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Buff up your brain
Exercise improves your health. That's a no-brainer. But do the new brain-fitness programs improve your mental health?
By Robert Burton [2008-03-31]

  • Cognitive workout software is a hobby of mine

    I have been experimenting with what you might call cognitive workout software for years. I have found two software programs that work.

    The first is supermemo, a sophisticated flashcard program with a spaced repetition algorithm based on a phenomenological model of the user's memory. It's popular among foreign language and medical students. It also has an "incremental reading" function, intended for coordinating the reading of up to thousands of online documents. The designer of this program is an elitist: he refuses to create a simple user's guide.

    The second program is called brainbuilder. This can be used to improve digit span, which is correlated with mathematical ability. It takes discipline to stay with it.

    -- Xlp Thlplylp
    [Read Xlp Thlplylp's other letters]
    Monday, March 31, 2008 05:50 AM
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