Dr. Kawashima fine-tuned this mental exercise regimen over the last 15 years he has spent researching the brain as a professor at Tohuku University. A prominent neurologist in Japan, his dream is to make brain health maintenance a public priority. The idea, he says, is to “work out the brain much like we work out the rest of our bodies.” It has long been known that regular exercise helps slow the deterioration of our muscles, and he believes that the same is true for our brains.

In a bid for more research funding, he originally set out to prove that video games were good workouts for our brains. Instead he found that doing simple math calculations quickly and reading out loud activated the largest sections of the prefrontal cortex. Using these findings as a basis, he developed the Train Your Brain program to help Japan’s aging population maintain optimal brain functioning as it grows older.

He never thought the book would be as popular as it was – there are four Train Your Brain books out in Japan, each more popular than the last, and the franchise has sparked copycats and an adult learning movement that has swept the country. The Japanese press has noticed, and diverse news sources from magazines to television to websites have reported on the growing following, who call themselves “Brain-Trainers.”

With the baby-boomer generation slowly approaching retirement age, maintaining mental sharpness into old age will fast become a hot topic in America. Keeping your brain active is made easy with this program of simple daily calculations; while the personal log book and weekly self-tests help you track your progress as a brain-trainer.

As Dr. K says, it’s “never too early to start Brain-Training. It only takes five minutes a day!”

© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com