Brain training games do not make you smarter
21 April 2010
Brain training games do not improve general mental ability according to a national study conducted by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in conjunction with the BBC’s science programme, ‘Bang Goes the Theory’. Details of the results will be shown at 2100 Wednesday 21 April in Can You Train Your Brain? A Bang Goes the Theory Special.
The brain training experiment was launched in September 2009 and is by far the largest ever clinical trial of computer-based brain training. 11,430 adults across the UK followed a six-week training regime, completing computer-based tasks on the BBC’s website designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention. Each person’s brain function was measured before and after training in four computer-based tests sensitive to changes in brain function, developed by scientists at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge.
The results showed no evidence that the benefits of playing brain training games transfer to other mental skills.
People who completed computer-based training exercises did improve at the games, but these improvements were simply due to practise and were no help to them on tasks on which they had not trained, even when they tapped into similar areas of the brain as those used during training.
Dr Adrian Owen, co-author of the research from the Medical Research Council said: “Brain training, or the quest to improve brain function through regular use of computer tests, is a multimillion pound industry, yet up until now there’s been a real lack of robust evidence to show it really works. Our findings will no doubt surprise millions of people worldwide who do some form of brain training every day in the belief that ‘exercising’ their brain makes them better at everyday thinking tasks. In one of our computer games that tests memory by assessing how many numbers could be remembered by players, we found it would take almost four years of playing brain training games regularly each week to remember just one extra digit!”
This was a full clinical trial that allowed researchers to investigate brain training as a means of treating or preventing degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The brain training experiment is now closed to new brain trainers. However, scientists are asking all trainers aged 60 and over to continue training for the full 12 months of the study so that they can carry out further research into the group most at risk from degenerative brain disorders.
The study involved experts from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, the Alzheimer’s Society and the BBC. The research is published in the journal Nature and was part-funded by the Medical Research Council as part of its ongoing commitment to advancing knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases.
Ends
Brain Training Tests
The benchmarking tests can be tried for free at http://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com
Notes to editors
1. For media queries please contact +44 207 637 6011 or email press.office@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk. The MRC Press Office’s out of hours mobile number is +44 7818 428 297
2. Details of the results were shown on BBC One at 9pm on Wednesday 21 April in Can You Train Your Brain? A Bang Goes the Theory Special. To find out more about the popular science series, Bang Goes The Theory (BBC One, Mondays, 7.30pm), visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/bang
3. For any queries relating to the BBC programme Bang Goes The Theory please contact: Victoria Asare-Archer, BBC Publicity on +44 (0)208 225 8399 / + 44 (0)7590 306826, victoria.asare-archer@bbc.co.uk.
4. Putting brain training to the test is published in Nature, 20 April, 2010.
5. For almost 100 years the Medical Research Council has improved the health of people in the UK and around the world by supporting the highest quality science. The MRC invests in world-class scientists. It has produced 29 Nobel Prize winners and sustains a flourishing environment for internationally recognised research. The MRC focuses on making an impact and provides the financial muscle and scientific expertise behind medical breakthroughs, including the first antibiotic penicillin, the structure of DNA and the lethal link between smoking and cancer. Today MRC funded scientists tackle research into the major health challenges of the 21st century. www.mrc.ac.uk
6. The Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge investigates fundamental human cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, language and emotion. Experimental techniques include state of the art brain imaging technology, neuropsychological studies of patient populations, computational simulations and behavioural experiments on healthy volunteers.
