Archive for July, 2010

ABT Symposium 2010

In the summers of 2004-2008 we ran the Advanced Brain Technologies (ABT) International Conference in the beautiful settings of The Canyons Resort in Park City, and Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah. ABT providers, customers, professionals, parents and others would travel from the world over for 3 days of lectures, workshops, music, networking, food and friendship.  All of us united through a shared interest in helping people attain all they can in life by improving their brain health and performance.

When the global financial crisis hit we made the difficult decision to discontinue the conference until the economic recovery. And still we wait… While the right decision, we and those accustomed to our annual event have been feeling an immense void.  So, rather than put on the BIG EVENT, we decided to organize 1 day of great presentations, music, and networking at our first ever East Coast Symposium in New Jersey this October.

The ABT Symposium 2010 is taking place at Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey on October 24, 2010.

New research on Advanced Brain Technologies neurosoftware and neuromusic programs will be presented. Learn about the Lucker model of auditory processing and his theory about the effects of The Listening Program® (TLP). Discover Learning Ears, Ear-Voice training that works with TLP to improve learning, language and communication abilities. Hear about a TLP brain injury protocol being trialed at a pediatric rehabilitation hospital.Listen to diverse case presentations from practicing ABT providers. Experience live music performances which will demonstrate the effects of live music performance on group dynamics. Engage in a discussion about activity recommendations for listeners. And, Network with other therapeutic and educational professionals.

The focus of this highly anticipated symposium will be new information on research, treatment strategies, and programs for diverse client populations ranging from neurotypical to brain injured.

We have a great line up of speakers including Dr. Jay Lucker from Howard University speaking on auditory processing , music from world renowned artist Nacho Arimany, and much more… Early bird discounts are available for professionals through September 15th, and we have special pricing for students and parents. For those who may be interested in training as ABT Certified Providers of The Listening Program®, you can join us at the same location on the 22nd and 23rd of October for our certification course. Please join us! To register or for more information including a list of speakers, special hotel rates, etc.  please visit ABT Symposium 2010.

Did Liberace Have Great Working Memory?

I have vivid memories watching Liberace masterfully and playfully tickling the ivory on his ornate pianos as a child of the 70′s. I was always amazed by the ease in which he played. Was he born with this gift? He obviously practiced thousands of hours. But was there something else, another piece to the puzzle of his musical genius? Perhaps, he had great working memory.

A recent study looked at piano player’s ability to sight read a new piece of music. It was published in journal Psychological Science and demonstrated that while practice, practice, practice, leads to great musical performance, that working memory capacity, plays an important role in the level of performance that can ultimately be achieved.

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Outliers he shares the body of research that shows regardless of the skill or activity,  that over 10,000 hours of consistent practice is required to achieve an expert level of proficiency. Incidentally, Mozart is one of the musical geniuses highlighted in this fascinating discussion. While practice makes perfect, cognitive function must be at a sufficient level to engage and excel at the task, as in the example of the pianist.  With that said, cognitive function, working memory in this case is not something which is fixed. What your capacity is today, can be increased, dramatically, to help you excel in all areas of life, including musical performance.

Working memory is of great interest to me, largely because it is becoming increasingly recognized as one of the fundamental cognitive abilities that is key to unlocking our full potential. This is not new information. This is a discovery my father made some 35 years ago, and has fervently pursued since, developing methods to expand working memory and sequential processing ability. Work that I have continued at Advanced Brain Technologies through our BrainBuilder® neurosoftware program which assesses and trains these abilities.

I am pleased to see the research community taking such interest in working memory and look forward to seeing more studies linking cognitive function to musical ability in the future. For you musicians perhaps you may consider some targeted working memory training to accompany your practice and advance your performance to an entirely new level!

Read more about the research linking working memory to musical performance.

Modified Classical Music on iPods Helps Toilet Train Liverpool Children

The Liverpool Echo published an article today about the results of a pilot study which examined the effects of  modified classical music and a specific protocol to help children with autism and other cognitive and developmental challenges to be toilet trained.  This is a world first project, conducted by June Rogers head of NHS Liverpool Community Health’s Integrated Paediatric Continence Service.

Children listened to 30 minutes of music a day through a special audio system which provided the music through both auditory pathways, air and bone conduction. The outcomes are positive and have been presented at European conferences. We now await approval for a large scale clinical trial to confirm these results in a larger sample size.

Continence problems severely impact quality of life, self esteem, and have large costs associated with supporting these children as they enter school. Our protocol holds promise to help children with toilet training problems, reduce costs of services to them, and help them live a happier more fulfilling life.

Note that the program name in the article is incorrect. What is referenced as the Listening Project is supposed to be The Listening Program® developed by Advanced Brain Technologies in Ogden, Utah.

Read the full article

UPDATE: Thank you to the staff at the Liverpool Echo for making the correction to the program name!

Facelift and Happy Independence Day!

Thanks to Mary Cim, our brilliantly creative Art Director at Advanced Brain Technologies, The Brain Understanding Itself has received a facelift. Please comment and let me know what you think!

For those of you who are as fortunate as I to be an American citizen I wish you each a Happy Independence Day. Interestingly since I live in Utah and July 4th falls on a Sunday this year, we are celebrating tomorrow, July 3rd. I have never been able to quite get my hands around this idea, but in this great state of Utah this is how it is done.

Regardless of the day of celebration, July 4th Weekend is always a special time for me and one in which I feel immense gratitude to our founding fathers for their foresight and wisdom, to our military personnel for their commitment and bravery, and my family, friends, and fellow citizens as we unite and celebrate what it means to be Proud Americans!

Enjoy your parades, picnics, and fireworks and God Bless America!



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