Here at Lumosity we’re deeply interested in the real-world applications of cognitive training, and we often hear from users who wonder whether cognitive training may improve their performance on the job. So far, there are just a few examples of cognitive interventions targeted to improve job performance.

One example is a 2008 study published in Disability and Rehabilitation by Wagner et al. of the Johannes-Gutenburg University in Germany. In Wagner’s study a group of middle-aged employees with mild cognitive impairment underwent a cognitive-training program targeted to improve memory performance. Following the intervention, this group’s memory performance improved significantly compared to the control group. Additionally, the experimental group reported improved work-related attitudes. Wagner’s training program differs significantly from the computerized cognitive exercises you’ll find on Lumosity.com: it involved group training at a test center in addition to at-home exercises, and also included training on memory strategies.

Considering these differences, how might the cognitive training on Lumosity.com be useful for workplace performance? Multiple studies have found Lumosity training to be effective in improving core cognitive capacities such as working memory and attention. Proficiency in these crucial functions has been correlated to manager ratings of workplace performance; for example, a 2007 study from Harvard psychologist Daniel Higgins published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that scores on tests of prefrontal cognitive functions like working memory were highly predictive of workplace performance in positions that require higher-order thinking.

So if a new job or promotion is on your wish list for 2012, why not put in some training time with popular working memory exercises like Memory Matrix or Playing Koi? And if you’ve found that Lumosity has given you a boost in your job search or workplace performance, comment and tell us your story!

Sometime later—it could be weeks, days, or even just minutes—you run into that person again. And even though you might vividly remember that first meeting—who introduced you, what clothes were worn, what was spoken about—you just can’t seem to remember that name. If this embarrassing situation is something you can relate to, don’t think you’re alone: people of all ages can have difficulty remembering names, though these deficits tend to increase with age.

Fortunately, multiple studies have found that face-name recall can be improved following cognitive interventions. For example, a 1990 study published in Developmental Psychology found that older adults were able to significantly increase their ability to remember face-name pairs following a training regimen. If you’d like to improve your face-name recall in time for the holiday season, here are some tips to get you started:

Repeat names after hearing them

Active recall—writing out a word or phrase you want to remember, or answering it in response to a question—is a well-known strategy for memorization. For example, if you have a photo of the person whose name you want to remember, try writing his or her name on the back and quizzing yourself. You can also write out questions for each person you met, e.g. “I met this person who works in accounting and has brown hair at the company party.” Quiz yourself periodically.

Pay attention during introductions

When your attention is divided between different tasks and stimuli, it’s more challenging to remember a piece of new information like a name. Try to take a moment to shake off other distractions and focus on the person you’re meeting during an introduction.

Train with face-name recall exercises

Lumosity has two engaging games that you can use to exercise your face-name recall abilities. In Familiar Faces, you play a waiter taking orders at a series of bustling restaurants. You’ll need to remember customer’s name to keep them happy and get a larger tip. In Name Tag, you’ll need to remember which names match which faces and connect each name tag to its accompanying photo.

These games give you a great memory workout whether or not you’re keen on improving your face-name recall abilities in particular. Why not try them now?

What is Verbal Fluency?

At its core, Word Bubbles is a verbal fluency exercise. Verbal fluency refers to your ability to quickly access your mental vocabulary, selecting appropriate words for use while talking or writing. If you’ve ever struggled with a word on the tip of your tongue, searched for a witty comeback, or failed to persuade someone, you understand just how important verbal fluency can be.

You may have taken a verbal fluency assessment at some point in your life. In these tests the facilitator would ask you to write or say as many of a certain type of word as you can think of in a given period of time. These tests can assess your semantic fluency (fluency with words that belong in a certain semantic category, such as animals or foods) or your phonemic fluency (fluency with words that begin with a particular letter or sound). Because Word Bubbles challenges you to construct words that start with a particular three letter root, it falls in the latter category.

Training Verbal Fluency

Unlike some of the other cognitive abilities targeted on Lumosity.com, research has shown that verbal fluency performance remains relatively stable throughout much of adulthood. At the recent Entertainment Software and Cognitive Neurotherapeutics Society (ESCoNS) meeting in San Francisco, Lumosity scientists presented data from over 80,000 users who trained with Word Bubbles. Here’s a chart of how verbal fluency performance differed:

Lumosity members in both their 20s and 30s had identical baseline performance on the verbal fluency task. And even users in their 40s and 50s experienced less of a decline in verbal fluency baselines compared to decline in other core functions, such as processing speed.

This chart shows that every group, regardless of age and baseline scores, improves significantly after training with Word Bubbles. This should come as good news for anybody who’s had a tip-of-the-tongue moment or knows a term paper is coming up: no matter who you are, you can improve your verbal fluency performance with training.

Improving verbal fluency isn’t just about a glib tongue, however. Verbal fluency is often used as a metric in neuropsychological batteries for crystallized intelligence, or how well you can access and use information stored in long-term memory. A great deal of evidence suggest that crystallized intelligence improves throughout one’s lifespan—meaning that trained improvements will stick with you.

Effortful, mentally stimulating activity like Word Bubbles can give you a leg up in improving verbal fluency. So if you’re interested in enhancing this important skill, don’t wait! Train with a session of Word Bubbles—or, if you unlock full access, the popular sequel Word Bubbles Rising—today!

Some investigators looked at how commercially available games—think Tetris or Unreal Tournament—impacted cognitive functions such as tone discrimination or binocular vision in patients with amblyopia. Other researchers used cognitive training to target face processing or auditory skills. But another study came out of that same meeting with a subject that might surprise you, and it made use of the cognitive training on Lumosity: Dr. Anett Gyurak of Stanford University presented fascinating new research that used Lumosity training to target the skills necessary for emotional well-being.

Dr. Gyurak’s presentation included two studies: one with healthy adults that underwent Lumosity training to target executive functions, and another with subjects with Generalized Anxiety Disorder/Major Depressive Disorder. Participants underwent a combined training regimen that targeted executive function and also used a separate training program to target emotional processing.

Executive function refers to the brain processes involved in planning, impulse control, and abstract thinking, while emotional processing refers to to the ability to tune into positive information. Both these skills have been linked to successful social interactions and emotional well-being. Dr. Gyurak’s intervention included 30 days of Lumosity training in healthy adults and 30 days of a training regimen that combined Lumosity games and emotional processing games for patients. She utilized a variety of pre/post tests that show positive impacts from training: healthy adults in the training group demonstrated reductions in anxiety and depression, and increases in beneficial emotional processing. Patients also experienced similar benefits in symptom reduction.

Further research is necessary to determine the full extent of these transfer effects and real-world behavioral changes. And while it’s too early to say that cognitive and emotional processing training can help you be better at relationships and personal interactions,  the link between emotional well-being and certain skills that Lumosity targets—including attention, executive function, and working memory—makes this a fascinating topic for further study.

Jaeggi and Buschkuehl’s research found that only individuals who improved significantly in a training task also experienced transfer on a measure of fluid intelligence. Such training improvements, which are a useful proxy for cognitive plasticity, can fluctuate widely from individual to individual. Unfortunately, the factors underlying these individual differences are not widely known. A great deal of training data, coupled with demographic data such as gender, age, and education, is required to begin approaching an answer. Fortunately, Lumosity scientists can draw on the world’s largest database of human cognitive performance and begin to answer this difficult question.

On September 20th, 2011, researchers from Lumos Labs did just that when they presented findings from a study of the influence of age, gender, and education on cognitive plasticity at the Entertainment Software and Cognitive Neurotherapeutics Society (ESCoNS) Meeting in San Francisco. By examining training improvements in over 86,000 individuals who played Word Bubbles at least 25 times, Lumos Labs scientists were able to identify differences in baseline performance — as well as differences in gains from training — between demographic groups.

Their results are of interest to anyone wondering how much they stand to improve through training. Most importantly, all groups were able to improve significantly after practicing Word Bubbles. However, there were significant differences in the total amount of improvement  between users different of ages, genders, and education levels. For example, although individuals in their 20s and individuals in their 30s started with similar baseline performance, individuals in their 20s experienced larger training gains.

These findings have important implications for both the research community and individual Lumosity users. For researchers, the data should spark new questions about why individuals in different groups experienced differences in training gains — and whether those differences could be equalized through a more targeted training program. For Lumosity users, who are as diverse demographically and geographically as the 86,000 individuals examined in the study, it means that Lumos Labs is studying these results closely in order to craft the most effective and most personalized cognitive training possible.

And remember, all our research starts with the 300+ million data points gathered from user activity on Lumosity.com! Start training to contribute to our large-scale efforts to make Lumosity training the best and brightest it can be.

When science teacher James Trainer of the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) began to prepare for his summer school session in July, he looked for new technologies that would give his students a chance to improve their critical thinking and problem solving skills. DSST is one of the highest performing schools in Colorado, a rank it achieved by being results driven—and so Jim also knew he’d have to be able to quantitatively evaluate the success of the technology he implemented. As with most schools, budget was definitely an issue. And so, joining an increasingly large and diverse body of hundreds of educators around the world, Jim decided to apply for Lumosity’s Education Access Program (LEAP).

LEAP gifts teachers with up to 50 6-month Lumosity memberships to be used in class with their students. In exchange for valuable feedback and research data about student performance in Lumosity training, LEAP teachers have an opportunity to run pilot studies of cognitive training in their classrooms at no charge to schools. Since LEAP’s launch in 2009, the program has given thousands of students from dozens of schools around the world an opportunity to develop core cognitive functions through online training.

After Jim’s detailed and well-thought-out protocol document clinched him a spot in the program, his students spent July completing Lumosity training in addition to their coursework. The students also completed a comprehensive battery of cognitive assessments as pre- and post-tests. Though the school will need time to fully assess the impact of Lumosity training, the before-and-after snapshots of cognitive performance are compelling: Jim’s students experienced significant overall improvements.

The promising data came packaged with some glowing personal anecdotes as well. Most students reported that they felt they had benefited from Lumosity training. Jim’s own praise for Lumosity sums up the positive sentiment:

“Our students at the Denver School of Science and Technology loved using Lumosity over the summer.  You could see them get into tracking their scores and improving their performance.  We had a competition between students and teachers and the students were thrilled to beat the teachers in some of the games.  Students overwhelmingly reported that they felt smarter in other classes because of what they did on Lumosity.”

With such successes under its belt, Lumos Labs is excited about the possibility of conducting further controlled studies with the Denver School of Science and Technology and will continue to analyze the results. And while DSST looks forward to future Lumosity-assisted classroom activities, other schools are just beginning their own LEAP experiments: the latest round of LEAP acceptances have just gone out for the fall semester! This application period, the most selective in LEAP history, saw more than 150 schools applying for a limited number of spots. Institutions from over two dozen countries made this fall’s LEAP student body the most geographically diverse yet: applications flew in from the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Sweden, Norway, Egypt, India, China, Australia, the UK, Canada, the UAE, Bangladesh, Denmark, Malaysia, Turkey, Sudan, New Zealand, Bahrain, Italy, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, and Jamaica.

If you or an educator you know is interested in participating in LEAP this spring, here’s the link to the online application! Applications are due November 15th and schools will be notified by December 1st if they are accepted. Note that Lumos Labs is especially excited to work with schools that are able to include control groups as part of their pilots.

And if you’re not closely tied to a classroom, remember that the LEAP results have implications far beyond students: cognitive training can benefit anyone, regardless of age or occupation. Take note of the surprising enthusiasm for learning that Lumosity can spark—and so whether you’re an educator or elementary schooler, former student or current college co-ed, why not grab at the opportunity to brighten your mind? Try some training for yourself today!

“You have to train your mind like you train your body.”

Regulars on the Lumosity blog will recall seeing advice like this before, but the above quotation is something different. Though many have likened cognitive training to exercise, Olympian Bruce Jenner was actually referring to mental training as a means for improving athletic performance. With seasons starting for football, basketball, and other sports, we’ve received many inquiries from our users about how cognitive training with tools like Lumosity can help people become better athletes.

As it turns out, researchers have long investigated mental training’s influence on a wide variety of sports and athletic pursuits. Scientists at the University of Calgary studied how training elements of visual attention could improve free-throw performance on the basketball court, and researchers at the University of Central Oklahoma looked into visual training’s ability to improve volleyball performance. With athletes and coaches looking for every possible edge, it’s no surprise that there are dozens of studies devoted to cognitive training and sports performance that target everything from soccer and cricket to golf and tennis.

Many of our users have written in testifying to Lumosity’s abilitity to give them an edge in their favorite sport. One such user, Montreal-based boxer Sylvera “Sly” Louis, was the focus of an article on brain-training and exercise in USA Today just last week. The article attributes Louis’s impressive comeback—from 625th in the world to top 200—to a training regimen with some unusually non-physical elements: “Louis spent countless hours on Lumosity, a brain-training program from Lumos Labs that includes 35 games and exercises aimed at increasing alertness, sharpening memory skills, improving concentration, and thinking faster. The boxer says he improved his reaction times. ‘Every little moment matters,’ Louis says.”

Other Lumosity users describe similar improvements. Triathlete Johnson Jia of British Columbia pairs his Lumosity training with swimming, biking, and running. Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell uses Lumosity on his smartphone and says he does it to “keep my brain sharp.” Lumosity users even include former Olympians: cyclist Gennry Robic, who competed for Canada in the Seoul and Los Angeles Olympics, says “I exercise my body, now it is also part of my routine to exercise my brain and it feels GREAT!!!”

So if you’re an athlete thinking about using Lumosity to get that competitive edge this season, rest assured that you’re in good company. And if you’ve already discovered ways in which Lumosity has improved your game, reply to this post and share your own success story!

Observation Tower challenges you to build the tallest structure possible by correctly identifying the order of a series of numbered circles. Be sure to pay attention: the numbers will flash briefly and then you’ll need to click on the discs in their numerical order. Succeed and you’ll construct taller and taller towers — maybe even the tallest in the world.

Can you surpass the Giant Sequoias? The great Pyramids? Play Observation Tower today and find out for yourself.

And be sure to comment and let us know what you think!

Very – at least according to the scientists and educators who attended a recent summit on education and the brain. Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel, for example, contended that “the whole function of education is to alter the brain.” The audience must have agreed, because the conference overflowed with scientists sharing findings on learning and cognition with educators similarly interested in exploring how this research could help students of all ages.

Here at Lumosity, we agree with this belief. That’s why we strive to take the latest neuroscience research out of the lab and into the classroom (not to mention the home and office). We have over 14 million users from around the world, many of them students, and we’re committed to improving their ability to learn and process information. In a study involving 93 middle school students from an Oregon Public School, for example, individuals who completed Lumosity training improved twice as much as the control in measures of math and reading achievement.

Studies like this demonstrate the positive role cognitive training can play in education, and we’re excited to continue supporting such research. At the same time, though, we recognize that most students in K – 12 programs around the world have limited access to cognitive training.

That’s why we’ve introduced the Lumosity Education Access Program (LEAP). This initiative provides educators with Lumosity memberships for their students, and is open to private and public school students in 3rd through 12th grade. There are currently 63 schools and 3000 students from the United States, Mexico, Australia, and South Africa enrolled in the program. Educators incorporate Lumosity into their curriculum at their discretion, typically as a free-play activity or extracurricular option. We encourage educators to share feedback about their students’ general academic performance before, during, and after training with Lumosity. (Feedback is anonymous and cannot be connected to a specific student.) We then incorporate this feedback into the research and development of future cognitive exercises and programs.

So far we’ve had great feedback from the LEAP program. Herbert Pindar, an educator in the Alachua County Public School system, declares that “I’ve been using this in my class for the past 5 weeks as well as with students that I tutor.  I have been getting some really great results.  I have been able to see where individual students have challenges and have been able to give personalized assistance to each student based upon my findings.” Mike Baker, a computer teacher in the South Side School District of Hookstown, Pennsylviania, said “When kids are in school all day, they become ‘brain dead.’ They are mentally exhausted. But after 10 minutes with Lumosity, students are recharged and re-focused. LEAP has been a wonderful, encouraging experience for the students and for me. I believe Lumosity can benefit all students and offers both immediate and long-term results.”

If you or someone you know is an educator who could benefit from the LEAP program, we invite you to apply using our online application system. Or, if you’re a parent or grandparent thinking of providing Lumosity for your kids, see if one of our family plans is right for you. The LEAP program is just one more example of how Lumosity is helping people around the world — of all ages and backgrounds — live a smarter, brighter life.

Now that Lumosity has 14 million members around the world, we wanted to map a different trend that has been emerging in an equally fascinating way. The above image represents, in number of members, the top 900 Lumosity cities in the US, the top 40 Lumosity cities in Latin America, and the top 200 Lumosity cities in the rest of the world. From Bogota to Chicago to London to Doha to Mumbai to Hong Kong to Sydney, this map shows that people in cities worldwide are taking an interest in improving their cognition.

In just a few short years, something amazing has happened. Here’s a map that shows Lumosity members by country (in thousands) in 2008:

In 2008 you can see interest in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. But by 2009:

In 2009 there are also significant populations of Lumosity members in Brazil, South Africa, India, and Europe. And then in 2010:

By 2010, most of Latin America has significant Lumosity membership. And finally, that brings us to 2011:

It might not be a view of the earth’s sky at night, but these maps show the world getting brighter all the same.