Tips for brain exercises at home:
Avoid multi-tasking:
Multi-tasking was once considered a great talent however neuroscientists are finding that doing ten things at once isn't effective at all. Now there's a real emphasis on conscious attention and in doing so, you will learn the task faster, do it better and retain it longer if you concentrate on one particular task at a time.
Use your non-dominant hand by:
Switching the side you wear your watch
Brushing your teeth
Using the mouse
Instill curiosity into your child:
A curious person will always seek new experiences and with that, gain lifelong learning and keep cognitively fit.
Ballroom dancing:
This works out multiple areas of the brain and not only are you learning something new and getting physical exercise, but having fun as well. You must first focus on what you are doing, you have to work and socialize with a partner, you must memorize steps and exercise your muscle memory.
Train your brain!
vibrantBrains
3235 Sacramento St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
415-254-5750
Co-founders: Jan Zivic and Lisa Schoonerman
Website: http://www.vibrantbrains.com
vibrantBrains is a brain health club, or gym, located in San Francisco that focuses on brain exercises through computer software games allowing members to come in and brain train for the day. The programs are based on scientific research by world-renowned neuroscientists, neurologists, and psychologists from respected research institutions, including UCSF, Stanford University, UCLA, University of North Carolina, University of Lyon, France and University of Haifa, Israel. They also hold classes and discussion panels featuring renowned professionals speaking on subjects related to the brain and brain health.
Biography of Jan Zivic:
Jan Zivic has served as an active professional and community member in the Bay Area for over thirty years. Presently Jan is the co-founder of vibrantBrains, a first of its kind "mind gym" for cognitive exercise.
Jan was first employed in San Francisco by both Crown Zellerbach and Castle and Cooke in corporate recruiting roles. Later, she became a partner with the international consulting firm of Heidrick and Struggles before creating her own firm, The Zivic Group, Inc. which she managed for eleven years until it was acquired by another industry leader, Spencer Stuart.
Having participated on a number of state, community, and educational boards, Jan has served in a variety of leadership roles. Those experiences include the Board of Directors of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts where she currently serves as President of the Board, the Library Commission of SF, the California Executive Recruiters Association (its first female President), the Katherine Delmar Burke Independent School, and The Family Services Agency of SF (again, as the first female President of the Board). For her dedication in those positions as well as her far reaching fund raising accomplishments for non-profits, Jan was recognized as The SF Cable Car Awards "Woman of the Year," and later as the recipient of the Maya Angelou Community Leadership Award, from the University of California, San Francisco Medical School's Center Of Excellence.
Biography of Lisa Schoonerman:
Lisa Schoonerman held a variety of technical and editorial positions with the Thomson Corporation in their Legal Publishing division (now ThomsonReuters), beginning in Rochester, NY and then coming to San Francisco to work with what was then Bancroft Whitney. Working at Thomson included a 3-year international assignment in the UK, where she managed the editorial group providing content for Westlaw UK, the first international application of the Westlaw database.
After Thomson, Lisa worked for Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), which is a part of the University of California. It's also a legal publishing company, and she headed the Product Development department. She resigned CEB in 2006 to take some time off and pursue her next career, which led her to vibrantBrains. Lisa and Jan formed vibrantBrains at the beginning of 2007, and then opened doors for business in December 2007.
In addition, Lisa volunteers as a mentor for FirstGraduate, a Bay Area non-profit whose mission is to help kids graduate from high school and become the first in their families to graduate from college. She is also doing some volunteer work for Horizons Foundation, a philanthropic social justice organization, serving the LGBT community throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
