Brain training - what works
Does brain training really work? Scientists say this is the only type that works
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By Lauren Broomham on November 10, 2017Daily Life Health & Wellbeing Medical News Science The Brain
We’ve all heard of apps and online courses that can help to improve our memory and cognition, but until now, there’s been no group to review these programs to show which ones work – and which ones don’t.
Now Australian researchers have done a review of studies into brain training programs being marketed at older adults.
Their findings? Most brain training only makes you better at the exercises themselves – not at real-life tasks. Of the 18 programs studied, 11 had no evidence to back up their use.
But there was good news.
For the seven that did have evidence to support their use, two were backed by multiple studies – BrainHQ and Cognifit.
Why do they work then?
Because both are based on training that focuses on improving your processing speed – the speed and accuracy with which your brain processes information.
For example, you see an image in the centre of your vision and then another image way off in your peripheral vision. Both are only on screen for less than a second. You then have to say whether you saw the centre image and show where you saw the peripheral image.