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Study suggests Brain Training games don’t work

Dr. Kawashima is a ‘dream merchant’

Study suggests Brain Training games don’t work

The Times has been taking a look at a report by French professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Rennes, Alain Lieury, whose latest study disproves the effects of brain training games such as Big Brain Academy and Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training.

The study was performed with 67 ten-year olds split into four study groups. Two performed daily brain training exercises on a Nintendo DS, one group performed similar exercises using a pencil and paper, while the last group carried on their school work as normal without the extra mathematical and logical puzzle solving Nintendo claims improve brain and memory functions.

The results showed that the DS users experienced a 19 per cent improvement in mathematical problem solving, exactly the same as the paper and pencil group did. Those undergoing no form of exercise noticed an 18 per cent increase.

When it came to memory tests, however, the DS groups demonstrated a 17 per cent drop in test scores, while pen and paper users increased by 33 per cent.

Professor Lieury - who coincidentally has a book coming out this month on the subject of stimulating your brain - brands Ryuta Kawashima (designer of the DS Brain Training game) as “one of a long list of dream merchants”.

In a statement to The Telegraph, Nintendo defended its games, stating that it had never claimed the games were scientifically proven to improve cognitive function.

Looks like memory and logic problems run deep within the cognitive sciences industry, too.

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.