I do weights, run and paddle, and, at 37, I’ve long known that a little practice can get me fitter or stronger or better at sport. That’s why I’ve been intrigued over the past 12 months to see the words gym and fitness appearing in ads and on websites next to a body part I’ve always thought gets switched off during exercise: the brain.
What’s the deal? Is it possible to put your grey matter through its paces – in a sort of mental boot camp – and end up with a souped-up version of your previous self?
I’m game to find out. Some brain gyms involve group sessions, but it’s the software- and internet-based games that appeal to me. I can concentrate better in my own home, I reason. And anway, shouldn’t any mental weaknesses remain my own dirty little secret?
I spend a few hours surfing the internet and locate a dozen or so options. At the SharpBrains site, a portal with links to brain-training information and products, I find several sites where I can test out a few games or even sign up for a trial membership to an online course.
A few more hours and I feel I have a good grasp of the range on offer.
Some programmes focus on one area, such as reaction time. Some are expensive and time-consuming: one game costs US$395 ($438) and takes an hour a day. Others, I have to admit, look... well, dull.
Then I find Lumosity, a programme developed by Lumos Labs, which describes itself as a “cognitive neuroscience research and development company” in San Francisco. The website explains how I can play eight games online to sharpen four critical areas: attention, processing speed, memory and cognitive control. (That last one is science-speak for staying on task.)
It claims I’ll see significant improvements after 30 ten-minute sessions. For a cost of US$79.95 ($89) for a year, I sign up.
Researchers working with dementia patients have long experimented with brain exercises.
In 2000, neuroscientist Eric Kandel was awarded a Nobel Prize for showing that learning strengthens connections between nerve cells in the brain and that practice does make perfect – that is, repeated stimuli do convert short-term memory to long-term memory.
Since then, a frenzy of research has proven brains can form new nerve cells well into old age.
Not surprisingly, commercial operators have rushed in. SharpBrains reports that the brain-fitness software market for adults may be worth more than US$100 million ($111 million) this year, up from US$2 million ($2.6 million) in 2005.
Niche programmes now target brain skills for golf, driving and corporate work and even the observational skills needed for spying.
