More than memory training
In my youth, there was Pelmanism. Since then, there have been many memory-training schemes and many books about them. However, not only has knowledge of how the brain works advanced since then, but we have access to immense computing power, either locally or on servers we can reach on the Web.
I was browsing around when I came across Lumosity, reputedly the most popular web-based ‘brain training’ program.
This online service exercises users’ brains with a series of games that improve your cognitive skills. Co-Founder Michael Scanlon, a neuroscientist who graduated from Stanford, claims that these exercises build learning ability by improving processing speed, cognitive control and attention. Playing these simple, entertaining games for as little as 30 minutes a day (have you ever seen a computer game player get bored after half an hour?) can make you think quicker, improve your memory, increase alertness, improve concentration and even give your mood a lift.
A sharper brain in thirty sessions
Lumosity’s system consists of 30 sessions filled with progressively more intense game exercises. The sessions focus on a progressive development in the areas of attention, memory, processing speed and cognitive control. Each session has games designed to hone these aspects of cognition, but you also receive feedback. “Brain performance indexing” (BPI) scores measure your progress and encourage you to greater effort. A BPI grade based on data from half a million results will tell you how much you have improved each cognitive function, and how you compare with your fellow human beings.
For example, “birdwatching” is focused on attention and you are forced to memorise visual stimulation. A letter is flashed onto the screen briefly, quickly followed by a bird in a landscape. You have to remember the letter and pinpoint the location where the bird was shown in order to solve a letter puzzle. It’s a lot harder than it sounds to get a good score. Other exercises include memory match, monster garden, speed match, spatial speed match, colour match, lost in migration and chalkboard challenge.
Remember, however, that nothing worthwhile comes without effort. To get significant results from Lumosity, you need to play it regularly. That’s the way minds work. Repetition reinforces learning.
I have seen blog comments that Lumosity stopped requiring you to submit your card details when signing up for a free trial, but that wasn’t the case when I tried. Are you one of those people who are convinced they’ll forget to cancel before the end of the trial period? Isn’t that one of the problems you want to correct by using Lumosity?
Anyway, people who have signed up say that their cards were not debited until they had been prompted to sign up after the trial period was over. That’s certainly been my experience with other free trial offers on the net – I think you would have grounds for telling your card company that the payment was unauthorised if they didn’t ask for confirmation that you wanted to sign up.
Lumosity was created by Lumos Labs, a cognitive R & D company that builds software tools to improve brain health. Lumos was started in 2005 by Kunal Sarkar, Michael Scanlon and David Drescher, all of whom possess impressive scientific and/or business credentials. Lumos Labs also has a scientific advisory board comprised of some of the leading neuroscientists in the world.
