Comment on “The Feasibility and Potential Impact of Brain Training Games on Cognitive and Emotional Functioning in Middle-Aged Adults” by McLaughlin et al. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2017.0032

McLaughlin et al. suggested brain-training programs improve cognition. ¹ There are proven advantages of gaming ² or brain-training programs to produce cognitive benefits. With little evidence of efficacy compared with conventional cognitive tasks, ³ it requires research. A cognitive flexibility training study showed inconclusive results in older adults due to lack of controls. ⁴ In this small-cohort study, it was not established whether the results were due to test practice or individual motivation and expectation.

The initial cohort that passed the exclusion criteria but was not classed as nongamers was not quantified. There were no data about the gaming habit before the 2 years approaching the study, for example, long-standing gamers who have not recently gamed. Young gamers grow up to perform better at certain school tasks such as reading, even if they do not game regularly. ⁵ The exclusion criteria could be expanded to include other common drugs that are known to affect cognition such as antihypertension and antidiabetics. ⁶ An exclusion criterion could be better devised to include healthy nongamers who have not participated in any brain-training program.