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'Brain Age'-style Games Don't Work, Try Exercising Instead

nytimes.com — Practice can certainly make people better at sudoku puzzles, but there seems to be no benefit to general mental fitness. One form of training, however, has been shown to maintain and improve brain health — physical exercise.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 9, 2007

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  • inactive, on 11/11/2007, -12/+43They claim exercise is the answer to everything. How am I supposed to do all this exercise and maintain my lovely pear like figure?
  • scooterbaga, on 11/13/2007, -8/+38I call shenanigans.
  • woohhaa, on 11/11/2007, -1/+25Uh oh someone declared shenanigans. Every one get your broom!
  • samolition, on 11/11/2007, -7/+28The key word here, in bold type, before you read anything else.
    "Opinion"
  • MrBabyMan, on 11/11/2007, -3/+22This being, of course, the "opinion" of an associate professor of molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton.
  • commiecat, on 11/11/2007, -0/+15Bogus if they didn't interview the cilantro-hating Dr. Kawashima!
  • phronko, on 11/11/2007, -1/+16Except our brain isn't a muscle. It's a brain.
  • Marumekomu, on 11/11/2007, -2/+14Buried as innacurate.

    My grandfather took up chess and a few other intellectual games a few years ago, and he feels his mind is much sharper than before. It shows, too.
    He's started playing Brain Age a bit, and he likes the idea, but he prefers to print games out on paper rather than stare at the screen with is old eyes.

    Trust me, if you'd spent any time with the guy before and after he took up these games, you'd see that it's definitely exercising his brain.
  • MrBabyMan, on 11/11/2007, -3/+14I'm sorry, where is your neuroscience degree from again?
  • woohhaa, on 11/10/2007, -0/+11I appreciate your randomness.
  • CraigJ, on 11/10/2007, -0/+10Yeah, that's relevant.
  • r00tus3r, on 11/10/2007, -0/+10You bet it wont! ... wait ... what?
  • unfilterthought, on 11/09/2007, -1/+11I guess he doesnt realize a lot of the actual Brain Age games involve, you know...math.
  • diggdowner, on 11/10/2007, -0/+9I don't want my mom to read this :(
  • RobotBuddha, on 11/10/2007, -2/+11Lame. I've been wishing for a long time that there actually would be some high quality experiments done on "brain age" type games in differently aged groups. I got excited on seeing the title, but it's just some guy speculating miles away from any actual data. Which is somewhat ironic given that he's complaining about that exact thing.
  • bizkit00, on 11/11/2007, -4/+13when you use a specific neural network, it has been shown to get stronger, the onese you don't use have been shown to get weaker. this person's 'opinion' contradicts science.
  • phronko, on 11/11/2007, -0/+8Um...when it comes to topics that are relevant to the professor's expertise, yes, we should. Not all opinions are created equal; an informed opinion should be taken more seriously than an uninformed one.

    Would you ask Britney Spears for her opinions on how you should raise your kids?
  • zippy747, on 11/10/2007, -0/+8So we are supposed to just stop thinking and go out jogging instead? If find that ridiculous. No reason why you can't do both.
  • skyfire1, on 11/11/2007, -1/+8Don't worry I already told her.
  • inactive, on 11/10/2007, -2/+9"However the awareness increase is temporary."
    You're correct. The study found that after 15 minutes, women went back to applying lipstick and dialing the phone while driving.
  • scooterbaga, on 11/11/2007, -0/+7I say if you're using your brain to think about stuff, then it's helpful. At least more helpful than not using it.
  • inactive, on 11/10/2007, -0/+6I don't believe this is completely true. I spent some time with BrainAge and noticed a DRAMATIC effect on my short term memory.
  • bshock, on 11/10/2007, -2/+8Notice that the authors of this piece are trying to sell a book on the subject. Basically, they're trying to sell through a seemingly paradoxical hypothesis, like a diet book entitled "Eat More, Weigh Less."
    Disregard.
  • lOvOl, on 11/11/2007, -0/+5Yes this article is absolutely true, however brain games or brain exercise is a good supplement to getting regular exercise, in fact it is pretty much necessary to keep any new brain cells you get from being pruned from your brain.

    In other words, all football players would all be geniuses if after excercising heavily, they hit the books and made some synaptic connections so that those newly created brain cells as a result of neurogenesis actually get invited to the brain club, rather than dying off (i.e. why would your body waste metabolic energy on brain cells that are not used). Of course, this is also assuming they didn't lose too many brain cells from concussions and didn't get insanely drunk (sorry kids alcohol is very hard on the brain) after every game at some party with a bunch of sorostitutes running around half-naked.

    What these authors fail to point out however is that there are multiple methods of stimulating the growth of new brain cells and hard, difficult exercise that is taxing on the brain (i.e. use free weights rather than weight machines), will stimulate neurogenesis, but if you don't actively use your brain in something new and intereresting and mentally challenging in a significant way after neurogenesis occurs, then those new brain cells go to waste because new brain cells will stay around for like 10 days before they get attached to some neural network in the brain or else die off.

    So to sum things up, you sitting on your ass and playing Big Brain Academy on your Wii all day long is not going to do a whole lot for your brain health, but neither will lifting weights a few hours a day and then watching MTV all day long with a beer in one hand and the remote control in the other. If you want maximal brain fitness, you need to do something physically challenging every day as well as something mentally challenging everyday, otherwise the old adage "use it or lose it" will most certainly apply.
  • noumuon, on 11/10/2007, -0/+5yup, and athletes are all geniuses... i have tons of them in my calc classes. riiight.
  • JohnFrazee, on 11/10/2007, -0/+5This article/claim is *****, my mother is terminally ill is unable to exercise and has a mental illness and brain age for ds has completely improved her mental ability. These games have improved her life!
  • lOvOl, on 11/11/2007, -0/+4Wear a girdle.
  • ucg1, on 11/09/2007, -0/+4What about reading comments on Digg? Or will that do the opposite?
  • whatthefu, on 11/10/2007, -0/+4If you want to keep your brain "in shape" read books. Read books that challenge you. It sounds cliche, but you'd be amazed how much reading consistently can improve a person's mind.
  • samolition, on 11/11/2007, -0/+4You're right there, and that's a very good point.
    But people for years upon years have done crossword puzzles, and other sort of little 'brain games' to keep their minds fresh, and now this "associate professor of molecular biology and neuroscience" claims that it does NOTHING to improve general mental fitness, and everyone should go exercise instead. Yeah, I agree, exercise is great, but by saying that, they've also went to an extreme, by saying that all 'brain games' are useless in regards to mental fitness.

    Sure he has expertise in the field, but he's also human, and what he's saying goes against the flow of everyone else.
  • capiCrimm, on 11/10/2007, -0/+4actually there was a study that FPS increased your coordination and spotting skills. I think it was a psychologist who discovered that women were weak in these abilities, and instead of attributing it to evolutionary gender differences he made them play FPS like Halo 3 for so many hours. When he retested them, their abilities were on par with the mens.
  • Fredtheviking, on 11/09/2007, -1/+5Continue to eat a diet high in fat. To keep the pounds on.
  • DocHoliday22, on 11/09/2007, -2/+6It wasn't FPS it was driving simulation games and this is well documented in many studies. However the awareness increase is temporary.
  • s0medantastic, on 11/09/2007, -0/+3Exactly what I was going to say.
  • capiCrimm, on 11/09/2007, -0/+3I remember it being a FPS and the skills lasting for some months. Maybe a different take on the same idea?
  • bahamutxd, on 11/11/2007, -1/+4Yeah exactly, those games have different types of puzzle solving - So "training" those neural networks is like working out different muscle groups. Plus it would make sense that video games in general are better for the brain than TV.
  • blakestah, on 11/11/2007, -1/+4Such studies are partly done, and partly being done. See recent work in PNAS by Henry Mahncke. They took aged subjects and engaged them in specific executive function training tasks, and did a broad evaluation of age-related cognitive decline before and after. And, you know what, it WORKS! You also cannot deny the positive impacts of exercise, with a caveat. The best studies use 30 minutes of VERY HIGH INTENSITY aerobic exercise three times a week. In other words, you hop on the stationary bike, warm up for ten minutes, peg your heart rate for 30 minutes, and warm down for five minutes. And then you get very positive impacts on age-related decline. Surprisingly, it works great on major depression too - in some ways better than antidepressants (see JA Blumenthal work).

    HTH
  • schuchwun, on 11/09/2007, -0/+3You can even try thinking and jogging at the same time.
  • DocHoliday22, on 11/10/2007, -2/+5Here is an article which contradicts this article. Apparently you can grow in intelligence in as short as a week by playing games (Halo 3 doesn't count) http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,17 ...
  • LegendX, on 11/11/2007, -0/+3Brain Age like games do work. This article is total BS. Brain Age games tone your skills at calculating puzzles and outcomes quicker. Like those that play chess a lot usually can think of different moves and different outcomes instantly. Why? because they have improved their minds to meet this speed of calculations. Yes you need physical exercise. It helps improve your "mental eye" and supplies that brain with an efficient amount of oxygen for the brain cells. Everyone should noticed that those that play FPS and racing games have an increased reaction time to those that do not play these type of games. As for RTS and TTS type gamers, these players have improved their mental ability to quickly calculate outcomes and multi-task. It doesn't take rocket scientist to notice these improvements. Heh even players of the gamese Guitar Hero and DDR should noticed their mental abilities and reaction time has improved.
  • hiikeeba, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.” -Mark Twain
  • mashw, on 11/09/2007, -0/+2Well, Brain Age made me at least considerably faster at arithmetic and counting little men go in and out houses. They do work in some way though, they just become a chore though.
  • crazyhorse13, on 11/11/2007, -4/+6Note that the author doesn't cite any data to back himself up. Also, just what kind of "exercise are we talking about here? I doubt that lifting weights and running through the neighborhood have the same influences on your mental agility or whatever. Dugg down for inaccuracy.
  • mashw, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2Math is analytic and therefore a tautology and by definition cannot increase your external knowledge.
  • jetsetter883, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2use it or lose it. what doesn't the author understand?
  • AoSDFA, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2I duct-taped my DS Lite to my Treadmill and patented it. The line to kiss my ring forms to the left.
  • LegendX, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2why digg this guy down. Its true. Fatal1ty said once in an interview that the key to great gaming is to physically exercise. I am paraphrasing of course.
  • GlassParkingLot, on 11/09/2007, -0/+2That was really such a weird tidbit to include in the game...
  • sgglynn, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2I exercise my mind. I have a roommate that is willing to argue over any point, regardless of who is correct. You just force yourself to play devils advocate and argue over anything, it keeps the mind unbelievably sharp. Anyone stuck in the middle of your argument will want to kill you, based on the silly points you're willing to try and defend
  • Baltiman, on 11/10/2007, -0/+2no - like Phronko says. Brain tissue is nothin like muscle tissue e.g. muscle tissue regenerates all the time - brain tissue...doesnt...
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