Brain Training Does Not Improve Neural Activity, Study Finds; 5 Ways To Sharpen Your Mind

There has been a rise in commercial brain-training programs in the last few years, with games such as the ones from Lumosity, which claim to tap cognitive functions such as attention, memory and cognitive flexibility gaining prominence. However, a new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and published in the July 10 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests these training games or commercial brain-training programs do not boost people's neural activity and overall thinking abilities to make them think "smarter." Researchers analyzed brain functioning among 128 young adults between the age group of 18 to 35 years, who were given brain-training or made to play video games and Lumosity games five times a week for 10 weeks. The study found that the ones who played Lumosity games had not become better in terms of cognitive performance or standard tests of memory and attention as compared to players of computer video games. Researchers found that the individuals who played Lumosity games also did not show any differences or betterment in brain activity during decision-making tasks as compared to the ones who played video games.