Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a brain training app that helps its users improve their concentration and attention skills.
While screens have taken a prominent place in our lives, often to the detriment of our cognitive abilities, how can we manage to focus and concentrate again? Researchers from the Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cambridge may have found the answer.
In an article published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, professors Barbara Sahakian and George Savulich claim to have developed an app like no other. Unlike other applications such as the one for checking our e-mails and social networks which contribute to a reduction in our attention span, the “Decoder” application helps users to improve their concentration.
“We’ve all experienced the feeling of coming home from work feeling like we’ve been busy all day, but we don’t know what we actually did,” says Dr Sahakian, from the Department of Psychiatry. “Most of us spend our time answering emails, checking our texts, exploring social networks, trying to do several things at once. But instead of doing a lot of things, we sometimes struggling to complete a single task and failing to achieve our goal for the day. Then we return home, and even then we find it difficult to ‘switch off’, read a book or watch TV without picking up. of our smartphones. For complex tasks, we need to get into the ‘flow’ and stay focused.”
A significant improvement in concentration skills
Based on the team’s research, the Decoder app has been scientifically evaluated in 75 healthy young adults. The participants were divided into three groups: the first tested Decoder, the second bingo and the third control group did not play any game. Participants in the first two groups were invited to attend eight one-hour sessions over the course of a month during which they played Decoder or Bingo under supervision.
All 75 participants were tested at the start of the trial and again after four weeks using the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Testing Battery (CANTAB) Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP) test, which detect attention and concentration abilities.
The results of the study showed a significant difference in attention measured by the VPR. Those who played the Decoder were better than those who had played Bingo, but also those who had not played any game. The difference in performance was significant and comparable, according to the researchers, to the effects observed with stimulants such as nicotine. or Ritalin, a common treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
To ensure that the Decoder app improved attention and concentration without impairing task-switching ability, the researchers also tested the participants’ ability through a neuropsychological test called the “Trail Making Test”. The participants who tested the app all passed it successfully.
Decoder, an app already available
“A lot of people tell me that they find it difficult to focus their attention. Decoder should help them improve their ability to do so. In addition to healthy people, we hope the game will benefit patients with deficiency attention, including those with ADHD or traumatic brain injury. We plan to start a study of traumatic brain injury patients this year,” says Professor Sahakian.
“Many brain training apps already on the market are not backed by rigorous scientific evidence. Our evidence-based game is interactively developed and game developer Tom Piercy ensures it is engaging and fun to play. The level of difficulty is tailored to each player and participants enjoy the challenge of cognitive training,” adds Dr. Savulich.
Licensed by Cambridge Enterprise, Decoder is now available on the market thanks to Peak, a developer specializing in brain training apps. The researchers thus hope to allow Decoder to reach the widest possible audience. The app is now available for download from the App Store under the name “Peak – Brain training“.
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