Session number: 11
Average n: 2.1
I did not do very well, but I see changes with my productivity.
This post was submitted by Ronnette.
Posts Tagged ‘brain-training’
Working Memory Training Report – Ronnette – Session 11
Monday, November 2nd, 2009PC Mag Picks Brain Fitness Pro as Affordable Mother’s Day Gift
Monday, May 4th, 2009I had a very nice surprise this weekend when I found out that PC Mag online had picked Mind Sparke’s Brain Fitness Pro as one of its Top Ten Mother’s Day Gifts for Under $50.
If you’re reading this and you have a Digg account and could thumbs up my Digg, that would be great. Also feel free to pass the story around!!
Here’s the Digg link:
http://digg.com/software/PC_Mag_Picks_Brain_Training_as_Top_Ten_Mother_s_Day_Gift
Martin
BFP Junior – Brain Training for Children
Saturday, March 28th, 2009More good news on the product front.
I’m very happy to announce the release of BFP Junior — brain training games for children ages 6 through 12. These games train the same core functions as Brain Fitness Pro, but start out much more simply. The program has a number of features to keep the children interested. — Selectable “themes,” whacky sounds, bright colors… Just like the adult version! OK, nothing like the adult version.
We will be incorporating the new exercises and some of the ideas from Junior into Brain Fitness Pro later this year. Although the exercises start out more simply, they have unlimited levels of difficulty and would be great for variation in the regular program, or for people who want to ease their way into dual n-back.
Martin
Brain Fitness Pro Review in Movie Entertainment Magazine
Friday, February 20th, 2009The technology columnist for the Globe and Mail – Jack Kapica – wrote up several brain fitness programs for Canadian publication Movie Entertainment Magazine (why? not sure); one of which was Brain Fitness Pro:
“Mind Sparke’s Brain Fitness Pro, graphically spartan, is based on serious research by scientists who claim that progressive training of working memory increases intelligence by more than 40 per cent. You can reach that goal in 20 days, they say, by playing this austere PC game 30 minutes a day. It pushes the player to remember and process visual and auditory information under time pressure.”
Brain Training 101 – Erin’s Review With Post IQ Test Increase
Monday, February 9th, 2009Having completed her 19 days of training last week, Erin took the GIQTest on Saturday. You can read her final assessment of Brain Fitness Pro here: “How I Improved My Productivity, Strengthened My Working Memory And Increased My IQ Score By 12 Points In 19 Days“
Working-Memory Training Report – Shaun – Session 50
Monday, January 26th, 2009Session number: 50!!
Average n-back: 5.05
Duration (min.): 30
Session 04 on Fr28Nov average of 2.3
Session 05 on Sa29Nov average of 2.4
Session 06 on Su30Nov average of 2.95
Session 07 on Tu02Dec average of 2.75
Session 08 on Th04Dec average of 3.35
Session 09 on Fr05Dec average of 3.4
Session 10 on Sa06Dec average of 3.65
Session 11 on Su07Dec average of 3.7
Session 12 on Mo08Dec average of 3.8
Session 13 on Tu09Dec average of 4.25
Session 14 on We10Dec average of 4.1
Session 15 on Th11Dec average of 4.4
Session 16 on Fr12Dec average of 4.5
Session 17 on Su14Dec average of 4.2
Session 18 on Mo15Dec average of 4.3
Session 19 on Tu16Dec average of 4.55
Session 20 on Th18Dec average of 4.3
Session 21 on Fr19Dec average of 4.45
Session 22 on Sa20Dec average of 4.5
Session 23 on Su21Dec average of 4.65
Session 24 on Mo22Dec average of 4.8
Session 25 on Tu23Dec average of 4.4
Session 26 on We24Dec average of 4.85
Session 27 on Tu30Dec average of 4.4
Session 28 on Mo05Jan average of 4.55
Session 29 on Tu06Jan average of 4.85
Session 30 on We07Jan average of 4.9
Session 31 on Th08Jan average of 5.1
Session 32 on Fr09Jan average of 4.9
Session 33 on Sa10Jan average of 5.05
Session 34 on Su11Jan average of 5.25
Session 35 on Tu13Jan average of 5
Session 36 on Th15Jan average of 4.9
Session 37 on Fr16Jan average of 5.25
Session 38 on Sa17Jan average of 4.6
Session 39 on Sa17Jan average of 5.35
Session 40 on Su18Jan average of 4.75
Session 41 on Mo19Jan average of 4.9
Session 42 on Mo19Jan average of 5.5
Session 43 on Tu20Jan average of 5.15
Session 44 on We21Jan average of 5.2
Session 45 on Th22Jan average of 4.85
Session 46 on Fr23Jan average of 5
Session 47 on Sa24Jan average of 4.65
Session 48 on Sa24Jan average of 5.05
Session 49 on Su25Jan average of ?
Session 50 on Su25Jan average of 5.05
I wanted to do fifty training sessions, and I did it!
I learned that my score on an n-back task can increase from 2.30 (or so) to 5.0 (or so) with about fifty training sessions.
Based on my experience, the next step is that I am going to take five days to consolidate the gains, then on day six (Sat-31-Jan, within reason) carry out two or three on-line IQ tests, and after that make another decision.
The BFPro Training has been personally rewarding. Warm regards,
Shaun.
Brain Fitness Pro working-memory training report.
This post was submitted by Shaun Luttin.
Fluid Intelligence And IQ
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009I had a rightfully skeptical question from a customer about whether, as a person long since identified as gifted, he would see any noticeable gains from working-memory training. He also pointed out that the measured gains in fluid intelligence of 40% and more could not possibly translate into the same percentage gains for IQ, particularly for someone with a high IQ. Quite right. Here is an abbreviated version of my answer:
“The BFP training blog enjoys frequent contributions from those with measured IQ scores at or above the MENSA level. They’ve obtained benefits from the training that have kept them training well beyond 19 days. One BFP customer increased his IQ score by more than 15%, gaining entry to MENSA, after training for two 19 day periods.
“Specifically, as you correctly point out, an increase in fluid intelligence of 40% does not translate into an increase in general IQ of 40%. General IQ has to do with several factors, not just fluid intelligence. To the best of our knowledge, smart people tend to see gains in IQ of 10 to 20%, but we don’t have enough data yet to generalize and define this increase more precisely. But quite apart from raw scores, the BFP working-memory training produces beautiful, noticeable changes in one’s life. It can enhance any experience that places demands on working-memory, fluid intelligence, concentration and multi-tasking, such as playing a musical instrument, writing a paper, or operating smoothly in a complex social situation.”
Brain Fitness And City Life
Thursday, January 8th, 2009I like living in a big city. I grew up in a small town and as soon as I graduated I moved to London. I just couldn’t imagine living anywhere else (in England). I later lived in Milan, Chicago, and now New York. But I’ve always thought that considering the continuum of human evolution, cities were unnatural and mentally unhealthy places to live. We’re not yet evolved to effectively cope with the demands and stresses of the big city.
This is the subject of an article in the Boston Globe which focuses on the mentally challenging aspects of city life and the restorative values of even small patches of nature.
I long ago moved out of Manhattan, preferring the relative bucollery of the outer boroughs. And I enjoy taking my run around the local park. So, this all seems subjectively sensible to me.
Interestingly for readers of this blog, the article mentions that working-memory has been found to be diminished even by walking down a city street. So, if you live in a city, training your working-memory would seem to be a good strategy for coping!
Working-Memory Limits in Modern Life
Monday, December 15th, 2008The Wall Street Journal ran a piece today focusing on task overload and information overload of modern life. Torkel Klingberg has written a book called “The Overflowing Brain” in which he describes how life today gives our brains too much to think about. Our lives and the technologies we use have evolved more quickly than we have. (This is something I think about often.)
In revealing the problems of multi-tasking, Klingberg hones in on the limited capacity of working-memory. When we switch between tasks we quickly overload our working-memory.
Klingberg also points out that we can only be truly attentive to one task at once.
I’m writing about this because while I believe in simplifying our lives and reducing the information clutter, we cannot eliminate complexity entirely. That’s where Brain Fitness Pro comes in. It is specifically designed to increase working-memory capacity and multi-tasking capability with an exercise that demands concentration and focus. This accounts for some of the experiences that customers have reported describing better overall attention and ability to get tasks done.
Brain Plasticity: Learning to Rethink Drugs
Saturday, December 13th, 2008An article in MIT’s Technology Review “Making an Old Brain Young: Scientists are developing new ways to manipulate the brain’s normal plasticity” caught my eye this week. From the title I thought this would be a serious review of the medical advances expected from therapies that leverage brain plasticity.
Unfortunately, the article focused entirely on the possibility for developing drugs that exploit plasticity.
I’m not against drugs. Drugs are amazing. One very immediate example in my life: My daughter has congenital hypothyroidism — without synthetic thyroid hormone she would have been severely disabled. The medical world should be evaluating drugs that leverage plasticity. What concerned me about the article was the lack of any mention of reference to non-drug therapies. At the moment such therapies seem to be appearing or surfacing thick and fast and can be used right now, without waiting for the drugs to be developed, tested and approved: The Australian Alzheimer’s Association has endorsed brain training exercises as a non-pharmacalogical mechanism for delaying or preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms. The most effective therapies for stroke victims leverage plasticity through non-drug therapies (see Drake and Taub). Many learning specialists now work with brain exercises to mitigate or correct learning dysfunctions rather than accommodations. And other research has shown that the generation of new nerve cells in the dentate gyrus helps combat depression — something that can be assisted with exercise and brain exercise…
Surely, if our newfound knowledge of plasticity teaches us anything it teaches us that non-drug therapies can achieve some remarkable results.