Doctors used to call the sometimes estimated to be 30% reduction in memory fitness heart surgery patients would experience "Pump head". The loss of memory performance is attributed to the whole body trauma experienced during surgery, while the blood is being pumped and oxygenated by machine. A recent Dutch study presently supports the theory that the surgery, and not the machine-supplied blood, is really the cause of the memory performance decline.

Doctors have long been aware of the relationship between a patient's short-term memory and learning performance capacity and the patient's recovery from surgery. There hasn't been effective ways to test the memory performance levels of pre-surgery patients. There is a variety of clinically administered tests but these are expensive and not all that reliable. What has been missing has been a cost effective, accurate testing platform that easily recorded the healthy short-term memory and learning performance of the patient that would accurately monitor the reduction in memory performance and patent response.

Scientists and cognitive engineers at Bowles-Langley technology think they have come up with an ideal solution. The Bowles-Langley group has patented a series of computer-based tests for alertness, mild cognitive impairment screening, and short-term memory and learning performance testing. Unlike previous tests the Bowles-Langley products are extremely easy to self-administer, and taking a test is much like playing a simple video game. Henry Bowles, president of Bowles-Langley technology, is heading the development of these memory fitness tests being incorporated into individual's personal medical records, much like reports from lab tests. An individual's memory fitness would be established over a period of time and become part of their regular physical examinations. Mr. Bowles sees the day when everyone would monitor their short-term memory and learning performance rating much like a monitor their blood pressure now. "We've been able to zero in on part of the brain's learning and memory building experience. Our test functions extremely well when the body is healthy," Bowles comments "This is very consistent method of monitoring for decrements in the

individual's ability to learn recent events and once their baseline is established, it is equally effective a method to monitor treatment response or recovery."

In 2001, Bowles-Langley entered into a licensing agreement with EXPOSION and supported the development of online versions of their memory testing programs. The second quarter of 2003 will see the test platforms brought to the medical industry as well as the online systems through www.ibhealth.net and www.brainlane.net in a variety of formats. In essence, the online memory fitness testing services represent the beginning of a new industry-online memory fitness monitoring.

The iBHEALTH and BrainLane operations project there will be numerous ways the services will prove beneficial to the online public as well as the medical industry. For the online citizen, the testing will be available as part of a personal health and emergency information management program. This service will store and assist the individual in managing all of his or her personal and emergency medical information. This allows the individual to take complete charge of their personal electronic medical records, in a format similar to the information stored in those collections of Manila folders in doctor's offices.

The individual's personal baseline, or normal memory performance rating is visible in a series of results from past tests. Any test result that falls below the normal level of performance alerts the individual. The low-test result may have been caused because the individual was fatigued, reacting to drugs or allergies, recovering from surgery or developing a brain tumor. Whatever the reason, consistant memory decrement is a serious thing and should alert the individual to the need for medical consultation. Part of the Brainlane service is to actually provide that consultation with one of the service&'s doctors or consultants the individual has established a relationship with.

The medical industry has been invited to join in a focus group, which develops effective ways to integrate the memory fitness testing and monitoring services into their treatment strategies or practices. In these programs the doctors are given extra control throttles for the test program itself, allowing the doctor to adjust difficulty and reporting formats of the test for their specific purposes. These services have also been integrated into a HIPAA compliant clinical electronic medical record management servic, supporting the clinic or doctor's office with a streamlined, browser based application that replaces the walls of manila folders with a secure electronic solution.

There is little doubt the memory fitness monitoring services will find value with the online citizens and the medical care giving industry. As more and more people become aware of their memory fitness, it is expected that many will learn to stimulate and grow their memory power as well as watch their memory like a barometer of fitness and recovery.