Brightening My Brain

by AnnBanks

We all have our secret fears, and for many of us "aging baby boomers," as we are now regularly described, a big fear is memory loss. We hear the popular reassurances -- that you needn't worry if you can't find your car keys, but only if you can't remember what the car keys are for, and so on. That doesn't help much when your possessions seem to dematerialize every time you turn your back. When you've just lost or misplaced your third cell phone in as many years?or is it months?

I did read something on the subject that comforted me, though. Newspaper columnist Dan Rattiner told the following story on himself: Late one night, after an unsuccessful search around the house for his cell phone, he called the number from his land line. On hearing the cell phone ring in the other room, his first thought was, Who would be calling me so late?

Laughing at yourself is always good. Trying to do something about memory loss--that's also good. For a while now, I've been meaning to get right on it. Just as soon as I figured out which of the brain boosting protocols aimed at Baby Boomers was right for me. They include everything from herbal supplements to gimmicky websites, that, for a monthly fee, will lead you through mental exercises designed to lower your Brain Age. (In only minutes a day!)

The website for one of these Better Brain outfits boasts that it "includes a fun calculation competition for friends and family." That I ruled out instantly, as I believe that the words "fun" and "calculation" do not belong in the same sentence. One thing I like about being a grown up is that there are no math tests.

Is there another path to cognitive enhancement? I wondered. Something that doesn't make you feel like you're prepping for the SATs? I thought I might have found the answer when I came across a fascinating book published in 2004 called, Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neurocience of Everyday Life. In it, Steven Berlin Johnson made himself a guinea pig for a brain enhancement technique that sounded like it might be what I was looking for. Neurofeedback, it's called.