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!

High level of evidence for cognitive training

A recently published report funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reviews the extensive literature on cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease in search of factors that might delay or prevent these age-related conditions. Of all the factors reviewed, including diet and dietary supplements, physical exercise, social engagement, and other leisure activities, only cognitive training was found to have a high level of evidence for being associated with a decreased risk of cognitive decline. So, if you want to engage in activities that are known to be associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline, this report says that cognitive training is the only thing that currently fits the bill.

The nearly 800-page manuscript was prepared by the Duke Evidence-based Practice Center for the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This exhaustive report was created to support the NIH State-of-the-Science Conference “Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Decline.” The conference brought together health experts with specific expertise in aging and age-related changes in cognition to discuss the current state of knowledge related to treatments for age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. The report takes a very conservative approach to its evaluation of risk factors and potential treatments for age-related problems of cognition. In fact, only cognitive training was found to have a high degree of evidence for reducing the risk of age-related cognitive decline. Hundreds of studies were reviewed, and while many studies offered evidence that was suggestive of reducing risks, most were correlational, rather than experimental, in nature. For instance, some studies showed a relationship between eating a “Mediterranean diet” and reduced risk of cognitive decline. But these studies typically just ask people about their diet and correlate these factors to cognitive performance. Conversely, there have been several randomized, controlled trials that have shown improved cognitive performance through cognitive training. This higher degree of rigor earned cognitive training the “high degree of evidence” designation in this report.

Of course, that’s not to say you shouldn’t take care of yourself in other ways. Other factors such as a diet high in vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids, physical activity, and some leisure activities were found to be associated with a decreased risk of cognitive decline, albeit with a low level of evidence. In other words, these things are likely good for your brain, but the authors did not feel there was enough evidence to say so definitively. Given that most of these lifestyle factors are good for you in other ways, there’s certainly no harm in eating better, getting more exercise, or spending more time with friends and family. If you want to see how your lifestyle may be affecting your brain health, take our Brain Grade test.

This report is just another reason to make cognitive training — like Lumosity.com — a regular part of your brain health routine.

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!

Even mice benefit from brain training!

Working memory training has been shown to be effective in improving fluid intelligence in humans. Now, research out of Rutgers has shown a similar effect in mice. This finding in mice reinforces the idea that brain enhancement through neuroplasticity is generally possible among mammals, and it opens up exciting possibilities for future research.

Researchers trained mice on a task that exercised working memory and attention, and measured their ability to perform a range of mentally challenging tasks before and after training. The mice that received focused brain training improved on measures of generalized cognitive function compared to control mice with no training. The researchers, who recently published this work in the prestigious journal Current Biology, imply that you can think of these tests as IQ tests for mice. In other words, working memory training seems to have actually made these mice smarter!

For training, the mice needed to simultaneously remember two maze configurations, and be able to make their way through either one. The mice then completed several tests to measure the effect of the training on their intelligence and ability to learn. The training made the mice better at tests that didn’t involve mazes at all, like learning how to avoid an unpleasant stimulus.

So, as in brain training studies in humans, the mice didn’t just get better at what they were practicing – they also became generally more intelligent. This transfer of training is the gold standard in assessing the effectiveness of brain training. Transfer implies that underlying brain systems are fundamentally changed by the learning, and it’s not just that the subject learned how to take the test.

This kind of transfer has been shown many times in human studies — including transfer from speed of processing training to driving ability, auditory processing training to memory performance, and working memory training to fluid intelligence — but, this is the first such result demonstrated in a non-human animal. This is significant for a few reasons. First of all, it implies that improvement in general cognitive function with brain training is a fundamental capacity of the mammalian brain, not just a human trait. Also, this paradigm allows for research that is difficult to perform on humans. The environment of mice can be very carefully controlled, eliminating many of the confounding variables inherent in research on humans. Researchers can breed mice to have certain characteristics and even knock out certain genes and replace them with others. This opens up the possibility of testing the effects of brain training on conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease, for which there are mouse models. Many new avenues of research are opened by the demonstration of this effect in mice.

This result represents an important milestone in study of brain training! It reinforces what we already know — the brain is highly adaptable and can be improved with training, and it gives us new avenues to explore. We’re looking forward to seeing what this team comes up with next.

Joe Hardy, PhD

Targeted Cognitive Exercises Improve Mental Abilities

Training with cognitive exercises can improve targeted mental functions, conclude the authors of a review article published recently in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia.  The authors (Kathryn Papp and Stephen Walsh from the University of Connecticut and Peter Snyder from Brown University) reviewed ten randomized controlled trials involving cognitive training interventions in healthy adults published since 1992.  They find that specific abilities such as memory, reasoning, and speed of processing can be improved through targeted training programs.  This is an important conclusion, and it is consistent with the growing evidence in support of the effectiveness of cognitive training.

The authors point out that the benefits of cognitive training tend to be specific to the trained domain.  So, if you want improved memory — train on games designed to improve memory.  If you want improved attention — train with attention games, and so on.  The relationship to physical exercise is apparent.  If you want big biceps — do curls.  If you want ripped abs — do sit ups.  Lumosity was designed with these principles in mind.  This is why the site contains over 30 games targeting cognitive functions spanning speed of processing, memory, attention, flexibility, and problem solving — a complete gym for the brain.

It is also clear from this review that there is still much to learn.  Few of the studies have follow-up testing longer than a few months, and many of them lack measures of real-world benefits such as activities of daily living.  However, where longer follow-ups and real-world benefits are measured, benefits are seen to be long lasting and quite general.  For example, in the ACTIVE study of cognitive training in normal healthy older adults, benefits to activities of daily living are seen 5 years after the training intervention ended.

While there is still much to learn, the weight of the evidence is showing that cognitive training can be highly effective when properly designed and executed.

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?

Tell Us Your Story and Be Entered to Win a Lumosity Lifetime Membership

We love hearing stories about how Lumosity has improved our users’ cognitive abilities and changed their lives. If you have a Lumosity story to share, submit it here: http://www.lumosity.com/testimonials.

Here’s an example of a touching testimonial that we recently received from Dr. David Darbro. Dr. Darbro suffered from a stroke in 2005, and he now uses Lumosity to regain lost mental function.

“Imagine not being able to speak … you are driving home one night when suddenly out of the blue your speech becomes gibberish….then imagine what it would be like to not be able to remember what number comes after 1,2,3,4,…. That description describes what I experienced in 2005. A week or so after I went into atrial fibrillation I had a stroke that hospitalized me.

Ever since that time I have been working to regain lost mental function. Knowing that about my history hopefully allows you to understand my enthusiasm for your program. Lumosity provides me with a guide that is helping me restore lost cognitive function I suffered on that night in July 2005. Lumosity’s method for cognitive improvement contains games that are fun to take; challenge one’s mental performance; and at the same time encourage one to excel and outdo one’s previous best score.

It has been said that “no pain no gain” is as true in training the body as it is in training the brain. I believe there is some truth to that saying, and is why I work diligently taking these exercises daily and drive myself and sweat over them. The investment in time and effort required to blow out the mental cobwebs is yielding rewards. Exercising my brain to improve my mental status provides me with the confidence to go about my life. I know that nothing great is accomplished without hard work. And I also know that “if you don’t use it you will lose it.” I believe the Lumosity mental tests are keeping me from “losing it”. The tests aim at improving skill in attention, memory, speed, mental flexibility, and problem solving. These five basic skills are needed if we are to function well in today’s fast paced life. Not only am I regaining mental skills during my refreshing mental workout, but also my daily progress is documented. This documentation provides an objective measure of my brain’s healing. I can document the fact that I am regaining previously lost mental function. I am most thankful.

As a medical physician who is oriented to wellness I have a passion to help my patients and others regain lost function as I have done. Because mental functioning comprises a huge part of wellness I purpose to recommend your service to my patients and others. In short, the Lumosity method is a program of mental training that provides we members with a delightful way to prepare for whatever challenges life may have in store during our brief pilgrimage above sod. Thank you all for making this service available to us all.”

- Dr. David Darbro

Dr. David Darbro, Age 73

Tell us YOUR story! 

Submit your story by 11 PM PST on Saturday, October 31st, you’ll be automatically entered to win a Lumosity Lifetime Membership. One Lumosity Lifetime Membership will be awarded to one winner selected by a random drawing from all testimonials received during the month of October 2009. The winner will be notified via email by 12 PM PST on Friday, November 6th. This promotion is void where prohibited by law.

Working memory training changes the brain

By Gregory Kellett, a cognitive neuroscience researcher at SFSU and science writer for Lumos Labs .

It seems that working memory training may work by physically altering the brain. Stockholm Brain Institute researchers put healthy people through working memory exercises for 35 minutes per day over a period of 5 weeks. Changes in dopamine receptor density were measured with positron emission tomography (PET) before and after the training.

Following working memory training, they found:

• An increase in the density of dopamine receptors.
• An improvement in working memory performance.

The neurotransmitter dopamine plays a central role in working memory. This research implies that improving working memory performance through several weeks of training might work by increasing the quantity of dopamine receptors in the brain.

References:
Buschkuehl, M., Jaeggi, S. M., Hutchison, S., Perrig-Chiello, P., Däpp, C., Müller, M., et al. (2008). Impact of working memory training on memory performance in old-old adults. Psychology and Aging, 23(4), 743-53.

Dahlin, E., Neely, A. S., Larsson, A., Bäckman, L., & Nyberg, L. (2008). Transfer of learning after updating training mediated by the striatum. Science (New York, N.Y.), 320(5882), 1510-2.

McNab, F., Varrone, A., Farde, L., Jucaite, A., Bystritsky, P., Forssberg, H., et al. (2009). Changes in cortical dopamine D1 receptor binding associated with cognitive training. Science (New York, N.Y.), 323(5915), 800-2.