Brain Training – Why It Works

A couple of years ago my sister moved to Spain with her two young children. The process of learning a new language has been slow and hard work for my sister, requiring hours of dedicated study and instruction. But her children have absorbed not one but two dialects of Spanish, and already switch effortlessly between their native and adopted tongues. The neurological processes that account for the amazing plasticity of the child’s brain also make possible the exciting new field of brain training.

During the critical period of childhood learning, a child’s brain produces large quantities of a protein known as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). This process triggers the nucleus basalis (the brain’s attention center), keeping the brain constantly ready to absorb new memories and skills. Children pay attention to everything… well, almost everything.

In late adolescence the body produces a lot more BDNF, so much more that it turns off the brain’s attention center. This shutting down effortless learning and constant attention is very important; without it we would be forever swamped by new details finding it hard to choose between long term goals and short term distractions.

Until recently, scientists thought that the adult brain was incapable of growth or change, and that we were resigned to a long, slow mental decline. But recent advancements in brain science have proven that this is far from true. Activities that demand attention reactivate the brain’s attention center. And when we carry out mental tasks that produce a sense of accomplishment, we create conditions under which the brain can grow and change.

These are the goals of a good brain training program. Intense focus and challenge on a task that strengthens core brain functions. Our brains begin grow new nerve cells and restructure themselves to adapt to the new stimulus.

The Three Pillars of Brain Training

1. Attention

To activate the nucleus basalis we must exert considerable focus and attention. This stimulates the nucleus basalis to produce acetylcholine, which in turn instructs the brain to fix the memories being formed.

2. Mental Challenge

Tackling a mental challenge that yields a sense of satisfaction or reward causes the brain to produce a second substance crucial to plastic change called dopamine.

3. Exercise of Core Brain Functions

Together these two brain chemicals stimulate the growth of new nerve cells, and produce conditions under which the brain can grow and change. If this mental condition is accompanied by an exercise that strengthens and improves core functions, we end up with lasting improvements in our mental ability.

Practical Applications of Brain Training

All kinds of mental tasks produce some degree of neural growth, helping us stay sharp – learning a new language, solving puzzles, taking up a new career. But such incidental change isn’t as directed and effective as that produced by some of the brain training exercises that scientists have designed.

A well designed brain training program improves cognitive ability using efficient and quantitatively verifiable exercises. The practical applications are many and varied: Learning specialists now work with brain training software to help reverse learning deficits; Senior centers offer brain training resources to their customers, helping to reverse memory loss and delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms or dementia; Schools have begun to introduce brain training as a way of optimizing children’s academic study; And individuals have taken to brain training as a way to maintain and improve their mental agility, in some instances even capitalizing on the latest training programs as a way to increase fluid intelligence (problem-solving skills) – a goal once thought unattainable.

Brain training is relatively new, with such untested products on the market it’s hard to know which ones will achieve the desired results. This presents us with the challenge of first identifying which product is right for us. They range in cost from less than fifty dollars to several hundred dollars, and the variance in efficacy is, if anything, even greater. (Some brain training programs are both affordable and effective.)

Since committing to a program requires time and money it pays to check the scientific credentials of the training. What specifically is it designed to achieve? Has its efficacy been independently tested or proven? Does the vendor specify the degree of improvement you should expect? And does training follow a prescribed timeline with set duration and milestones?

And finally, we should remember that the critical ingredients for plastic change are focus and challenge. Just as we don’t expect to stay physically fit without breaking a sweat, a truly effective brain training program requires our attention and effort. The rewards, however, can be worth every ounce of that investment.

Oxford-trained scientist, author, and technologist, Martin G. Walker is a member of The British Neuroscience Association, Learning and The Brain, and MENSA. His company Mind Sparke publishes free information on the field of neuroscience and brain training as well as effective and affordable brain training software.