ADHD Brain Games: Lumosity
In Norman Doidge MD’s book The Brain That Changes Itself, he details amazing stories of how people were able to overcome learning disabilities, brain failure from stroke, even deafness and blindness.
All this revolutionary change comes from a new understanding of the way the brain works. Neuroplasticity, the idea that the brain is not only changeable (contrary to the belief held by scientists for decades), but in fact VERY changeable at any age. Furthermore there are actual techniques and tools to develop your brain in the same way you would a muscle.
One of the tools I’ve discovered get your brain in shape is Lumosity. lumosity.com has dozens of simple games which develop specific cognitive areas. There are games for attention; processing speed; memory; verbal fluency, spatial orientation and so on. They have organized training regimens for different brain development goals, including one for ADHD.
The best part is, it’s free to use some of the games such as Memory Matrix and Speed Match. The other games are free for 30 days and then you can pay $15/month thereafter, or keep using the free games only.
I’ve been using it for months and my memory and attention span have definitely changed. My ADHD hasn’t magically gone away, but I can do multiplication in my head with far less trouble than before. I remember names a bit better, and when I get distracted I’m a bit quicker to get back to what I was doing.
Another perk of Lumosity: you can see a chart of your progress, so you can better tell whether it’s working or not.
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Lumosity is great for improving reaction times, but it did didly squat to my ADD deficits. 🙂 In six months , my percentile score went up from 50% to 95%. However, funny, is the fact that I scored high on attention and memory. Now, from 95%, where do I go to improve further? Lumosity is mostly a joke for ADHD , it is however great for aging seniors and budding kids perhaps.
On the bright side, I was made aware of my exact deficits. The games designed for speed and problem solving tend to test the attention span and working memory in my opinion. I hit my personal limits and am not able to get past the 90 percentiles. Their games in the attention and memory area are more generous in terms of response times and are not truly eligible for attention and memory boost, as they advertise. They need to fix this if they dont want to deceive their ADHD customers. It might be just my opinion but it is not to easy for any neuroscientist to figure out how WM comes to play.
BRAIN AREA
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YOUR BPI
HOW DO YOU COMPARE?
======================
Overall 95%
======================
Speed 92%
Memory 96%
Attention 98%
Flexibility 94%
Problem Solving 84%
Rrv, I’ve had a different experience than you, but I’ve definitely noticed imperfections in the way Lumosity works, but found it useful overall.
When I played the games daily I saw a working memory improvement, but I was not doing the ADHD course at the time. I took games like Monster Garden and Playing Koi and did each one for an hour at a time, daily. THAT yielded some results for me, but so far the jury’s still out on the Lumosity courses.
The real question is, after making your Lumosity numbers improve a lot, did you see any benefits in real life? Were you able to focus on tasks better, or anything like that?
Mariusz, thanks for telling me! Fixed now. 🙂
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My daughter has been doing luminosity everyday before she starts her studies. I don’t know if helps her focus but she does seem to be more in control of her mood after she does it. Wondering if the paid version is worth it or if there is something else that might be of more benefit.
Chris, feel free to contact me directly if you’re looking for options for your daughter, I may have some suggestions. Depending on where her problems are and the severity, there are a few different ways to approach attention problems.