My Calm Beat is a great biofeedback tool that can help you manage your stress response.  Using your computer and an ear sensor, My Calm Beat’s software allows you to monitor your breathing rate and your heart rate variability (HRV).  Your HRV is the variation of intervals between your heart beats.  A high HRV has been connected to resiliency during stressful situations.  By controlling your breathing rate, you can control your heart rate patterns. This in turn assists the brain in managing stress and improving performance.

Is your boss stressing you out?  Kids driving you crazy?  Have a big presentation to give?  These are perfect times to use My Calm Beat.  For long term effect, try using it for 10 minutes a day and retrain your mind and body to effectively handle stress.  My Calm Beat can also be used on your Android, iPhone or Blackberry so you can take it with you wherever you go.

We all need to learn to play new games and partake in cognitive activities according to the main outcome measured in this most recent study.  These activities consisted of reading, writing and playing games.  The study participants comprised of 65 healthy older individuals, (average age 76), 10 patients with Alzheimer’s disease (average age 75), and 11 young controls (average age 24.5) were studied from October 31, 2005, to February 22, 2011.

The participants answered questions about how often they engaged in stimulating mental activities throughout their lifetimes. They also got PET brain scans which can identify beta-amyloid deposits. Those deposits are found in the brains of people who have Alzheimer’s.  University of California-Berkeley research scientist Susan Landau says the study showed a link between the quantity of deposits and the lifetime level of brain stimulation.

Aging and a family history of Alzheimer’s are both considered risk factors, but we can’t control those. And even if your brain hasn’t been particularly active up until now, Landau says it’s not too late to start ratcheting up your mental activities.  “I think that cognitive stimulation is probably beneficial at any age. But, what our findings from this study show, is that the more cognitively active you can be over the course of your lifespan, the better”

The researchers at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, found that people, who engaged in brain-stimulating activities, particularly when they were young and middle-aged, had the least amount of beta amyloid.  “This study suggests that not only does it reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but it may affect the pathological process itself,” said Dr. William Jagust, the lead researcher, a professor of neuroscience at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.  “This kind of lifetime cognitive activity may make people’s brains more efficient. And if your brain is functioning better, it’s possible that would result in producing less of this amyloid,” he explained.

Individuals with greater early- and middle- life cognitive activity had lower β-amyloid uptake.  The research reports a direct association between cognitive activity and β-amyloid uptake, suggesting that lifestyle factors found in individuals with high cognitive engagement may prevent or slow deposition of β-amyloid, perhaps influencing the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

So what are you waiting for?  Now is the time to give your brain and your lifetime a healthy dose of playing games. It will only make you stronger and smarter cognitively.  Try playing something new every day.

I like to challenge myself with a different game from each of Marbles the Brain Stores sections on the brain’s responsibilities.  Currently from the Memory section I love Eye Know and Kwizniac, while I am learning the intricacies of Mind Your Marbles and Mindstein.  Very good for Visual Perception exercise and quite a challenge is Tri-Spy.  My new favorite Critical Thinking challenge is Modus; three games in one and all are worth the time to learn.  Both Kendama and Kapla keep my hand-eye coordination challenged while my two favorite Word Skill products are Pathwords for independent play and Reverse Charades for a fun group activity.  So never stop new learning, your brain will thank you for doing so for a long time.

Who doesn’t love a stinky, messy, exploding science experiment? The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science promises just that, while getting kids and adults away from the computer and TV. Bring these 64 awesome science experiments into your kitchen with common household ingredients. While these are a lot of fun to do there are also explanations on why and how these experiments work so not only are you having fun you’re learning too! With an easy layout, illustrations and experiments like homemade lightning, burning ice and anti-gravity water we promise this book will bring nothing but messy fun!

Games are an excellent way to spend time together as friends or family, and another sometimes less thought about benefit, is that they are full of learning opportunities as well! One of those opportunities is learning different ways of interacting with others when you play games in a group setting. Games don’t need to be heavily trivia based to be educational, in fact, just by playing games we learn important social skills such as communicating verbally, sharing, waiting and taking turns, all while enjoying interactions with others.

Because we are a company that sells games, we like to take every opportunity we can to implement games into our work life and company parties. At a recent company “fiesta” we teamed up with other co-workers and were able to compete together. One of our biggest rules when doing this is you have to pick teammates that you do not work with on a daily basis. This allows for us to communicate with new people, and work closely with them to solve problems. This is a great team building experience and is fun at the same time (as you can clearly see in the photographs)! Studies show that playing interactive games has a significant effect on cognitive performance, particularly working memory, for people in all age groups. So not only do we have a blast playing games together, we feel good about the positive effect that we are having on our brains!

Did you resolve to spend more time with friends and family this year? We highly recommend implementing game play into that, and you’ll make memories with each roll-on-the-floor laughing experience you have!

Marbles: Telestrations is such a great game and we love it here at Marbles!  Can you tell us how Telestrations came about?

Tony: An internal group meets regularly to test play all sorts of games, and one day we took a break to do a creative exercise to help switch from some of the types of strategy play patterns we were testing. The exercise involved paper and pens, and a category for everyone to choose something from (book title and movie title were among the first rounds). Each player had a stack of paper squares that would get sent around the circle alternating between sketching and guessing (think Telephone meets Pictionary) until it came back to the originator. Needless to say, after over an hour of laughter, tears of silliness and downright playful fun the early stages of Telestrations was born. The premise and playfulness of that first exercise is what drove the whole development process, and what almost everyone experiences when they play what we developed into Telestrations, we call it the Telestrations Effect. (check out TelestrationsEffect.com)

Marbles: What was your reaction to winning the 2010 Best Party Game award?

Tony: WOW! We are so thrilled, and humbled. Of course we know and believe this game to be a winner, but the validation from others is rewarding. For a company to create an “in house” game that receives such great response, sell through, press and reviews is wonderful, but somewhat unprecedented to happen so quickly. Though there are other games out there that have really caught on and gained popularity in play and sales, it has taken much longer for the grassroots efforts to really help get those games into the hands of enough people to really help start spreading the word and moving the needle in sales. Everyone who we show the game to or play with not only has a blast but they embrace the game as their own discovery and share it with their friends. The game play experience really does sell players on the game, and therefore why so many people do see it as their go-to for a party game now and why it is winning awards.

Marbles: You have an example of a Telestrations game where “Kick Ball” becomes “Swiss Cheese” on your website.  Do you have any other memorable rounds that still make you laugh?

Tony: Many, some of which are not suitable for print, however there are some that make me giggle still that I can share: “Santa’s Sleigh” becomes “Road Rage” or “Justin Bieber” becomes “Grandpa” or  “Mother Goose” becomes “Angel of Death”. A beautiful thing about the game is that it is different each time you play, therefore if you were to play the ”starting word” as “Mother Goose” it is highly unlikely that your group would end up with “Angel of Death” but likely something just as funny.

Marbles: What do you like best about working with Marbles?

Tony: The format of the Marbles store “…collection of hand-picked, expert-tested, certifiable fun ways to a healthier brain” is a perfect fit for some of our games, and the passion that the staff have for the products offered in stores is genuine and thorough. One of the more growing means by which many people are shopping is through recommendations from friends or store staff.  Since the Marbles staff play and test the products they sell, they’re prepared to make sound recommendations that are perfect for any shoppers needs. This is fantastic for the customer that comes into Marbles looking for a gift to fit a particular person or new item for him or herself. Wish we had Marbles in San Diego!

• Eat Breakfast

Low glucose levels affect the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for our executive control function. When levels fall, our thinking becomes confused and foggy. In other words, you need food for thought. Glucose also influences the release of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine that is necessary for learning and memory

• Get Moving

Find something you LIKE to do that is active.  It doesn’t have to be P90X to benefit your brain.  Take walks, dance or play games that get you moving.  Telegruv and Ogosport are some fun options. Research has shown that exercise increases the diameter of the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain, allowing greater delivery of oxygen to your neurons. It can stimulate the growth of connections between those neurons (known as synapses).  It can also decrease your risk of dementia and reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease.

• Do Something New

The brain loves novelty.  Doing something new can mean taking a class or exploring new neighborhoods.  Try new restaurants, take a different route to work, cook new dishes or learn a new game. Break some of your old routines.  Novelty, Complexity and Variety strengthen your cognitive reserve. Cognitive reserve can shield you from the effects of cognitive disease and decline.

• Start a Game Night

Pick a night once a week or once a month to play games with your family or a group of friends.  Studies show that playing interactive games has a significant effect on cognitive performance, particularly working memory, for people in all age groups.

Marbles: The Brain Store: Mind Your Marbles has 2,000 questions!  How long did it take you to come up with all of those trivia questions?

Peggy Brown: Actually, it has 2400! Not that I’m counting. Okay, yes I am. It took most of the summer!

Marbles:  Do you have a favorite category that you liked writing questions for?

Peggy: Not really – I love to learn, and the hard part is doing the research to write the questions, and not getting sidetracked by wanting to delve deeper into any given topic. The trick to getting them all written is to stick to the trivia, not the minutiae.

Marbles:  How many games have you invented, or helped invent?

Peggy: I’ve invented hundreds of games. It’s true.

Marbles:  If you had to pick a favorite game that you love to play, what would it be?

Peggy: That’s a toughy. It really depends who I’m playing with. On Christmas my family usually plays trivia games, but this year we played a Euro-type strategy game. Picking a favorite game is like picking a favorite flavor of ice cream – I can’t do it because they’re all so good!

Marbles:  Do you ever think you’ll get tired of creating?

Peggy: Nope. Not a chance.

Play makes us better problem solvers.
Games that challenge your critical thinking skills help create pathways in the brain that aid us in real life situations. Games can actually be a training ground for our problem solving skills.

Play fosters camaraderie and teamwork
Playing as a team to win a game or achieve a goal teaches both children and adults how to find common ground and work together.

Play inspires creativity
Play draws on imagination and frees us up to think “outside of the box”. It also teaches us how to use our imagination in the context of those parameters and rules.

Play brings people closer
Was one of your resolutions to spend more time with a loved one, your family or friends? Playing games is a fun way to spend time together. Because people often drop their guard when they are playing, laughing and having a good time, they connect in a way that is stronger.

Marbles: We are huge fans of Telepathy here at Marbles; can you tell us how you came up with the game?

Derek: Inventor of Telepathy: It started on Christmas day of 2007. One of my friends gave me a board game for a present. I set the game up and just stared at it for about five minutes. Then I told myself that I could do something like this. For the next several weeks I created about six games but after trying a couple on my friends, they weren’t impressed. One night while watching TV, I came up with this game involving colors and shapes on a board. I had a friend who was a math major and he created the board that I wanted. I started to try out the game on anybody that I ran into. I got some positive response and several asked if I was going to market the game. By the end of March I decided to go for it. Through a friend of a friend, I found Funhub Creative, who guided me through the whole process from beginning to end. We started in May and the units were in my possession in November.

Marbles: What did you do before entering the games business?

Derek: I was in the banking business for almost thirty years with the last fifteen in upper management. I retired in 2003. Before that I graduated with a business degree from the University of Washington in the early 1970’s.

Marbles: Besides banking and creating games, what other hobbies do you have?

Derek: My biggest hobby is sports cards. I started that in the mid 1980’s after I stopped writing music and I’m still involved in it. It was a lot of fun back then and still holds my interest.

Marbles: What’s next for Telepathy?  Anything exciting that we have to look forward to?

Derek: I have a final prototype for a deluxe version of Telepathy. I’m also working on a single version of Telepathy where one person can play or a group of people can play. If you have eight game boards you can have eight people play at once. But we’ll have to see how Telepathy does before I decide to go forward on the next generation of Telepathy. I have some other games in the works and my five year plan is to produce one game a year for the next five years.

If you have a precocious child, a husband you like to surprise with challenging games and puzzles, a family who loves Marbles or a parent that wants to keep their mind sharp as they age, consider giving them the SmartKit 1-Year Subscription. Each subscription will be tailored to the subscriber, The products will be hand selected by our Chief Merchant Scott Brown. Each quarter he will choose the best, brainy products to send!

Here’s how it works:

- Pay $200 for $220 worth of products throughout the year. That’s a 10% savings!

- Receive a bundle of brain boosting goodness worth $55 each quarter.

- SmartKits will ship on March 1st, June 1st, September 1st and December 1st. If, for example, you place your order anytime in December, your first order would ship on March 1st and you would receive SmartKits for four straight quarters.

- Want to give something as a gift for Christmas?  With every SmartKit Subscription ordered, you will receive an email confirmation with a certificate detailing what the SmartKit entails.  This will make a perfect gift for any brain on your list!

Click here to order your SmartKit 1-Year Subscription!