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Brain Training and Mind Games: Interview with Japanese Expert Go Hirano

Best  regardsThat, hesaid, is because of lack of
activities in their prefrontalcortex, and
Alvaro  Fernandezthat means more probabilities for
loweracademic performance and crime. Though
Brain Training and Mind Games: Interview withhis equipment wasnot verified, and he was
Japanese  Expert  Go  Hiranosaid to get confused about alphaand beta wave
of EEG, parents and education authoritieslike
Today we are traveling to Japan to learnmunicipal education committees loved his book
about latestgaming trends there. Go Hirano isandinvited him for lectures and conferences.
a Japanese executive withexperience inHis  new  book  in
neuroscience  and  gaming.
2006 became the recommended book of the year
Alvaro Fernandez (AF): Hirano-san, what isfrom  the
the  state  of
National  PTA  Committee.
Brain Fitness and Brain Training in Japan?
what  are  themost  popular  programs so far?The sales of software on home game machines
have declinedfrom its peak of 533 billion yen
Go Hirano (GH): So far, the most popularin 1997 to its 53%, 315billion yen in 2005.
application isanti-aging, and most popularDr. Mori's book and phenomena was
product is Dr. Kawashima'sbook ofthefinishing blow to the industry, especially
calculations  and  oral  reading  for adults.for  kids'  games.
TV variety shows regularly come up with BrainTherefore game companies had to find new
specials. Itis hardly deniable that brainstargets who hadnever played game machines,
enchant Japanese people. Welove brainlike middle-aged group andwomen. Brain Age
training.was preceded by a Sega's game box that wasthe
natural next step after the book from Dr.
There were two times of "brain boom" in theKawashima  Imentioned.
past  and  Brain
For women, games on English training,
Imaging created a third one most recently.language support fortraveling, cooking,
Dr. Kawashimaclaimed calculations and oralcommon sense and etiquette areprovided. These
reading are good to developkids' brains innew sort of serious games not only helpedthe
the  book  for  children  "Jibun  no  Nou  wohandheld game machine stay always out of
stock andreach multi-million sales, but also
Jibun de Sodateru (Develop your own brain)"successfully gave theimage that games are,
in 2001. In thebook, gaming was said todepending on the software, good forthe brain
reduce prefrontal activation andhave bad orand education. Funny it is that the
no benefit for kid's brain. He comparedauthoritybacking the campaign is the same Dr.
thefMRI image of someone doing simpleKawashima whooriginally recommended kids to
calculations and playinggames, and apparentlycalculate rather than toplay games for the
the image of the former showedbenefit  for  brains.
moreactivities. To see the activities inside
the brain wasfresh for people, but theNo wonder, authorities from the academic and
methodology and logic was notreviewed by anymedicalsocieties of the neuroscience field
scientific publication. It was published byastarted criticizingscientifically unproven or
company that provides a franchised chain ofno evidence-based products,books and opinion
learningclasses. The company maintained booksmakers. This year, neuroscienceresearchers
at bookstores tocreate a boom and was verystarted a group called "Nou wo Ikasu (Make
successful. Then they came upwith adultthebest out of Neuroscience)" and have
version of training book, and sold more thanfrequent meetings ofresearchers where people
2million.can  join.
Adults and senior people were seriously didHowever, adult consumers keep devouring such
addition andsubtraction of 1 digit numbersgames. Dentsu,the biggest advertising agency
for countless timesbelieving it will maintainannounced  the  No.1
and  even  enhance  theirbrainpower.
Consumer-chosen Choice of the Product 2006
This then became the basis for the Nintendowas gamesoftware and books for brain
Brain Age videogame. More recently from him,training. So far, apparentlythe demands went
cooking became good for brainsince cookingfar out before the real neuroscience comesto
demands planning and multiple tasks.fill. Between the balance of body and brain,
Theydemand prefrontal cortex activation, andJapanesepeople are one of the extreme that is
he showed image ofa brain when cooking. A gasmost brain-ismoriented, to the brain side,
company that wants to sell moregas ranges andsays  Dr.  Yoro.
ovens  helped  sponsor  the  research.
AF: Hirano-san, many thanks for your
AF: we have heard there has been a backlashinsights.
recently. Is itmore of a scientific, or
consumer  one?GH:  you  are  welcome.
GH: Scientific for adults' games, consumerAlvaro Fernandez is the CEO and Co-Founder of
for  kids'  ones.
SharpBrains.com, which combines the latest
In 2001, another researcher, Dr. Akio Moriscience-basedinformation for Brain Training
wrote an articlecalled "Gemu(=Game)with fun Brain Teasers, andhas been
Nou(=Brain)  no  Kyofu  (The  Fear  of  Gamerecognized  by  Scientific  American  Mind,
Brain)". He created his own EEG machine andMarketWatch, Forbes, and more. Alvaro holds
gathered thedata of people who frequentlyMA in Educationand MBA from Stanford
play games and people who donot. He found theUniversity, and teaches The Scienceof Brain
"beta-wave" from frequent game playersthatHealth at UC-Berkeley Lifelong Learning
are "same as senior people with dementia".Institute.



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