Publication Date:
2010-04-22
Description:
'Brain training', or the goal of improved cognitive function through the regular use of computerized tests, is a multimillion-pound industry, yet in our view scientific evidence to support its efficacy is lacking. Modest effects have been reported in some studies of older individuals and preschool children, and video-game players outperform non-players on some tests of visual attention. However, the widely held belief that commercially available computerized brain-training programs improve general cognitive function in the wider population in our opinion lacks empirical support. The central question is not whether performance on cognitive tests can be improved by training, but rather, whether those benefits transfer to other untrained tasks or lead to any general improvement in the level of cognitive functioning. Here we report the results of a six-week online study in which 11,430 participants trained several times each week on cognitive tasks designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention. Although improvements were observed in every one of the cognitive tasks that were trained, no evidence was found for transfer effects to untrained tasks, even when those tasks were cognitively closely related.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2884087/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉 〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2884087/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Owen, Adrian M -- Hampshire, Adam -- Grahn, Jessica A -- Stenton, Robert -- Dajani, Said -- Burns, Alistair S -- Howard, Robert J -- Ballard, Clive G -- MC_U105559837/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- MC_U105559847/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- U.1055.01.002.00001.01/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- U.1055.01.002.00001.01(80449)/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- U.1055.01.003.00001.01/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2010 Jun 10;465(7299):775-8. doi: 10.1038/nature09042.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK. adrian.owen@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20407435" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Attention/physiology
;
Brain/*physiology
;
Cognition/*physiology
;
Computers
;
Exercise/*physiology
;
Humans
;
Memory/physiology
;
Task Performance and Analysis
;
Thinking/physiology
;
Time Factors
Print ISSN:
0028-0836
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4687
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
