The truth about brain games

Can you play your way to a healthier brain?

We’ve all seen the ads:

“Daily exercise for your mind”

“Train your brain in just 10 minutes a day”

“Boost your memory and thinking”

Brain games are marketed like magic pills with big promises.

But is there science to support them?

This week I’m breaking down two meta-analyses to answer this question.

Meta Analysis: A type of research study that combines data from many different studies on the same topic to show whether a finding is consistent and how strong of an effect size there is.

A strong effect size means the relationship between two things is not just statistically significant, but also makes a meaningful difference in real life.

For example:

• A strong effect of a brain training program might mean people remember so much more they score an 90% on a test instead of an 75% - the difference between an A and a C.

• A small effect might mean there's a change, but it's so slight that it doesn’t matter much in daily life. They improve from an an 91% to an 93%. It may be statistically significant, but doesn’t have a very meaningful impact.

Can you play your way to a healthier brain?

Study 1

Nguyen and colleagues (2021) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of "brain training" to enhance cognition in healthy older adults and adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).