Scientists Create IQ-Boosting Game

Chess - Photo by Broko Dil

Psychology researchers from the University of Bern, Switzerland, led by Martin Buschkuehl, have discovered a way to improve a type of intelligence called fluid intelligence, which scientists once believed was set by genetics. This intelligence allows a person to adapt and solve new and unexpected problems.

The approach uses an advanced version of a mental exercise called an “n-back task”, which can be easily made into software that might work on a portable game systems or a PC.

In their experiments, 34 people gained an average 40% increase on a German IQ test after performing the n-back task for 25 minutes a day for 19 days. This is combined to an unstated minor improvement in the control group.

Wired Magazine explains how it works:

In the simplest version of the n-back task, a sequence of images is presented every few seconds and subjects are asked to match a picture to an identical one that came previously, say two pictures before it. (For example, in the picture above, the blue square should be in the same location.)

Buschkuehl’s subjects, however, also heard a second stream of letters and had to match the sounds at the same time as they matched the visuals. This makes the task very challenging. And as the subjects got better, the gap between matching pictures and letters got bigger, making the task progressively more difficult.

The team has developed a new n-back computer program called Brain Twister, which they have translated into English, but is not available online.

Now, we just need one of you open source programming fanatics to create an n-back task generator so that we can all use it and get superbrains.

Read the full story at Wired.

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