Tens of millions of individuals around the world use brain-training applications such as Lumosity and Elevate. When subjected to rigorous scrutiny, however, the benefits of such brain-training games are contested.

Some studies have indicated that brain-training games increase the "executive functions, working memory, and processing speed" of young individuals, but others have lauded the benefits of such games for preserving cognitive health in older adults.

On the other hand, there are many who argue that there are no such advantages. Monitoring the brain activity, cognitive capabilities, and decision-making abilities of young adults, for instance, led to the conclusion that brain-training lewdle games "do not improve cognition."

Now, a new study supports the latter position. Neuroscientists at Western University in Ontario, Canada, set out to determine whether the purported cognitive benefits of brain-training tasks may be transferred to other tasks that users have not been expressly taught for, but which involve the same brain xordle regions.

Bobby Stojanoski, a research scientist at Western University's Brain and Mind Institute, is the lead author of the article published in the journal Neuropsychologia.