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2ND YEAR ON THE LIST
Cognitive and Neural Optimization
Recollect, one the brain-training games out of University of California’s Riverside Brain Game Center, is designed to improve memory. Credit: UC Riverside Brain Game Center
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KEY INSIGHT
EXAMPLES
DISRUPTIVE IMPACT
EMERGING PLAYERS
Brain training is a controversial multibillion-dollar industry. These interventions have had inconsistent results in research studies, and their real-life performance remains largely subjective. The industry is fueled by the emerging longterm cognitive impacts of COVID-19 and an aging population facing cognitive decline.
Cognitive sports trainer Reflexion partnered with esports league Evil Geniuses to build a visual cognitive training program for esports athletes that is designed to improve peripheral vision, decision-making, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination. The National Institutes of Health is funding research in cognitive enhancement, including an Alzheimer’s study at the University of South Florida that will explore whether computerized games can reduce the risk of cognitive decline in aging adults. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside and the University of California, Irvine are looking at the gamification and personalization of memory training, driven by the theory that previous studies showed inconsistencies because of neural differences. Individualization, then, could improve results.
While cognitive interventions may show improvements in the games themselves, translating those performance gains in real-world applications has been inconsistent. That has not slowed research in the area given the needs of an aging global population. Even athletes are looking at how these games can improve cognitive performance and create a competitive edge. As use of the technology grows and NIH-funded studies add more evidence to the discussion, we may see calls for regulation.
• UC Riverside Brain Game Center • Reflexion • Bitbrain • Flow Neuroscience • Happify • PNOĒ
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