you know I sometimes think that our
knowledge of the brain is like our
knowledge of the ocean there's so much
to know and we know only this much
there's so much work to do many of us
fear memory loss I know I do how can we
protect ourselves so I'm anxious to do
the test and see what my brain activity
is like here's your brain look at that
this is a story on the brain business
this isn't the enormous industry for
people um out there right now it's
probably very difficult to differentiate
between what a really good scientific
tools and where they're being taken for
a ride join me and more than 50
Canadians as we test brain training
games is it my brain getting better or
I'm just getting used to the games I'll
try an unproven treatment so if you want
to just close your eyes why are you
selling hope we're not selling anything
we're trying to help people it's my
journey into the world of of Mind
[Music]
Games ladies and Gentlemen please join
me in welcoming Tom
Harrington how yall doing I'm mcing or
hosting the walk for memories it's an
Alzheimer's of society Toronto
fundraising event to raise money for
Alzheimer's care Alzheimer's research uh
dementia that sort of thing so diseases
of the brain uh Alzheimer's is the to me
the cancer of the 21st century it's
going to kill a lot of
people does everybody have a shoelace I
lost both my parents to the disease I
lost my father-in-law to it as well the
story behind the yellow shoelace is kind
of cool first of all it's a shoelace
because you need a pair of shoes to walk
it's a walk and yellow represents hope
it's always a difficult day because it
just reminds me of what happened to my
family so it's emotional um but it's
also really uplifting and Powerful
because so many people are affected by
the disease uh second of all we tie the
shoelace to our finger because it's
always a way we remember things and it's
the idea is to remember those who suffer
from Alzheimer's and those who deal with
those who are suffering from Alzheimer's
and other dementia so we tie the
shoelace to our finger and finally the
other part of it I like which people
don't always think about is you can't
tie this shoelace on your finger by
yourself we have to rely on other people
to help us someone has to do it for you
in other words we're all in it together
and you don't almost realize that until
you come to an event like this and you
see how many people are touched by it so
you feel a sense of companionship and
and Community everybody's been through
it knows what it's like so I think about
my father and my mother and and how when
we look at the disease now and people
talk about how do you ward it off and
one of the things to stop it and people
say you know if you're using your brain
creatively and that way that will help
well I had a mother who was a singer and
a performer and a music teacher and I a
father who's a poet and a journalist and
a writer and they both got Alzheimer's
so it's a mystery and we have to solve
the
mystery this is where my Journey Begins
my producer Virginia and I are off to
Western University in London
Ontario I did my journalism degree here
actually so it's a trip down memory lane
all looking very
familiar that way is the seeps which is
the CP Hotel it's the very famous
drinking hangout for Western students I
don't know if it still is it certainly
was when I was here the clock tower
there that's middle sex College that's
where the journalism school was when I
was
here the gate to the university is on
the left yeah this is the
entrance we've come here to try and
separate fact from fiction there is
memory loss that comes with age that's
typical it's trying to separate what's
normal memory loss from what could be
serious memory loss people are really
desperate for answers around memory and
I think there's a real fear out there
I'm afraid I'm afraid about my own
memory cuz I even noticed these days I
forget more often than I used to I do
believe there's an industry growing up
around that
fear a big part of that industry is
brain training games I want to be
healthy so to me that's diet exercise
relaxation but I want to make sure my
brain stays healthy too Lumosity is the
most popular one out there any brain can
get better and it's a series of online
games set up to exercise your mind help
your memory but will it start training
with lumosity.com right now and discover
what your brain can do I'm going to find
out how long you've been working here at
the Institute this is Adrien Owen he's
the head of cognitive neuroscience and
imaging at the University's brain and
MIND
Institute a Pioneer in his field
Adrian's going to put me through a
battery of tests to figure out whether
Lumosity works for reasoning planning
memory I'm going to be spending a lot of
time with Adrien over the next month
Adrian first of all let's talk about
what I'm going to be going through today
yeah well we're going to put you through
a procedure known as functional magnetic
resonance imaging or fmri that's just a
fancy way of scanning your brain and
seeing that seeing how your brain
activates while you're solving quite a
difficult series of mental problems
we're hoping you've got a normal brain a
normal health brain uh we're going to
use it just to see which parts of your
brain are involved in these higher level
cognitive functions have to take
everything metal out of my pockets
magnetize cards phone
nervous I'm nervous um never had
anything like this before
change ring I'm anxious to do the test
though to see and see what my brain
activity is like watch I've got little
metal things on my jeans does that
matter last thing the boots you know
it's it's a new frontier uh for me in
terms of my own health but also for our
show and the kind of story we're
doing
okay it's a little tight in there and
I'm a little claustrophobic I think I'll
be okay I
[Music]
hope there's a lot going on inside this
machine the
instructions
buttons you're supposed to press hi Tom
how you doing in there or not supposed
to
press all's good the um it's a little
noisy but not too bad I've been
communicating Tom you don't have to
squeeze the ball to talk back to me say
again see they get in the last part you
don't have to squeeze the ball you can
just talk oh I understand okay that's
the alarm pressing that's the alarm yes
it's been quite entertaining in here I'm
not pcking all right here we go Adrien
gives me a bunch of visual problems I'm
supposed to try solving between each I'm
told to relax not easy some nice visual
activity yeah we know that he's looking
at complex patterns on the screen and we
would expect the visual cortex of his
brain to be activated in response to
that
information um I'm particularly
interested in in this part of the brain
that's in the frontal lobe he has a lot
of activity there that's a part of the
brain that we know is involved in Sol
complex
problems this is pretty
good that's it we're done Tom fantastic
very good scan how are you feeling good
that was uh that's very challenging it's
kind of like doing a crossroad puzzle
while someone's vacuuming excellent
we're going to come and get you out
now all this prodding is the first step
in my personal test of
Lumosity here's your brain look at that
anything unusual that you saw no I think
you have a very uh very nice looking
brain actually these are slices through
your brain yeah we can just go all the
way up right in this frontal Lo and you
really had a lot of activity right in
there the red and the yellow that's the
parts of your brain that were most
active when you are solving problems um
very few of us have very simple lives
these days and we know that the frontal
loes are really crucial for multitasking
uh if you don't have good frontal loes
then it's very difficult to deal with
the complexities of everyday living
Lumosity sort of wakes up my mind it's
not just a bunch of random games
Lumosity says it uses cuttingedge
Neuroscience so I'm going to try it out
and see if it improves anything so uh
after a month of brain training games
might we see any differences when we do
this again if there's something in this
brain training you should do a lot
better a month from now and we should
see some brain changes that will will
indicate that
Improvement okay I've had my first MRI
now Adrian and his team need a baseline
test Tom this is tram hey tram how are
you nice to meet you nice to meet you
time's going to give you a thorough
cognitive workout all right Tom so I'm
going to walk you through each of the 13
tasks now it's a series of
problemsolving tasks set up to test my
planning concentration and memory for
this task you're going to hear Adrian
helped create Cambridge brain Sciences
so people can assess how well their
brains work anyone can take it I can't
type it's scientific and it's free
after a month of Lumosity I'll be taking
this test again so Adrian can see if
there's any
[Music]
change I don't think I can get this
one I lost my concentration
there let me tell you his test is really
tough
tired it's not enough just to have me
test Lumosity I want a large group of
people to take our test that way our
results can be more
[Music]
definitive music inspires the
mind so who better to ask for help than
the Ontario philarmonic
Orchestra hey folks my name is Tom
Harrington I'm the co-host of
marketplace and I'm here to recruit you
guys in a little test for our show how
many of you know someone affected by
memory loss Alzheimer's dementia that
sort of thing wow that's a lot that's
almost half the orchestra I have a
challenge for you you've probably heard
about Lumosity it's a brain game that
you can play on your phone or on your
computer play Lumosity for us see if it
really makes a difference I'm doing
Lumosity too just so you know I'm doing
this test as part of the test we'll need
to play at least three times a week 15
minutes each time so um are you game to
try our little
test in unison that was good okay so I
should let you get back to playing the
music is beautiful my father loved
Beethoven so I want to listen three
[Music]
four music is such a powerfully
evocative trigger of
memory when you grew up in a house full
of Music which I did and it was
everything from pop from the Beatles to
Classic go to Opera um you know hearing
Beethoven in particular which I so much
identify with my father is very powerful
just takes me back to a kid and hearing
the music from wafting up from the
basement or the radio in the kitchen the
appreciation of music is a great thing
to have you know but it's also a spitter
sweet because it's a reminder of what I
lost being a musician my focus has to be
on all the
time I'll be very interested to see the
results to be honest with you because
I'm very aware as I'm getting older that
I want to stay as mentally alert as I am
now but I know that I'll reach the point
point where it won't be well thanks for
helping us out today you guys sound
great you really
[Music]
do Lumosity costs about $15 a month
don't know about that $15 a month and
says it has 70 million members looks
like my LPI is increased but is it his
Cutting Edge as they
oh no forgot about that one we're
starting our test no distractions
[Music]
Chloe in the meantime I'm pushing my
mind and body could just doing a spin
class actually improve your cognitive
performance have you tried brain
training games tell us your experience
on Facebook and
[Music]
Twitter
I've had my first MRI ever to see how
hard and well my brain works
why I want to see if playing the Brain
Training Game Lumosity for a month makes
my brain any fitter my memory and
concentration any better I'm about 2
weeks into my trial
run and back at Western for another
first for me that is a spin class you
want to have your seat at your hipbone
level level okay a lot is riding on this
next hour just say I've never done a
spin class before well I've got a doozy
prepared for you guys oh fabulous I'm so
happy there's a lot of evidence that
says being physically fit especially
later in life is good for our
brains do good to see you good this is
my father Terry hey Terry how are you
yeah fine thank you freshly imported
from England I understand yes that's
right just a week Adrien Owen is a
neuroscientist here at Western his
76-year-old dad Terry is doing the spin
class with
me do you ever think about memory loss
you ever worried about it I I find it
difficult sometimes to remember names
you know 10 minutes time I might not
remember your Tom mhm um other things
are you know long-term memory not so bad
but short-term memory I I do struggle
with sometimes I think there's all those
little moments where you kind of go hm I
think I'm telling the same story to the
same person a day later so I'm a bit
weary when I think I'm repeating myself
yeah they repeat myself some I'm sure
you do
yes one of the interesting things about
aging is that you have to think have I
always been like this I mean in many
cases when you you think about well you
know I don't have a terribly good memory
it turns out I've never really had a
terribly good memory so if it's just I'm
now worried about it because I'm
approaching 50 and you know I think it's
important to put it in the context of
your entire life are you really
deteriorating or are you actually at the
same not too good a level that you were
always at what is the science saying so
far about physical fitness and brain
Fitness Rel better word actually there's
quite a lot of accumulating evidence
that that remaining physically active
and physically fit particularly in later
life is beneficial for cognitive
performance what we're doing here is a
sort of a shortterm study we're
interested in well well could it
actually work in one session could just
just doing a a a spin class actually
improve your your cognitive performance
are you going to be spinning with me I
hope so yes be kind behind you behind me
yeah just be kind don't show me up okay
make out for my age let's get at it
ready
yeah
how long we gone any another 45 minutes
or so that's no problem I'm curious you
know I find when I go to the gym and I
usually go in the mornings that I'm
sharper a bit more on when I come into
work I'm kind of interested to see if
there's a correlation how you doing
still
[Music]
going he's doing pretty well I'm
impressed that he's keeping up the T you
know he's at least twice Tom's age your
son is a cruel fellow isn't
he I sweating and my bum is killing me
but I'm off with the other Spinners to
take adrien's online test okay part
[Music]
two they all did it right before the
spin class we're all doing it again to
see if our brains work any better we ran
a pretty rigorous experiment and what
I'm really interested in is whether
remaining physically fit is as good as
any of these complex brain training
exercises that many people are thinking
that they should be doing Adrien
wondered if a short intense burst of
exercise would make a difference it
doesn't really and he's disappointed but
that science he says you experiment you
get the result you try something else
all right thanks let's go let's get out
of these wet things he
[Music]
Terry in Oakville Ontario I'm about to
meet a family who like me is also
testing
Lumosity hi
Bri how are you nice to meet you from on
the stakes are high for the ouds hey how
you doing
everybody hey getting old and its impact
is no small thing in this family today
the march of time is being
celebrated
birthday it's Marie's sister Genie's
birthday to be mine too wow you guys
three generations of the UDS are on hand
on the count of three okay
and all
right it's a happy day but there's a
looming cloud for Genie and Marie three
their mom had Alzheimer's so did three
of their aunts and uncles four out of
the five wow mhm that must give you
pause yes it's scary very scary I think
it's time we cut our cakes the udes are
looking for ways to protect protect
themselves through diet and exercise and
looking to the Future I'm hoping that
eventually there's going to be some type
of pill a magic pill that we can just
take and say okay I'm feeling better no
magic pill yet but lum's pitch on social
media implies that brain training could
delay Alzheimer's even for people with a
genetic risk lumity I want to show you
something this is from um a Facebook
post actually notice what it says
filling your life with intellectual
challenges can help keep you your brain
healthy longer and may delay the onset
of Alzheimer's up to 10 years according
to a new study from the Mayo Clinic what
impression did you draw from that
delaying up to 10 years that's that's
kind of a big uh claim there we have
this in the family so it it's in the
back of my mind and unless there's
concrete facts to say yes Lumosity and
the study we have proven that there's x
amount of people that have not gotten
Alzheimer is because of this I'd be okay
but because we're not there yet that's
false hope and it's false advertising
well when they put in the Mayo Clinic
and Research from the Mayo Clinic it
makes you feel like it's legit but you
wonder is this Lumosity or is this what
what is a study exactly what exactly
were they collecting data on the studies
kind of show that if you do these
exercises you might delay the onset or
whatever so it's trying to link that
game to towards the study it's kind of
Gray I would say it's a it's borderline
believable but it's a bit of a stretch
yeah the udes are onto something turns
out the study to which Lumosity is
referring has nothing to do with brain
training games it's all about
intellectual challenges such as your job
your education activities outside work
having a good social life playing games
learning music those sorts of things it
has nothing to do with brain training
games at
[Music]
all and that's pretty much how the UDS
already live
it's curiosity that made them want to
help me with the Lumosity test going to
play my Lumosity
here and at the very least they say
waitress F it's fun like the speed yeah
the speed are good the coffee one you
have to make I just discovered that one
today and like I used to also the the
waitressing one so I used to be a
waitress so for me suck memor that one
for memor really good I really like I've
always you know when I'm in restaurants
I remember everybody's order yeah I Ace
that game I get so excited when I move
up a level or something I'm like yes
maybe I'm getting better you know going
back to the whole topic of like if you
feel like it makes a difference they
give you on the website the like index
the score what is it
LPI so like you see that getting better
and better each day but is it my brain
getting better or I'm just getting used
to the games like is it other factors
what's actually happening there and
that's the key question question really
will the game give us an edge will our
memory improve I'm just over halfway
into my month-long Lumosity
test and I'm about to meet a woman
facing Alzheimer's headon I think she's
awfully Brave not only to face what
she's facing but to than you to talk to
us about it I really try to get the
message out that that there's life after
diagnosis why this episode matters to me
find out more at cbc.ca Marketplace
[Music]
54 people including me are putting the
Brain Training Game Lumosity to the test
to see if it will give us an edge make
our brains
fitter there's a ton of stuff on the web
around memory and ways you might protect
yourself including all sorts of tests
you can take to see if you're at risk
for dementia identifying your personal
risk for Alzheimer's so I decide to try
out a few oh this is going to be
good well that was a challenging
test that's bad this site spits out an
unsettling prognosis according to this
have a moderate chance of uh getting
Alzheimer's and that my brain is 5 years
older than my current age so where does
that lead me is an online quiz a good
way to figure my risk hi there I'm off
to Vancouver to meet someone who's done
a study about online tests for
Alzheimer's the most common form of
dementia on my way got to play my
Lumosity at the University of British
Columbia I meet Julie robiar she's an
assistant professor of Neurology here
hey Julie how are you I did several self
assessment tests that are found online
some of the ones that I found did make
me kind of anxious because I was having
difficulty absorbing the information and
even understand understanding how I was
supposed to answer that yeah I wish you
would have come to me before you took
the test because I would have advised
you to to not do that um some of the
tests are difficult to understand this
is one of the criteria we looked at they
vary greatly in quality so in our sample
we looked at 16 different tests and we
found a huge uh spectrum of uh quality
even in just how the tests presented
themselves um however it can be really
difficult for uh the internet user to
determine which is the good one and
which is the bad one because something
that might seem wacky to you might seem
perfectly legitimate uh to someone else
why are they going online and not just
seeing their doctor and asking some
questions why not do that I think a lot
of people don't necessarily have access
to a family physician that they can
immediately sort of go to with every
concern going online is free and
convenient um and easily accessible so I
think a lot of people U will go to the
internet as sort of a first step some of
these tests could scare you into
thinking you might get the disease or
fool you into thinking there could be an
easy fix it's a tough line to walk for
researchers like Julie how can we convey
risk um in a way that's helpful and
that's not um going to give false hope
and that's not going to give false alarm
U we're really recommending that people
consult their Physicians before they uh
go on to take any kind of online self
assessment Alzheimer's is called the
long goodbye because
the person with the
disease Fades away very
slowly so you have a very long time to
say goodbye until the point where they
don't recognize you
anymore I'm here to meet a woman named
roxan Barry and she's staring at
Alzheimer's right in the face far sooner
than she should have
to
Roxanne's 52 years old and she's got
early onset
Alzheimer's I don't know what to
expect will meeting rockand remind me of
what my parents went through what I saw
firsthand hi roxan Harrington nice to
meet you nice to meet you Tom this my
husband Michael hey Michael how you
doing come on in
thanks it's breakfast at the beries and
Rox and's husband is making what they
call a brain shap smoothie I start with
a banana I've always had a smoothie for
breakfast some frozen fruit so it's just
now putting in a few extra ingredients
chia seeds you think it's worth doing
this sort of thing even if it's an extra
few dollars a month this isn't too
expensive coconut oil helps feed the
brain we don't expect it to be a miracle
it's just to give us a little bit of
Hope and even if it doesn't do anything
good it's not hurting there's no real
evidence it works I'm very pragmatic
about the expectations with it but for
rockand it makes her feel like she's
doing something positive you know
there's not a lot out there to work with
so we try we're trying just to keep me
healthy my brain healthy for as long as
possible order in the cup it's really
good you're not going to share I'm
trying yeah cheers to Good Health it's
to Good
Health when I think about what Roxanne's
going through I'm not sure I could be so
brave not bad I don't yeah here M I'd
like to show you pictures of my children
imagine being told you have an incurable
fatal disease but there's not even a
treatment we were just shock and
probably still a bit of denial yes
Roan's type of Alzheimer's is genetic I
ask if her kids have considered genetic
testing I don't want them to do that at
all it's not that because I caught it
early my prognosis is going to be
anything for you there's nothing it's
like there's this clock just
relentlessly always ticking in the
background right but because I'm still
fairly high functioning still fairly
independent I'm making lemonade I'm
making a lot of
lemonade Roxanne's idea of brain
training is a board game she plays with
her husband today she's teaching me to
play the goal is to get to 10 points
okay and you build roads settlements and
cities so planning strategy reasoning
all those sorts of things you're working
on those all the time with this game all
the time did I roll no there you go sh
your memory loss good example of it
right
there so this is just a huge Unity you
know when you're playing a game together
talking keeps the social skills up and
it and it takes you know a little bit of
time so that it's not something that's
you know quickly done and engages me for
well I got
nothing wait Ro
card it's interesting you talk about the
social aspect of playing a game like
this I'm playing lamasi right now and
it's a game of isolation pretty much
that's not fun see and this is enjoyable
for Me Maybe not as much for my husband
cuz he tends to lose
for but uh this is is is definitely fun
somehow I feel better just this one
moment oh did I I did that
Roxanne's long goodbye has already begun
there won't be a cure in time for
her but she hopes someday there will be
one for her kids and grandkids you have
some cards honey congratulations it's
good job I'm so proud of you yeah yeah
watching them interact and how much she
relies on him and how much more she's
going to have to rely on him and how
strong he's going to have to be that
really came out just watch them
[Music]
together
[Music]
[Applause]
it is a fight that varies can't
win and I'm scared so many of us will
face the same
[Music]
battle I'm at a conference in Toronto
where some of the best minds are trying
to unravel the mysteries of the brain
but even here there are flags being
raised about false
hope I'm going to connect with a
neurologist nice to meet you this is Dr
Alex arri barava
Alex who's based in Victoria BC emailed
Marketplace last fall telling us about a
chain of clinics pitching what sounds
like a hopeful treatment for dementia
why did you get in contact with the show
I had a patient who had a young onset
dementia and was at really in the
advanced stages um unable to speak in a
nursing home and family looking
desperately for answers took him in was
assessed and what did it do for them uh
not much Yeah by not much you mean
anything uh no no not not much yeah he
says it's part of a trend that worries
him it's among a number of treatments
that are being marketed at Patients
right now where they're really trying to
sell on Hope and knowing that
conventional medicine doesn't have a lot
to offer in terms of cures uh people are
are grasping at
straws time to see what Alex is talking
about for this one we actually have five
sensors one that'll go right in the
middle of your
head I visit a business selling ho
you're asking people to pay a lot of
money 25 $0000 on an act of faith and
I'll find out if Lumosity does anything
for our
memory do you know someone affected by
Alzheimer's share your stories on
Facebook and
Twitter I'm trying to separate fact from
fiction when it comes to improving our
brains know we've met some quite amazing
people so far on this journey a
neurologist has flagged a clinic using a
questionable treatment a technology it
says can help with memory loss even
dementia but now we're going to meet
some people in Victoria who I have a lot
of questions for and I hope they have
some
answers I'm in Oak Bay heading to the
valentus clinic a small chain of three
in western
Canada hi Mom how are you to meet
you Mary ly Bellamy Williams is the
co-owner of lenus she's offered me a
tour neural feedback is designed to
provide direct feedback to the brain
itself valentus claims the technology it
uses helps people with all sorts of
brain problems is that
comfortable the majority of their
clientele have postconcussion symptoms
but they also claim to help with memory
loss and dementia for this one we
actually have five sensors one that'll
go right in the middle of your head mhm
a minimum package of nine sessions is
$2500 so I'm just going to tilt you back
okay little zero gravity action for you
there mhm there's the martini do that
the technology they're using is called
brain wave optimization so you can just
close your eyes you don't have to think
of anything in particular kind of like
meditation yeah
[Music]
yeah basically I'm told my brain waves
are being turned into musical tones and
played back to me to recalibrate my
[Music]
brain during my session Chris Hammer the
clinic psychologist shows up our story
is focusing on memory and dementia
memory loss that sort of thing um how
does your treatment or your process the
brain optimization uh help
that uh
yeah we don't know again the majority of
our clientele have postconcussive
symptoms and a lot of times that um
equates two problems with memory we know
that the literature with these um neurot
Technologies are starting to show
through studies that there is a very
strong potential and it's all about the
neuroplasticity of the brain right the
brain's ability to rri and organize
itself and then kind of anything can
happen so there's some positive effects
being shown but not enough for us to be
confident at this point to say yes this
will help we've talked to people in the
medical community particularly the
Doctor Who's concerned about the patient
who came to see you who had dementia
fairly Advanced and still took the
treatment and paid money when that
treatment clearly wouldn't help him at
all why was he even in the program why
would why would you just send him away
why didn't we send him away
because because the potential is there
and it say dementia it isn't what the
scien is saying is that this process
right now doesn't really have an effect
and when you say it's potential if I'm
desperate then I'll reach out for that
it's like selling hope why are you
selling hope well we're not we're we are
selling we're not selling anything we're
trying to help people we're trying to
help people improve in ways that they
are struggling you're asking people to
pay a lot of money $2,500 on an act of
Faith we're not giving them research
that says it's going to work in in the
case of Dementia or memory we're not
doing that we're being as honest with
them as possible and giving them the
information that we have allowing them
to make their own decision to decide
whether it's something that they would
like to try or not if the potential is
there do you want to try it or do you
want to wait for the research to catch
up and that's a very um personal
decision but but I always want to
educate them about what it is that
that's primary again when the person's
in the room and they are searching for
answers like you said and they are maybe
desperate even when you answer that
question about the treatment or the
process in terms of dementia and you say
I don't know the default position of
that person is well let's try try it
rather than if you said no they'd say
well I'm walking out and I don't have
money out of my pocket that's the key
moment right no but that's their choice
after being educated about it I'm not
going to hold crystals and say run these
crystals over you oh let's try it they
might work I'm talking about brain
science and plasticity right like that's
that's different just know about it make
your decision
like I have to say I'm really
uncomfortable with the idea of selling
the potential to help your brain before
the science is there
it's
late and I'm at the end of my month-long
Lumosity
trial that means I have to take this
final test for comparison so we can see
the differences before and after I
played
Lumosity more than 50 Canadians have
been testing the popular brain training
game with me I'm getting better at the
games yes oh I'm getting all wrong
Lumosity says it's a leader in the
science of brain training that it can
improve improve our cognitive
performance I think what lumu probably
did for me was to make me a better video
game player
start but will it help in our daily
lives I did find that if I played
Lumosity and then immediately went and
practiced I was super focused and at 15
bucks a month is it worth it are you
interested in the results yes I bet you
are we're about to find
out are you worried about your memory
share your thoughts on Facebook and
Twitter
more than 50
Canadians from
musicians to a
family even
me are all playing the Brain Training
Game Lumosity to see if it helps improve
our mental activity even our
memory I've done my final cognitive test
and I'm heading back to Western for my
second MRI it's been a long process
we've been doing this for a month and a
lot has happened in that one month to
find out if lumos had any effect on me
I'm very anxious to see the results uh
not only mine but our
group to see if anything really made a
difference hi how you doing good to see
you again good thanks I've been keeping
neuroscientist Adrian Owen pretty busy
Adrian since my first MRI I've been
playing brain training games for weeks
and now I'm back for MRI number two for
comparison what are you going to be
looking for today well we're going to
have you do exactly the same task that
you did a month ago hopefully you've got
a bit better uh and hopefully we we'll
be able to tell from the patterns of
activity in your brain why you've got
better okay well let me go in there give
it a
shot the puzzles don't seem as hard this
time has Lumosity actually made a
difference Tom hi it's Adrian again how
you how you feeling I'm good yeah easier
than a month ago I think I did better
than a month ago I'm not
sure well second time in second time out
can you tell if my brain has a bit more
of an edge than it did a month ago uh
well the good news as far as I'm
concerned is that we saw a pattern that
was very similar to the pattern of
activity that we saw a month ago so at
least we know there's some consistency
in your brain the parts of the parts of
your brain that were activating was
solving the problems a month ago are
still doing the same thing today I'm
dying to find out the results of our
Lumosity test our look at brain training
games big group of people including me
what did you find out well should we
talk about you first we assessed you on
13 different cognitive tests these are
pretty sensitive tests if you've changed
if you if you've got better we should be
able to pick it up if you've got worse
we should be able to pick it up well
unfortunately um you deteriorated on six
of the 13 tests very slightly I'm not
going to make much of that um but you
certainly didn't get any better overall
you're about the same you were slightly
worse on a couple of slightly better on
a couple but mostly the same I think if
this really worked you should be able to
go out in the world and and feel
cognitively fitter shouldn't you is
isn't it you know I would have thought
you would by now I mean certainly if
you'd spent the last month going to the
gym three or four times a week and
working out I think after a month you'd
be feeling physically better you'd
actually be able to feel the differences
and I think it says something that
cognitively you don't feel any
different
now it's time for the big reveal we
bring some of our brain Gamers together
to let them in on the final results
welcome all nice to see you and thank
you for taking part in our little
experiment are you interested in the
results yes I bet you are okay so the
first thing I want to do though is I
want to talk a little bit about what the
experience was like how would you
describe the overall experience of
challenging yourself this way for this
period of time my experience was that
sometimes I would feel like I totally
bombed that test and then they would
tell me that my my score was the highest
I'm like I don't know how they figured
that out I found it frustrating because
it felt like I was doing worse all the
time not getting
better certain games would come up and
you go oh I hate this game I don't think
it made me a better bassoonist but if I
played Lumosity and then immediately
went and practiced I was super focused I
felt the same way now if I'm doing a
task I tend not to multitask I'll like
focus in on one task and finish it
completely I think it necessar really
reflects everyday real life but I mean
this is what we're here for to discover
whether this actually has made a
difference in our brain and in our
business that's called a
segue so here are the results you've
long been waiting
for the first graph you're going to
see is your pre-training test result we
have 54 people who've been training as
you have been uh we tested them on the
same 13 cognitive tests we tested them
again we can do statistics and look at
the difference you play Lumosity for
several weeks you take the test again
and here it comes it's going going going
[Music]
and what's really incredible is that
again there are no statistical
differences across those 54 people if
you compare them on planning on
attention on Executive function on
reason
not a single test changed in any
significant way there were you minor
differences up upwards minor differences
downwards mostly everything was exactly
the same now Lumosity says you have to
play longer than a month to see results
you could always say well uh if I
trained more if I trained for more every
day if I trained for six months or a
year perhaps I'd have seen the
differences but the important point is
there aren't even any Trends here
there's not even a hint of an effect we
would have the same result if we played
longer is that what you're that's what
all the scientific research says that if
you play this game for any length of
time the results would be pretty much
the same what conclusions are you dra so
I got to tell you Lumosity wouldn't talk
to us on camera no one available they
said but they did send us a bunch of
studies we reviewed them all bottom line
there's no independent scientific
evidence their games will benefit you in
your daily life do you think brain
training games are worth the
money no because there are stuff you
could do for free
over the past month I've discovered that
in the end there is no easy
[Music]
answer but the people I've met along the
way can teach us the most because
they're already doing the right
things push push push so CL regular
exercise and a good
diet playing games together squeezing
sour lemon lemonade lemon juice uh
D or holding on on to Simple Pleasures
to help make the memories last as long
as
[Music]
possible as for me I don't know where my
journey will lead next but one thing is
clear when it comes to keeping our
memories intact we cannot do it alone
I'll post that and you get all kinds of
new
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this miracle of Nature has become a
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Pharmacy errors Coast to Coast it's
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to be effective looks real but we made
it up to find out if approval from
Health Canada is a license to
deceive yeah yeah yeah uhuh that's
definitely a bite when it comes to
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Karen Jacobson likes to keep her eye on
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