16 Jun
BrainBeat Blog

Meditation, Kids and Better Grades? It May Not Be As Far-Fetched As You Think

“Meditate. Breathe consciously. Listen. Pay attention.Treasure every moment. Make the connection.”– Oprah Winfrey When Oprah Winfrey touts the benefits of meditation, the practice has truly gone mainstream.   Asking an 8-or 9-year-old to meditate?  That seems like something outside the realm of possibility.   But giving your kids the opportunity to experience the centering positive aspects of meditation without actually expecting them to meditate is something most parents might consider.  Especially since research shows meditation increases activity in the brain regions used for paying attention, making decisions and academic performance. In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, college students who did meditation training designed to help them focus and stay present had higher accuracy scores on the GRE and scored higher on working memory tests when compared to their peers after the training. Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the...

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02 May
BrainBeat Blog

A Less Distracted Kid Today May Mean A More Successful Adult Tomorrow

Did you know that research from Duke University shows that the strongest predictor of future success in children ages 6-12 is the ability to focus and concentrate? And that kids who lacked focus were more likely to struggle as adults? There is also evidence showing that kids who lack focus at age 5 are more likely to have problems in school by the age of 12.According to Daniel Goleman, author of Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, “the area of the brain that governs focus and executive functioning needs to have the experience of sustained episodes of concentration in order to build the mental models that create someone who is well educated. This means that we need to be even more intentional about teaching kids given all of the day-to-day distractions and competition for their attention.”Another study, from Oregon State University, confirms that one aspect of executive function skills in children,...

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05 Feb
BrainBeat Blog

BrainBeat Conquer Helps Improve Reading Skills

One of the things many parents notice after their child uses BrainBeat Conquer is an improvement in his or her reading skills.  Some children may have had difficulties reading from the start, and others may not, but some improvement was often still observed by parents or teachers. Many parents have asked us what is going on in the brain as a result of using BrainBeat that is improving their children's reading skills.  Research suggests that performing exercises that require kids to keep a consistent beat helps improve the internal time clock in the brain. Timing in the brain, or what scientists call “temporal processing,” is responsible for focus, attention, reading comprehension, remembering information, processing speech and motor coordination. By training the brain to improve brain timing you can actually improve performance in all of these areas. Our own research has shown this as well.  Children who used BrainBeat Conquer at a Boys...

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