up in the air and catching it, or better yet, trying your hand at juggling, can improve your hand-eye coordination and carries widespread brain health benefits.

Rest up – Getting a good night's sleep is critical to brain function, and particularly memory.

Make your hobbies harder – Take on something a bit more difficult than you're used to. By putting higher demands on your brain, you will have to concentrate harder and re-engage your brain's learning ability.

Walk on a rocky road – Scientists believe that walking on uneven surfaces like cobblestones improves the vestibular system of the inner ear, which plays a central role in balance and equilibrium and translates to better balance.

Visit a museum – Go on a guided tour and pay very careful attention to what you see and hear. When you get home, write an outline of the tour that includes every detail you remember. Paying attention and practicing remembering can help the brain pump brain chemicals that assist memory and improve brain function.

Exercise your brain – Use brain fitness exercises like DriveSharp that promotes the ability for drivers to think faster, focus better, and react more quickly.

Learn to play a new instrument – Playing an instrument helps you exercise many interrelated dimensions of brain function, including listening, control of refined movement, and translation of written notes (sight) to music (movement and sound).

Use your other hand – While you may find it difficult at first, practicing an activity such as brushing your teeth with your subordinate hand can drive your brain to make positive changes.

DriveSharp Availability
As part of The Hartford's ongoing Safe Driving for a Lifetime public awareness campaign, The Hartford has partnered with Posit Science, the maker of DriveSharp, to offer discounts on the brain fitness software. For a limited time, The Hartford will offer the DriveSharp software to the public for $10 off retail value at www.hartfordbrainfitness.com. In addition, for Hartford policyholders who are the primary driver and complete the DriveSharp program (about 10 hours of training) – The Hartford will send a reward check for $50.

More information about brain fitness, free driving-wellness guidebooks, and interactive tools for older drivers and their families, as well as a blog community is available at www.safedrivingforalifetime.com.

The Hartford Brain Fitness Survey was fielded in June 2010 and was completed by 2,500 members of a managed access panel who were 18+ years-of-age and representative of the U.S. household population.

About the Hartford Advance 50 Team
The Hartford is one of the few companies in the United States with in-house experts on aging. For over 25 years, The Hartford has employed gerontologists to advance the creation and delivery of research, educational materials and innovative business solutions to enhance the quality of life for the 50+ market.

About The Hartford
Celebrating 200 years of helping its customers achieve what's ahead, The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) is an insurance and wealth management company. Through its unique focus on customer needs, the company serves businesses and consumers by providing the products and solutions they need to protect their assets and income from risks and manage their wealth and retirement needs. A Fortune 100 company, The Hartford is recognized widely for its service expertise and as one of the world's most ethical companies. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at www.thehartford.com.

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

Press Contact
Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
415-295-4575 ext 12
Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
San Francisco, CA 94104

Posit Science Disputes Results of the BBC Brain Training Study

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Posit Science, the leader in clinically proven brain fitness programs, contests the interpretation and methodology used in a British Broadcasting Corporation-sponsored study published in the journal Nature.

Researchers in the BBC study found that their own cognitive training programs, designed specifically for their study, did not yield significant improvements in cognitive function. They suggest from this finding that all cognitive training programs do not work. The authors failed to explain scores of other published studies, involving thousands of participants and duplicated at numerous study sites, that showed certain cognitive training programs do deliver improvements in cognitive function and in multiple measures of everyday life.

“This is a surprising study methodology,” said Dr. Henry Mahncke, VP Research at Posit Science. “It would be like concluding that there are no compounds to fight bacteria because the compound you tested was sugar and not penicillin.”

“There is a fatal flaw in the BBC study; it assumes that since their methods did not work, all methods would not work,” said Steven Aldrich, CEO Posit Science. “Posit Science has built products that have been rigorously tested by researchers at many leading research institutions including the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Southern California. Those studies have shown real-world improvements including improved memory and attention, greater functional independence and better quality of life.”

In recent years, more than 60 articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals on Posit Science technology, and have repeatedly shown benefits that apply to everyday life, including improvements in:

• Generalized, untrained measures of memory and attention
• Everyday cognitive tasks
• Health-related quality of life
• Functional independence
• Mood and affect
• Feelings of control and autonomy
• The safer operation of a car

These benefits were demonstrated in leading medical and science journals, including publications in Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and the Journal of Gerontology. A more complete list of studies can be found at www.positscience.com/studies

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

Press Contact
Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
415-295-4575 ext 12
Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
San Francisco, CA 94104

Brain Fitness Predicts Crash Risk

WASHINGTON, DC -- Performance at simple mental tasks is highly predictive of crash risk and a small amount of cognitive training can cut the crash risk of older drivers in half, according to research presented this week at the 2010 annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

This year, the age wave of 70 million baby boomers begins to join the ranks of some 39 million drivers already over age 65. Over time, older drivers tend to reduce their driving, but they still have a crash rate that is the highest of any age group, other than teenagers. Older drivers have the highest fatality rate from automobile crashes of all age groups. Yet, in our society "hanging up the keys" can be devastating and can lead to higher incidence of illness and death.

Three researchers presented findings that indicate that the crash risk of older drivers can be more accurately predicted, that it can be cut in half, and that older drivers can extend their period of safe driving.

Dr. Sam Chan of Posit Science presented data from a field trial with auto insurer Allstate involving 4,036 policyholders over age 50. It showed that poor performance in brief computerized cognitive tasks (involving speed of processing, useful field of view and divided attention) was highly predictive of the three-year crash history of drivers.

Dr. Karlene Ball of the University of Alabama presented data from a randomized controlled trial of 2,812 people over age 65 showing that a computerized cognitive training program could cut at-fault crash risk in half after just 10 hours of training. The training also improves reaction time, increases stopping distance by 22 feet, and reducing dangerous driving maneuvers.

Dr. Jerri Edwards of the University of South Florida presented data showing that morbidity increases after driving cessation, independent of health condition. She also showed that the cognitive training program reduced driving cessation risk of those trained by 40 percent, allowing them to keep driving safely, longer.

The computerized assessments and exercises were developed and measured over the past decade with funding from the National Institutes of Health. They are now commercially available to the general public for the first time in a software product called DriveSharp.

DriveSharp is recommended by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. It retails for $89 and is available to AAA members for $79 through AAA clubs. For more information, visit www.DriveSharpNow.com.

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

Press Contact
Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
415-295-4575 ext 12
Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
San Francisco, CA 94104

New Technology Keeps Senior Drivers Safe on the Road

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- New technology reduces the crash risk of senior drivers and can keep them safely on the road for a longer period of time, according to data presented at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) today to a national gathering of aging experts. Jeff Zimman, Chairman of Posit Science®, the leader in brain fitness software, spoke on “Mobility for Tomorrow” as part of the Shaping Life Tomorrow conference, convened by MIT AgeLab.

“Driving is essential to leading a rich life in most areas of our country,” said Zimman. “As we age, most of us want to be able to keep driving as long as we can safely. This past summer, brain fitness technology that achieves that goal and that had previously been available only to study participants became commercially available to everyone.”

The technology, called DriveSharp™, was brought to market by Posit Science as cognitive software for people concerned with their driving. After a thorough review of some 60 medical and science journal articles that have appeared in recent years attesting to a long list of benefits of these training exercises, DriveSharp is recommended by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

In his talk, Zimman reviewed numerous studies that have shown that users of the exercises in DriveSharp, on average, cut their at-fault crash risk in half, doubled their visual processing speed and improved their reaction time sufficiently to increase stopping distance. A multi-year study released this year also showed that those who completed the brain training exercises drove further, more frequently and under more varied conditions. They were less likely to give up driving and were able to continue driving with greater safety.

Zimman also cited a number of studies that have shown that these and other Posit Science exercises deliver benefits beyond driving, including better memory, attention, wider field of view, quicker processing, higher functional independence and better health-related quality of life. A white paper by aging technology analyst Laurie Orlov reviewed multiple studies, including ACTIVE, IMPACT and SKILL, and concluded that these exercises can help people “age in place” or “in the place of their choosing.”

Based on the study results, Posit Science recommends people use the DriveSharp program for about an hour a week for 8-10 weeks to tune up their abilities to the levels seen in the studies.

DriveSharp is available for $89 at www.PositScience.com or at a discount through AAA clubs at www.DriveSharpNow.com. Last week, Posit Science partnered with AAA to donate $1 million dollars in software to Massachusetts public libraries.

About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness programs. Its science team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences. The team includes more than 50 researchers and clinicians from leading institutions around the world.

Press Contact
Rosa Mangiardi , Continuum Crew
415-295-4575 ext 12
Email: PR@PositScience.com
Posit Science Corporation
625 Market, Suite 610
San Francisco, CA 94104