Brain Training

Posted by Adrian Cooper on 9 March 2011 | 0 Comments

Does Brain Training Really Work?

You may have seen the adverts – Helen Mirren playing on the Wii or Julie Walters having a go at the Nintendo. The latest buzz about video gaming is that it can help users protect against memory loss in later life.

These fun and relatively simple to use games - involve players doing mental arithmetic tasks as well as language tests and memory puzzles. The argument suggests that keeping ones braining active by playing these games is ‘brain training’. One of Nintendo's latest claims is that playing the game helps improve blood flow to part of the brain called the frontal cortex and thereby improve "practical intelligence". The new selling point is that these games actually help to’ train your brain’.

What is up for discussion now, is whether this is really is just a clever selling point or whether there is scientific proof that we can in fact ‘train our brain’ – and also from an educational perspective, assist with our learning.

Three academics, all of all of whom specialise in neuroscience, consulted by Which? said there was no evidence that an increased flow had "any functional impact on your life whatsoever." Nintendo came back with a very sensible response -  

"Nintendo does not make any claims that Brain Training is scientifically proven to improve cognitive function. What we claim is that the Brain Training series of games, like filling in a crossword or playing sudoku, are enjoyable and fun. These mental exercises can also help to keep the brain sharp, just like other similar activities, and this is a fantastic bonus."

Nintendo make a valid point.  Their theory makes sense: regularly exercising the brain with tests and puzzles may help improve brain skills and help people become better at everyday thinking task. Playing a suggested ‘brain training’ task on the Nintendo everyday must be more stimulating for our brains than watching an episode of Neighbours!   However, science begs to differ - Dr Jessica Grahn, a neuro-imaging expert at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, said: "What we are looking at with these brain scans is simply a measure of the energy that the brain is using while performing the tests, it does not constitute evidence that the brain is being trained, or indeed altered, in any way."

Perhaps brain training isn’t as simple as we’d like to make out. It certainly feels more productive to do a Soduku puzzle instead of watching neighbours (or Skins)! – but science seems pretty set on insisting that it has no value.

For more information on how to make up your own mind about ‘brain training’ keep your eye on the BBC news…  www.bbc.co.uk/news