Commercial brain-training games
DWeak — hype alertYou get better at the game. That improvement mostly does NOT transfer to real-world cognition.
Grade D — Weak — hype alert
What it does
Working-memory and n-back games produce strong gains on the trained task but weak-to-no 'far transfer' to unrelated abilities like fluid intelligence.
How to take it
If you enjoy them, fine — but spend your effort budget on sleep, exercise and real work instead.
Caveats & safety
We grade this D on purpose. The marketing outran the evidence. Don't pay a premium for it.
The evidence
Melby-Lervåg M, Hulme C. Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review. Dev Psychol.
2013 · Meta-analysis, 23 studies
Training produced short-term gains on similar tasks but no convincing far transfer to other skills.
Effect: Near-zero durable transfer to reading, arithmetic or fluid intelligence.
Read on PubMed →Should this be in your routine?
Ask the coach — it'll tailor doses to your sleep, goals and current stack.
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