LONDON - People playing computer games to train their brains might as well be playing Super Mario, new research suggests.
In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive skills didn't get any smarter.
Researchers recruited participants from viewers of the BBC's science show "Bang Goes the Theory." More than 8,600 people ages 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week.
They were compared with more than 2,700 people who didn't play any brain games but spent a similar amount of time surfing the web and answering general knowledge questions. All participants were given a sort of IQ test before and after the experiment.
Researchers said the people who did the brain training didn't do any better on the test after six weeks than people who had simply been on the Internet. On some sections of the test, the people who surfed the Internet scored higher than those playing the games.
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The study was paid for by the BBC and published online by the journal Nature.
"If you're (playing these games) because they're fun, that's absolutely fine," said Adrian Owen, assistant director of the Cognition and Brain Sciences unit at Britain's Medical Research Council, the study's lead author. "But if you're expecting (these games) to improve your IQ, our data suggests this isn't the case," he said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
One maker of brain games said the BBC study did not apply to its products. Steve Aldrich, CEO of Posit Science, said the company's games, some of which were funded in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, have been proved to boost brain power.
"Their conclusion would be like saying, 'I cannot run a mile in under four minutes, and therefore it is impossible to do so," Aldrich said in a statement.
Posit Science has published research in journals showing its games improved memory in older people.
Computer games available online and marketed by companies such as Nintendo that supposedly enhance memory, reasoning and other cognitive skills are played by millions of people worldwide, though few studies have examined whether the games work.
"There is precious little evidence to suggest the skills used in these games transfer to the real world," said Art Kramer, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Illinois. He was not linked to the study and has no ties to any game companies.
Kramer had several reservations about the BBC study's methods and said some brain games had small effects in improving people's cognitive skills.
