If you know me, you know that the amount of research that I do on mental health qualifies me to be a PhD on the topic (loljk)
But seriously, I scour the depths of the internet, reddit r/science especially to find ways to learn about psychology, neuroscience, and mental health and (hopefully) improve my own.
In 2013, I came across this brain training game called dual n-back.
The game has been claimed to improve working memory. And there were claims that it also improves something called fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence is defined as reasoning ability, and the ability to generate, transform and manipulate different types of novel information in real-time. While those claims did not replicate in subsequent studies, the benefits to working memory and the white matter density have been shown.
“Intelligence” is often a complex topic. How do you even define intelligence? For starters, it is often measured in terms of an IQ test. But it has also been shown that you can improve performance on IQ tests, the more you practice it. Does that mean you’ve tangibly increased your intelligence or does it mean you’ve just got better at taking the test?
However, what I was interested in wasn’t the gains to so-called “intelligence” When I was evaluating the game back in 2013, this was in the context of preparing for the GMAT.
This was going to be my second attempt. I bombed the first attempt in 2012 badly because I ended up losing my focus during the test as I was bombarded with intrusive thoughts. This led me to go blank during a section on reading comprehension. It was terrible.
The root cause of this was that I was suffering from depression which has cognitive costs like loss of concentration, memory problems, etc.
Coming back to 2013, I was preparing for my second attempt. The first attempt taught me a lot. I knew that I made several mistakes in preparation and before appearing for the exam, I wanted to correct all of those.
Apart from the test prep relevant topics, I focussed a lot on improving my mental and physical state through exercise, meditation (which was just getting popular back then), and a brain training game called dual n-back.
In standardized tests like the GMAT, working memory is a critical component. Not much of your long-term memory is tested, but the ability to hold information in your brain while you answer questions is important.
This is especially true for the reading comprehension section where you have to read dense, complex reading material and answer inferential questions on the author’s intent, conclusion, supporting arguments, etc.
I knew that meditation improves your working memory, as it trains your brain to become more aware of intrusive negative thoughts and gently acknowledge them while sending them on their way without getting caught in rumination loops.
In the dual n-back game, the working memory enhances as it provides an adaptive challenge to your visual and auditory working memory by having you guess what items were mentioned previously. Here’s a video that better explains what dual n-back training is all about.
Now, I practiced this game every night for 20-30 days for 20 minutes each before the main exam. I made sure to practice it in the night when I was already exhausted, so as to not take up valuable mental resources during the day.
The result from all this prep and training was that I aced the second attempt of the GMAT, scoring 750 (which is 98 percentile) against the previous attempt of 640.
There are confounding factors, clearly. I prepped better and harder. I meditated and exercised more. I reduced decision fatigue on the day of the exam. I used glucose as an aid to make decisions.
But dual n-back stood out as being as important as other factors. I felt smarter, more attentive, and generally felt a sharp increase in my intellectual ability.
Throughout the years since, I always intended to practice dual n-back again. But the thing is that the game is so uncomfortable. It’s not fun.
It really challenges your brain and makes you feel you’re dumber than you are. Even if your mind slips up a bit, you lose track of the previous positions and sounds and that can leave you with a bad score.
It’s the ultimate challenge to a depressed or anxious brain because your brain wants to either ruminate about the past or worry about the future. Dual n-back makes you fully present, whether you like it or not.
Now in 2022, I finally started it again. I’m just a few days in. The noticeable benefit that I see is that my brain seems to have its shit together better. I have very lucid dreams and the frequency and intensity of my depressive episodes have reduced. I am able to concentrate better.
Just like the first time, there are confounding factors here as well. I am doing aerobic exercise, meditating more, and doing this exercise. But it’s still worthwhile.
This brings me to the workings of dual n-back. How does it work? To simplify things greatly, the brain is full of gray matter and white matter. White matter is less spoken about than gray matter. Gray matter is the neurons - where the processing happens. White matter is the spaces between the gray matter where connections are made — it’s the highway between the processing centers.
A lot of theories also suggest that some memories and intelligence can lie in the connection between neurons. That’s what makes white matter important.
Low white matter integrity is also correlated with depression. Taking anti-depressants results in improvements to white matter integrity. So does aerobic exercise, and so does dual n-back. This makes the causal connection between actively trying to improve the white matter integrity critical.
Depression is a silent debilitating disorder. It can make you feel that the world is ending on a regular Tuesday when things are seemingly going fine for you. Anything that I can do, save for medication because of the side effects, is something that I am actively pursuing.
What I’ve explained today is a combination of research-backed evidence and my anecdotal experience. If you’re in a similar situation as me, give the game a shot.
The benefits are completely worth the time investment playing this game. 20 minutes a day for a better brain, why the hell not?
References:
[3] Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory: a meta-analysis https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-014-0699-x
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