So this is week 2 of the brain training study. I have noticed that Brain Age does not lend itself to scientific studies as you are assigned random tests to determine your brain age. Regardless, my score has dropped to a 42. My wife has lowered her brain score to a 23 and my mother is now down to a 44.
Here is what I have learned this week: My wife plays at least three of the brain age training games everyday. I have done a crossword puzzle everyday and my mother continues to do the brain exercises on mind quiz and brain age daily. There has been improvement in all of our scores. So the true question is this: are our brains getting better at cognitive functioning? Due to brain age not being very study friendly, I do not know. What I do know is that my dear friend Marta, who has been slacking on her brain training has not seen an improvement this week. There appears to be something to the brain training and as I look for a better more reliable test, I hope to be able to show an actual, scientific improvement.
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Hi, Ben.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. As a cognitive game designer I agree that Brain Age doesn't lend itself to a study. It also doesn't lend itself to dramatic cognitive improvement. Unfortunately, its popularity gives brain training generally a less than fair reputation.
At Mind Sparke we use an carefully designed protocol based on academic research. This has been demonstrated to increase cognitive skill scores using IQ test questions as the measurement basis. (What increase? 40% more correct answers after training compared to a control group!)
Martin
http://www.mindsparke.com
Effective, Affordable Brain Training Software