Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?

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Brain Training, or Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training How old is your brain to use its full name, was developed by neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, whose studies evaluated the impact of performing certain mathematical and reading exercises to help stimulate different areas of the brain. Research has shown that reading aloud and performing calculations quickly are effective for training the brain. If these activities are carried out on a daily ...
...rather cartoon like image of Dr. Kawashima who guides you through the various functions. It's like having your own personal tutor telling you how to perform each of the different tasks. The first time you play brain training you will be asked to perform a series of activities to determine your brain age. This is your starting point that should hopefully improve with time the more you progress through the daily training. This figure is usually very ... more

I'm not usually one for playing computer games, but when my dad announced that he was going to buy a Nintendo DS along with Brain training, I was very tempted to give it a try. There is something quite addictive about testing your brain age and trying to beat other people, well there is for me anyway. It's probably because I am the youngest member of my household and feel the need to prove myself by getting the lowest brain age. I never knew activities such as the ones in this game would make me so competitive, or that the simple activities would improve the function of my brain, but they have.

Brain Training, or Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training How old is your brain to use its full name, was developed by neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, whose studies evaluated the impact of performing certain mathematical and reading exercises to help stimulate different areas of the brain. Research has shown that reading aloud and performing calculations quickly are effective for training the brain. If these activities are carried out on a daily basis, there is in increase in blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, the control tower of the brain. Like muscles, the brain can loose efficiency if not used to its full potential.

To play this game you will need a Nintendo DS handheld games system, which retails at around £100 in most home entertainment stores. The Brain Training game is made more interesting on this system as users can write their answers on the touch screen using the stylus pen and also use the voice recognition technology on certain activities. These are not easy things to master at first, but become a lot simpler with practice.

Set up

To start playing the game all you need to do is insert the Brain Training game card into the DS and switch it on. This takes a couple of seconds and then you're ready to go. At the main menu you are greeted by a digital, rather cartoon like image of Dr. Kawashima who guides you through the various functions. It's like having your own personal tutor telling you how to perform each of the different tasks. The first time you play brain training you will be asked to perform a series of activities to determine your brain age. This is your starting point that should hopefully improve with time the more you progress through the daily training. This figure is usually very high and can be monitored using the graph on the left-hand screen.

The brain age is calculated as a best-fit approximation from data collected from 120 test subjects. These results were collected from 20 people in their 20s, 20 in their 30s and so on up to 20 in their 70s and then plotted on as a best-fit line on a graph. It is from this graph that an appropriate brain age is calculated.

After you have received the result of your brain age check, you will be asked to input personal details so that you can have your own profile. You will need to write your name in the box provided using the stylus as well as your date of birth. Having your actual age stored on the system helps calculate an accurate brain age.

Activities

There are a number of activities to complete in both the brain age check and training sections. All of which give you a speed that compares the speed of the object with that of your brain e.g. walking speed is fairly slow and rocket speed is really fast. The individual activities combine reading and mathematics to aid the development of the prefrontal cortex. I have listed them below:

- Stroop test: You will have probably seen this before in certain chain emails. The idea is that you say the colour of the letters in the word on the screen. The catch is that the word written is a colour and the answer is not likely to be the word written. There are 4 possible answers: blue, red, yellow and black. This is the test I find most difficult and often end up saying the word rather than the colour.

- Calculationsx20: Write the answers to simple sums shown on the display screen using the stylus. You need to answer these sums as quickly as possible and then you will be given a speed. This activity can be difficult at first as you may find it difficult to use the stylus pen. The results from this test do tend to improve greatly after just a couple of uses and I've noticed that my brain is now answering the next question ahead before I've even answered the question I am on.

- Reading aloud: Read the displayed text as quickly as possible either aloud or to yourself. You then click next as each page is finished and the time for the whole text to be read is recorded. This is a very simple task to complete, but I haven't shown great improvement in it and I don't see how anyone could. Surely someone reads at a certain speed due to how fast their eyes move and not how fast their brain gets the information.

- Syllable count: Count the number of sy-lla-bles in a sentence on the display screen and write the answer on the touch screen. The time taken for 10 sentences is then recorded. This is one of my favourite activities mainly to do with the fact that I got rocket speed on it.

- Head count: Count the number of people going in and out of a house on the display screen. Keep track of the number inside the house and write the answer on the touch screen when prompted to do so. This is quite a tricky exercise, as people will often be going into the house at the same time as people leaving the house. My brain hasn't quite got up to the speed of this game yet.

- Triangle math: You are given two rows of numbers and have to add up adjacent numbers according to the symbols between them. Then add or subtract the product numbers to get the answer. This sounds complicated, but is really easy to get used to.

- Time lapse: On the display screen two clocks are shown and you must write the difference between the two times on the touch screen in hours and minutes. This is an activity that really makes you feel like your brain is having a good work out. It sounds simple to state the difference in times, but against the clock it is quite difficult.

- Voice calculation: This is the same as claculationsx20, but you have to answer aloud rather than writing it. I find this version of answering sums much easier than having to write the answers, as there are far fewer mistakes on the part of the voice recognition technology.

- Word memory: You are given two minutes to remember as many word as possible from a list of 30. After two minutes you write the words on the touch screen, one after the other. I find this one quite difficult as I don't think 2 minutes is a long enough time to remember all of the words. Having said this, I have shown a slight improvement in the number of words remembered.

- Speed counting: Count out load from 1-120 as fast as you can, making sure to pronounce each number clearly. This is another fairly simple exercise, but is made difficult by the fact that you have to pronounce the numbers clearly - something I have trouble with.

- Connect maze: You are shown a mix of letters and numbers on the touch screen and the object is to connect them in alternating sequential order, using one continuous line e.g. A>1>B>2 etc. this is marked on time and penalties are given for touching wrong characters. I like this activity, but I'm not very successful with it as I take too much time to complete it.

- Number cruncher: Numbers with various characteristics are shown on the display screen and the object is to answer the question above them on the touch screen e.g. 'how many rotating 7s are there?' this task can be quite tricky as it's hard to keep track of what all the numbers are doing.

Menu

The menu is presented in a clear and colourful way and is straightforward to navigate. To select the section you want, all you have to do is press on it with the stylus pen. The menu is split into 4 different sections: quick play, daily training, sudoku and download. Each of these sections provide different activities of varying degrees of difficulty to exercise your brain.

Quick play

As the name suggests, this section is for people who don't have a great deal of time on their hands. It is useful for friends and family to use as they can play it without having to input any personal information. This section is broken down into 3 further sub-sections:

- Brain age check: This involves taking part in 1 of a number of activities to find out your brain age. The activities include the Stroop test, calculationsx20, counting from 1-120, number cruncher, connecting maze and word memory. The result from the test is not as accurate as if you had your own profile and will say something like 'your brain is in its 60s'.

- Quick training: This includes calculationsx20 in which you have to write the answers to the sums as quickly as possible without making any mistakes. The result is shown as a speed, depending how good you are. If you answer any questions incorrectly, 20 seconds are added onto you time for each error. This is one activity where you will see a vast improvement after the first few uses.

- Quick sudoku: An electronic version of the popular game. You input the numbers by selecting the square and write in the figure using the stylus. A good feature of this is that you can input more than one number into each box if you are unsure of the answer. Once completed, you will be given a speed and a time.

Daily training

This is the section that you use if you have your own profile. It includes similar activities to the quick play that the results are saved from. Sub sections include:

- Brain age check: This involves completing 3 activities one after the other to calculate your brain age. Activities include calculationx20, counting from 1-120, Stroop test, number cruncher, connect maze and word memory. The result is given as an exact age, as an average of the individual scores.

- Training: This section offers 3 training activities at first: calculationsx20, calculationsx100 and reading aloud. New activities are unlocked if you complete 3 of these activities a day and you will receive a 'stamp' on the day's date. Further tasks include low to high, syllable count, head count, triangle math, time lapse and voice calculation. The results of these tests are represented as a speed and are plotted on your own graph. This is useful as you can monitor your results on a daily basis and see which areas need improvement.

- Graph: This is the section that you can see an overview of your progress. You can view the graph in terms of brain age or progress on a particular activity.

- Other options: Here you can change font size during the reading aloud exercise, change the handedness setting and erase personal data. If you complete a certain amount of training exercises, you will unlock the option of changing the stamp design and viewing the tips.

Sudoku

This section contains several versions of the popular puzzle, in either basic or intermediate modes. It is easy to input data as all you need to do is touch the square you want, which brings up a zoomed in box for you to write a large number in. if you want to note a possible answer, write a smaller number in the corner of the selected square and it will be noted as an 'option'. In this game you can choose whether or not to turn on cheat mode. Turning cheat mode on means that as you input data into each box, you will be given a tick or cross rather than getting to the end of the puzzle and finding out that it's incorrect. After you have completed a puzzle, you will be marked on time and given a speed. If you make any mistakes you will be given a 20-minute penalty, so it is worth paying attention!

Download

This section allows you to link up with up to 16 people, using a single DS card. With this you can compete in a calculation battlex30 in which you try to be the first to answer 30 simple calculations. It is also possible to download the quick play version to another DS system. As well as this, you can download sudoku puzzles at either the intermediate or advanced levels.

Problems with the technology

As this game requires you to answer by either writing on the touch screen or saying them out loud, there are bound to be a few problems with recognition. Using the touch screen gives varying degrees of effectiveness for different people, as the handwriting recognition software cannot account for every possible type of handwriting. It is the same with the voice recognition software as not everyone speaks with the same volume or tone. I have written a list of tips to ensure the best results from the software installed on the DS:

Handwriting recognition tips

- Form letters with one continuous line, rather than a series of small strokes.
- Write numbers and letters from the top down.
- Write quickly.
- Writes letters and numbers as large as possible as smaller writing is harder to detect.

Voice recognition tips

- Hold the DS about 12" from your face.
- Say word in a clear tone.
- Make sure there is no background noise that could interfere.
- Try experimenting with alternative pronunciations.

One important thing to remember with the voice recognition is not to shout at it, even if you are frustrated, as your voice will be distorted when the microphone picks it up.

The main thing to remember with this technology is that you can always experiment with different styles of voice and handwriting, until you find something that suits you. At first, it can be frustrating as you may type in the correct answer but the DS doesn't recognise it and it can take a few attempts to get it right. You should soon get used to the way the DS works and how letters and numbers can be written to make them more easily recognisable. There is a user guide for this included in the instruction manual.

Health benefits

It is a known fact that with regular exercise, the function of the brains practical side becomes more efficient and it may also have a preventative effect on types of dementia. Research has shown that brain health is an important contributor to quality of life as we age and may have the added benefit of reducing the risk of dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease. Just a few minutes a day can lead to a significantly lower risk of getting this degenerative disease, which is why this particular game has the support of Alzheimer's Australia.

Instruction manual

The instruction manual consists of a small, 40-page booklet. Everything is clearly laid out and the instructions included are very clear, so it's unlikely that you could go wrong when using it. The first section is a brief explanation of how the game was developed and the research behind it. It also includes scientific information about the different parts of the brain. I feel that this part rather undersells the product and doesn't make it as involving as it could be. The middle section gives step-by-step instructions of how to complete the various activities as well as inputting your personal data. Again, this is all very well presented, but lacks detail in some areas. The back section includes information on how to connect several users to the game and how to download extra features. The overall look of this booklet is somewhat bland and although the instructions are clear, I feel they could have been expanded on a little.

Price and availability

We purchased this game for £18.99 from Argos, which is about right for a game of this age and good when compared to games on other consoles. It can be purchased from many electrical retailers and home entertainment stores. I think this price is very reasonable considering the content that's included on it, but seen as there is now a game called 'More Brain training' I guess this content won't last too long. I have done a price comparison for a selection of stores:

HMV - £14.99
Currys - £19.99
Comet - £19.99
Game.co.uk - £17.99

As you can see there is quite a range of prices from different retailers, so it's probably worth shopping around for this one.

My opinion

This game is an excellent invention as you can actually see improvements in the functioning of your brain, unlike other computer games. I like the variety of the activities on offer and think that it's a great idea to be able to add up to four user profiles so that you can compete against other people as well as yourself. This for me is a great advantage as it gives me the incentive to take part in the training every day and try to improve. I also like the idea of being able to link up with up to 16 other consoles to compete in larger tournaments. This make the game more appealing to me as I prefer learning in a group rather than individually.

There are a couple of disadvantages in the voice and handwriting technology as it's not as got as it could be. These difficulties can be overcome by reading the instruction manual and just experimenting to find a suitable style. Another problem I have encountered with this game is that the lowest possible brain age is 20 and because I am under this age, the results should be taken with a pinch of salt. The advice from the cartoon Dr. Kawashima is that I should still continue to train, but my brain still has developing to do so the results may be inaccurate. This may also be the case for elderly people who are over the age of 80 as this is the maximum age you can be given. This situation always makes me giggle as I can imagine a 90 year old using this game and getting a brain age of 80 and thinking to themselves 'hmm, that's a good score'.

Even though there are technological problems with this game, the advantages far outweigh these and I don't feel that these problems take anything away from the overall enjoyment of the activities. I would recommend this game to people of all ages, maybe more for people over 20, as it helps improve logical thought for younger people and can help prevent certain diseases in the future for older people, making it a very useful tool. I am going to give it 5 stars on here because I can't give the 4.5 that I want to.

www.braintraining.com 

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