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 Young adults recruited to use a commercial brain-training program
for 10 weeks got better at that program's specific tasks, but on a
standard test of so-called executive function - the brain’s ability
to regulate itself - they improved just as much as peers who had
played video games for 10 weeks.
People should be skeptical about what benefits they can gain from
brain training programs, said senior author Caryn Lerman, of the
University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine in
Philadelphia.
"They may need to manage those expectations a little better," she
told Reuters Health.
"Our laboratory at Penn has been focused for many years on
understanding why it is so hard for people to change habits and
behaviors that they know may increase their risk for certain
diseases," Lerman said.
The lab's research suggests there are certain factors that make it
easier for some people to quit smoking than for others, for example.
The new study aimed to examine whether brain training could modify
factors like executive function to change how people react in
certain situations and ultimately make healthier choices.
The researchers recruited 128 participants between 18 and 35 years
old who were split into two groups. While one group spent 10 weeks
using the brain-training program Lumosity five days a week for 30
minutes each day, the comparison group spent the same amount of time
playing online video games chosen specifically not to target
executive function or to increase the level of challenge players
faced.
Before the study started and after 10 weeks of online training or
gaming, all participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) scan to measure brain activity while they performed
assorted decision-making tasks.
The tasks tested whether the individual would choose smaller
immediate rewards or larger rewards later, and smaller rewards that
are guaranteed versus larger, less certain rewards.
The participants’ overall cognitive activity was also measured with
tests examining attention, memory and other abilities.
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After 10 weeks, there were no differences seen in the brain activity
scans between the brain-training and video-game groups, the
researchers report in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Both groups also experienced similar improvements on the standard
cognitive and decision-making tests over the course of the study.
In a statement to Reuters Health, a spokesperson for Lumosity said
the research's scope was narrow.
"There remain many open questions in the field - how, why, and in
what circumstances cognitive training is efficacious - and so
painting in such broad strokes potentially undermines this
important, ongoing research area," wrote Sara Colvin in an email.
"We remain committed to supporting quality research, regardless of
the outcome: every study can be built on, and they all move us
closer to answering open questions - in turn, improving the quality
of products available."
Colvin also said the company provides researchers - including those
who conducted the new study - access to Lumosity and some data
through its research network known as the Human Cognition Project.
Lerman also cautioned that the new study can't say whether brain
training would lead to differences for older people since her team
focused on young adults.
"If it was effective we’d expect to see it in younger participants
as well," she noted.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2tGPx15 Journal of Neuroscience, online July
10, 2017.
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