Archive for the ‘Training Blog’ Category

Brain Training – More (Happy) Surprises

Friday, March 19th, 2010

After a relatively hum drum week of brain training (compared to recent fireworks), today produced three new highs — for dual n-back: 10.9, for the combined training with nines: 10.275 and for absolute n-level reached: 13 (by scoring 2 misses at n=12 on the last block of the session).

Dual n-Back - Session 242

Dual n-Back - Session 242

Doubles Brain Training

Doubles Brain Training

Latest Brain Training Success Story

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Anne, MD and Harvard medical school grad, successfully gained entry to Mensa after training with Brain Fitness Pro.

“I took a Mensa home test prior to the training and didn’t pass…. Then I did the full training course, took the actual Mensa test, and got in! I’m very satisfied with the training.”

Do you have a brain training success story to share? Please let me know at martin@mindsparke.com

Brain Training – Dual N-back And Nines

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Although neither score on its own set a new high, the combined average of both sessions today reached 10.0.

Having now completed 32 days of doubled training, I am curious to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. For most people, dual n-back training progress follows a fairly straight line for the first 40 to 50 sessions, then slowing down. I would predict that the same might be true of the double-session training.

If so, it is fascinating to wonder what might be going on neurologically to explain the limit to the straight line increases…

Brain Training - Dual N-Back And "Nines"

Brain Training - Dual N-Back And "Nines"

New Brain Training High – “nines”

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Because of a house move, my training last week suffered from lack of time and lack of attention. I trained for shorter periods most days and felt distracted and unable to achieve full focus. My training scores reflected this as shown by the graph of recent history further down in this post.

But today, being more settled, my focus came back and the benefits of the combined dual n-back and “nines” training resumed with a new high score of 10.45 at “nines.” My previous best was 9.7, set a couple of weeks ago.

"Nines" Session 60 - Avg. n=10.45

"Nines" Session 60 - Avg. n=10.45

And here is the chart showing progress since I started the combined daily training:

Combined Brain Training Dual n-back / Nines

Combined Brain Training Dual n-back / Nines

Brain Training: New High at “nines” – Another Zig Zag

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

After scoring a new high at regular dual n-back on Monday, my score for that exercise dropped substantially today (by almost two points), but focus and scores at “nines” improved and reached a new high of 9.7.

nines-052

Another High – Regular Dual N-Back – 10.15

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

This wacky performance can’t continue for long, of course, so I may as well enjoy it while I can! As usual, I have no explanation for this jump — from a new high of 9.35 yesterday to a score of 10.15 today. The doubled sessions do seem to have been making quite an impact. And perhaps there is something about switching back and forth between regular dual n-back and “nines.”

Brain Training High - Dual n-Back

Brain Training High - Dual n-Back

New high – Regular Dual n-back – 9.35

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

After reaching a new mark at “nines” yesterday, I reached a new mark at regular dual n-back today. (Also in keeping with the recent pattern, my “nines” score dipped today…)

Dual n-Back Brain Training

Dual n-Back Brain Training

Double Dose Brain Training 18 Days

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

After 18 days of double dose brain training (one session of regular dual n-back combined with one session of “nines”) I’m still amazed at the effect on my scores. Apart from a general dramatic increase in sustained focus (even managing to stay at  n=11 for four rounds yesterday) I’ve seen another intriguing trend. On days when I do particularly well at one exercise I often don’t do well at the other. This shows itself in the chart below as the two score lines for dual n-back and “nines” zig-zag about the combined average.

Brain Training - Double Dose 18 Days

Brain Training - Double Dose 18 Days

What’s more I can feel the change as I go from one exercise to the other. On some days my mind grasps and remembers the letters much better than it grasps and remembers the numbers, and vice versa. A very curious phenomenon. (It also doesn’t matter which exercise I work on first — I’ve been switching back and forth from one day to the next.)

Has this double dose training resulted in cognitive benefits? It feels as though it has. I feel more alert and “quicker.” (In November I took the Get Gamma test. Maybe I’ll retake at some point soon to see whether there has been a measurable change.)

Brain Training with “nines” – New High

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Maintaining a training regime of double sessions (one regular dual n-back and one “nines”) is still proving highly effective. It’s tough to dedicate the amount of time required, but I would highly recommend this as a “booster” training approach. Averages have been up in the high 8s (much higher than when I was just doing one session per day), and today I scored a new high at “nines” of 9.65…

Brain Training With Nines - Session 48

Brain Training With Nines - Session 48

Working-Memory Training Report – therese – Session 2

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Session number: 2

Average n-back: 2.0

Duration (min.): 25

Although I have had a few blocks where I had no misses, I still have not been bumped up to anything higher than 2.0, is there a difference in using a MAC as opposed to a PC, as I am feeling disheartened that I am stuck on 2

Brain Fitness Pro working-memory training report.

This post was submitted by therese .