Brain gym controversy

We know that regular gyms work and hope that brain training apps also work. Experts are not so sure about it. I will try to present both sides of the controversy and add some practical tips. Today I invite you to read here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Brain gyms for the aging population

There are many apps claiming to be brain gyms. Basically, they ask you to do some exercises, each training a specific cognitive skill.  Your performance is timed and measured. These apps tend to be expensive and they spend a fortune on advertising.   In 2016, however, the company behind Lumosity was fined $2 million for deceptive advertising.

The majority of users of the brain gyms are aged 60 plus. People who do not need to work every day, and who can afford spending their time in gyms and country clubs, want to do the same with their brain. The fear is very real since brains act like muscles.  If we do not live a physically active life, our muscles disappear, we gain weight and become sick. Similar issues may happen to our brains as we age, and do not have to learn new things and solve hard problems every day.

Children use a different sort of brain gyms, typically claiming to be puzzles and educational games. We address them in this article, but they are not the focus here.

Better alternatives

To tell you the truth, there are great alternatives to brain gyms. Young people do not regularly use brain gyms, as they need to study and do homework and solve complex problems every day. Middle-aged professionals do not have time to do brain gyms. We are too busy working and networking, trying to follow the industry standards as well as learning new things while raising our children. Each of these tasks is hard. College professors, professional musicians, chess or poker players already have activities that develop the brain and do not need further gyms.

Who uses the brain gyms then? Probably people who do not work, salesmen and clerks of all sorts, teachers and coaches, ex-military and law enforcement. Good and decent highly disciplined people who want to stay sharp at any age.

Experts against brain gyms

Experts want to protect the public from spending time and money on something that does not work. Multiple studies show that while people doing brain gyms improve in specific functions required by the games, there is no improvement in other statistics.

To compare: if you drink at least three or preferably six cups of coffee, you significantly reduce the risks of Alzheimer, Parkinson and several other kinds of disease that can affect the brain.  Athletic activity and playing a musical instrument have a positive effect on memory. The experts claim that no proven sufficiently strong and generic effect is associated with brain gym training.

Why keytostudy apps are different?

At the same time, the experts notice an improvement in the specific tasks trained. For example, if you train synaesthesia or visual angle, you will eventually acquire the desired quality. Those apps that do not claim to stop brain aging, and instead focus on specific activities tend to be very effective, but limited to these activities.

Once you train to memorize things and acquire information quickly and effortlessly, you will be more inclined to learn. Unlike the braingyms, stepping out of the comfort zone and learning new things can make one’s brain incredibly sharp and flexible.

Are there brain games that work?

We strongly encourage you to learn a wide range of subjects to sharpen a wide range of skills. Literature and history may have a strong influence on your memory, while puzzles and riddles can have a strong influence on problem-solving skills, and so on.

If you need to play a game, chess or bridge can be very rewarding. Poker might be good for your brain, as long as the stakes are low.  Playing the games our children like with our children is extremely rewarding. There have been studies connecting certain video games with better brain functioning.

Computer games that tend to improve brain functions

1. Flight or driving simulators may improve space orientation, visual thinking, reaction, and coordination.
2. Strategy games may improve planning and decision-making skills.
3. Puzzle games may improve creativity and problem-solving skills.
4. Board games may improve memory etc.

I guess most of us can find a perfectly cool activity in the categories above. These games will be cheap, and you can play them for fun with your friends of any age.

There is no point paying for dedicated brain gyms unless you want to train the specific tasks offered by the brain gyms. After all, if you go to a regular gym and train your hands you do not expect your legs to get stronger or your cholesterol levels to drop.

 

A scientific approach to brain training

Scientists use a very different approach to brain training. They combine neurofeedback, diagnostic meetings and exercises specifically chosen for a specific issue.  Successfully treated cases range from schizophrenia to PTSD, depression, addiction, and more. However, the games are used not by themselves but as a gamified metaphor for some healing process.

A different approach is looking at brain gyms as placebo. Placebo is not very efficient, yet it is harmless and often heals very well issues which cannot be treated otherwise. The body can use placebo effect to reorganize and fight. This is especially important since immune system activity may help with many brain degradation phenomena.

Can brain gyms train math?

It is not clear whether or not computerized games can train math. Certain puzzles help children acquire basic programming and robotics skills. You can definitely learn to make basic numeric manipulations faster. However, you probably want to supplement this training with some proven technique like the Trachtenberg method.

It is relatively easy to transfer the exercises we do on paper to computerized medium.  There are people who say that this is not a 100% potent replacement, as we use slightly different brain areas when we touch physical books and doodle on paper. With touch screens, I think the difference is negligible. However, no independent training can replace a great teacher.

Are we getting smarter?

We spend a lot of time on activities that should improve our brain functioning.  Much more than the previous generations. Certain studies measured a huge improvement over time, up until 2000th. Then the progress stopped, at least in US. There is still some progress in developing countries.

What happened? We do less stuff in our head, as computers take over. Out thought process gets interrupted all the time. We are overstimulated and do not have time to daydream. Our diet is not very good, since the commercial products are full of sugar, sold and monosodium glutamate. Blue screens reduce our sleep.

Probably we should train our brain at any age, just to stay sharp. However, brain gyms might be not the most effective way of training.