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Study finds Lumosity users show no improvements in cognitive performance

arstechnica.co.uk

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

#51

Post by ebbv »

kranner wrote: 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."

That's a stretch. There's no evidence to suggest that it will be beneficial for anyone. No matter how many studies you run you can always find a group that isn't covered by the study and say "Well it STILL might be helpful for Red haired, left handed people between 5'2 and 5'3 with 2 siblings of the same gender."

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

#52

Post by pkghost »

eagsalazar2 wrote: post #49

This is honestly kind of depressing to me. I've never used an app like Luminosity regularly but I like the idea that I could train my brain and improve my focus and memory. Neuroplasticity right? Well actually no :(

Neuroplasticity yes indeed; Lumosity users are at least getting better at Lumosity games. Generalization no.

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

#53

Post by SilasX »

Bartweiss wrote: post #42
SilasX wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Except - Luminosity has consistently implied and claimed they can boost performance in young, healthy people. That study of two mile walks for marathoners would suddenly be worthwhile if a popular, well-funded program claimed they could improve your marathon time with a two mile walk.

Alright, fair point, given Lumosity's claims.

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

#54

Post by basseq »

My wife is a PhD in applied cognition (field of psychology), wrote her thesis on improvements in working memory and attention, and is working on an early-stage business around better brain coaching[1]. (More of a 1:1 model than a tech stack.)

She has long stated that Lumosity is crap. For two three main reasons:

1. The "improvement" you see in playing Lumosity games is due to getting good at the game, not actually underlying improvements.

2. The games you do want to pursue need to to be strategic and challenge the mind. They need to be different, and involve complex scenarios. She likes Rise of Nations, by way of example. Flash minigames don't cut it (and neither do crosswords).

3. Brain games are 20% of a total set of activities that have an impact on brain health, the other 80% including physical exercise, diet, socialization, and lack of stress (mindfulness training helps here).

Anyway, fascinating stuff, and glad Lumosity's "bad science" and false claims are coming to the fore.

[1] http://brainevolved.com

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

#56

Post by rayalez »

jmcgough wrote: post #33

I spent three years of undergrad working on neurogenesis research - was actually able to show that voluntary exercise could help ameliorate memory deficits caused by a model of a neurodegenerative disease we'd induced in rats. A Luminosity recruiter contacted me after I left, and I asked for evidence that their research is actually helpful. They were very kind and passed along a number of studies that they'd done. I…

Can you share some more recommendations or advice on how one can increase neuroplasticity/neurogenesis?

Aside from the diet/exercise/socialization/meditation, what should people be aware of?

Are there some effective supplements/nootropics, or some promising research to look into?

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

#57

Post by notheguyouthink »

aklemm wrote: post #13
notheguyouthink wrote: post #3

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.

Why not just build stuff and solve real life problems with all your effort? That in itself is brain training AND productive at the same time.

I mean, I do that. I build stuff (programs) in my off-time to solve problems I have. Eg, home automation, storage solutions, lots of cli utilities, etc.

As strange as it sounds though, I think this has been making me more... dumb. Sure, I'm improving a subset of skills, especially computer science related with some of the more challenging projects, but I don't feel more intelligent. I forget things constantly, and frankly my knowledge of the world seems to just.. fade. I'm becoming so hyper focused that it's hurting me.

That's why I mentioned spaced repetition. Not only do I want to improve my general brain functions, but I especially want to improve my recall of specific things. So I'm using a distributed database of mine as a way to keep a life journal. Anything I forget, I want to add to this knowledge journal, and try to ensure that I keep things in my mind.

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

#58

Post by hmahncke »

b6 wrote: post #8

I have no idea what I'm talking about in this area, but the only brain games I've run into that I think might actually be helpful are the ones that are somewhat painful, e.g., BrainHQ. Definitely not fun. I start to sweat just thinking about some of the tasks in there.

I was involved in designing most of the BrainHQ tasks. They're supposed to make you sweat.

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

#59

Post by gwern »

copperx wrote: post #30
kiba wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I haven't seen any studies examining a broader transfer effect from spaced repetition. It seems unlikely - spaced repetition is just a hack of a normal memory mechanism for prioritizing factual knowledge, so why would explicit use of it have any generalized benefits? You are always being exposed to and remembering things, after all.

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

#60

Post by colorint »

seshagiric wrote: post #55

So in general is there any thing that does help improve cognitive performance?

Well, you'll want to start by zeroing in on exactly what you mean by "cognitive performance." The abstract of the study the linked article is about has this to say:

>Pre- and post-training, participants completed cognitive assessments and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance of validated decision-making tasks: delay discounting (choices between smaller rewards now vs. larger rewards in the future) and risk sensitivity (choices between larger riskier rewards vs. smaller certain rewards).

You could certainly imagine doing things to get better at these kinds of tasks---including practicing these tasks. Whether this gets at some kind of murky "cognitive performance" thing depends on how much you're into phrenology and dualism.

Since it seems like you want a scientific answer to this question, you'll always have to confront the realities of experimental design, and because of that, you'll have to nail down exactly what it is you're after. And "cognitive performance" isn't nearly specific enough.

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