Many people have tried brain-training games and apps that promise to improve memory, sharpen attention, and keep the mind healthy as we age.
These programs have become increasingly popular, especially among older adults who want to maintain their mental abilities.
However, one important question has remained unanswered for years: do the benefits stay limited to the game being practiced, or do they carry over into everyday life?
A new study led by researchers from the University of Montreal and the Montreal Heart Institute’s EPIC Center provides encouraging evidence that brain training can improve other mental abilities beyond the specific exercises being practiced. The findings were published in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement.
The research was conducted by Caroll-Ann Blanchette, a doctoral student in biomedical sciences, under the supervision of Professor Louis Bherer. Their goal was to examine what scientists call the “transfer effect.”
This refers to whether learning one mental skill can improve performance in a different task.
This question is important because everyday activities rarely involve only one mental process. Driving a car, following directions, managing a schedule, cooking dinner, or carrying on a conversation often require attention, memory, and decision-making at the same time.
If brain-training exercises only improve performance within the game itself, their real-world value may be limited. If the benefits transfer to other activities, the training could be much more useful.
The researchers recruited 84 volunteers. Thirty-five participants were young adults between the ages of 18 and 30, while 49 participants were aged 60 years or older. This allowed the team to compare how younger and older brains responded to different types of training.
Participants were assigned to one of two training programs. Each program involved six sessions lasting between 45 and 60 minutes over four weeks.
One group practiced a dual-task exercise. In this activity, participants had to perform two tasks simultaneously on a tablet.
With one hand they identified animals, while with the other hand they identified objects related to space. This required the brain to process two streams of information at the same time. Researchers compared it to situations in daily life where people must divide their attention between multiple activities.
The second group practiced a working-memory exercise called the n-back task. In this challenge, numbers appeared on a screen one after another.
Participants had to remember numbers that had appeared earlier in the sequence and decide whether the current number matched one shown previously. As the exercise became more difficult, participants had to remember information from further back in the sequence.
After completing the training, participants were tested again. However, the researchers used different images, letters, and other materials to make sure participants were not simply remembering what they had seen before. This helped measure genuine improvement in thinking skills.
The results showed that all groups improved after training. However, the most interesting findings involved the older adults.
Participants who practiced the dual-task exercise improved on a new dual-task test regardless of age. But older adults who completed the memory-based n-back training also showed better performance on the dual-task test. In other words, strengthening memory skills appeared to help older adults perform multiple tasks at once.
This transfer effect was not seen among younger adults. The improvement from memory training carried over into another mental skill only in the older group.
The researchers believe this may be related to changes that occur naturally in the aging brain. As people grow older, the brain often recruits additional mental resources to complete tasks.
Older adults may rely more heavily on working memory when performing several activities simultaneously. Because the memory training strengthened this ability, it may have indirectly improved multitasking performance.
The study also found limits to the transfer effect. Participants who practiced the dual-task exercise did not become significantly better at the most difficult memory tests. This suggests that not all mental skills transfer equally to other areas.
The findings have practical implications for brain health. They suggest that cognitive training can be beneficial, but relying on a single type of exercise may not be enough. A combination of different mental challenges may provide broader benefits, especially for older adults.
Analysis of the study suggests that its strength lies in directly comparing different age groups and using carefully designed tests to measure true transfer rather than simple memorization. However, the study involved a relatively small number of participants and lasted only four weeks.
Longer studies are needed to determine whether the improvements continue over months or years and whether they translate into noticeable benefits in everyday life. Even so, the findings offer encouraging evidence that the aging brain remains adaptable and that targeted mental exercises may help support cognitive health.
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