Word Bubbles Rising Takes Verbal Fluency To New Heights

You know the type of person that’s always ready with a clever rejoinder, witty repartee, or a snappy comeback? The persuasive communicator that never has a problem with those tip-of-the-tongue moments where you just can’t remember the right word?

At one time or another, we’ve all wished we were quicker with words, but now you can play Word Bubbles Rising to boost your verbal fluency and improve access to your mental vocabulary when talking or writing. If you’re looking to improve your verbal abilities, or a fan of Word Bubbles and word games in general, give it a try!

Become a More Flexible Thinker With Disconnection

Ever stayed up late trying to find a creative solution to a tough assignment at work? Ever been in a situation where you’ve needed a new perspective to keep up with a constantly shifting challenge? Or maybe you’re looking to be better at the multi-tasking necessary for life in a world filled with cell phones, computers, and instant communication. No matter who you are, you could probably benefit from having better flexible thinking skills. That’s why we’ve created Disconnection, a new game designed to give those skills a boost.

To succeed at Disconnection you’ll need to connect puzzle pieces based on the symbol on each piece as well as the type of puzzle piece that symbol is on. Match them quickly enough and you’ll unlock new levels and new symbols!

What are you waiting for? Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Looking For A Memory Workout? Test Our New Games!

Gift lists, driving directions, the order of ingredients for Grandma’s spiced eggnog: the holidays can really test your memory! Why not spruce up your memory and help us put the finishing touches on two of our newest games at the same time?

Play Face Workout and Rhyme Workout, and then let us know what you think by clicking the link at the bottom of the score screen at the end of each game!

Two New Math Storm Games

Ready to give your arithmetic and quantitative reasoning skills a workout? Think you’ve mastered Addition Storm and Subtraction Storm? Make sure you’ve got an umbrella handy, and get ready for our two new Math Storm games.

For a limited time, Division Storm and Multiplication Storm are free to play for all members. What are you waiting for?

Coming Soon: More BPIs!

You’ve been playing our new Lumosity games, and we’ve been working behind the scenes to collect data and generate BPI (Brain Performance Index) scales for them. Now we’re gearing up to integrate some of our more recent games into the BPI system on our site.

So what does all this mean for you?

As you play some of our newer Lumosity games, you may notice adjustments to your overall BPI, brain area BPIs (such as Memory and Attention), attribute BPIs (such as Visual Field and Focus) as well as individual game BPI histories. For example, playing Memory Match Overload will now affect your BPI for that individual game as well as for the larger categories it is a part of. Lumosity subscribers can check their Memory Match Overload BPI history at any time by logging into lumosity.com, accessing “Your Profile,” clicking on the “History” tab,  selecting “Memory,” clicking the “Working Memory” attribute, and choosing “Memory Match Overload” from the drop-down box. Because Memory Match Overload is a Working Memory game, playing it will affect the BPI for the Working Memory attribute and the more expansive Memory category, as well as your overall BPI. You can check your category and attribute BPI history from the History section within “Your Profile.”

Don’t be discouraged if your overall BPI drops a bit after playing one of our newer games: like all Lumosity activities, practice will lead to improvement, and eventually, a higher BPI. We’ll be integrating games into our BPI system during the upcoming weeks, starting with Memory Match Overload.

We’ll make sure to update this post each time we add another game to our BPI system, so keep checking back!

And as always, if you’re curious about how we calculate BPI scales, or could use a refresher, you can learn more about it here.

UPDATE 12/07/09

BPIs have been added for Playing Koi and Brain Shift Overdrive. Why not play them now?

Intelligence Training Comes to Lumosity

Can you actually become more intelligent?  For years, neuroscientists thought that this basically didn’t happen.  According to this view, you can take in more information and learn new things, but you can’t really become “more intelligent.”  Recent research conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan shows that this old view is probably dead wrong.

Susanne Jaeggi, Martin Buschkuehl, and their colleagues at Michigan did a study looking at what happens when people play a challenging working memory task called Dual N-Back.  They found that after training on this task for 25 minutes a day for a few weeks, the young adults in their study actually scored much better on tests of fluid intelligence – the ability to creatively solve new problems.  Fluid intelligence is part of standard IQ tests, so we can say that these subjects actually increased their intelligence following this training.

The Dual N-Back training is now available (free for a limited time) on Lumosity!  We have worked closely with Dr. Jaeggi and Dr. Buschkuehl to create a version of the Dual N-Back training that replicates what was used in their earlier study.  And, we’re going to support their ongoing research by hosting the program which will be used in their studies of intelligence training going forward.

Try it for yourself, but be warned: this training is not for the faint of heart. It’s hard! But the effort is worth it. After you’ve started, why not share your experiences with other users in our dual n-back forum?

Rev up your arithmetic with Subtraction Storm

It’s raining cupcakes! But don’t worry, we brought enough to share. In Subtraction Storm, you’ll train arithmetic by solving subtraction equations and keeping the cupcakes from hitting the ground.

Give it a try and send some feedback our way; it’s free to all members for a limited time only!

Improve your Planning skills with Route to Sprout

What are you planning for? Whether you’re making arrangements for a trip to the grocery store, a weekend getaway, or a year abroad, chances are you’re making plans for something. But if we plan ahead so frequently, why do our best laid plans so often go awry?

From a cognitive perspective, “planning” can actually involve several brain attributes, including working memory, spatial recall, and logical reasoning. With all of these things in play, it’s no wonder that choosing your next few moves in a game of chess can seem like a monumental task.

That’s why we’ve designed Route to Sprout, a new game that challenges you to move a seed to its planting hole using the most efficient path you can find. If you take the time to figure out the optimal route, you’ll earn extra points and give your planning skills a workout at the same time.

Give it a try, and let us know what you think!