Games to Improve Brain Performance: Do They Really Work?

Many of us have seen ads promoting brain-training websites. They are all over the Internet and “brain fitness” is really popular right now. If you agree to pay an often fairly low membership fee, those websites will provide you with a brain training program that consists of games and exercises of all sorts, designed by neuroscientists to improve cognitive functions such as memory, problem solving, speed, etc. The results, supposedly, can be seen quickly and in many aspects of your life. But do these games really work? Does brain training really makes a difference?

The Brain: A Muscle

The theory of brain fitness relies on the principle that the brain, like the body, can be trained to become more fit, more powerful. If not properly trained, the brain can get “rusty” and lose some of its cognitive capacities. If trained, those cognitive capacities can increase. Brain training could even decrease the negative effects of aging and lower your chances at getting Alzheimer’s.

What does the scientific community think of that? Well, for the most part, scientists are not sure that brain training is effective at all. In an article published by Scientific American, psychiatrists P. Murali Doraiswamy and Marc E. Agronin say: ”Should you decide to try one or more commercially sold brain games, be forewarned that you may not see big improvements in your scores if you are already cognitively fit.”

The thing is: Brain games can contribute to “rehabilitate” people who suffer from cognitive disorders, such as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or hyperactivity, and can help decrease the negative effects of such disorders of the brain. But for a “normal” person with a “normally functioning” brain, the results are not conclusive. In fact, daily activities are challenging enough: watching an informative program on TV, socializing, doing physical exercise or reading a book is sufficient to keep your brain fit.

Prevention of Alzheimer’s: True or False?

In their article, Agronin and Doraiswamy also state that “no computerized brain fitness program has yet been proven to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease or even to make brain cells any younger at a biological level.”

Does it mean that exercising the brain does not have an effect on memory, that memory can’t improve? No, of course not. There are several exercises one can do to improve memory. But even an individual endowed with a sharp memory is not sheltered from Alzheimer’s, a mysterious, often genetically transmitted disease.

In Conclusion: Challenge and Train Your Brain Naturally

So are brain-training websites a scam? Should they be given up? Not necessarily. Although probably not as effective as they promise to be, brain games are not a bad thing. Truth is: It is never a bad idea to workout your mental capacities. But there are other ways to keep you brain’s shape up!

Spicing up your life with new and various challenges can be much more beneficial for your brain – and much more fun than those repetitive and, let’s say it, boring brain games. Taking dance lessons, learning a second language, learning to play an instrument, or simply making an effort to meet new people and visit new places, to get out of your daily routine are all great ways to keep your brain lively, alert and healthy.

Photo Credit

Image from The Microsoft Office Clipart Collection

Guest Author Bio

Mireille Mayrand-Fiset
Mireille is a travel, music and theater enthusiast. She wrote for the stage and television, and is now working as a freelance blogger for Standard Life, a specialist in annuity and retirements products in Canada.

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