Do Brain Training Games Work?

Despite the hype, when science meets commerce, objectivity is often the loser

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I'm tapping away at my laptop as colored shapes appear onscreen. I'm supposed to hit the right arrow key—and fast—if the new shape matches the previous one and the left arrow key if it doesn't. Next, in a test of attention, I'm throwing switches on virtual tracks to direct colored trains into appropriately colored stations. It's a little trickier but not much more interesting; I get bored, and my mind wanders. Suddenly, I have two trains about to roll into the wrong stations, with more emerging all the time. It does not end well. I am determined to redeem myself, and I start the next game with clenched teeth. Grids of squares appear, some of which briefly change their shade, and I have to remember their positions. The grids get larger and harder to take in as I play, but I rack up a big score anyway. Final verdict: I'm in the 92nd percentile for memory, the 80th percentile for speed—and the 13th for attention. I suppose the problem lack of attention, but it didn't help that I am color-blind.

I have just taken Lumosity's Fit Test, a free online assessment and lure for new customers. Lumos Labs, which created the Lumosity program, is one of the biggest players in the rapidly growing “brain-training” industry, alongside outfits with such enticing monikers as CogniFit, MindSparke, Cogmed, HAPPYneuron, Posit Science and Jungle Memory. Market research firm SharpBrains estimates global spending on brain health technology, including both software and “biometrics” such as electroencephalogram headsets, was around $1.3 billion in 2013, up from $210 million in 2005. It predicts that the figure will hit $6 billion by 2020.

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