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The Wisdom of Psychopaths
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Do you misplace your keys or regularly miss appointments? Do you often forget the names of people you know well? Do you feel like your memory is slowly getting worse? If so, then you may find yourself considering those brain games advertised everywhere. Sales pitches such as “where the sweat is figurative, but results are real” and “your brain will thank you” are amusingly alluring. But you may find yourself wondering whether they are really worth the time and expense. You shell out the money, play a few rounds and your brain will start spitting out names, dates and pin numbers like you’re 18 again—right?
Yes, those computerized brain-training games seem like a cool idea. They are based in large part on clear evidence that living in an enriched environment with lots of mental stimulation produces positive brain changes. And we agree there’s huge potential for tapping into your own neuroplasticity (that is, the brain’s ability to change itself by remodeling nerve cell connections after experience) to enhance mental fitness and prevent age-related memory decline. The well-established benefits of early life education on reducing later risk for dementia has also given much credence to the theory that building a greater cognitive reserve capacity can help the brain compensate for injury—analagous to the concept that more cell phone towers equals fewer dropped calls. Furthermore, several brilliant neuroscientists have, in recent years, served as the designers of the best brain games on the market.
But there’s a crucial catch: most of these early studies were done on rodents. So lost in the brain game buzz is the obvious question: Are these claims true when it comes to human brain performance and aging? Can they really make your brain faster and stronger? Are there really better than the tried-and-true approach: remaining healthy, active, and engaged in the world around you? In other words, are they worth the money?
To date, more than 50 studies have examined the benefits of brain training in humans but only a handful have tested whether or not the benefits persist and transfer over to real life. Results from one of the best studies, published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is certainly encouraging, however. As Glenn Smith of Mayo Clinic and her colleagues report, cognitively normal older adults who trained their brain were able to improve their auditory information processing speed by about 58 percent (versus 7 percent in controls). In their multi-center IMPACT trial, 487 adults ages 67 to 93 years worked for eight weeks at Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program, which seeks to improve brain function by stimulating the auditory system. The Posit Science program is premised on the idea that as we get older our brains become less efficient at processing information from the senses (not because of specific hearing or vision loss but because of degenerative changes in the brain’s associative cortex), which then leads to a decline in memory. The control group did a more conventional cognitive learning program that entailed viewing educational videos on art and history. At the end of the study the brain training group also demonstrated more gains on measures of overall cognition and memory than the control group, but the differences were less impressive (4 percent versus 2 percent improvement). Forty-eight percent of people in the active training group (versus 40 percent of controls) also reported positive changes in their daily life such as greater self-confidence, better recall of shopping lists and attending to conversations in noisy settings.
So what do these findings tell us? Clearly IMPACT demonstrated that both trained and some untrained cognitive abilities can improve after two months of structured sensory input training. But the control group also improved, albeit to a smaller extent, suggesting that even watching videos (such as The History Channel) may help!
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21 Comments
Add CommentThe combined results from these studies, as one would expect, show some modest improvements in the trained functions of these otherwise neurologically intact "elderly" subjects. Also, it should not be too surprising that there is some measurable improvment in general cognitive skills as well.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever, instead of goofy, sedentary video programing, my Rx for seniors is to remain BOTH mentally and physically active. IMO, the "unexamined life" is truly not worth living. As a practicing faculty physician of 61 years, I have taken up several "intellectual persuits"... from neuroscience to scientific Naturalism... and playing the banjo, not to mention working out regularly as well as playing tennis, both singles and doubles. The profession of medicine is a LIFELONG learning process that I assure you, escpecially if you are tasked with teaching residents, will keep your brain function sharp.
The brain is a big consumer of O2 and nutrients... and exercise is vital to maintain a healthy circulation... not to mention a general sense of well-being. Of course, the earlier in life one develops the habit of regular exercise and a reasonably nutritious diet, the better.
The point here is GET INTERESTED in some aspect of life... become passionate about SOMETHING. Learn a new skill set... try to master a subject or learn about a topic that you were interested in during your misspent youth, that you now have time to seriously reflect upon.
Chuck the stale games.. and play life for real, eh?
Cheers!
Scientists now know that when we're children our learning brains are turned "on" by default. As we get older our brains only turn on in response to fairly intensive stimuli. Brain exercise can produce new brain cells and change the structure of the brain. This isn't hypothesis. Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet showed it with brain scans. And scientists last year designed a training program for working memory (dual n-back) that increased the fluid intelligence of the participants - by 40%!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGood news for those of us willing to put in the effort.
Martin Walker
www.mindsparke.com
I've been reading intense math, several complex variables, theory of partial differential equations, and I notice myself being more lively in conversations with people when doing it. When I do a lot of concentrated hard thinking, it wakes up my mind.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt isn't the same as the speed-thinking that I bet the games emphasize. That might be complementary.
I've been reading intense math, several complex variables, theory of partial differential equations, and I notice myself being more lively in conversations with people when doing it. When I do a lot of concentrated hard thinking, it wakes up my mind.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt isn't the same as the speed-thinking that I bet the games emphasize. That might be complementary.
I'm sure that the "Brain Boosting" programs increase cognitive function. However, I predict that the positive test results should be attributed to the participants' increased interest in pursuing their own cognitive development, OUTSIDE THE TEST.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDoesn't ADD/ADHD fall under this category?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. Find some 'Mission' of interest
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisE.g.: "To learn a topic in math"; "To purchase a new house"; "To double my income in 1 year"; etc, etc (DON'T wish on the moon, don't take up a Mission that your own mind tells you may be unrealistic e.g. "To become as wealthy as Bill Gates" would surely be, in my opinion, rather unrealistic).
2. Ask yourself the following Trigger Questions about your Mission, call it 'M':
i) "What, in your opinion, are the THINGS TO DO to accomplish M?"
ii) What, in your opinion, are the BARRIERS/ DIFFICULTIES/ THREATS / WEAKNESSES that may hinder or prevent accomplishment of M?
iii) What, in your opinion, are the STRENGTHS you possess that could help you accomplish M?
iv) What, in your opinion, are the OPPORTUNITIES available that could help you accomplish M?
...
You get several lists:
THINGS TO DO
BARRIERS/ DIFFICULTIES / THREATS /WEAKNESSES
STRENGTHS
OPPORTUNITIES.
Take up, for a beginning, the THINGS TO DO two by two and ask yourself:
"Does TTD 1 "contribute to" TTD 2?
... etc, etc...
The relationship "contributes to" is transitive. Use this transitivity property to construct graphical models quite efficiently that would include all the elements you have thought of.
Then you add elements to that fundamental model in the THINGS TO DO Dimension to show how you can overcome the BARRIERS, etc, avail the OPPORTUNITIES, etc, use the STRENGTHS most effectively.... (and so on).
There are some very well defined step-by-step methods to help you create those models. Write to me at gs (underscore) chandy (at) yahoo (dot) com and I shall be happy to send you, more information on how you can construct those models, the fundamental systems science behind them, and so on.
The thinking involved in creating those real-life models' are the very best brain exercises I know of to keep your mind supple and well-exercised.
GSC
(I shall also be happy to make freely available some useful software that will help you keep records of your progress towards your Mission, construct the models using the transitivity properties of various relationships, etc, etc.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGSC
I shall also be happy to provide, freely, some basic (but necessarily limited) guidance on:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-- how to interpret the models you make
-- "what to do next" at various stages of model development, etc...
GSC
Like many things, wanting to remember better stimulates one to remember better. Do the researchers sort test subjects by those wanting to do better and those who are indifferent or do not want to do better?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeems any attempt to improve brain function improves brain function, nice when fun stuff like games is recognized as helpful.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeems any attempt to improve brain function improves brain function, nice when fun stuff like games is tooted as helpful.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have been working in the brain fitness space since 2001 and we have come along way. There has been significant scientific studies over the last 5 years that illustrate how we can maintain and develop our cognitive skills through our lifespan. Our company has started to launch pilots that provide more efficacy to our software. I truly believe the next 5 years will see a lot of positive developments in this area.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMichael
www.fitbrains.com
Great minds like a think !
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGeoffrey Kaye
Perth, Australia
2009
I concur with Michael. There are a lot of recent developments that are making this space really exciting. People are coming together to make sure that the science is pushed to maximize efficacy. This year’s SharpBrains Summit is a great start and the future looks bright.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMichael Rucker
http://www.happy-neuron.com
From my experience brain games slightly improve cognition, ı exercised for a year with lumosity and dual and back, reached this conclusion. I have a blog ı write about ways of improving brain, have a look.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://improveyourbrainimproveyourlife.blogspot.com/
I feel my attention to details in my environment has sharpened, my memory has improved and my response time to cues like traffic signs seems faster.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.newgraduatenursingjobs.net
Came across this site called http://braingymmer.com
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll games are developed on neuroscientific research, it seems pretty nice.
I feel like it's working for me, but even if it isn't, it's pretty fun to do anyways. Just a suggestion though.
Give it a try if you're interested.
okay, this may sound trivial.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPrograms like lumosity make you play games over months, to show any actual improvement.
So when you play a mind game over and over again, you become more familiar with it, that gives you more control, confidence, general understanding of how the game is supposed to work, right, so its easy to see that your performance increases.
So, my question, does it really mean that your memory or cognitive abilities are absolutely improving?
,meaning are you reallt better at, when you play a similar kind of game(same difficulty & basic processing) but in different setup, or various applications of the congitive functions that you are training?
anyone any inputs, you are really helping me.
okay, this may sound trivial.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPrograms like lumosity make you play games over months, to show any actual improvement.
So when you play a mind game over and over again, you become more familiar with it, that gives you more control, confidence, general understanding of how the game is supposed to work, right, so its easy to see that your performance increases.
So, my question, does it really mean that your memory or cognitive abilities are absolutely improving?
,meaning are you reallt better at, when you play a similar kind of game(same difficulty & basic processing) but in different setup, or various applications of the congitive functions that you are training?
anyone any inputs, you are really helping me.
okay, this may sound trivial.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPrograms like lumosity make you play games over months, to show any actual improvement.
So when you play a mind game over and over again, you become more familiar with it, that gives you more control, confidence, general understanding of how the game is supposed to work, right, so its easy to see that your performance increases.
So, my question, does it really mean that your memory or cognitive abilities are absolutely improving?
,meaning are you reallt better at, when you play a similar kind of game(same difficulty & basic processing) but in different setup, or various applications of the congitive functions that you are training?
anyone any inputs, you are really helping me.