Posit Science Corp. on Thursday launched a Web site targeting Baby Boomers who may feel their brainpower is not as strong as it used to be.
The Brain Fitness Channel is an educational site that provides research findings, and tests to see if your mind is still sharp. The site also debunks myths, such as the one that says we use only 10 percent of our brain. The fact is we use all of it.
San Francisco-based Posit, co-founded by neuroscientist Dr. Michael Merzenich, sells software called the Brain Fitness Program that provides exercises to improve a person’s cognitive abilities, which include memory, perception and judgment. The Brain Fitness Channel was launched more for education, and less for marketing, Eric Mann, vice president of marketing for Posit, said. The site doesn’t sell the software directly, but has links back to the Posit site where it is available.
“Part of what we do is provide knowledge and information,” Mann said. “The general population is most at risk of getting the wrong information if you don’t provide the proper educational tools.”
Those tools include letting visitors test their brain’s speed of processing, and its recall abilities. People who register with the site can also join forums on different topics to share information and ask questions. Among the dozen topics covered are brain-healthy lifestyles and nutrition and the brain.
Posit bases its business on a concept called “brain plasticity,” which is based on research that shows a healthy brain in people of all ages is not static, and that it responds positively to new circumstances and new learning. As a result, there are steps people can take toward maintaining and strengthening their brainpower.
“We firmly believe that what we’re doing is going to change the world in a way that people don’t currently imagine,” Mann said.
Among the company’s partners is Humana Insurance Co., which offers the Brain Fitness Program at no additional charge to its subscribers, Mann said.