Brain Training Games Are Useless Says BBC Study

According to a UK wide experiment conducted for a program on the BBC, certain brain power enhancing exercises available online and on gaming consoles like the popular Nintendo Wii and DS, have no positive effect whatsoever on the brain.

The BBC reported that the study, which analysed results from 11,430 people for six consecutive weeks, indicated that although people taking part in the experiment got significantly better at playing the games, no substantial indicator of enhanced brain prowess was found in any one of them.

Commenting on the results of the experiment, Dr Adrian Owen, a neuroscientist at the Medical Research Council, said in a statement to the BBC that “The results are clear. Statistically, there are no significant differences between the improvements seen in participants who played our brain training games, and those who just went on the internet for the same length of time.”

Experts overseeing the experiment found that there was no reason to believe that there was an increase in the general reasoning, planning or visuospatial abilities and memory of those involved in the experiment.

Interestingly, all of the 11,430 people who took part in the one of a kind experiment, were regular viewers of BBC One's popular science show, Bang Goes The Theory.