Games’ Promises Of A Better Brain Lack Scientific Backing, Exhaustive Analysis Finds
Brain games do help users get better at a certain task, but they show no real benefit in overall cognitive improvement. In other public health news, millions of Americans are struggling with treatment-resistant depression and a MacArthur genius's work with microbes could lead to a better understanding of diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
NPR:
Brain Game Claims Fail A Big Scientific Test
Want to be smarter? More focused? Free of memory problems as you age? If so, don't count on brain games to help you. That's the conclusion of an exhaustive evaluation of the scientific literature on brain training games and programs. It was published Monday in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest. (Hamilton, 10/3)
California Healthline:
When The Blues Won’t Let You Be
Rini Kramer-Carter has tried everything to pull herself out of her dark emotional hole: individual therapy, support groups, tai chi and numerous antidepressants. The 73-year-old musician rattles off the list: Prozac, Cymbalta, Lexapro. “I’ve been on a bunch,” she said. “I still cry all the time.” She has what’s known as “treatment-resistant depression. (Gorman, 10/3)
The Washington Post:
Ask A MacArthur Genius: What Do Ancient Rocks And Cystic Fibrosis Have In Common?
Ask Caltech microbiologist Dianne Newman what she does for a living, and she’ll answer with a chuckle: “I study weird forms of metabolism.” She has spent a career studying the strange ways in which microscopic organisms get the food and energy they need in environments without oxygen — a quest that has taken her from geology to biology and from Earth’s most ancient origins to the pathogens of today. (Blakemore, 9/30)
