ICYMI: Brain Game-Style Exercises May Boost Cognition

A new clinical trial offers clues as to how a science-backed mental training exercise could potentially improve brain health metrics associated with cognition.

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You may assume doing the daily crossword or playing sudoku offers a cognitive boost. In reality, the relationship between puzzles and brain health is far from settled science. But a recent clinical trial, the results of which were published Oct. 13 in the journal JMIR Serious Games, suggests participating in some digital exercises may in fact ramp up acetylcholine levels, a key neurotransmitter associated with cognition. The trial was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers at McGill University recruited a group of 92 healthy adults ages 65 and older and split them into two groups tasked with playing a few games for 30 minutes daily over the course of 10 weeks. The first group served as controls and played well-known hits like solitaire. The second engaged with training exercises developed by the company BrainHQ that became increasingly difficult as users got better at playing them. Participants underwent specialized PET scans before and after the trial to document any changes to the acetylcholine levels in their brains.

The control group saw no significant changes. But the group engaging with the BrainHQ exercises demonstrated a 2.3% increase in acetylcholine upregulation in the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region linked to decisions and learning. This increase could ostensibly counteract the typical 2.5% decrease in acetylcholine adults experience each decade.

Big Picture: These results don’t prove that certain games can definitively improve brain health. The study was fairly small, and it lacked demographic diversity, according to NBC News. Plus, ability and interest in using a phone or computer to participate in these types of exercises varies widely from person to person. But the trial does offer clues as to how a science-backed game could meaningfully improve brain health metrics associated with cognition, particularly among older adults. An upcoming trial will assess how engaging with those exercises affects people with mild cognitive impairment.

Read More: Brain training game boosts chemical linked to memory and attention, study shows. NBC News

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About the Author

Bella Isaacs-Thomas

Bella is the Staff Writer and Editor for BrainFacts. She previously worked as a digital science reporter at PBS NewsHour, where she was named a fellow in the 2022-2023 class of the National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships (SHERF) and earned a 2021 D.C. Science Writers Association Newsbrief Award for writing. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in 2018.