Brain Train or Time Drain?

So What Makes a Good Brain Game?

"I would say that the exercises should be diverse and cover a wide range of cognitive functions and so this is the foremost requirement. They should also be challenging but not humiliating," said Dr Goldberg. "And they should be captivating. The pill should never be bitter. A sweet pill is more likely to be consumed than a bitter pill."

But improvements in test scores don't necessarily mean slowing down brain ageing or making you smarter, cautions Professor Snyder.

"Many of these products are teaching people how to solve particular puzzles, use new strategies, figure out hidden paths or what have you, and that's fine if they're enjoying it, that's great. If they learn something from it that's terrific too," he explained.

"But humans who are otherwise reasonably healthy get better at anything that they continue to practise, and these practice effects can look like you're actually reversing the signs of ageing."

Puzzling

Although brain training games are often equated to crosswords or Sudoku, Dr Goldberg feels they can offer more than their paper-based cousins. "There's a transition from paper and pencil culture to a software-based culture. And I think that software is much more versatile. You can do more, it's a much richer medium," he explained.

But can cognitive intervention software use the medium to get real results? A recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan suggests that maybe they can. A scientist there tested a tool that asks people to remember the shifting location of shapes and a sequence of spoken letters at the same time.

Volunteers who used the software over nineteen weeks demonstrated improved 'fluid intelligence' - or general problem solving ability - in separate tests. While it only involved 35 volunteers, this is one of few studies to demonstrate a transferable effect from one cognitive task to another. And a tool like this would be impossible on paper.

"It might be the case that the presentation of tasks via computer might allow for multiple routes of encoding and processing of information," commented Professor Snyder. "This might confer benefits in 'exercising' and further developing fluid reasoning skills."

"But as of this moment, there isn't a large amount of convincing data to support this as a clinically-relevant bonus in the elderly - just a very tiny handful of suggestive studies."

All Aboard the Brain Train

So while evidence that brain training games can really slow down brain ageing might not yet be apparent, the industry seems certain to grow. In the US alone the consumer market is estimated to have jumped from a few million dollars in 2005 to USD 80 million in 2008. But why now?

"As we age we notice mild changes in our memory, word finding abilities and name recognition which are normal and expected. For most of us who are used to not having any such changes at all, even if they're slight it's something that's very bothersome," Professor Snyder explained.

"We have an ageing population that's living longer, that's very interested in maintaining quality of life, and who would do whatever it can to protect that," he said, adding that the compelling nature of brain training games only adds to their success.

"It looks like it should work. It feels like it should work. And so the market is, I think, just going to grow and grow."