{"id":451,"date":"2015-05-11T11:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T11:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/neurecall.com\/blog\/?p=451"},"modified":"2025-05-29T17:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:20:10","slug":"brain-training-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/brain-training-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Trounced by a brain-training octogenarian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-32689533\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">article<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by Adam Shaw in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BBC <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explores whether brain-training exercises are really the hoax people claim they are. While brain-training has received a lot of criticism in the past, including a 2009 BBC study suggesting they are \u201cno better for you than surfing the internet,\u201d Shaw\u2019s experience tells a different story. Despite the skeptics, neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima continues to assert the validity of his brain-training exercises. He explains that the brain\u2019s ability to change exists in people of all ages and a series of simple exercises can sharpen the brain, reducing the effects of aging. His book entitled \u201cTrain Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain\u201d has sold over 2.5 million copies. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"1244\" data-id=\"1909\" src=\"https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-700x1244.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-700x1244.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-250x444.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-864x1536.jpg 864w, https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-1152x2048.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-120x213.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/luke-jones-DHR8LQRY-fU-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@lukejonesdesign?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash\">Luke Jones<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/a-sculpture-of-a-mans-head-made-of-colored-wires-DHR8LQRY-fU?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash\">Unsplash<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Shaw visited Japan, he competed against Endo Tokiko in a brain test. Tokiko is an elderly woman in her 80s who has been practicing Dr. Kawashima\u2019s brain exercises. To his surprise, Tokiko finished her entire test in the time it took Shaw to finish the first section. In addition, scans of their brain revealed that she had completed the exercise using only a fraction of her brain power. On the other hand, Shaw\u2019s scan lit up like a Christmas tree, emphasizing how much effort he had been putting into the test. So, while there still may be no conclusive proof of the validity of brain-training exercises, perhaps there is more merit to them than many believe. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An article by Adam Shaw in the BBC explores whether brain-training exercises are really the hoax people claim they are. While brain-training has received a lot of criticism in the past, including a 2009 BBC study suggesting they are \u201cno better for you than surfing the internet,\u201d Shaw\u2019s experience tells a different story. Despite the&#8230; <a class=\"view-article\" href=\"https:\/\/www.syngli.com\/blog\/brain-training-controversy\/\">View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":1909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trounced by a brain-training octogenarian - Syngli - Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An article by Adam Shaw in the BBC explores whether brain-training exercises are really the hoax people claim they are. 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