The brain training industry is now well-established, and most people are familiar with claims that brain fitness is akin to physical fitness—do these exercises daily and your mind will sharpen up! But is there evidence that supports these claims? Can we distinguish apps that work f rom those that do not? What criteria should we consider when evaluating the effectiveness of a brain training tool?
Brain training apps, games, and programs are marketed as tools to improve cognitive abilities for many but also to stave off cognitive decline associated with age and even degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. These marketing claims assume that gains after training will transfer to cognitive function more generally. That is, training your mind on a game designed to help focus your attention will enable you to control your attentional focus in tasks outside of the game as well. This assumption is so pervasive that most people do not even consider whether skills trained using a given tool will transfer to real-world situations. But before we consider the evidence testing this assumption, it is helpful to distinguish tools designed to enhance function f rom those geared toward staving off decline.
Tools targeted at people who wish to improve existing abilities generally promise to improve cognitive functioning in school, work, or activities of daily living. In the education sector, some tools are marketed as fun games for kids, and promise a “leg-up” for school-readiness and future career success. Treatments marketed to working adults often highlight increased productivity and concentration as benefits of their programs. Some programs take a more wholistic approach to general brain health and market their product as a therapy to be used in conjunction with more traditional ways of maintaining health (i.e., balanced diet, exercise).