BrainyApp encourages brain health

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 10 November 2011 08:18

Your IT - Mobility

BrainyApp, a new Australian iOS app, promotes a healthy lifestyle with the aim of staving off Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

The issue isn't settled, but it appears that certain behaviours and activities can improve the health of the brain, and that may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's, or at least delay its onset.

A degree of cynicism might be appropriate if someone tries to sell you a program to improve your brain health, but if they were giving it away you might be more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

And so it is with BrainyApp, a free app developed by Alzheimer's Australia and the Bupa Health Foundation. (The really cynical can ask why the announcement coincides with the rebranding of HBA as Bupa.)

BrainyApp runs on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and presents a health survey (with suggested lifestyle improvements) and brain games. It also encourages physical and mental activity, including socialising. Whether encouraging the use of Facebook is a good thing is questionable.

Dr Michael Valenzuela, head of the Regenerative Neuroscience Group at the University of NSW, helped develop the app. "People need to start thinking about their brain health earlier in life. The changes in the brain that lead to dementia can start when people are in their 30s and 40s," he said. 'Although the evidence is still developing, we are learning that there are a wide range of lifestyle choices and activities that can improve brain health, and which in turn may reduce the risk of dementia."

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