It’s very easy to be a little leery of so-called “brain training” apps and games. It almost seems too good to be true: If everyone who plays these games gets exponentially smarter, what’s to stop us from becoming super-intelligent hyperbeings, walking around with brains the size of pumpkins?
Then again, consider a game like Candy Crush Saga, something you might play as an alternative to a brain game. Candy Crush and its smartphone cousins are nothing more than money-grubbing timesinks, laced with garishly festive colors and chintzy sounds. Playing something like Candy Crush does little to engage anything but your dopamine receptors as you swipe mindlessly away. If you’re going to waste that time anyway, why not try doing something constructive?
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Of course, the science behind brain training apps is still less than solid. Though it’s a very new field of study, there’s no definitive proof that these apps have any long-term benefits in any kind of intelligence metric, and some critics have even gone so far to call apps like Lumosity a scam. Other studies disagree, finding that there’s a small but statistically significant improvement between those who use some kind of brain-training app and those who don’t.
Even if these products offer no more than a placebo effect, that mindset may still matter. Making an active effort to engage yourself in times when you could be staring listlessly off into space or watching Maury can have an effect on your personal sense of well-being, if nothing else. It’s like doing a morning set of push-ups, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or resolving to eat less fast food. All of those little things can make a big difference.
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With that in mind, we’ve put together a short list of the highest-rated brain training apps and games. Some of them address so-called “core cognitive” skills, others teach you languages. Some are just fun to play. All of them make you think, at least a little bit. But we assume no responsibility if you don’t win the Nobel Prize this year.
Click here to see the 8 best brain-training apps
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