The term “brain training” became popular in the early 2000s with companies such as Nintendo and Lumos Labs marketing brain training videogames to the public. Other brain training programs, such as Cogmed, are marketed to health professionals and schools. Either way, many of these companies make the same assumption: by training a very specific cognitive/mental ability (e.g., working memory) you can improve performance in a related area in daily life (e.g., reading). For example, if a brain training game has you practice holding strings of numbers in your mind that increase in length over time, then this should improve your ability to hold other kinds of information in your mind such as facts from something you have read.
Is this how the brain works?
On the one hand, it is true that researchers have found measures of cognitive performance, such as working memory, are related to outcomes such as higher academic and professional success. Remembering basic math facts while problem solving will make math homework or budgeting or project management more efficient. The brain training companies have taken this relationship between higher cognitive performance and positive outcomes a step further to argue that training a specific cognitive ability in one area will lead to improvements in a wide range of skills and abilities in daily life. It makes sense on the surface. If you have a weak working memory, then increasing working memory should make memory tasks easier and much of daily life depends on what you remember long enough to accomplish what is necessary.
Unfortunately, this assumption ignores several facts. First, multiple factors are often at work in a person’s life which contribute to successful (or unsuccessful) outcomes, and secondly, practicing one specific skill does not necessarily improve other skills. An individual can have improved cognitive measures and still struggle with school or a work environment when other factors interfere. Emotional dysregulation, past trauma, poverty, lack of opportunity, second language proficiency and others can easily overshadow gains in cognitive performance. Strengthening a weak working memory in hopes of improving math fact skills will be of limited value if a child is hungry, can’t properly read the math instructions or is unable to analyse the math problem.
What are the problems with brain training research?
Specific brain training and reporting on its wider outcomes is also hampered by several issues. The majority of brain training research is full of poorly executed studies, with small sample sizes, and lack of control for things like participant expectations and placebo effects. Many studies measure outcomes on other related measures of cognitive functioning such as visual-spatial reasoning, processing speed, or working memory rather than on the real-world outcomes that people care about improving, such as reading or general attention span.
What are the alternatives to brain training?
Currently, brain training is an indirect approach to improving a skill or ability by practicing a somewhat related skill. Until we have the technology to actually generalize brain training tasks to a wider range of skills in daily life, it would be better to directly practice and reinforce the skill that you want to improve.
Given what we know from research about learning and memory, it is recommended to use specific strategies for specific outcomes. Engage in relatively short but frequent practice sessions to learn and remember new information, such as when studying for an exam. Depending on the task, include visual reminders and organizers such as checklists, to-do lists, timers, and outlines that help us organize and remember important information. It’s even better if we can also use humour and personal connection to enhance our efforts.
For individuals who have identified learning disabilities and/or ADHD, approaches may also include receiving explicit literacy instruction from a trained professional to improve reading, working with an academic strategist to target specific learning behaviours or consulting with your doctor to find the right medication to help manage ADHD symptoms.
Consider that the time and money spent on brain training takes away from interventions and strategies that are actually proven to work in improving skills in daily life. With limited time and resources, we want to make sure that we spend our time and money on evidence-based approaches that produce real-world results.
