Revving up brain skills

Brain training games claim to boost your mental skills. But while practicing a game might make you better at it, research in young people has shown it doesn't improve how well you perform other cognitive tasks in everyday life. Now a new study suggests the case may be different for adults above the age of 60.

Researchers at the University of California have designed a driving game called NeuroRacer. In this Nature Video, we see how the game can improve an older player's short-term memory and attention, skills which decline with age.