Page 74 - Computeractive - January 2, 2018 UK

K e e p Y o u r B r a i n A c t iv e

In our n ew column, Simon Brew tests b rain-training g ames

to see i f t hey r eally w ork…

ack w hen I h ad luxuries such as a
generous amount of hair on my
Bhead, a nd the o ccasional follicle
that wasn’t permanently g rey , I c ould
look at an old c lass p hoto f rom m y
school days (a colour p hotograph, a nd we
were allowed t o w ear l ong t rousers) and
still name around 90 per c ent o f t he
people i n i t.
As hair tumbled o ut and w rinkles
appeared, t hat n umber d ropped each
time I l ooked a t i t. I r eckon n ow, o n a
good day , I c an get i dentify 5 0 p er cent.
I n aturally did t he only l ogical t hing, a nd
promptly binned the p hoto.
These changing abilities and c apacities
of our b rain is a n atural by-product of
age. We gather so much information
in it that it’s easy to lose things. C an What’s h eaviest - t he spade, square or the p lus s ymbol?
computers h elp?
Brain-training s oftware has b een which a sks y ou to click w hichever o bject
popular since Nintendo hit p aydirt w ith you t hink is heaviest.
the h ugely p opular 2006 game Dr I’m n ot convinced i t t aught m e
Kawashima’s B rain Training (see anything though. A fter beating t he game
screenshot below). It sold several m illion it tried t o e nrol in a s tudy. Th is entire I n eeded to hit s tart,
copies on the N intendo D S, and s pawned process t ook a bout 50 seconds. I o pted to look at a w hite box,
a h ost o f i mitators. S ince then a m ulti- move on, b ut it’s still worth visiting the
million pound i ndustry has g rown around page to read some o f t he more detailed then hit s top w hen t he
claims that games d on’t just exercise t he science behind the r esearch.
grey matter, b ut can also delay t he onset As a b eginner t o b rain training, I w ent colour changed. Do it in
of dementia. A nd yet s ome o f t he hunting f or something to measure w hat
evidence is patchy to say t he least. my abilities are l ike n ow. W hich i s w hen under 0 .2 seconds a nd
In this new c olumn I’ll be putting the I s tumbled o n B rain Reflection (www.
games, sites a nd apps that make these brainmetrix.com/brain-reflection) o n I’d be ‘super fast’
claims to the t est, assessing whether t hey the e ducational website B rain Metrix.
are n o m ore t han j ust a b it of fun ( not Like a l ot of these exercises, i t a ppears
that there’s a nything w rong with that). quite b asic at first glance, b ut has y ou
The Alzheimer’s S ociety w ebsite was a hammering y our k eyboard a nd mouse
good place to start. I ts research with to death b y t he end.
King’s College L ondon concluded t hat Brain R eflection, a ccording t o t he Turn 20: I r eset m y r outer, b ecause
brain-training g ames have a p ositive pompous b lurb on the w ebsite, clearly t he speed of my web c onnection
impact. One g ame t ested b y v olunteers “invariably l eads to inquiry i nto t he was c ounting a gainst me
was t he SeeSaw C hallenge (www.snipca. human c ondition and t he essence of Turn 100: 0.414 seconds
com/26428, s ee screenshot above r ight), humankind as a w hole”. Th is time, I Turn 120: 0.503. I n w hat w as becoming
needed to hit s tart, l ook a t a w hite box, a m etaphor f or my life, I b egan to appreciate
then hit s top w hen t he colour c hanged. that I’d p eaked t oo soon.
Do this in under 0 .2 seconds a nd my My brain, its reaction, a nd my chances
reaction would b e ‘ super f ast’. I ’m not of being ‘ super-fast’ a t a nything u seful
sure I e ver w ant t o b e d escribed as ‘super’ clearly n eed work. M y j ourney down this
anything, b ut I g ave i t a g o. particular rabbit hole w ill begin i n
Turn one: 0.359 seconds earnest n ext i ssue. I ’m fearful a lready.
Turn two: 0.337 seconds
It all s tarted w ith D r K awashima’s B rain Turn 10: 0 .349 seconds Which games s hould Simon try?
Training i n 2 006 Turn 15: 0 .371 seconds Email us at editor@computeractive.co.uk

74 20 December 2017 – 2 J anuary 2 018