New studies suggest playing brain games only makes you better at brain games

[HereSince1628]

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/do-brain-games-work

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The studies come after of a decade of spotty research suggesting that brain games do work--and the launch of companies such as Cogmed, Lumosity, Jungle Memory and CogniFit that sell brain games for kids, older adults and everyone in between. The New Yorker talked with Cogmed executives, who insisted the new research was flawed. Meanwhile, the researchers involved in the skeptical studies say it's unethical to sell software that doesn't work, especially to vulnerable audiences such as kids with learning disorders or older adults worried about cognitive decline.

The skeptical studies include:

A study comparing dual n-back training--a favorite training program among avid self-improvers in Silicon Valley--with a placebo game and with not playing any games at all in healthy young adults. The researchers, from three different U.S. universities, found the games improved people's ability in the games.. but not in independent tests of fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, multitasking or other capabilities.

A study that tried to replicate previous research showing that certain mental exercises improved fluid intelligence, which is important to learning and is associated with professional success. The newer study wasn't able to reproduce the effects of the previous experiments.

A so-called "meta-analysis" that reviewed 23 previous studies of brain games, weighting the studies by how rigorous they were and how many study participants they included. Like the other skeptical studies, the meta-analysis found that people just got better at the games they played, but their skills didn't transfer elsewhere, such as people's verbal and nonverbal ability, arithmetic, or attention.

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[rrneck]

1. Couldn't help but think of this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation%29

[Neoma]

2. Hehehe.

[rrneck]

3. How you feelin'? nt

[Neoma]

4. Like I'm sitting on ice at the moment.

[rrneck]

5. I thought you got hit by a car the other day. Nothing broken? nt

[Neoma]

6. Two weeks and a day ago, yeah.

Two hairline fractures in my right hip and some nerve damage in my left middle finger. New bruises here and there. Have a walker/wheel chair for now. Doing repetitive exercises twice a day, blah. 4 to 6 weeks more to go until I can put weight on my right leg.

The concern now is legally/financially involved. It's rather depressing.

[rrneck]

7. I hear you.

Bad enough to be laid up but you have to worry about how much it costs you. Try and take it easy. I hope you get better soon, although when you do you'll have less time for DU, which is kind of a drag for the rest of us. But you getting better is worth it.