If you were at all connected to the popular media in the early part of this decade, you may recall seeing regular advertisements about the computerized brain training product Lumosity. The claims made in those ads boiled the blood of many clinical researchers and neuroscientists who were engaged in painstakingly testing the efficacy of various strategies to improve cognition, and caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, which concluded that Lumosity’s claims were false and imposed a $50 million judgment against them, although that amount was suspended once they paid $2 million to the commission (1). “Lumosity preyed on consumers’ fears about age-related cognitive decline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s disease,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But Lumosity simply did not have the science to back up its ads” (1).
Click here to read the full article.