Foundation of the Posit Science Corporation

The Posit Science Corporation is a good example of how neuroascetic firms take cerebral plasticity as a point of departure.

Posit explains that its goal is “to help people flourish throughout their lives,” and it adds: “We do this by providing effective, non-invasive tools that engage the brain’s natural plasticity into improving brain health.”13 Its “brain fitness program” focuses on increasing the speed, precision, and intensity with which the brain receives, registers, and remembers information. This program is a first step that can be followed by a more complete “brain gym” to train the totality of the motor and cognitive systems. 

Posit’s advertisement resembles that of cosmetic products: neuroascesis promises to “rejuvenate” the brain’s “natural” plasticity and postpone mental decline for as much as ten years. Not coincidentally, the elderly make up Posit Science Corporation’s main target audience. The company does not advertise a fountain of youth but claims to supply “a part of the solution.” More astutely, it predicts an increased “brainspan” or “cerebral longevity,” something particularly valuable at a time of aging populations and growing life expectations (Anonymous 2006). Like bodily fitness, cerebral fitness involves a moral dimension: Exercises are said to demand a great deal of discipline, willpower, and self-motivation—and they are all said to be indispensable for neuroascesis to “reverse the brain’s aging process” (Olney 2006). Neuroplasticity research thus legitimates a market for brain gymnastics and cerebral self-help; some of it even comes out directly of Posit Science Corporation’s “Brain Plasticity Institute” (Merzenich, Nahum, and van Vleet 2013).

Vidal, Fernando and Ortega, Francisco. Being Brains: Making the Cerebral Subject (Forms of Living)....

In the link below, you can access the BrainHQ platform for brain exercises. It is one of the main products of the Posit Science Corporation.

BrainHQ