Global Council on Brain Health downplays benefits of brain training games

The Global Council on Brain Health has suggested that the benefits to brain health achieved through playing brain training games may be overstated.

A report from the council instead recommended other stimulating activities such as gardening, learning to play a musical instrument or designing a quilt.

It went on to add that the earlier a person took up these pastimes, the better their brain function would be as they aged.

The report was produced in a bid to identify the most effective ways to stimulate the brain and reduce cognitive decline. It debunked the commonly held belief that online puzzles and mind games helped improve brain health with evidence that the benefits were “weak to nonexistent”.

It read: “If people play a ‘brain game’, they may get better at that game, but improvements in game performance have not yet been shown to convincingly result in improvements in people’s daily cognitive abilities.”

Practicing tai chi, photography classes, cooking, art projects and volunteering were instead suggested as socially engaging alternatives to challenge thought-process.

James Goodwin, chief scientist at Age UK, which helped set up the Global Council on Brain Health, told the BBC that brain decline was not inevitable.

“The overwhelming message from this report is that you shouldn’t wait until later life to try to maintain your brain health,” he commented.

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