Restoring the Mind

Exercising one's noggin at "brain gyms" sounds suspiciously like other health fads that have parted gullible consumers from their money. (I've tried brain-exercise games on the Wii and have shown no evidence of mental improvement, but you already know that if you read these posts).

Improvements in scanning technology may have reached the point, however, where it's finally possible to associate specific parts of the brain in a detailed way with specific skills such as memory, speech, and math. For people who have experienced loss of function through injury or stroke, the brain exercise regimen at Vibrant Brains of San Francisco and Foster City seems to help recovery. Whether exercises can make a great mind out of a merely good one remains to be seen. At least it looks like fun.

Here is the WSJ article that features Vibrant Brains.