adults to participate.
Each participant received up to ten training sessions in memory, reasoning, or processing speed. Some had to remember word lists or do other memory tests. Others were asked to identify patterns in series of letters or words (such as: a… c… e… g… i…). And still others were asked to remember the locations of items that flashed briefly on a computer screen and then vanished. The researchers also gave the participants booster training later on.
Five years later, the participants were tested. And indeed, they were noticeably sharper. How much sharper? They were able to essentially counteract seven to fourteen years of aging.
However, their mental strength was most evident for the
specific areas in which they had been trained
. If they were trained in memory, they did well on memory tests. If they were trained in reasoning, they did well on problem-solving tests. If they had worked on reaction time, they did well on speed tests. These are all separate mental functions, so it makes sense to have a variety of activities that exercise all your mental functions.
In the loft in San Francisco, that is exactly what the computer team is building. This is Lumos Labs, a company that has worked with scientists at major universities to develop a sophisticated set of web-based teaching tools that strengthen memory, attention, reaction speed, and problem solving.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia used these exercises to see if they could boost mental functioning for people with mild cognitive impairment. In thirty training sessions over twelve weeks, the participants worked on focusing their attention and improving their memory and reaction time. And, indeed, week by week, their performance on each task improved noticeably.
Many different research teams have been testing similar programs to boost flagging cognitive skills. Some researchers do their training in groups, others one-on-one. In 2010, researchers in Quebec sized up the results. 5 And indeed, cognitive training seems to help. It boosts memory, as well as mood and overall quality of life.
To get a feel for this kind of training, take a look at the Lumosity website ( Lumosity.com ) or the Vivity Labs site ( FitBrains.com ). There are dozens of programs. Each one starts out very easy and gradually builds to whatever degree of complexityyou could want. If you like, you can subscribe to these services and do the exercises on a regular basis. You can almost feel your brain creating new synapses as you go.
A Simple Memory Aid: Linking
It’s 4 a.m. and you were just jerked out of dreamland by the realization that it’s tax day and you have not yet mailed in your return. “Uh-oh,” you’re thinking. “Good thing I remembered.” But as you lie there, it hits you that you also need to pick upyour shirts at the cleaners and get the car inspected before you go on vacation. It’s a lot to remember in the middle of the night. You hate to turn on the light and root around for a pen, knowing you’ll never be able to go back to sleep, but you don’t dare forget.
This sort of thing happens to us all the time. We need to remember something important, but it’s not a handy time to deal with it or to write it down. Let me show you a simple trick.
We’ll take a lesson from Ben Pridmore. Ben lives in Derby, in northern England, and he is a memory champion. Ben can memorize a pack of fifty-two cards in less than thirty seconds. You can shuffle them any way you want, hand him the pack, and, after glancing through it, he will look you in the eye and tell you, “two of clubs, queen of hearts, ten of diamonds,” and so on through the whole pack, every card in perfect order.
Shuffle again, and Ben will do it all for you once more. How does he do this? Ben is quite happy to tell you: He links mental images.
Here’s a simple example: Start with a visual image. It could be any object that you can easily remember and that you
Each participant received up to ten training sessions in memory, reasoning, or processing speed. Some had to remember word lists or do other memory tests. Others were asked to identify patterns in series of letters or words (such as: a… c… e… g… i…). And still others were asked to remember the locations of items that flashed briefly on a computer screen and then vanished. The researchers also gave the participants booster training later on.
Five years later, the participants were tested. And indeed, they were noticeably sharper. How much sharper? They were able to essentially counteract seven to fourteen years of aging.
However, their mental strength was most evident for the
specific areas in which they had been trained
. If they were trained in memory, they did well on memory tests. If they were trained in reasoning, they did well on problem-solving tests. If they had worked on reaction time, they did well on speed tests. These are all separate mental functions, so it makes sense to have a variety of activities that exercise all your mental functions.
In the loft in San Francisco, that is exactly what the computer team is building. This is Lumos Labs, a company that has worked with scientists at major universities to develop a sophisticated set of web-based teaching tools that strengthen memory, attention, reaction speed, and problem solving.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia used these exercises to see if they could boost mental functioning for people with mild cognitive impairment. In thirty training sessions over twelve weeks, the participants worked on focusing their attention and improving their memory and reaction time. And, indeed, week by week, their performance on each task improved noticeably.
Many different research teams have been testing similar programs to boost flagging cognitive skills. Some researchers do their training in groups, others one-on-one. In 2010, researchers in Quebec sized up the results. 5 And indeed, cognitive training seems to help. It boosts memory, as well as mood and overall quality of life.
To get a feel for this kind of training, take a look at the Lumosity website ( Lumosity.com ) or the Vivity Labs site ( FitBrains.com ). There are dozens of programs. Each one starts out very easy and gradually builds to whatever degree of complexityyou could want. If you like, you can subscribe to these services and do the exercises on a regular basis. You can almost feel your brain creating new synapses as you go.
A Simple Memory Aid: Linking
It’s 4 a.m. and you were just jerked out of dreamland by the realization that it’s tax day and you have not yet mailed in your return. “Uh-oh,” you’re thinking. “Good thing I remembered.” But as you lie there, it hits you that you also need to pick upyour shirts at the cleaners and get the car inspected before you go on vacation. It’s a lot to remember in the middle of the night. You hate to turn on the light and root around for a pen, knowing you’ll never be able to go back to sleep, but you don’t dare forget.
This sort of thing happens to us all the time. We need to remember something important, but it’s not a handy time to deal with it or to write it down. Let me show you a simple trick.
We’ll take a lesson from Ben Pridmore. Ben lives in Derby, in northern England, and he is a memory champion. Ben can memorize a pack of fifty-two cards in less than thirty seconds. You can shuffle them any way you want, hand him the pack, and, after glancing through it, he will look you in the eye and tell you, “two of clubs, queen of hearts, ten of diamonds,” and so on through the whole pack, every card in perfect order.
Shuffle again, and Ben will do it all for you once more. How does he do this? Ben is quite happy to tell you: He links mental images.
Here’s a simple example: Start with a visual image. It could be any object that you can easily remember and that you
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