Memory test panel in cognitive training
Memory test panel in cognitive trainingIsrael news photo: (Cognifit)

Israeli scientists have pioneered a new computerized brain training program that can help bring new drivers up to speed faster and more safely. The software was released this month by the neuroscience firm Cognifit. Dr. Shlomo Breznitz, a former Kadima MK, psychology professor and president of Haifa University, is the founder and president of the company, which has a U.S. office in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to the company's launch in 1999, Breznit spent decades researching the issue of cognitive training, as a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institutes of Health and Rockefeller University, among others.

Breznitz also once served as a consultant to the Israel Air Force on stress-related issues.

"The computer has several advantages that make it the natural choice for brain training exercises," Breznitz said in an interview earlier this month with the brain training website, PlayWithYourMind.com. He told another interviewer that the company's brain training program for new drivers sharpened their skills in less time than it would normally take in the field.

"Chief among them is the opportunity to measure a whole host of data that would be otherwise unavailable." Moreover, he said, the computer provides instant, dynamic feedback to the user, which is useful in learning a new skill. Breznitz added that internet-based applications also have the additional advantage that tasks can be adjusted according to need.

"The brains of new drivers have to acquire new skills that take time to develop," he said. The process can take up to two years, "as witnessed by accident records all over the world." 

By using the software to target the specific skills needed, he said, the time it takes to achieve the same level of expertise is reduced considerably. "This shortens the extremely high risk period of new drivers," he claimed, adding that driving schools in Britain and Canada have already started using the software.