Cognitive training helps regain a younger-working brain

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180123112606.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=other&utm_campaign=opencourse.GdeNrll1EeSROyIACtiVvg.announcements~opencourse.GdeNrll1EeSROyIACtiVvg.vZLR7wKNEei_JBLBh0UxWA

by lxm • 8 years ago

180 32 8 years ago

sciencedaily.com

nicolashahn• 8 years ago

Would have been nice if they went more into the actual training, all I see is "The cognitive training utilized the Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART) program developed at the Center for BrainHealth" but they don't go on to say exactly what that program entails.

ksaho• 8 years ago

I think they are referring to this app: https://brainhealth.utdallas.edu/brainhealth-app/

vermooten• 8 years ago

I downloaded the app in the hope of getting back my fizz from my 20s .... but it just seems to be a timer.

hprotagonist• 8 years ago

It is critical to note that this study does not address the transfer of learning or performance on one task and show that it improves performance (or in this case, energy efficienty) on any other task.

Put another way: lumosity makes you good and efficient at lumosity, but not anything else.

Transfer learning is a bugbear for neuroscientists as well as ML people, sadly.

SubiculumCode2• 8 years ago

Parent is highly informed re: transfer. Another 'bugaboo' of cognitive training is the opportunity cost of training. For example, instead of cog training, use the time to get cardiovascular exercise, which has proven and robust benefits for cognition.

gingerlime• 8 years ago

Isn't that exactly what the experiment did? They divided subjects to 3 groups: 1 with cognitive training, 1 without anything in particular (wait list), and 1 with physical exercise.

innagadadavida• 8 years ago

So does the same type of thing apply to tech-interviews vs actual on job problem solving capabilities?

stefano• 8 years ago

It's the problem of studying for the test vs studying to learn. Some knowledge will transfer, but the further the test is removed from reality, the lesser the transferable knowledge will be. When I look back at the interviews I had and what I actually needed to know at work, the difference is massive.

canttestthis• 8 years ago

I can't access the study text, but if anyone can could you check if the task they used to measure results was really the same task that they trained the participants on? It seems like thats an obvious flaw that they would have thought of.

DavideNL• 8 years ago

http://www.neurobiologyofaging.org/article/S0197-4580(17)303...

if that helps..

blowski• 8 years ago

Totally anecdotal story, but from my own experience, I agree with you completely.

I was using one of the leading 'brain training' apps, and they started requiring a subscription so I switched to another app. Despite having a strong performance in the first app, I had quite a weak performance initially in the second app.

In other words, skills aren't even transferable between brain-training apps, let alone into real life applications.

tremendulo2• 8 years ago

Is there any kind of learning that improves performance on other tasks? (What about language? What about if the 'other tasks' include learning?)

eutectic• 8 years ago

There is some evidence that meditation can improve cognitive performance.

ForHackernews• 8 years ago

There is some preliminary evidence that a training task called "dual n-back" may improve working memory performance. Good working memory is beneficial for a wide variety of cognitive tasks.

http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/

adamsea• 8 years ago

Learning to play an instrument and play music and learning a foreign language are both supposed to be quite good for you, mentally speaking.

ghostcluster• 8 years ago

In a randomized clinical study involving adults age 56 to 71, researchers found that after cognitive training, participants' brains were more energy efficient, meaning their brain did not have to work as hard to perform a task.

So if you play a game over and over, you don't have to actively think as hard to play it? A bit far from a "younger working brain"

conistonwater• 8 years ago

If I understand correctly from the abstract, the task they measured was done inside an MRI scanner, and was a different task from the training games. I know that it's been a question for a while now whether any of this training transfers to anything else, so it makes sense that that's what they would be studying.

sidcool2• 8 years ago

What sort of cognitive tasks would aid this? Something like Lumosity?

daniel_iversen• 8 years ago

They were referring to this "SMART" app by the Center for BrainHealth, but I'd be a bit dubious about the actual result here (see above postings, which has been a debate for a long time):

https://brainhealth.utdallas.edu/brainhealth-app/

...on the other hand It can't (really) hurt much, and the mind is a weird thing :)

sidcool2• 8 years ago

Thanks. Seems like it's only an iOS app.

sitkack2• 8 years ago

DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.10.003

matwood• 8 years ago

And another paper showing playing 3d video games causes brain matter to increase (or at least not deteriorate) in older people: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

sitkack2• 8 years ago

Cool.

I'd be interested in a study where an additional group replaced games/music with walking outside in the natural environment for 1 hr a day. Or since we know "exercise" increases brain mass, what specifically about exercise causes the response. Are the effects additive? Can we exercise, play music and video games for more than 1x the matter growth?

http://www.pnas.org/content/108/7/3017

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3039208/

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep03457

vannevar• 8 years ago

Color me skeptical until someone evaluates these claims who was not involved with coming up with the training program in question.

plg• 8 years ago

brain training as such has been widely debunked by working neuroscientists, those without a personal stake in brain training products

tldr: you improve on the tasks you train on, but generalization to other tasks is extremely limited at best

dghughes• 8 years ago

I was contemplating getting an MRI scan of my brain before I went to college. At age 48 I can only assume it is good for my brain to stress it learning something useful.

This isn't my first time going to school old. At age 34 I started University but for various reasons dropped out early.

I have to say going to school now even compared to age 34 just 14 years ago is quite different socially and technologically.

Maybe my brain will benefit from all this learning.

maxander• 8 years ago

For those who come directly to the comments for the paper link: http://www.neurobiologyofaging.org/article/S0197-4580(17)303...

Its worth noting that, from a brief look, the "cognitive training" program looks like a fairly intensive and detailed course, not some brain-app-like game. I don't know if I've seen something similar offered commercially.

Cognitive training helps regain a younger-working brain

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