Session number:

Average n-back: 7.55

Duration (min.): 25

I have resumed regular N back training after a period of playing around with practice N back, stretching myself to 9 and 10, 11, back so on, which is really beyond my current level.

This proved fruitful, however, as Ive been able to raise my scores on regular sessions. On the 14 sessions I have done so far, only one has been below 7.0 and have hit a personal best now at (7.55). I stayed twice at 9 back and hit 6 back only once; the rest 7 and 8s. I feel that high 7s are definitely achievable and I think averaging at 8 will happen at some point.

For those who are hitting a plateau I would recommend doing a few practice sessions (with feedback) beyond their current N level, not as replacement for ordinary sessions but so to push to get to the next N peak. Another thing I have noticed is I am starting to feel more intuitive at higher N levels; this indicates my brain may be tracking on a subconscious level. So I hope to see some real world benefits here.

Brain Fitness Pro working-memory training report.

This post was submitted by Will.

Session number: 14

Average n-back: 8.45

Duration (min.): ?

I’ve tried something different in this session. I relied less on “aural” and more on “visual”.

Instead of putting the one hitter I usually put in the end of each training block I choose to put it at the beginning  Now I have the time to rehearse the “letter” on the first block while memorizing the following 3 blocks in “aural”.

This is what I did to achieve tons of nines: 1 (visual), 3 (aural), 3 (visual), 1-2 (visual). As you can see I increased the visual by one and decreased the aural by one. Normally I do 4 (Aural), 2, 2, 1 (Visual) or 4 (Aural), 3, 2 (Visual) with nines. By doing this I didn’t feel as “exhausted” like previous sessions.

Ps. Thanks Martin for commenting my previous post. I’ll continue experimenting with all kinds of “techniques” until I  reach my goal.

I’ll continue to share my thoughts and how I managed my n-backs in future sessions.

This post was submitted by Xenophanes.

Session number: 13

Average n-back: 8.35

Duration (min.): ?

I got a couple of tens today (last night), most tens so far. Even if I didn’t surpass session 11 it felt lika a better session.

My focus was good the first 10 training blocks then it went down from 8s to 7s. I even got a couple of 6s. I must try to maintain my focus next time.

Brain Fitness Pro working-memory training report.

This post was submitted by Xenophanes.

Session number: 11

Average n-back: 8.35

Duration (min.): 25-30?

I bought this program a couple of months (4-5) ago and been using it from time to time. I’ve done approx 150 sessions, and now finally got the time to use it more frequently.

At first I’ve been trying to feel the hits, reached max 5-6. Nowdays I’m more determined to reach the higher scores by chunking. This is what I do! I’m more a visual thinker so I don’t need to reshape the objects in my mind to suit my needs, just different patterns to recognize/memorize, and then re-arranging the existing patterns to new ones. It’s also important for me to continue without breaks. This is what I do the first 6-10 training blocks. 4/5 hits (audio), 2/3 hits (visualizing letters), 1/2 hits (visualizing letters). When I can’t handle the load anymore I’ll go down to 4, 2, 2, 1, then 4, 2, 2 to 4, 2, 1 to 4, 2 etc. I was thinking of putting in a couple of 1 hitters, like this, 5, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1 to reach even higher scores. I’ll do this when I’m more comfortable with the 10′ns, only reached them a couple of times.

I just started to train before bedtime. Hopefully this will increase the “n-backs” more rapidly.

Ps. Maybe I should combine “feeling-it (FI)” sessions with “memorization/high-focus/chunking (MHC)” sessions for greater n-backs in the long term. Or will the MHC sessions contribute to better FI anyway?

My goal this year is to reach 15 in some way. Maybe an impossible goal to set? After I’ve reached my goal I promise to take the get-y test to see if there’s any “real” iq-improvements. I took the FRT-A mensa test a couple of months ago and got 135. (Max IQ you can achieve on the FRT) .  My N-back then was around 4.

David Martinez-Lundström / Sweden

Brain Fitness Pro working-memory training report.

This post was submitted by Xenophanes.