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Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

arstechnica.co.uk

21–30 of 79 posts

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#21

I am a lifetime member of lumosity for past few years. they used to have a beta-version game of "Dual-N-Back" which is the only one that might have some impact on brain. The irony is they removed it and keeping the useless ones; even keep modifying the UI of the same games again and again..

actually dual n back skills are also non-transferable.

[deleted]

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#22
post #19
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there are, they would be as difficult to recognize as germ theory to a 16th century doctor. We simply don't know enough yet about the mechanism.

You don't need germ theory to notice that washing your hands before performing surgery improves outcomes.

Yes, but you do need to start moving towards germ theory to understand why washing your hands with charcoal instead of soap results in dead patients again. Of course scientific theory and scientific observation are bootstrapped off of each other in the course of a dialectic, but raw statistics only get you so far until deductive work is required for the next steps, and the cycle repeats. It's easy to spot and distill in hindsight what is less obvious in the act; and when you've got as many variables as the human experience does, and as many ethical questions when you experiment with them, the process becomes all the more vague.

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#23
Slightly off-topic, but the pushback against brain training owes a huge debt of thanks to Randy Engle (and others), for loudly questioning the methods and rational of the early "become smarter by the magic of dual n-back" research.

Here's an article where he compares it to cold fusion: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/can-you-make-your...

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#24
post #20

Title should include "for healthy young adults" as in the study: "The researchers note limitations in the study, most importantly that they only looked at young, healthy people. Brain-training games may still prove useful for aging adults or people suffering from addiction or unhealthy behaviors, the researchers caution."

So, kinda like: "Adding a two mile walk every morning was found to have no health benefits[1]

[1] we only studied marathon runners"

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#25
On the other hand, things like exercise and learning a new language have pretty conclusively shown benefits when it comes to reducing symptoms of dementia and brain function loss. [0] [1]

If you'd like to improve your memory I suspect you'd be far better off studying the masters from Aristotle to Dominic O'Brien whose memory palace techniques seem incontrovertibly proven if you consider the techniques of the winners of the world memory championships. [2] [3]

Finally, meditation is not causally linked to higher levels of grey matter but the research seems promising [4]

(I tried to find decent links but being at work can't spend a significant portion of time on the post, these should be good starting points for anyone interested).

[0] - http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-... [1] - https://www.livescience.com/46048-learning-new-language-brai... (sorry for the ads, and I think it autoplays a video :( ) [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_memory [3] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_O%27Brien [4] - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150205142951.h...

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#26
post #24
post #20

Title should include "for healthy young adults" as in the study: "The researchers note limitations in the study, most importantly that they only looked at young, healthy people. Brain-training games may still prove useful for aging adults or people suffering from addiction or unhealthy behaviors, the researchers caution."

So, kinda like: "Adding a two mile walk every morning was found to have no health benefits[1] [1] we only studied marathon runners"

That is an incorrect analogy, because that claim would be about enhancing performance for peak performers.

This study shows that there is no basis for the claim that you can enhance performance of normal/healthy performers.

The researchers state the have insufficient evidence to determine the effect on low/unhealthy performers.

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#27
post #20

Title should include "for healthy young adults" as in the study: "The researchers note limitations in the study, most importantly that they only looked at young, healthy people. Brain-training games may still prove useful for aging adults or people suffering from addiction or unhealthy behaviors, the researchers caution."

"Brain-training games may still prove useful for aging adults or people suffering from addiction or unhealthy behaviors, the researchers caution.

Given the context of the article, this is an unscientific and immoral statement.

It is irrational to believe something is true or possible unless you have evidence for it.

If the researchers have a positive reason to believe brain-training games are a form of medical treatment for aging or addicted populations, they should state that. None of this "may" nonsense.

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dual N Back is a test of memory. Where is the evidence that practicing does anything besides decrease the accuracy of the test?

Here is the most comprehensive review of the DnB experiments I have ever seen: https://www.gwern.net/DNB%20meta-analysis

>This is the website of Gwern Branwen, writer & independent researcher. I specialize in psychology, statistics, and technology

forgive me if i don't take this meta-analysis seriously.

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#29
I dont think abstract games like luminosity work, but I think its fatalistic to assume that your intelligence is fixed at a certain point. You can no doubt expand your intelligence (not just knowledge) by expanding your horizons, but learning is a difficult process.

Re: Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

#30
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any that aren't bullshit? I'm debating just setting up a spaced repetition app with my own custom knowledge base. At least that way I may not be getting higher brain function, but higher retention on memory items I care about.

Spaced repetition absolutely works. I can literally see it in the statistics as clear as day. This is in addition to all the scientific evidences.

It absolutely works to improve your recall of the test items, but who knows if it improves your short or long term memory in general.

That is, does it make it easier to recall things that are not part of the spaced repetition training?

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