Brain Training and the Placebo Effect
Here’s another article about brain training that popped up in my news feed this morning, about a study finding that any perceived benefits may simply be the placebo effect at work, while the training itself is potentially irrelevant.
If you want to learn more about this topic, I’d recommend the book Smarter by Dan Hurley, which is a journalist’s story of delving into brain training programs and sharing the results. I read it last year. Unfortunately he got very little measurable benefit from it, despite months of effort.
Note that one brain training company, Lumos Labs (creator of Lumosity), was recently fined millions of dollars by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive advertising.
There’s a lot of hype surging about brain training programs, especially in the online affiliate world, but the current results suggest that you’re better off saving your money, and your time would be better spent playing video games, which have demonstrated cognitive benefits.
The placebo effect has been proven to work as well, so I’ll give you one for free: You’re brilliant! It’s amazing how much smarter you are today. I truly admire your genius. You’re about to have one of your smartest days ever! 🙂
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