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Contrary to the popular belief, brain training games do not make users any smarter according to scientists.

The experiments conducted for a BBC program showed that the games, found on machines like Nintendo DS, did not improve mental skills. Scientists believed that the reason why users achieved higher scores over time is simply because of practice.


Dr Adrian Owen, assistant director of Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge said: “The results are clear. Statistically, there are no significant differences between the improvements seen in participants who played our brain training games, and those who just went on the internet for the same length of time.”


Brains scans also show that the training had no effect on hte make-up of the brain.


“The brain trainers got better at the things that they were doing, but the holy grail of brain training is that it has some genuine effect on mental ability or intelligence and that we showed was that was categorically not the case,” Dr Owen added.


However, scientists said that they are still not sure whether the games helped to maintain mental skills as people aged, reducing the decline often associated with getting older. The findings show that the games did not enhance ‘brain power’ – that is memory, concentration, planning skills or the ability to solve problems.