Hi Readers,
Puzzles and games do not make people smarter,
maintain cognitive functioning, or prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. It is a myth perpetuated by companies trying to
sell false hope and make money prying on vulnerable people. Research trumps scare tactics. See the facts below. AgeDoc
Story Source:
Materials provided
by Florida State University. Original
written by Dave Heller. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.
Think
brain games make you smarter? Think again, researchers say
New study finds no evidence games increase overall cognitive
abilities
Date: April 17,
2017
Source: Florida
State University
Summary: Brain games marketed by the billion-dollar
brain-training industry don't improve cognition or help prevent age-related
brain decline, new research finds.
Be skeptical of ads declaring you can rev up your brain's performance by
challenging it with products from the growing brain-training industry.
Science does not support many of the claims.
That's according to a new study published in the science journal Frontiers
in Aging Neuroscience from
a team of Florida State University researchers.
Neil Charness, professor of psychology and a leading authority
on aging and cognition, teamed up with Wally Boot, associate professor of
psychology, and graduate student Dustin Souders to test the theory that brain
games help preserve cognitive function.
"Our findings and previous studies confirm there's very
little evidence these types of games can improve your life in a meaningful
way," said Boot, an expert on age-related cognitive decline.
Charness, who's also the director of FSU's Institute for
Successful Longevity, said an increasing number of people believe brain
training helps protect them against memory loss or cognitive disorders.
"Brain challenges like crossword games are a popular
approach, especially among baby boomers, as a way to try to protect
cognition," Charness said.
That popularity has turned the brain-training industry into a
billion-dollar business. Brain games are available online and through mobile
apps that typically sell for about $15 a month or $300 for lifetime
memberships. But advertising for this rapidly growing business sector has
sometimes used inflated claims. The Federal Trade Commission fined one
brain-training company $50 million for false advertising, which was later
lowered to $2 million.
"More companies are beginning to be fined for these types
of inflated claims and that's a good thing," Boot said. "These
exaggerated claims are not consistent with the conclusions of our latest
study."
The FSU team's study focused on whether brain games could boost
the "working memory" needed for a variety of tasks. In their study,
they set up one group of people to play a specially designed brain-training
video game called "Mind Frontiers," while another group of players
performed crossword games or number puzzles.
All players were given lots of information they needed to juggle
to solve problems. Researchers tested whether the games enhanced players'
working memory and consequently improved other mental abilities, such as
reasoning, memory and processing speed.
That's the theory behind many brain games: If you improve
overall working memory, which is fundamental to so much of what we do every
day, then you can enhance performance in many areas of your life.
The team examined whether improving working memory would
translate to better performance on other tasks or as the researchers called it:
"far transfer."
In short, no.
"It's possible to train people to become very good at tasks
that you would normally consider general working memory tasks: memorizing 70,
80, even 100 digits," Charness said. "But these skills tend to be
very specific and not show a lot of transfer. The thing that seniors in
particular should be concerned about is, if I can get very good at crossword
puzzles, is that going to help me remember where my keys are? And the answer is
probably no."
Charness has spent much of his career the past 45 years trying
to wrap his brain around the way the mind functions and how it ages. With the
senior population continuing to grow -- 45 million Americans are 65 or older --
Charness understands their concerns about preserving brain function and
remaining independent.
"People have real concerns about loss of cognition and loss
of memory as they age, so they do all kinds of things to try to stave off
cognitive decline," Charness said.
Charness noted that other research finds aerobic exercise,
rather than mental exercise, is great for your brain. Physical exercise can
actually cause beneficial structural changes in the brain and boost its
function. He predicts "exer-gaming," which combines exercise with
brain games, will increase in popularity in the 21st century.
"I wouldn't come away from our article totally
discouraged," Charness said. "It's another piece of the puzzle that
we're all trying to assemble. It's discouraging in the sense that we can't find
far transfer and that seems to be a fairly consistent finding in research. But
if your real goal is to improve cognitive function and brain games are not
helping, then maybe you are better off getting aerobic exercise rather than
sitting in front of the computer playing these games."
Reference:
Florida State University. (2017, April 17).
Think brain games make you smarter? Think again, researchers say: New study
finds no evidence games increase overall cognitive abilities. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June
17, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170417095528.htm