Welcome to Brain Fitness

Brain FitnessPBS and Posit Science

Brain Fitness Workshop Agenda

• Introduction – Myths and facts• Brain Game Exercise (Complex task - visual

perception, focused attention, quick processing abilities)

• Brain Fitness PBS Video• Posit Science – Brain Games

What do these statements have in common?

• You only use 10 percent of your brain.

• Listening to classical music makes you smarter.

• You are either right-brained or left-brained.

• Brain function loss is irretrievable.

• The brain can’t make new cells.

• Playing games (Crossword puzzles…) keeps your brain young.

Some Brain Facts & Info.

• Average adult brain weighs about 3 pounds. Water makes up 77 percent of the brain.

• There are about 100 billion nerve cells called neurons in the brain—more than the number of stars in our galaxy.

• The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa.• Babies lose half their neurons at birth.• Baby talk increases vocabulary.• First month of life, the number of connections/synapses increases from 50 trillion

to 1 quadrillion.• The brain itself cannot feel pain.• Reading aloud to children helps stimulate brain development.• Working memory can hold/store on average seven digits. • The brain is not hard-wired. It can change throughout a person’s life. • Key to Brain Fitness: Keep learning something new/challenging and exercise!!