Has anyone used lumosity.com for memory/logic improvement?

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I keep seeing ads for lumosity.com for memory and logical thought improvement. I did the sample tour and I did quite well, but I'm wondering if there are any real improvements over time. Has anyone used this site, and if so, what were your results?

I read an article about people playing brain training games similar to lumosity's, and the study found that they improved only on performance on brain training games, so no general gains outside of the games themselves.

I thought that might be the case. I took a quick look at your wordpress page. Are you a teacher or into education as a hobby?

EDIT: I've looked more at your wordpress site. Very cool!

Yes, I have, but the effects are limited until you hit your natural limit. You'll see your percentiles shoot up at first. This is just you getting familiar with the game; it is not you actually improving. Then, you will plateau at some point, after approximately 20 sessions. It is only then that the real improvement begins. If you can inch your scores over the 95th percentile for your age, after having plateaued lower, you are probably actually improving.

You will improve in many areas of your functioning; however, you will not improve nearly as much as you do on the games themselves.

That study was flawed because it only included subjects who play brain games for fun. It did not include a population of people who have never done anything like that before, so whatever improvement they might have gotten from Lumosity was probably improved by other things; furthermore, the study did not have them using Lumosity for long enough to make a real difference; it probably only lasted long enough for them to make the famed initial improvement that doesn't mean anything.

Lumosity improved my posture, anxiety, and driving (after 3 months of use). It really doesn't seem to have affected either my visual memory or social skills, however.

I had two similar cognitive assessments about two months apart for different purposes. The second one showed improvement on some things, especially remarkable improvement on the digit spans and spatial relations, as well as some aspects of processing. Visual memory and many other things were still pretty bad and unchanged. Lumosity was the main thing I did between these two assessments. I used only the free version, however. Maybe the paid version would have shown more improvement in more areas. Dunno. Basically, I went from horrible in nearly all visual-spatial areas to good/excellent in a few, average in a few more, and still horrible on the majority.

Last edited by Tyri0n on 31 Jan 2013, 6:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, that is certainly a positive change.



That is significant too. So, can I conclude that you found it worth the money?

I only used the free ipad version for 3 months. Like I said, I might have gotten more results with the paid version. Not sure. FYI, I think the ipad version is more useful than the iphone version. The iphone is too small for it to be much use.

Thanks!

I've thought about it, but then I went to go play video games.

I would probably try it if they had some sort of limited trial without registering.

Sounds a bit of a gimmick, something you would have to put a lot of effort into for little gain.

Not really. It takes like 5-10 minutes a day to do a daily session. I have never played video games or any sort of game before regularly, so my improvement might be the exception, not the rule. Keep in mind that Lumosity was designed for the elderly, and most of the people complaining about how it doesn't work are tech savvy youth who probably already do a lot of things with technology that use the same skills (like Portal and Grand Theft Auto!!)

My mom got me a subscription for Christmas. I really enjoy it! I don't believe that it does all these wonders that it claims, but it's good for me. There are several visual-spatial games that I enjoy practicing to help my NVLD. One is called Pinball Recall. The only bad thing about Lumosity is that many of the games' "categories" don't really fit what the game tests. For instance, what they call "speed" is really visual-spatial processes. I have very high processing speed, but my "speed" score is very low on there due to my NVLD. Similarly, what they call "flexibility" is really processing speed and verbal fluency. As an Aspie, I am an extremely rigid thinker, but my "flexibility" score on Lumosity is 99th percentile.

The only other thing I have to complain about is that some of the games have levels, and once you beat them, there's not a lot of replay value. I like games that you can just keep playing over and over to try and get a better high score. My favorite games are Word Bubbles and the memory one where you work in the fast food restaurant and have to remember everyone's order and name (forget what it's officially called). I would put Eagle Eye and Disillusion on my list, but sadly, they are two where, once you beat the level, there's nothing to try for. I wish that, in Eagle Eye, they had a HUGE list of birds that you could potentially find and put in your bird book. I don't like that there are only 24 to collect, and since Eagle Eye is extremely easy for me, I beat it in, like, an hour.

But, in summary, I really am happy with Lumosity. If you enjoy logic puzzles/intellectual games and trying to improve your cognitive skills, this is a great site that is well worth the money. And as a neuroscientist, I like that they advertise using the concept of neuroplasticity, which IS valid. While the games aren't going to make you some genius, which is what I assume most people apply for, you ARE able to work some on executive functioning tasks that you may not be the best at doing.

Ohh...I play both of those, no wonder!

what about gbrainy ? is free... its native to Linux, but there is at least a windows flavor and maybe mac too. i havent gotten around to trying it yet.

I took a look. The have a Mac version, so I'm going to give it a try. Thanks!

I'm using it right now (didn't pay for the whole thing so I'm getting the abridged version) but based on my game scores, I do seem to be improving, now, whether I'm actually improving cognitive skills or simply gaming ability is currently unknown, but whatever it is, I'm improving at it. It's kind of fun to do regardless, and if you have the time I'd say it was worth checking out.