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Brain-training games seem to be everywhere these days. The brain-training industry is worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, with tens of millions of subscribers around the world paying for games or puzzles that promise to improve their brain function. So what does the science really say about brain training? Can brain training really make you smarter and help you avoid mental decline?<\/p>\n
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High-profile companies such as Lumosity and Cogmed market their products as boosting memory, attention span, learning capacity, or \u201cbrain fitness.\u201d Neuronix, an Israeli company, is in the process of developing a training program that will hopefully combat Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
Regulatory and public bodies appear to be catching on to the trend of neuroplasticity. In early 2014, the US\u2019s Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services sought submissions on a new proposal that could have the US government reimbursing consumers for memory fitness activities.<\/p>\n
Some companies have turned their attention to children with attention-deficit issues or have experienced some kind of illness or undergone treatment (such as chemotherapy) that impacts their brain. Cogmed, for example, offers working-memory training programs directed at children. There are companies \u2013 both established or just starting up \u2013 that are focused on just about any area of brain training you can think of.<\/p>\n
The research shows that brain training programs can benefit memory, attention, executive function (such as abstract thinking and strategic planning), reaction time, and processing speed. Brain training has been shown<\/a> to be as effective as book-and-pencil training, but it is less labour-intensive than pen-and-paper training.<\/p>\n The founders of Cogmed, psychologist Torkel Klingberg and Sweden\u2019s Karolinska Institute, started by conducting a study<\/a> on children with ADHD. It found that children with ADHD subject to a progressive training program experienced a decline in hyperactivity and an improvement in working memory and general intelligence (as based on the Raven\u2019s progressive matrices). Further research has confirmed that Cogmed\u2019s program can have benefits for children with Down Syndrome, and for those who\u2019ve survived brain cancer or leukaemia.<\/p>\n![\"International-Career-Institute-1b\"](\"http:\/\/www.ici.net.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/International-Career-Institute-1b.jpg\")
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