'Brain Training' Games Not Effective: Researchers Found Little Evidence of Enhanced Cognitive Performance

"Brain Training" games has remained to be a controversial topic in the scientific and gaming communities. Some experts believe that this so called brain training games could improve a person's memory and cognitive performance. However, another group of experts is not convinced of the long term beneficial impact of such games.

Now, a team of researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has finally put a stop in the disagreement and showed that brain training games may actually help people perform better at certain task, but these games may not help improve a person's performance on task related to the objective of the game.

"It would be really nice if you could play some games and have it radically change your cognitive abilities," said Daniel Simons, a psychology professor at University of Illinois and lead author of the study, in a report from National Public Radio.

For the study, the researchers conducted an extensive evaluation of more than 370 scientific studies of brain games and other forms of cognitive learning.

After reviewing previous studies, the researchers found little evidence to support the claim that brain training does not enhance performance on distantly related tasks nor the training improves daily cognitive performance.

According to the report from USA Today, the researchers note that some of the studies did not really adhere to what they think as the best practice standards when it comes to research.

Some of the problems observed by the researchers in previous studies regarding brain training include small population, no suitable control group and placebo effect. Some researchers involved in previous studies have failed to take into account placebo effect, which could influence the result of the study by making people to improve because they are trying harder or more confident.

Even with little evidence found, Simon does not entirely throw the idea of brain training out of the window. He noted that previous studies on brain training have not been done in a way that provides clear conclusion.