Article about BrainHQ and sites like it has me wondering if subscription is worth it.

[circular]

Maybe I should spend the time learning a language or instrument, but it just seems like too much to take on right now.

The Weak Evidence Behind Brain-Training Games: Seven psychologists reviewed every single scientific paper put forward to support these products—and found them wanting.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatl ... le/502559/

[apod]

Over the years, I've tested out trial periods for BrainHQ, Lumosity, and Elevate. In general, I can't help but feel like it's a slight waste of time, since they're not particularly fun games and the "training" isn't that practical. In a lot of ways, I would imagine that getting the latest Xbox / Playstation / PC title would be a lot more cognitively stimulating than these apps.

Like, compare games like The Witness, or Ori (or even FPS games)



Vs a brainHQ mini-game like "click the circle..."

[mwhr]

thanks. Important review.

[TheBrain]

Maybe now I can let go of my guilt for spending $99 for a yearlong subscription to BrainHQ and so far only using it about 10 times. The truth is, I don't enjoy doing things I'm not good at, and that's what BrainHQ has you work on. If these brain exercises don't transfer to improvement in practical skills, I see no point in doing them.

[circular]

apod's suggestions look like fun, but I find the video approaches too overstimulating given my rather strung out nervous system these days.

One product, BrainHQ from Posit Science, promises everything from “2x faster visual processing speed” and “10+ years in memory” to “more happy days,” “lower medical costs,” “reversal of age-related slowing,” and “more self-confidence.”

I can vouch that my processing speed in Double Decision increased 2x+ in two sessions that were months apart. That made me happy, no doubt reversed slowing (whether age-related or otherwise), and gave me more confidence. But did it result from the training, my state of processing speed on those days, or progress in my cognition due to other changes between the sessions?

I think the most discouraging part of the article is:

But even ACTIVE [a BrainHQ study] didn’t find strong evidence for transfer effects. “You practice fast responses, you get faster on a keyboard. You practice memory, you get better performance in memory tests,” says Simons. “There was almost no crossover.” Nor were there clear signs that any group got better at everyday tests involving the same skills they had trained.

“I think the evidence [for transfer] is admittedly weak,” says Rebok, who worked on the trial. He notes that some of the volunteers became better at managing their medications, preparing meals, and other activities of daily life—but these improvements were all based on the volunteers’ own reports. “If people think they should improve, and are asked repeatedly about whether they have, they will be more likely to report improvements,” says Simons. What’s more, “the trial gave counseling sessions to help people apply what they were doing to the real world.” [Emphases added]

Even though BrainHQ is challenging, I find it relaxing compared with what I do to myself all day long At worst it's a harmless, fun and stress-relieving pastime for some. In fact moreso if the review is correct on all counts and specifically with respect to BrainHQ. Then there's no reason to take it seriously and one can assume mistakes mean nothing and make no difference and just have fun with it, and maybe benefit afterall The hitch is there are plenty of other free ways to relax.

Meanwhile, I'll always kick myself for not keeping a study I saw years ago that showed that what most develops transferable cognitive skills is being engaged in something that calls on synthesis among different frames of reference.

[mike]

I liked this article
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... ntally-fit

From the article:
"Just sitting down and doing Sudoku isn't probably going to be the one key thing that's going to prevent you from developing Alzheimer's disease," she says.
Instead of using a formal brain training program, she simply goes to work.
"My job is my daily cognitive training," says Langbaum, the associate director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix.

And also:
"People who have a lot of social interactions, particularly in mid-life, have a lower risk of Alzheimer's dementia in later life," Langbaum says. "There's something about being around people that's helpful for our brains."

[justlurking]

I've been trying out BrainHQ (free version).

Some observations:
- The percentile score it gives you isn't very meaningful. It compares your "Best" score to others' "Baseline" scores, which results in an inflated percentile if you've played the game more than once. (Source: Their helpful support team.)
- I focused on Target Tracker and Visual Sweeps. The first game tests "Attention", and the second game tests "Speed." Observation: I found that practice helped me much more on the "Attention" game than the "Speed" game. Coincidentally, "Speed" training was the only kind that reduced dementia (by 30%) in the study [1], so maybe there's something to that kind of exercise.

I couldn't find any other forum that discusses BrainHQ, so if anyone is, like me, curious what a "good" score on Target Tracker or Visual Sweeps is, consider filling out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... g/viewform (Privacy note: The form won't record your e-mail address -- you don't even need to be logged in to fill out -- or your IP address.) I'll share the results.

PS. Yes, I"m a new user, but no need to welcome me -- I only intend to post in this thread. I did read Bredesen's amazing book and am amazed by these forums, and I'm certainly trying to get my family (especially my parents) to be healthier, but as far as I know they're not particularly at risk.

[1] Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5700828/
Thread: viewtopic.php?t=2479
Article: https://www.brainhq.com/media/news/simp ... t-dementia

[srbogert]

PS. Yes, I"m a new user, but no need to welcome me -- I only intend to post in this thread.

Hello Justlurking! I know you said that welcomes were not needed, but I'm going to do it anyway. Thanks for joining the conversation and adding your observations. Brain training is clearly one of those areas where the science is still pretty fuzzy, but I'm glad we're making progress. If you continue to visit the site in the future, please consider telling us about yourself and your interest in BrainHQ and related training - Thanks

[justlurking]

An interesting find today: donating blood increased my brain speed.

To get you an idea of what I mean, here are some numbers: On Visual Sweeps 1-1 (Brain Speed), I was stymied at [edit: removed specific numbers]: one level. A few hours after the blood donation, I did another session and could consistently do the next level.

(There seems to be something interesting about Brain Speed: After the blood donation, I did perform slightly better an Target Tracker 1-1 (Attention), but I didn't see the same jump in performance.)

Given one of the benefits of blood donation is reducing iron, perhaps my result was related to excess iron: in 2017, my ferritin was 276 ng/ml (reference range for men: 22-322). In Dumping Iron, P.D. Mangan recommends 50-70 for men (and 20-40 for women). As we know, elevated iron is associated with disease and bad brains.

Does Bredesen's book mistakenly omit ferritin testing? For heavy metals testing, he recommends testing mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, but never mentions iron. In "Metal Homeostasis" (in Chapter 8) he lists iron as a "potentially toxic metal" (and even says APP responds to iron). And in Chapter 11, he says "your labs will tell you whether you need B12 or iron." In any case, there is some discussion on iron here: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2870

(Probably Bredesen omitted iron from his book due to lack of solid cause-effect evidence.)

If you continue to visit the site in the future, please consider telling us about yourself and your interest in BrainHQ and related training

What a friendly and amazing site! The last couple years, I developed sinusitis (not brain- or apoe4-related). After visiting doctors (including allergists) and mostly just getting standard sentences from medical textbooks (thanks guys, I can skim, too), I started reading about health. Bredesen's book was one of the ones that impressed me. (He even mentions the family that cured their sinusitis using Kimchi juice!) I started BrainHQ recently because it was fun.

[CarrieS]

Bredesen's book was one of the ones that impressed me. (He even mentions the family that cured their sinusitus using Kimchi juice!)

My nephew had terrible sinusitis. I'd read about how sticking Kimchi juice up the nose can cure it (if the right microbes are in that particular batch) so I told him about it and gave him a jar of homemade kimchi. I didn't know if it had the right stuff but it might be worth a try. He humored crazy Aunt Carrie and tried it (he's such good boy) and to his amazement (and mine) he found relief. The nose has it's own microbiome and beneficial microbes so it makes sense that when it's out of balance, chronic illness can set in.