There's little we wouldn't do for a better brain performance, especially when we grow a little older and wiser and would like to improve our cognitive functions. According to a recent study, that is not entirely possible.
The topic of brain training gained tremendous popularity in 2014, when two groups of scientists published open letters on the matter. The first group, consisting of more than 70 scientists, had come to the conclusion that brain training program cannot be considered scientifically effective, while the second group of 133 scientists agreed that brain training can have a positive impact on our everyday lives and the associated tasks.
This new study was conducted as a response to the polarization of the topic, seeking to find an answer to an issue which drove two conflicting types of scientific consensus. The premise of this research is that previous conclusions were drawn using different types of evaluations, thus explaining the very different scientific visions on the same matter.
The research, carried by psychology professors at the University of Illinois, was published on Monday in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Its conclusions were unexpected, as they seem to have solved the issue of topic polarization. Based on the research, the scientists found that while brain training interventions can improve performance on the trained tasks per se — when extrapolating to other similar tasks much less to everyday cognitive activities — the performance doesn't show any sign of progress.
While the results are 'disappointing' when it comes to brain performance, as study co-author Daniel Simon said, the team of scientists also mentioned the lack of rigor in methodology when it came to the other studies published on the topic.
"Many of the published intervention studies had major shortcomings in design or analysis that preclude definitive conclusions about the efficacy of training, and that none of the cited studies conformed to all of the best practices we identify as essential to drawing clear conclusions about the benefits of brain training for everyday activities," the study explains.
Aside from drawing some dramatic conclusions on the limits of the human brain, the study also harmed businesses developed in the area of brain training and cognitive improvement. Lumosity, for instance, is liable to pay $ 2 million to settle FTC deceptive advertising charges for its brain training program. The company claimed to have created science-based exercises that would improve the everyday tasks on people using them. However, as it turns out, cognitive miracles are not that easily performed when it comes to targeting specific areas of the brain and improving their performance through exercises.
