Cognitive training consists of a variety of brain exercises designed to improve performance. The principle underlying cognitive training is to improve the "core" abilities, which most people mistakenly consider as instincts. Abilities such as coordination, attention control, peripheral vision, perception and many more are not "born instincts" but rather trainable cognitive skills. The science of cognitive engineering focuses on the evaluation and analysis of these skills. An especially remarkable aspect of this science is cognitive training: the enhancement of human brain skills to improve performance.
A Basketball Cognitive Training Tool
In order to develop a basketball cognitive training tool, the researchers mapped the brain skills that are required for top performance in the game of basketball.
Mapping the cognitive skill-set of the basketball domain
Cognitive Simulator
Training the cognitive skill-set via Cognitive Simulation
With this map at hand, ACE researchers designed a system that stimulates the exact same skill set. This training tool is designed like a video game, but if you screen the minds of the trainees, you’ll find that the skills (or the “brain muscles”) that are working are exactly those that are required during a basketball game.
Making the Brain Play the Game
Each player receives a CD to be installed on a standard PC. Once the program is launched the 'game' instructions are presented. The player is asked to operate his 'arsenal' in order to maximize the performance of his 'fleet'. For best results, the players are advised to practice 1-3 training sessions a week of approximately 30 minutes per session. The level of the training gradually increases. In most cases, by the time the player has completed his 8-10 training sessions, the results are clearly seen on the court.
ACE's Unique Expertise
We can analyze any high performance human activity, map the cognitive skills that control the activity, and create a specific training machine to enhance it. ACE has the ability to map the brain "muscles" which control a complex human task, and design unique "fitness" programs for brain work-out. The first 'brain-gym' applications were originally used to train fighter pilots, yielding 30% improvement in performance. Recently, ACE researchers implemented the concept to the game of basketball. Strangely enough, flying a jet was found to be similar to playing hoops. Quick decision making under pressure, shot selection, anticipation, execution, team work and spatial orientation are all skills in common.
