Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

This research article and the arstechnica commentary are examples of exactly the overreach that they aim to criticize.

A number of large-scale multi-site randomized controlled trials have shown that specific types of brain training generalize to untrained measures of cognitive function and real-world activities. Here's two examples:

ACTIVE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3934012/

IMPACT: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4169294/

Some brain training works, and some doesn't. Of the ones that work, some show certain types of benefits; and others show other types of benefits. Throwing the whole field out is like saying "laetrile doesn't treat cancer, so no molecules treat cancer."

disclosure: I was an investigator on IMPACT; and I work at a brain training company (Posit Science)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: