Brain Age and Dr. Ryuta Kawashima

Eliza Jennings ground breaking SAIDO Learning™ Memory Support was developed by the KUMON Institute of Education of Osaka, Japan in conjunction with Professor Ryuta Kawashima of the Smart Aging International Research Center at Tohoku University in Sendai.

KUMON’s work to ensure brain health and treatment for brain disease is a global, cross-generational mission committed to delivering, in their words, “the joy of learning to everyone, from children to senior citizens.” It’s not a surprise, then, to hear that Dr. Kawashima is the man behind the successful video game series Brain Age.

Brain Age is developed and published by Nintendo, and the series offers a number of iterations across different Nintendo handheld platform. The ‘Brain Age’ games have scored well with younger users looking for puzzling challenges to pass the time, as well as with adults and seniors inexperienced with gaming but otherwise interested in complex puzzles like Sudoku.

Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain is an English language version of a Japanese book written by Dr. Kawashima, the basis of which was used in the conceptual development of the Brain Age video game series. Dr. Kawashima’s book contains mathematical calculations intermingled with memory tests and counting tests, and it recommends that one should do a set of math questions every day and note the time it takes. Having sold over a million copies in Japan, Dr. Kawashima found that by performing precise mathematical calculations and reading aloud, one could retrain mental clarity and reduce the symptoms of aging’s cognitive ill-effects. Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain is based on this research, and is a wonderful look into the work of Dr. Kawashima, creator of Eliza Jennings’ SAIDO Learning Memory Support program.