Does Brain Training Actually Work? An Honest Answer
Short answer
Brain-training games mostly do not work for real-world focus: a comprehensive 2016 review led by psychologist Daniel Simons found strong evidence people improve at the trained games but little evidence that improvement transfers to everyday attention, memory, or intelligence. That same year, Lumosity paid the FTC 2 million dollars to settle charges over unsupported brain-training claims. Sleep, exercise, and meditation are better-evidenced ways to spend the time.
- A 2016 review led by Daniel Simons found strong evidence for gains on trained tasks but little evidence they transfer to everyday cognition.
- Lumosity paid the FTC 2 million dollars in 2016 to settle deceptive-advertising charges over its brain-training claims.
- Focused-attention meditation, aerobic exercise, sleep, and environment design all have stronger evidence behind them than brain-training games.
- Practicing the actual task you want to improve, like reading or studying, beats practicing an unrelated game.
Mostly no. Brain-training games reliably make you better at the games themselves, but decades of research find little evidence those gains transfer to real-world attention, memory, or intelligence. Lumosity paid 2 million dollars in 2016 to settle FTC charges over exactly such claims. Better-supported options exist, and they are less fun to sell.
What happened in the Lumosity case?
In 2016 the US Federal Trade Commission charged Lumosity's maker with deceptive advertising for claiming its games improved work and school performance and delayed cognitive decline. The company settled for 2 million dollars, and the FTC stated plainly that it did not have the science to back those ads. That case is the cleanest summary of the industry's problem.
Why do the gains not transfer?
Psychologists call it the far-transfer problem. Practicing a task makes you better at that task and close variants (near transfer), but a comprehensive 2016 review led by Daniel Simons found extensive evidence for improvement on trained tasks and little evidence for improvement on everyday cognitive performance (far transfer). Getting good at a dot-matching game makes you good at dot-matching games.
What actually improves attention?
- Focused-attention meditation: randomized trials show small-to-moderate attention gains after weeks of practice.
- Aerobic exercise: a single session gives a measurable short-term boost.
- Sleep: the cheapest cognitive enhancer that exists.
- Environment design: grayscale mode and notification batching have trial support.
- Practicing the real task: if you want to read or study longer, train reading and studying directly.
Is any computerized training worth it?
Some specialized programs are being studied for clinical uses, and training does improve the specific skill trained, which occasionally is the point. But for everyday focus, the evidence favors the boring fundamentals. That is why Dopa Break contains no brain-training games at all: it structures real focus practice and environment changes instead.
Frequently asked questions
Do brain-training apps improve your attention span?
Not meaningfully. Research reviews find you improve at the trained games but the gains rarely transfer to real-world attention or memory. The FTC fined Lumosity 2 million dollars in 2016 over such claims.
What works better than brain training?
Focused-attention meditation, exercise, sleep, environment changes like grayscale and notification batching, and practicing the actual task you want to be better at. All have stronger evidence than brain-training games.
Sources
- Simons, Boot, Charness, Gathercole, Chabris, Hambrick & Stine-Morrow (2016), "Do 'Brain-Training' Programs Work?", Psychological Science in the Public Interest Comprehensive review finding extensive evidence for improvement on trained tasks and little evidence of far transfer to everyday cognitive performance.
- Federal Trade Commission (2016), "Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for Its Brain Training Program" Official FTC press release confirming the $2 million settlement and the unsupported claims involved.