I have always been in favour of the more pharmological approach to increasing cognition and never really believed in the brain training games - but people seem to suggest this lumosity site actually is valid - can anyone suggest, is it worth paying a subscription for? many thanks
Lumosity a gimmick or does it actually work
Started by
PrefrontalCortex
, Jun 09 2011 05:19 PM
3 replies to this topic
#1
Posted 09 June 2011 - 05:19 PM
I have always been in favour of the more pharmological approach to increasing cognition and never really believed in the brain training games - but people seem to suggest this lumosity site actually is valid - can anyone suggest, is it worth paying a subscription for? many thanks
#2
Posted 10 June 2011 - 12:00 AM
I have a lumosity subscription, and I believe that it has been beneficial; however, these things are very subjective. I don't want to come across as harsh, but I have seen very little evidence of any pharmacological product increasing cognition permanently. Some substances have been shown to do this in a controlled environment, but in practice they tend to fall short of expectations. Brain exercises; however, are widely known to be beneficial for cognition, but I would always advocate looking at the bigger picture. Exercise and proper diet seem to be highly beneficial when combined with brain exercises, and I have gotten more benefits from this than anything else. Just my two cents.
#3
Posted 10 June 2011 - 01:15 PM
It's not really up for debate, just make sure you are doing working memory games (which you could do for free elsewhere). They can help to increase your working memory slightly (.2 on a variance scale) for a long time frame. Doing physical workouts increases working memory moderately (.5 on same variance scale) for a shorter time frame. Doing difficult working memory games for about 20 minutes 3x a week and ACTIVELY concentrating works for me. Then exercising physically for 25 minutes 3-4 times a week can help executive functions significantly.
#4
Posted 10 June 2011 - 02:53 PM
I'm not sure why you don't believe in brain training games. As one poster aptly put it, nootropics without mental exercise is like steroids without physical exercise. Do you honestly not believe go/weiqi, chess, word puzzles, and dual-n-back improve mental function?I have always been in favour of the more pharmological approach to increasing cognition and never really believed in the brain training games - but people seem to suggest this lumosity site actually is valid - can anyone suggest, is it worth paying a subscription for? many thanks
I don't know if lumosity itself is "valid", I've never used that specifically so I don't know exactly how their games or program works. I mostly use freely available games.
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