Brain games a scam?

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I did read a study looking at those brain games on the Nintendo DS a couple of years back (brain training and the like).

It concluded that the claims of the manufacturer that they helped your 'brain age' were irresolvable or suspect.

I'll try and dig it out if I can remember where I saw it.

I found this article dated October 30, 2013 on the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft website.

How video gaming can be beneficial for the brain

Video gaming causes increases in the brain regions responsible for spatial orientation, memory formation and strategic planning as well as fine motor skills. This has been shown in a new study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Charité University Medicine St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus.

In order to investigate how video games affect the brain, scientists in Berlin have asked adults to play the video game “Super Mario 64” over a period of two months for 30 minutes a day. A control group did not play video games. Brain volume was quantified using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In comparison to the control group the video gaming group showed increases of grey matter, in which the cell bodies of the nerve cells of the brain are situated. These plasticity effects were observed in the right hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum. These brain regions are involved in functions such as spatial navigation, memory formation, strategic planning and fine motor skills of the hands. Most interestingly, these changes were more pronounced the more desire the participants reported to play the video game.

Thanks.

However I think the issues were with the way the creator's of the brain training game(s) claimed that it could make your brain younger (???) or something similar to that.

I remember playing it once and it said I had the brain of a 30 year old or something. The way it quantified this I think was where the article I read found it to be completely bogus.