CONTACT:
Tanya Mitchell
VP of Research & Development
LearningRx
719-264-8808
tanya@learningrx.com
Meg Willett
Public Relations
LSU Health Shreveport
318-675-8789
mwille@lsuhsc.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Top medical center joins $1 million brain training study
LSU Health Shreveport heads brain imaging research
Shreveport, LA – Researchers at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport have joined a groundbreaking study that researchers say could lead to a major shift in American education.
A $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will fund the study which examines how cognitive skills training can help students improve their learning ability and physically change the brain. The study relies on pre- and post-cognitive skills screening, academic performance, and brain imaging to determine if brain training makes students better at science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Virginia State University Psychology professor Dr. Oliver Hill, Jr. is leading the research now underway at Waskom Independent School District in Texas. “Eventually this type of research could have a major impact on our education system,” says Dr. Hill. “We’ve known for a long time that U.S. education is in trouble. Even kids with high GPAs often have very little ability to analyze, argue and think critically. Using cognitive training methods, rather than instruction, to build cognitive skills has the potential to revolutionize education and STEM education in particular. ”
This portion of the study focuses on three groups of Waskom high school students: a control group that gets normal academic instruction, a second group that receives online cognitive training, and a third group that during the spring semester will receive 70 hours of one-to-one cognitive skills training with their own personal brain trainer from LearningRx.
“We know this one-to-one personalized brain training methodology brings dramatic improvements in learning and reading ability for students of any age and academic ability,” says Donesa Walker of LearningRx Shreveport. “We’re thrilled to be part of this cutting-edge research that will not only help the students involved, it will also prove that this type of training can physically change the brain to make learning of all kinds faster and easier.”
LSU Health Shreveport will manage the study’s functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) or brain scans for randomly chosen high school students both before and after the interventions to determine how the brain has physically changed.
“This will give us valuable data on how the brain works when performance is improved,” says LSU Health Shreveport principal investigator Dr. James Patterson. “It is of great importance to all parties involved and promises to be a valuable asset in improving our understanding of how we learn and how we can improve learning.”
Initial cognitive screening is complete and fMRIs are now underway at LSU Health Shreveport. Brain training is set to begin in January.
For more information contact Meg Willett of LSU Health Shreveport at 318-675-8789 or mwille@lsuhsc.edu or contact LearningRx Vice President of Research and Development Tanya Mitchell at 719-264-8808.
About LSU Health Shreveport
LSU Health Shreveport is northwest Louisiana’s comprehensive academic health center. With teaching, research and patient care resources, the campus includes Schools of Medicine, Allied Health Professions and Graduate Studies. LSU Health labs provide a broad portfolio of biomedical research programs, and more than 26 academic departments prepare future healthcare professionals to become the next generation of doctors, researchers and allied health professionals.
About LearningRx
LearningRx brain training specializes in treating the cause – not the symptoms – of learning struggles. The programs’ game-like exercises and 1:1 trainer-to-student ratios provide guaranteed dramatic improvement. With more than 75 centers across the country, LearningRx brain training can help anyone – from 5 to 85 – increase the speed, power or function of their brain.
