Brain training exercises just make you better at brain training exercises

By Christian Jarrett
If you spend time building your physical strength and stamina in the gym, you can expect to carry these benefits into everyday life. It will be easier for you to lug heavy shopping bags around or run for the bus. You will likely reduce your chances of developing cardiovascular and other illnesses. A new review of brain training games in Psychological Science in the Public Interest – the most comprehensive ever conducted – shows that unfortunately the same principle does not hold for these games. When you spend time completing mental exercises on your phone or computer, you will most likely only become better at those exercises or very similar tasks. Currently available evidence suggests you probably won’t see consequent improvements in your performance at school or work, or reductions in your chances of experiencing age-related mental decline.  
Commercial brain training games, which involve simple memory, attention and reaction time tasks that become more difficult as you improve, are hugely popular. It’s become a multi-million dollar industry set to become multi-billion dollar in a few years. People are drawn to the games as a fun and convenient way to boost not only their brain power, but also, and as promised by the products, their brain health and their success in life.
But in 2014, a group of more than 70 psychology and neuroscience experts signed an open-letter warning that brain training companies, such as Lumosity, Posit S...

Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - October 7, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: researchdigestblog Tags: Cognition Educational Technology Source Type: blogs