Brain Training: What Works & What to Look For

The basics

What Is Brain Training?

Think of brain training as a workout for your brain: targeted practice that challenges specific cognitive processes — memory, attention, speed, and reasoning.

Unlike puzzles or casual games, brain training programs are built on cognitive research tasks, adapt in difficulty, and track your performance over time.

Built on cognitive research tasks

Each game starts as a task scientists use to study cognition, then gets rebuilt into something you’d want to play.
Adaptive difficulty

The program adjusts to the right level of challenge, so a game never stays too easy or gets overwhelming.
Measurement over time

Set your baseline with a validated cognitive assessment and measure changes over time.

The evidence

Does Brain Training Work?

Brain training reliably improves performance across many cognitive areas. Just as with physical exercise, the benefits depend on what you’re training and how you measure the results.

Doing push-ups will make you better at push-ups, and build strength that can help with other activities too. Cognitive training is based on the same principle: strengthening our cognitive processing in the games can transfer to improvements beyond the games.

Research studies have measured and tested these improvements.

Meta analyses point to clear improvements on cognitive tests, and active research is focused on how those improvements may translate to real-world benefits.

In our own largest study — a randomized ten-week trial with 4,715 adults — people training with Lumosity improved more on tests of memory, processing speed, problem solving and fluid reasoning than a comparison group doing crossword puzzles. They also reported bigger improvements in real-world cognition and mood.

Lumos Labs study

Research ArticlePeer-reviewed · Open access

Enhancing Cognitive Abilities with Comprehensive Training: A Large, Online, Randomized, Active-Controlled Trial

Published September 2, 2015 · doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134467

Lumosity group

Played Lumosity brain gamesAsked to play 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week

Comparison group

Did online crossword puzzlesSame time and schedule

Crossword puzzles were chosen because they constitute a challenging mental activity that is popularly believed to be beneficial for cognition.

What the study found

After ten weeks, the Lumosity group improved more than the comparison group on the cognitive assessments used in the study.

Design: Randomized trial
Finished the study: 4,715 people
Length: 10 weeks

The science

The Science Behind Lumosity

Built by Neuroscientists

That research shapes how Lumosity is built: cognitive exercises, games that adapt to your level, and a way to measure performance over time. Read more

175+

Peer-reviewed papers

One dot, one paper

120M+

Lumosity users worldwide

9B

Games played

How it works

How Lumosity’s Brain Training Program Works

3 Steps, a Few Minutes a Day

1Day one
Take the Fit Test

Three short games set your starting point across the core skills.
Fit Test
3 games
Baseline set · your starting point
2Every day
Train a little, often

A daily workout of three games, picked for you and tuned to your level.
Today’s workout
3 games
- SpeedSpeed Match
- MemoryMemory Matrix
- AttentionTrain of Thought
1 of 3 played today
3Over time
See what’s changing

Your Brain Profile tracks performance in each area as you go.
Your Brain Profile
Speed72
Memory64
Attention81
Flexibility58
Reasoning69
Updates after every workout

The games

Which Brain Training Games Train Which Skills?

Every game starts as a task scientists use to study the mind — then gets rebuilt into something you’d actually want to play.

Hold it, recall it

Memory

Hold information in mind and recall it when you need it.

Memory Matrix

Trains spatial working memory

Based on Visual pattern span

Pinball Recall

Trains spatial recall

Based on Visual pattern span and Kin-Kon-Kan

Tidal Treasures

Trains working memory

Based on Self-ordered pointing task, object memory span, and executive control

Every game adapts to your level as you play.

All memory games

Choosing a program

How Do You Choose a Brain Training Program?

Not every program works the same way. Six questions worth asking — and how Lumosity measures up on each.

01
Does it tell you what you’re training?

What to look for: Each game should map to a cognitive area — memory, attention, speed, flexibility, and reasoning.
How Lumosity measures up
Every game maps to a cognitive ability and the research task it comes from.
02
Does the challenge adapt to you?

What to look for: The right level of difficulty is different for everyone and it should change as you improve.
How Lumosity measures up
Games are designed to keep you challenged.
03
Can you see your performance change?

What to look for: Brain training is a form of practice, so feedback and performance tracking matters.
How Lumosity measures up
You start with a baseline measured on a validated cognitive assessment.
04
Is a paid program worth it?

What to look for: Think of a brain training program like a gym membership or personal trainer — it can provide depth, variability, motivation, and expert feedback.
How Lumosity measures up
A subscription adds adaptive difficulty, a defined set of exercises, and performance tracking.
05
Is it grounded in research?

What to look for: Published research, clear sources, and honesty about what the evidence does and doesn’t show.
How Lumosity measures up
175+ published papers and hundreds of research collaborators. Read about Our science
06
Will you actually stick with it?

What to look for: Variety, enjoyment and the right level of challenge can make it easier to build a long-lasting habit.
How Lumosity measures up
40+ games across five cognitive areas, and 9 billion games played so far.

What kinds of brain training apps and programs exist

Yes
Partly
No

Free games & puzzle apps

Mental activity with no structure and no measurement.

Defined set of exercises
Adapts to your level
Tracks performance over time
Treats a medical condition

Where Lumosity sits

Subscription programs

Adaptive difficulty, a defined set of exercises, and a record of how your performance changes.

Defined set of exercises
Adapts to your level
Tracks performance over time
Treats a medical condition

Digital therapeutics

May use brain games, but are prescribed for a specific condition and regulated as medical devices. Ask a clinician.

Defined set of exercises
Adapts to your level
Tracks performance over time
Treats a medical condition

Questions

Common Questions About Brain Training

Is brain training backed by real research?

There is published research, including randomized controlled trials and large real-world studies. Lumosity's program has been used in 175+ published papers. Read the science →

How long does it take to see results from brain training?

In our largest study, people trained about fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, for ten weeks. Coming back regularly matters more than any single session.

Which brain training app or program is best?

It depends what you want from it. Look for a program that tells you what each game trains, adapts to your level, and shows your progress over time — the criteria above.

Can brain training help with a specific condition, like ADHD?

Lumosity’s brain training program isn’t a treatment for any medical condition. Lumos Labs does make a separate product for ADHD: LumosityRx was cleared by FDA to improve attention in adult ADHD.

Does brain training actually improve memory, or just game scores?

It's worth separating the two. Game scores show how you improve in the games and our research has shown improvements on separate validated tests of memory. That's why we offer an annual cognitive assessment to measure your baseline performance and changes over time. Explore memory games →

Is brain training worth it for adults?

More than 100 million people train with Lumosity, most of them adults. It’s a few focused minutes a day, with games that adapt to your level and a way to see how your performance changes.

How often should you train your brain each week?

In our largest study, people trained five days a week. Short, regular sessions tend to beat occasional long ones — and 40+ games across five cognitive areas keep it varied.

Brain Training: What works and what to look for in a program

Built on cognitive research tasks

Adaptive difficulty

Measurement over time

Take the Fit Test

Train a little, often

See what’s changing

Memory

Memory Matrix

Pinball Recall

Tidal Treasures

Does it tell you what you’re training?

Does the challenge adapt to you?

Can you see your performance change?

Is a paid program worth it?

Is it grounded in research?

Will you actually stick with it?