Lumosity.com ? 

As an usual surfer on youtube, you’ve probably seen the ad about Lumosity many times already. I’ve seen it so much that I can recite their ads’ slogan by now: “Any brain can get better, and Lumosity can help. It’s like a personal trainer for your brain, improving your performance with the science of neuroplasticity. But in a way, it just feels like games. Start training with lumosity.com right now and discover what YOUR brain can do.” As I was thinking about what to write about for my next blog test, I figured it’s time I do some extensive research about this magical thing called Lumosity that I encounter almost everyday on Youtube. For those who aren’t familiar with it yet, Lumosity.com is a website that offers a large series of online brain training games that anyone can sign up for and you can choose the dimensions that you wish to improve on such as memory skills, problem solving skills, etc. I never really believed in these mind-training games because I do not believe that one can easily improve their IQ but as absurd as it may sound, Lumosity has grown increasingly in popularity and many people are now using this program. Apparently the founder of Lumosity even quit finishing his PhD degree in neuroscience to become a full-time business man in this innovative program he had co-founded.

The question is, with all these users spending large amounts of time and money playing these games everyday, does Lumosity really help increase one’s IQ ? A research conducted in 2008 has proven that playing memory related games does not lead to any increase in human intelligence. In another study conducted during 6 weeks, brain-training games only increased fluid intelligence in subjects but there were no increases found in the general intelligence. In fact, what has been proven to increase “short-term memory and reasoning” were conventional video games. The article makes an interesting point by stating the fact that we usually consider playing video games as a waste of time but we’d rather spend not only time but also money on brain-training games that in reality doesn’t lead to any benefits at all.

Companies like Lumosity are making tremendous profits by selling their brain training programs. And parents are usually very willing to invest in these trainings in order to enhance their children’s academic performance. As entertaining as it may seem, Lumosity hasn’t been proven to be able to improve human intelligence. Further research is needed to fully evaluate different dimensions that Lumosity offers to help users train in their designed programs.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/apr/21/brain-training-online-neuroscience-elizabeth-day