lumosity
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Lumosity doesn’t actually improve your cognitive skills
Brain training apps such as Lumosity and Elevate are supposedly useful in order to keep your cognitive skills sharp, but there's been quite a bit of doubt cast on whether they are actually useful. Now, scientists led by University of Pennsylvania psychologist Joseph Kable are chiming in. As published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the team "found no evidence that cognitive training influences neural activity during decision-making, nor did we find effects of cognitive training on measures of delay discounting or risk sensitivity."
Lumosity settles claims it misled you over 'brain training'
Did you see the endless wave of Lumosity brain training ads and think there was no way that a bunch of games could significantly improve your mind? You're not alone. The brand's parent company, Lumos Labs, is paying the Federal Trade Commission $2 million to settle charges that it misled customers with bogus claims about Lumosity's abilities. The FTC doesn't beat around the bush: it says there's no evidence to support talk of boosting your intellectual performance. Moreover, Lumosity doesn't disclose that many of its testimonials are solicited through contests, and its ads "preyed on consumers' fears" about aging.
Playing 'Portal 2' might make you smarter
"Them games'll rot your brain, you know," said the fictional midwestern mom that we've invented for the purposes of this story. Grudgingly, we'd accept her admonishment, put down our copy of Sonic the Hedgehog and go back to playing "educational" titles like Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego. Now, however, it turns out that a game like Portal 2 is better for your brain than an actual brain-training game like Lumosity.
Daily Update for August 2, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Lumosity brings it brain-building quizzes to the iPad
Lumosity tops the chart in the educational category for the iPhone and now the "brain-enhancing" app has landed on the iPad. Similar to the iPhone app, the iPad version provides you with a personalized training program for your brain. Lumosity is known for its cognitive activities that give your body's most amazing organ a workout. The app asks you a series of questions that make you think about your answer. In the early parts of the training that I have used, the app doesn't resort to questions with false answers or frustratingly complex scenarios like some brain teasers. It has a nice balance of being challenging, but not impossible to solve. Lumosity started off as a web-based service and then branched out to mobile, which has been hugely successful for the company. Lumosity has logged 20 million overall downloads, and its updated iPhone version, which launched last month, has been used to play 21.5 million mobile brain games. You can download the Lumosity iPad app and the iPhone app from the iOS App Store. The apps are free, but require a US$79.99 yearly subscription if you want to dive deep into brain training offered by the service.
