Brain Training

Mind games

One of Britain's top scientists is joining the likes of Chris Tarrant and Nicole Kidman by putting her name to a new wave of computer games designed to keep the brain fit


By TOM GEOGHEGAN
Story from BBC News Magazine


As if the gym was not tyranny enough, now there's another fitness routine that's playing on the insecurities of the masses - the brain workout. But at least couch potatoes will not have to stir from the sofa to take part. This path to cerebral salvation can be navigated sitting down, in front of a screen, with a computer game.

A current advertising campaign by Nintendo suggests commuters put their sedentary time to good effect by improving mind functions like memory and concentration with a brain game. The latest program to take the grey matter on a road test is MindFit, to be launched by one of Britain's best-known scientists, Baroness Susan Greenfield, on Thursday. Others include IQ Academy and Anagrammatic. MindFit is PC-based software providing a collection of games (such as Picasso, explained above) that its creators say can halt the mental decline associated with ageing, based on trials in Israel among 121 volunteers aged over 50.

Bruce Robinson of MindWeaver, the company behind the software, says the different exercises target certain cognitive functions like memory, visual spatial awareness and concentration.

"If you use the analogy of a fitness room or gym then it has the equivalent of all the machines to exercise this variety of functions and has an online personal trainer aligning the exercises that you do to match your particular abilities and match your own performance."

Brain training is gaining popularity, Mr Robinson believes, partly because people are getting more interested in monitoring their wellness and brain health, and partly due to people living longer and dementia becoming more common in society. It is not just older people who are being targeted. The education system has long been aware of the potential use of computer games and a survey last year suggested about a third of teachers used gaming in the classroom, to sharpen motor and cognitive skills. Many brands have devised games that specifically aim to develop mental agility in people of all ages.

Nintendo's Brain Training series, inspired by prominent Japanese neuroscientist Dr Ryuta Kawashima, has sold 10 million units - helped by endorsements from Chris Tarrant and Nicole Kidman. Olivia Doran, 69, from Hertfordshire, received one as a Mother's Day present in March. She spends about 45 minutes a day on a hand-held console playing brain games and Sudoku.

Brain rewiring

"My 'brain age' was 75 when I started so that was a bit of a shock," she says. "But my average has come down to 27 now and I'm proud of that. It goes up and down. If you're tired when doing the exercises then your brain is a bit poor." The exercises Olivia does include arithmetic calculations, recalling four to six numbers in their correct sequence and working out the time difference between two clocks. Another involves drawing a design from memory.

"In the beginning I wanted to do it because I wanted to make sure I stayed with it, but I do enjoy it too," she says. "I have noticed the difference to an extent. I can remember little snippets - things I hear on the radio - a little bit more accurately." Research done on animals has linked stimulation from visual tasks to the strengthening of neuron connections in the brain, says Professor David Moore, the neuroscientist who founded MindWeavers. Stronger connections between neurons have not been demonstrated directly in humans because a test would require putting an electrode into the brain, he says, but neuro-imaging of whole human brains shows activity in the same areas when people play these games.

Waistlines

"When you do a difficult exercise on MindFit, what you're doing is engaging a population of neurons that are responding to what they see on screen or hear, and this population are all firing together in a synchronised way. That strengthens the connections with other neurons." This seems to prevent the onset of cognitive decline and could in the long-term provide an alternative to drugs, says Professor Moore.

Daily life provides some of this stimulation anyway, he says, but the computer games record and assess an individual's performance, so can chart progress and keep the difficulty level at the right point. But not everyone is convinced that gaming is the best way to improve brain power. Ben Goldacre, who writes a column in the Guardian about the media's misrepresentation of science, says: "There's no doubt that maintaining and practising mental agility is protective in the long-term but there's a question about whether it needs to be a fancy and proprietary

"People are trying to commercialise common sense and over-complicate it." These games are often no better or worse, he says, than doing a crossword, a Sudoku puzzle, a computer game or a sport that exercises hand-eye coordination. There's also a practical and more realistic reason to believe it won't be a craze that will sweep the nation. For those that find it hard enough to do 15 minutes of moderate exercise a day - and resent being told they should - taking the brain for a workout may remain a forlorn hope.