Can We Maximise Cognitive Fitness?
What I learned after 60 days of playing Lumosity Brain Games
A few months ago, I became interested in brain games in the context of my aging journey and cognitive fitness. At 67 years old, I have the odd senior’s moment.
These days, much rides on any intervention that can mitigate cognitive decline.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 50 million people worldwide live with dementia, and nearly 10 million new cases are diagnosed annually. The prevalence of dementia is expected to increase as the global population ages, and it is estimated that by 2050, the number of people living with dementia will reach 152 million.
Enough reason to investigate whether brain training can help.
Up until now, I have played a few digital games. I used Duolingo to learn basic French; I jumped on the Wordle bandwagon for a while. I’ve done crosswords, but my 91-year-old Dad still outdoes me. However, this type of game-playing is a new experience for me.
I reviewed lists of ‘Best Brain Training apps’ on numerous sites to choose a brain training game company. Every list seemed to rate Lumosity in the top or near top position. Lumosity it was - even though it took me a bit to discover it wasn’t spelled Luminosity! Maybe my attention to detail skills needed training!
The Research
Larger companies, e.g. Lumosity and Brain HQ, have research arms and collaborate with researchers worldwide to provide convincing research results regarding the real-life benefits.
However, neuroscientists such as Sabina Brennan, author of 100 Days to a Younger Brain, urge us to be cautious about claims of real-life benefits by commercial operators. “Unfortunately, claims about brain-training apps are frequently exaggerated and can even be misleading," she says.
With that in mind, I am more than happy to conduct N=1 research.
I decided on Lumosity and started training on April 5, 2023.
How it works…
Lumosity provides games in five main skill domains
Speed
Memory
Attention
Flexibility
Problem-Solving
Additionally, they have added a Maths and Language domain.
A continuous score is generated for every game, and an overall score is aggregated. Then, the scores are compared to others by age group.
Insights into various aspects of your game playing are also provided, including a list of your strongest games, your writer profile based on words you chose in language games, your occupation profile, and insights into your style for some games.
Finally, there is an opportunity to take a more rigorous test called the Neurologist Cognitive Performance Test (NCPT) which takes 20 minutes. The NCPT is an online adaptation of common cognitive assessments used in research. I took the test when I started using Lumosity and took it again today with a significant improvement.
How I play…
I set a target to play only ’Today’s Recommended Workout’ (Classic), which generates five games across the domains.
I recorded my scores and the comparison percentiles daily on a spreadsheet, realising quickly that it was a game of snakes and ladders. Somedays, you go up, and other days you slide back down a bit, so I colour-code ‘up’ days in green and ‘down’ days in brown to provide a visual on the trends.
I have played the ‘Classic’ workout every day for 60+ days.
My stats…
In that time, I have approximately doubled every domain score and improved my comparison percentile from an overall 12% better than my age group to 59% better than my age group.
Maths and language scores are not included in the main domain scores. My very first Maths game yielded a score 96% better than my age group, so I have not focused on Maths games to date.
What I discovered…
My natural cognitive approach worked well for a while. I improved without having to do much; I just got used to the games.
However, over time, when some games appeared, I heard myself saying, ‘ I hate this game’, and I would grit my teeth to play it. I don’t need to tell you that it was more likely to be a snakes day.
Then came the plateau and the frustration. Why wasn’t I improving?
I had to stop and take stock.
I recognised the need for a more resourceful state and different strategies for specific games and domains.
Timed games like Speed, Memory, Attention and Flexibility require a calm state, calm breathing and a sharp or peripheral focus, depending on the game.
Even so, memory, attention, and flexibility games continue to challenge me.
Problem-solving is not timed, allowing for analysing, planning and optimising. I could take my time. I love these games and have improved my score nearly threefold over time.
My key takeaway is that the games should be played consciously rather than unconsciously. They are like the drills of any sport. And as Anders Erickson points out in Peak: How all of us can achieve extraordinary things, deliberate practice is a conscious iterative process.
Lumosity provides insights to feed that iterative process. For example, it could tell me I was favouring speed over accuracy or vice versa and how the people scoring higher than me were playing, giving me an opportunity to re-strategise.
Yes, I am a speed demon. I noticed that I would hold my breath and go all out. Could a change in breathing improve my result? It did. I have learned that sometimes, slowing down improves accuracy and results.
I also noticed when that I get frustrated when I make a mistake. So instead of just moving on, the rest of the game suffers—breathing matters.
Does this reflect real life? You bet it does. Does improving these game scores transfer to real life? If games are played consciously, I believe the answer is yes.
For example, I am married to a brilliant problem solver, and I don’t like to admit I have grown used to deferring to him when I have a problem. Recently, as we were hiking on muddy paths in the UK, I solved the problem of getting through the muddy patches instead of waiting for him. Where could we climb a fence to go around it? Where could I find logs to use as stepping stones? Could we backtrack to where it was easier to find a different route? I enjoyed my new problem-solving skills and even, at the time, connected them to Lumosity problem-solving games.
Where to from here…
I am not sure if only playing the Classic mix every day is the best strategy, but I am travelling overseas right now, so the best I can do is keep my streak until I return home. I do love a good streak!
Once home, I intend to dig deep into individual games. I believe I will unlock new strategies much faster if I repeatedly play one game in a specific domain. The lowest-scoring games are in my sight. I also have to make peace with the new ‘Feel the Beat’ game which requires me to hit my J key in time to the music - not my best skill!
I plan to reach the top of my age group and then compare myself with the next youngest cohort to see how many years I can knock off my cognitive age. Competitive? You bet!
I will also continue to document times I can connect an enhanced real-life activity with improved game-playing cognitive skills and keep you posted.
In addition, starting the day with Lumosity as part of my morning routine reminds me to pay attention to State and Strategy as my real-life day unfolds, and that can’t be a bad thing.
My favourite Substack reads this week:
The Dark Side of Productivity No One Talks About by Tim Denning, Unfiltered
Borders and Boundaries by Susie Kaufman, Seventy Something
Complexity is Good, Actually by Freddie Deboer
That’s a terrific snapshot!
Hard to believe you've moved beyond Wordle. I'm aware of a flush of pleasure every morning when I reward myself with the day's game after I read all my email and find out just how bad things are in the world. Would you say Wordle is a problem solving game? Thanks, also, for the shout out to seventytsomething. Much appreciated.