Brain Training Apps

There is a lot of hype around these "brain training" apps. Lumosity certainly has a large marketing budget.

I do, however, like solving puzzles. I think Lumosity is too expensive (it was a monthly subscription last I saw), but games like Flow and Trainyard are quite good, cheap, and satisfy that desire. Although I appreciate Lumosity has quite a lot of different options.

Vocabulary? I simply read and look up any word that I don't know in a dictionary. It is almost like multitasking.

Usually I prefer something that isn't entirely mindless (usually...), so I enjoy those games, puzzles, etc. that are found in Lumosity (I've used it before) but I'm really (really) turned off by the hype and expense.

There's some debate on whether or not "brain training" actually works the way is purported to work. For example, here's an excerpt from an New Yorker article from 2013 entitled Brain Games Are Bogus...

One group of psychologists, lead by a team at Georgia Tech, set out to replicate the Jaeggi findings, but with more careful controls and seventeen different cognitive-skills tests. Their subjects showed no evidence whatsoever for improvement in intelligence. They also identified a pattern of methodological problems with experiments showing positive results, like poor controls and a reliance on a single measure of cognitive improvement.

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Here's a quote from a more recent article from a couple of months back, from Science magazine, entitled Neuroscientists speak out against brain game hype...

Aging baby boomers and seniors would be better off going for a hike than sitting down in front of one of the many video games designed to aid the brain, a group of nearly 70 researchers asserted this week in a critique of some of the claims made by the brain-training industry.

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You also might be interested in reading A Consensus on the Brain Training Industry from the Scientific Community . The summary from the document follows...

In summary: We object to the claim that brain games offer consumers a scientifically grounded avenue to reduce or reverse cognitive decline when there is no compelling scientific evidence to date that they do. The promise of a magic bullet detracts from the best evidence to date, which is that cognitive health in old age reflects the long-term effects of healthy, engaged lifestyles. In the judgment of the signatories, exaggerated and misleading claims exploit the anxiety of older adults about impending cognitive decline. We encourage continued careful research and validation in this field.

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I don't buy the whole training your brain to keep it young philosophy. I do think the more you read and are active, its helpful but you don't need an app.

I think its all scam to separate the consumer from their money.

Read a book, listen to music, visit a museum, you don't need to buy an app to train your brain.

I think that as long as you keep reading, you will keep your mind active. Never lose you imagination, either. Those two things will do you great good.

I've tried brain-trainers, and for me personally I've never gotten any benefit out of them.

Reverse memory (starting at the present and stepping backward step by step over the previous minutes to see how far back you can remember) and chess were the biggest things to aid my memory. I'm not sure if you were looking for actual exercises or like "outside the box" recommendations or not.

Melrose said:

I've tried brain-trainers, and for me personally I've never gotten any benefit out of them.)

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The bottom line is if you use your brain, other then sitting watching TV, then you don't need to pay for a service to "train" your brain. There's so many things in this world to enjoy and stimulate yourself and keep you young. An iPhone app isn't going to be as good with that, as going to a museum or reading a book. Just my $.02

I did the Lumosity thing for many months and improved my scores over time, but in the end, I don't think it really helped me much at all; I'm still too dumb.

maflynn said:

The bottom line is if you use your brain, other then sitting watching TV, then you don't need to pay for a service to "train" your brain. There's so many things in this world to enjoy and stimulate yourself and keep you young. An iPhone app isn't going to be as good with that, as going to a museum or reading a book. Just my $.02

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...you hit my nail on the head. Although there are certain practices or habits that do improve it. But yes, I agree paying for an app to give you permission to use your own brain seems silly. To me.

Melrose said:

...you hit my nail on the head. Although there are certain practices or habits that do improve it. But yes, I agree paying for an app to give you permission to use your own brain seems silly. To me.

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Yep, I enjoy hiking in the mountains, reading a good book, going to a museum as I mentioned. I also enjoy karate, believe it or not. There's a lot of technical information that you need to memorize. Martial arts is a great option to keeping your body and mind in shape imo.

maflynn said:

Yep, I enjoy hiking in the mountains, reading a good book, going to a museum as I mentioned. I also enjoy karate, believe it or not. There's a lot of technical information that you need to memorize. Martial arts is a great option to keeping your body and mind in shape imo.

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Cool. I used to practice Chen style Tai Chi. It's very good the body and the mind, I agree with you again.

I would rather take classes at the Khan Academy for my learning improvement.

Brain training? Do some LSAT studying for fun, you may end up with a higher IQ