What is brain training? "Brain training is a simple but powerful way to enhance a student's core ability to learn faster, easier, and better. The brain processes information through a complex network of nerve cells called neurons. As we learn, groupings of neurons physically work together to accomplish learning or thinking tasks." (Online encyclopedia)
Does brain training make you smarter?
Forbes article by Jennifer Hicks claims so! (See first link). In this article, Jennifer Hicks explains how brain training improves cognition as we age.
Some excerpts from the Forbes article:
"As we age, our short term memory fades. This is less about our ability to focus our attention and more about our inability filter out surrounding distractions. New research from Neuron shows that when we learn (train our brain) to differentiate a sound between progressively more disruptive distractions, we reduce our overall distractibility. "
On the other hand, a recent article by Scientific American (See second link) points out with scientific studies - "Brain training doesn't make you smarter". This is a deep article and I request friends to read the full article.
Some excerpts from the Scientific American article:
"A meta-analysis cast further doubt on the effectiveness of brain training. Synthesizing the results of 23 studies, researchers Monica Melby-Lervåg and Charles Hulme found no evidence that brain training improves fluid intelligence. (A meta-analysis aggregates the results of multiple studies to arrive at more precise estimates of statistical relationships—in this case, the relationship between training and improvement in intelligence.) Jaeggi and colleagues have since published their own meta-analysis, and have come to the slightly more optimistic conclusion that brain training can increase IQ by 3 to 4 points. However, in the best studies in this meta-analysis—those that included a placebo control group—the effect of training was negligible."
"The bottom line is that there is no solid evidence that commercial brain games improve general cognitive abilities. But isn’t it better to go on brain training with the hope, if not the expectation, that scientists will someday discover that it has far-reaching benefits? The answer is no. Scientists have already identified activities that improve cognitive functioning, and time spent on brain training is time that you could spend on these other things. One is physical exercise. In a long series of studies, University of Illinois psychologist Arthur Kramer has convincingly demonstrated that aerobic exercise improves cognitive functioning. The other activity is simply learning new things. Fluid intelligence is hard to change, but “crystallized” intelligence—a person’s knowledge and skills—is not. Learn how to play the piano or cook a new dish, and you have increased your crystallized intelligence. Of course, brain training isn’t free, either. According to one projection, people will spend $1.3 billion on brain training in 2014."
I welcome views from Research Gate friends on this topic. Thank you.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2014/11/29/brain-training-to-improve-cognition-as-we-age/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-training-doesn-t-make-you-smarter/
The attached article in nature report the results of a six-week online study in which 11,430 participants trained several times each week on cognitive tasks designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention.
Although improvements were observed in every one of the cognitive tasks that were trained, no evidence was found for transfer effects to untrained tasks, even when those tasks were cognitively closely related.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7299/full/nature09042.html
Surely brain training makes on smarter because the ultimate guide for our daily activities is our brain. If the brain works well, we also work in a smart way.
Brain training helps a lot, it improves our abilities! But, I am not sure that we are getting smarter. To enrich this discussion, the article Brain Training Doesn’t Make You Smarter! Scientists doubt claims from brain training companies!...is attached!
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-training-doesn-t-make-you-smarter/
Indeed our brain is one of the complex muscles we have and it does serve well and continue to do so when it exercises and practices well continuously. It has an innate plasticity to augment its capacity with training to retain and process information either for young learning students or adult people to continue function well beyond the turning point of its highest power ( on the declining side of the parabola). In fact adult people somewhere around retirement age can function and live well with a well retained cognitive power if they keep training, testing and challenging their brain constantly so that they reduce substantially the decaying rate of knowledge they have.
The attached article in nature report the results of a six-week online study in which 11,430 participants trained several times each week on cognitive tasks designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention.
Although improvements were observed in every one of the cognitive tasks that were trained, no evidence was found for transfer effects to untrained tasks, even when those tasks were cognitively closely related.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7299/full/nature09042.html
Some people say that brain training, brain exercises, and memory games improve mental health and can reduce the risk of Alzheimer`s disease.
I believe, and up to the best of my knowledge, there is no significant effect of brain training on memory and other diseases.
Do you mean by "making you smarter" improving your ability to learn or giving yourself additional information? Potential or actuality? If neurons are like muscle tissue-- and no one can prove that they are-- then as dear Kamal says, use improves and disuse causes deterioration. I personally harbor the superstition that the more I use my brain-- in memorization exercises, in intellectual riddle-solution,-- the better I will be able to think in future. To my children and grandchildren I often speak of developing the mental muscles!
Eminent friends:
You may also kindly read the following article, which is related to my query:
"Neuroscientists speak out against brain game hype" (Science Magazine - 22 Oct 2014 - Emily Underwood - see link)
http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2014/10/neuroscientists-speak-out-against-brain-game-hype
Surly, brain training helps us to improve our abilities. I wish you could add another part to your question discussing the physiological mechanisms that help keep our brains healthy.
Dear Dr. Mohammad Hamad Al-khresheh - Thanks for your reply. I asked a general query only, and without getting into too technical analysis, though that will be also very nice and useful.
I have attached a link "Learning and Memory" (Chapter 7) written by John H. Byrne, Ph.D., Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, The UT Medical School at Houston, which gives a very detailed exposition on learning and memory of the human brain.
Some excerpts from this article:
"The analysis of the anatomical and physical bases of learning and memory is one of the great successes of modern neuroscience. This Chapter will discuss four issues that are central to learning and memory.
For answers to these central queries in Neuroscience, kindly see the enclosed link.
Muchas gracias!!
http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s4/chapter07.html
In my opinion, the answer to this question can not be unique ... There is something that will detect and people after us...
Lumosity is a series of games was designed by leading neuroscientists to challenge certain parts of the brain, and it’s backed by science from Stanford, Cal-Berkeley, and the University of Michigan. But the best part? The games are enjoyable, and it’s super motivating to beat our best scores as our brain gets more “in shape”.
- Memory
- Attention
- Speed
- Flexibility
- Problem Solving
http://www.lumosity.com/app/v5/personalization/memory
The whole set of games and application was developed for brain training! " In particular, it focuses on several aspects of brain training: brain training games, vocabulary builder, memory improvement, logic puzzles, and math tricks. The breadth of coverage is designed to focus on how these skills can make people smarter and how the products in these areas measure up to meeting these goals."
http://www.braintraininggames.net/
I belive in good results of brain training. In my case brain training helps.
Explanation: How Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter!
"Now, a new San Francisco Web-based company has taken it a step further and developed the first "brain training program" designed to actually help people improve and regain their mental sharpness. Called Lumosity, it was designed by some of the leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology from Stanford University.
Lumosity, is far more than an online place to exercise your mental skills. That's because they have integrated these exercises into a Web-based program that allows you to systematically improve your memory and attention skills. The program keeps track of your progress and provides detailed feedback on your performance and improvement. Most importantly, it constantly modifies and enhances the games you play to build on the strengths you are developing--much like an effective exercise routine requires you to increase resistance and vary your muscle use..."
http://www.howlifeworks.com/Article.aspx?art_id=1433
http://www.lumosity.com/landing_pages/970
Brain training is the hard process to crack . Our mind & brain we have brought with us at the time of our birth .Whatever our involvement for the mind & our brain is the natural process & to be considered as a gift at the time of our birth .
It is with this traits all human beings have a different understanding & intelligence also at different level . Whether believe it or not , at the time of our birth on the Mother Earth , we all have brought with us the resulting energy force of our previous birth & this is the very basic end that individual temperamental & other respect are totally different .
Brain training may be used has a psychic tech to find the witness,drawbacks ,behavior ,& understanding of the mind & brain . For mentally retarded individual such training may help them for the relaxation of the mind .
One thing is very much certain that Genius individual are born & any type of training to an individual cannot be changed & transformed to Genius .
This is my personal opinion
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