Brain Training by Computer Doesn’t Really Work

Those enticing Internet ads for boosting your brain power aren’t worth a click, far less a subscription.  This is according to a study from the University of Cambridge, UK, posted online in Nature.

A 6-week online study involved 11,400 participants aged 18 to 60, who trained several times a week on cognitive tasks designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visual-spatial skills, and attention.  The volunteers were recruited from the viewers of a popular science BBC-TV program.  At baseline, after completing 4 basic tests of cognitive function, participants were randomly assigned tone of two experimental groups or a third control group.  They were required to log on to the BBC Lab UK website to practice 6 training tasks for at least 10 minutes a day, three days a week.  The first experimental group had tasks emphasizing reasoning, planning, and problem-solving; the second group had tests of short-term memory, attention, visual-spatial processing, and mathematics similar to those in commercially-available brain training programs.  The tasks in these groups increased in difficulty during their 6 weeks.  The control group had no specific tasks, but merely had to answer obscure questions from different categories, using Internet sources.  After 6 weeks, the baseline cognitive tests were repeated.

The results of the tests showed that the participants, while they improved on their designated tasks, failed to change their memory, reasoning, and learning skills.  The scientists concluded that “the expectation that practicing a broad range of cognitive tasks to get yourself smarter is completely unsupported”.

Not surprisingly, there are criticisms of this study.  After all, brain-training is a multi-million-dollar industry.  One argument expressed was that the age range of the participants was too great; over-60-year-olds are the usual target of brain-training programs.  One expert felt that the selection of participants in the first place was wrong; they were self-selected, and might therefore have a natural tendency to play this sort of game.  Finally, the training period was criticized as being too short; 4 hours a week over 6 weeks is not enough to produce the desired effect.  In spite of these apparent short-comings, this study was enough to persuade me to give up my Brain-Train program – I enjoy the extra time it gives me for doing crosswords, Sudoku, or Kenken.