Brain-Train to Fight Brain Drain (Lumosity)

[cbayer]

This is not an ad. I have no relationship with this company other than being a customer.

However, after researching this product and this company and using the free level for a while, I paid for it and I think it's the real deal.

Available for your regular computer, iPad or iPhone.

http://recode.net/2014/01/15/brain-train-to-fight-brain-drain/

By Katherine Boehret



Companies that make brain-training software programs and apps would love it if you had doubts, and they’re in luck: No one necessarily knows how well his or her brain can work.

For the last month, I’ve put my own head to the test so you didn’t have to. I’ve been using Lumosity, a popular training program from Lumos Labs Inc., to see if I can improve my cognitive functions like memory, speed, attention, flexibility and problem solving. I tested the free Lumosity app on an iPhone, then upgraded to the paid version of the app and its corresponding website for $15 monthly. Annual subscriptions usually cost around $80, but regular promotions, like one I was offered, cost about $52 for a year of Lumosity.

The results are in: My memory, speed and flexibility are in good condition, but my attention needs work, which is probably a common issue in our society of distracting gadgets. (I blame technology and the inane journalists who write about it.) I can honestly say that I felt like I was getting a bit sharper after using Lumosity for four weeks straight, and my personalized assessment reflected this.

Individual Lumosity results are tied to one’s Brain Performance Index, or BPI, which is a measure of cognitive performance based on how well one plays brain games.

more at link

[Warpy]

1. Magnetic fields have done an even better job

of reducing learning time and increasing application speed. You can't put magnets on your head to get those results, they're powerful electromagnets and targeted very specifically to the task(s) at hand. The military has used them to train drone operators and probably other specialty people.

We're in the infancy of neuroscience, the whole process delayed decades by the influence of Freud and his disciples.

[cbayer]

2. Lumosity uses the science of brain plasticity.

I don't know how that might relate, but it might if the results are similar.

But somehow I feel more "righteous" doing the exercises than I would putting magnets in my head, lol.

I don't agree at all that Freud slowed down neuroscience. So much of the understanding of the brain was thought to be hocus-pocus before him.

And I still think there is a significant area of "mind" that is amenable to psychotherapies.

[SheilaT]

3. I haven't tried it, so I know I'm speaking from ignorance,

but aren't there ways to exercise your brain without paying this money? Work crossword puzzles, learn a new language, take a class in something, learn a new skill. Read a book, an actual book rather than just skimming stuff on the internet (which I'm obviously doing right now).

The ads just tend to sound to me like some sort of self-serving promotion: Do our stuff so that you can get to do our stuff better.

[cbayer]

4. Yes, there definitely are other ways

And you can access this program for free as well (not as much per day, but still worth the time I think).

It's like any kind of exercise. You can get it doing all your chores, etc, but sometimes you benefit from just doing repetitive exercises.

Anyway, I like it and feel I am benefitting from it.

[SheilaT]

5. Well that's good.