英文
WSJ(3/28) Working Out At The 'Brain Gym'

(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL) By Kelly Greene

SAN FRANCISCO -- Linda Hale Bucklin, a 63-year-old writer, signed up on the spot when she saw a new 'gym for the brain' in her neighborhood here. She now works out three times a week and credits a computer 'visual processing' program for helping her find her car keys faster and sharpen her tennis skills.

On the court, 'my game is just at a different level,' says Ms. Bucklin. 'I'm playing with 40-year-olds, and I'm holding my own really well.'

Vibrant Brains, the business that drew her in, has attracted about 200 members since December 2007, according to its owners. Patrons pay $60 a month to work out on 20 computer stations loaded with 'mental fitness' software, including a 'neurobics circuit' that purports to stretch the brain. Ms. Bucklin says she's addicted to an art-auction game that displays a dozen Monets for purchase. 'Then they'll intersperse them with other Monets, and you have to tell them apart,' she says. 'I minored in art history, and I still find it difficult.'

Thousands of Americans are choosing to join a small, but growing, number of 'brain gyms' springing up around the country. Similar brain-teaser programs are available on home computers, sometimes free of charge. The scientific jury is still out on the efficacy of such software.

The centerpiece of most outlets is a computer lab equipped with software from companies with names like Posit Science Corp., CogniFit Ltd., Lumos Labs Inc. and Happy Neuron Inc. Like gym rats who hit the weight machines or take Pilates classes, some users of the new technology say they prefer working with personal trainers. In this context, sessions are spent doing things like mental-fitness assessments and relaxation exercises in addition to basic cognitive training.

Sparks of Genius, in Boca Raton, is a Florida start-up drawing older adults with 'scientific-based brain-fitness workouts.' In southern California, a dozen 'Nifty after Fifty' fitness clubs are combining traditional exercise with time in front of computer screens, claiming that mental calisthenics work best after physical exercise. Canyon Ranch, a Tucson, Ariz.-based spa operator, has added a series of 'Memory & More' programs at its Lenox, Mass., resort, which include classes in brain nutrition, genetic workups, and cognitive training.

Brain exercise is spreading beyond gym walls, too. In Chicago, 'Marbles: The Brain Store' offers classes on improving mental health. The New England Cognitive Center, a nonprofit group in Hartford, Conn., is teaching trainers to take its 'Brain G.Y.M.M.' program to community centers around the country. More than 700 retirement communities have added computerized brain-fitness centers in the past three years, according to Alvaro Fernandez, co-founder of SharpBrains Inc., a firm that surveys the brain-fitness software market.

'We saw this area explode last year,' says Mr. Fernandez. He estimates that consumers spent more than $80 million in 2008 on mental fitness. 'You have an industry with tools and coaches. This is more real than people think.'

The industry pins its claims for brain exercise on a relatively new scientific discovery: neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to rewire itself throughout life by creating neural connections in response to mental activity. In a study published in 2006 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a clinical trial involving 2,832 older adults concluded that 'cognitive training' -- such as identifying patterns in a series of letters or words -- helped improve memory and reasoning skills.

A more recent study, of 487 adults aged 65 and older, found that people who trained on brain-fitness software for 40 hours over eight weeks noted significant improvement with memory and attention skills. The study is scheduled to be published in the April edition of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

That said, 'mental fitness' is still a squishy concept. Some scientists consider brain gyms simply the latest gimmick to trade on the public's fear of age-related dementia. An estimated 5.3 million Americans already have Alzheimer's disease. And as the huge baby-boom generation continues to gray, the Alzheimer's Association predicts that, by 2010, nearly a half-million new cases will develop every year -- a trend that will last for decades.

Some neuroscientists say it's simply too early to tell whether a specific form of brain exercise will result in lasting benefits or a lower incidence of dementia.

'Cognitive activity is probably good, and it may make someone sharper. But there's very little evidence that shows that these things in a controlled trial reduce Alzheimer's disease or affect everyday function,' says David Loewenstein, a psychiatry professor at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.

But the 'worried well' and people already in the early stages of dementia aren't waiting for research findings. More than 5.5 million copies of Nintendo Co.'s 'Brain Age' games have been sold in the U.S. since 2006, the company says, jumpstarting awareness of the brain-exercise field.

While many brain-flexing centers are marketed primarily toward baby boomers, that generation's parents are signing up, as well. Last year, Eva Slane, an 80-year-old retired theatrical agent, joined Neurobics Club, a brain gym in Sarasota, Fla. 'I would like to stay as sharp as I am,' she says. Her favorite piece of equipment at the moment: the Dakim BrainFitness System, a touch-screen computer that uses a game-show-like format with stories, voiceovers and pre-1950s film and music clips.

Marshall Kahn, an 82-year-old family doctor in Fullerton, Calif., says he got such a boost from brain exercises he started doing at a 'Nifty after Fifty' club that he decided to start seeing patients again part-time. 'Doing all the mental exercise,' he says, 'I realized I've still got it.'

Lisa Schoonerman, the 41 year-old co-founder of Vibrant Brains LLC, says she first looked into cerebral gyms after her mother was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia -- an often fast-progressing form of memory loss. Her partner, Jan Zivic, had used earlier versions of brain games after a car accident 11 years ago left her in a coma and compromised much of her memory. Both were struck by the idea of bulking up the brain, what brain scientists refer to as 'cognitive reserve.' The theory: People engaged in greater degrees of mental stimulation increase their brain mass and neural pathways, protecting them if a brain injury or dementia starts chipping away at brain connections.

The duo's first storefront, dubbed vibrantBrains, has a small retail area, computer lab and a lounge stocked with walnuts and green tea. (Some nutritionists say such snacks promote brain health.) A second location opened in January.

Customer Gail Moore, 63, says it was tough to adjust to never feeling like she 'won' at the exercises. 'I simply hate this one called 'Master Gardener.' All the leaves look exactly alike to me, and I keep missing it. But I keep telling myself that the point is not getting very good at something, the point is doing it.'
中文
现年63岁的作家琳达•巴克林(Linda Hale Bucklin)看见自己所在的社区新开了一家“健脑俱乐部”，当场办了张卡。现在，她每周去那里三次，通过电脑学习一个“视觉处理”课程，她觉得这个课程帮助她更快地找到汽车钥匙，并提高了自己的网球技巧。

在球场上，“我的网球水平又上了一个台阶，”琳达说，“我在和40多岁的人打球，而且表现还相当不错。”

她加入的是活力大脑(Vibrant Brains)健脑俱乐部(Vibrant Brains)；据老板讲，从2007年12月起，俱乐部已吸引了约200名会员。会员每月支付60美元，就可以使用由20个电脑工作站构成的设施，电脑上安装了“脑部锻炼”软件，包括一个据说可以锻炼大脑的“神经操”程序。琳达说，她迷上了一个艺术品拍卖游戏，这款游戏先展示十几张将要拍卖的莫奈(Monets)名画，“然后插入其他一些莫奈的画，让你分出哪些是要拍卖的。”她说，“我大学兼修艺术史，但仍觉得这个游戏很难。”

成千上万的美国人正在选择加入“健脑俱乐部”，这些俱乐部的规模较小，但正如雨后春笋般在美国各地涌现出来。类似的脑部锻炼软件在家庭电脑上也有，有时甚至是免费的，而科学界对于此类软件的效果还没有一个定论。

大多数“健脑俱乐部”的基础配备是一个计算机房，在电脑上安装一些公司开发的相关软件，如Posit Science Corp.、CogniFit Ltd.,、Lumos Labs Inc.和Happy Neuron Inc.公司等。和去普通健身房练举重和普拉提(Pilates)的人一样，一些体验这种新型健脑方式的用户说，他们更喜欢有私人教练的陪伴。除了基本的认知训练外，脑部保健还包括精神健康评估和放松练习等项目。

佛罗里达州博卡拉顿市的新兴企业Sparks of Genius公司面向老年人提供“科学的健脑运动”。在南加州，十几所Nifty after Fifty健身俱乐部正在把传统健身项目与坐在电脑前的脑部保健项目结合起来，声称在健身后进行健脑最为有效。Spa运营商Canyon Ranch公司位于亚利桑纳州土桑市，它在其马萨诸塞州Lenox市的健身俱乐部推出一系列健脑项目，包括脑部营养课，遗传学保健和认知训练等。
脑部锻炼也正在健身房外流行开来。芝加哥有一家“健脑店”(Marbles: The Brain Store)，提供各种改善脑部健康的课程。康涅狄格州哈特福德市一家非盈利组织“新英格兰认知中心”(The New England Cognitive Center)正在培训健脑教练，目的是将其健脑项目Brain G.Y.M.M.项目推广到全国的社区中心。据专门调查脑部锻炼软件市场的SharpBrains Inc.公司的创始人之一阿尔瓦罗•弗尔南德斯(Alvaro Fernandez)说，过去三年来，已有700多个退休社区引进了电脑化的脑部保健中心。

“这个领域在2008年有了爆炸性的增长。” 弗尔南德斯说。他预计2008年消费者在脑部保健方面支出超过了8,000万美元。“这个行业既有训练工具又有教练，成长前景比很多人预想的要真实得多。”

脑部保健行业的建立基础是一个相对较新的科学发现：脑可塑性，即在人的一生中，感官刺激会促进脑部神经的相互联系，从而重新焕发活力。《美国医学会杂志》(Journal of the American Medical Association)于2006年发表了一项研究结果，对2,832老年人进行的一项临床试验表明，“认知训练”－－如识别一组字母或单词有何规律－－有助于改善记忆力和提高推理能力。

最近一项对487名65岁以上的老年人进行的研究发现，在八周时间内通过脑部锻炼软件进行40小时训练的人在记忆力和注意力方面有显著改进。该研究成果计划在2009年4月出版的《美国老年医学会杂志》(Journal of the American Geriatrics Society)上发表。

这份研究报告说，“脑部保健”仍是一个模糊的概念。一些科学家只是把健脑视为商人想从大众对老年痴呆症的恐惧感中谋利的最新手段。据估计，全美已有530万人患上“阿尔茨海默症”(Alzheimer)。阿尔茨海默病症协会(Alzheimer's Association)预测，随着婴儿潮一代开始步入老年，到2010年，美国每年将出现50万人老年痴呆症患者，这一趋势将持续数十年。

一些神经学家称，现在说某种形式的脑部锻炼能否带来持续良好的作用或者降低老年痴呆症的发病率，都还为时过早。

“认知训练可能有好处，会让一些人反应更灵敏，但现在还几乎没有任何证据可以证明，人为控制的认知训练疗程可以减少阿尔茨海默症的发病率，或能影响人的日常生理机能。”迈阿密大学米勒医学院(University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine)的精神病学教授戴维•罗文斯坦恩(David Loewenstein)说道。

但老年痴呆症恐惧人群和那些已进入老年痴呆症早期的患者不会坐等研究成果出炉。任天堂公司(Nintendo Co.)表示，自2006年以来，公司开发的电子游戏《头脑时代》(Brain Age)已经在美国卖出550万份以上，从而极大提高了人们对脑部锻炼的认知度。

虽然许多脑部锻炼中心主要面向婴儿潮一代，但这个人群的父母们也在加入进来。2008年，以前曾是演员经纪人的伊娃•斯莱恩(Eva Slane,)成为佛罗里达州萨拉索塔市一家健脑俱乐部Neurobics Club的会员。“我想尽可能让自己保持敏锐，”她说。80岁的斯莱恩现在最喜欢玩的健脑设备是达金健脑系统(Dakim BrainFitness System)，那是一个触摸屏电脑，上面有很多20世纪50年代前的电影和音乐片段，还配上画外音，可以像玩游戏一样操纵它们。

82岁的马歇尔•凯恩(Marshall Kahn)是加州富勒顿市的一名家庭医生，他说自己在Nifty after Fifty健脑俱乐部做的那些脑部锻炼让他精神振奋，甚至打算重新开始当起兼职医生给病人看病。他说，做了那些脑部练习后，我发现自己的状态还不错。

41岁的丽莎.斯库纳曼(Lisa Schoonerman)是活力大脑健脑俱乐部的创始人之一，她说自己在得知母亲患上额颞痴呆症（一种记忆往往会快速消失的老年痴呆症）后开始留意要开一家健脑俱乐部。她的合伙人简•兹维克(Jan Zivic) 11年前因车祸陷入昏迷，大脑记忆严重受损，在康复治疗中尝试了一些早期的脑部锻炼游戏。两人不约而同地将目光投向健脑这个点子上，即科学家所称的强化“认知储备”。该理论认为，人们接受更多的脑部刺激有助于扩大脑容量，扩张脑神经通道，在脑部受伤或老年痴呆症开始切断脑神经联系时，对脑部起到保护作用。

两人开的第一个健脑俱乐部vibrantBrains场地不大，安放了很多电脑，休息室里方了很多坚果和绿茶。（一些营养学家说这类东西有助于脑部健康。）2009年1月，两人开了第二个健脑俱乐部。

63岁的俱乐部会员盖洛•摩尔(Gail Moore)说自己很难搞定那些健脑游戏，从来都享受不到“赢”的快感。“我很讨厌那个名叫‘园艺大师’的游戏，每片树叶看上去都一模一样，我老是猜不出来。但我一直告诉自己，做这个游戏的意义不在于得到高分，而在于做游戏本身。”