Kidman telling brain porkies

[Shrygue]

via Eurogamer


Celebrities such as Nicole Kidman and Patrick Stewart have been misleading us about Brain Training, according to a recent study.

In a television advert the Australian actress claims, "I have quickly found that training my brain [with Nintendo's Dr Kawashima's Brain Training computer game] is a great way to keep my mind feeling young."

But cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jason Braithwaite from the University of Birmingham believes that could be a load of old codswallop.

"There is no conclusive evidence showing that the continued use of these devices is linked to any measurable and general improvements in cognition. Practice at any task should lead to some form of improvement for that specific task," he said.

Challenging these celebrity endorsements is the work of Sense About Science (spotted by The Telegraph), which aims to avoid household names promoting "quackery and mumbo-jumbo".

However, it is far from the first time someone has picked up on the so called pseudo-science, with Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani keen that games should validate claims before making them.

[wiggy fuzz]

thank you. now maybe nintendowill show adverts for games we actually want and not those annoying celebrities babbling on about how said game makes them smarter

i mean, just give this thing to someone like paris hilton or brittany spears, see if it makes them smarter

[spinal_cord]

In this Dr's first sentence he says that playing these 'games' will not get you any better at thinking. Then in his second, he says, by practicing you will get better.

So playing these games will not make you a better thinker, but they will.....?

Nintendo will continue to advertise the games that sell well (or that they expect to).

[eatnooM]

He's saying that playing the game lots will make you better at the game, but not make you smarter. There isn't a contradiction in there, I just think you were looking too hard for one

[Drego]

He's saying that playing the game lots will make you better at the game, but not make you smarter. There isn't a contradiction in there, I just think you were looking too hard for one

Took the words out of my mouth.

Still, would be funny to see Paris try to play Brain Age :-P

[Eyedunno]

Yeah, that's been my opinion since first picking up Motto Nou o Kitaeru Training more than a year before it came out in the U.S. You WILL become better at playing the games, but it won't really amount to any real world benefits (unless maybe you're really bad at counting change before you pick up the game or something). And playing it a lot actually means you use your brain LESS, as the tasks become second nature to you. The game pretty much admits that when it talks about bloodflow to your brain settling down as you do it a lot.

[wiggy fuzz]

being good at tetris won't help you in a real world situation that doesn't involve groups of falling shapes

and even then it'll still be messy

[spinal_cord]

I cant think of many real world situations where you DON'T need to count, or think though. Some people could do with a little practice counting or even reacting quickly. My job involves arranging boxes, so tetris has helped me out loads over the past few years, so :P

[Jayenkai]

I dunno..
Since not playing Brain Age daily, my memory seems to have gone to pot!

Does that count?

[sappo]

They're just saying that because they're envious that they haven't come up with that idea before of Nintendo... Everyone wants money, afterall.