Brain Fitness Program Classic: Benefits of Training

Hearing better is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Brain Fitness Program strengthen's the brain’s auditory system in many ways. This improvement has a widespread ripple effect, enhancing overall brain function.

Specific auditory targets include:

Speeding up auditory processing. As people grow older, their speed of auditory processing gradually slows—but speech coming in does not! Speeding up auditory processing helps you keep up with rapid-fire speech you might hear when participating in an important meeting, talking to your grandchildren, or listening to a comedian.

Clarifying sound discrimination. When you are able to hear each sound in each word with more clarity, you can store clearer, more detailed memories of what you heard. You can then recall these memories with clearer detail later, helping you be more fluid in conversation and find words “on the tip of your tongue” more easily.

Sharpening sound precision. Training your brain to hear sounds with similar structures (such as /d/ and /t/ or /s/ and /st/) with greater precision helps you encode memories more accurately. This is what helps you remember if your new co-worker is named Don or Tom or Tim or John, whether your friend said to meet at 3:15 or 3:50, and much more.

Improving sound sequencing.Sound sequencing describes the brain’s ability to remember what you hear in order. Being able to hold strings of information in mind long enough to use them can help you stay on top of daily tasks. For example, many people have said that they remember what to buy at the store even when they leave their list at home.

Strengthening auditory working memory.Working memory is what enables you to keep information in mind long enough to act on it or transfer it to long-term memory. Improving your auditory working memory helps you remember and follow information that comes in through sound—from a list of assigned to-do items to how to care for an exotic plant.

Enhancing narrative memory. Much of what we hear each day comes in through narratives—from our children, teachers, tour guides, friends, co-workers, favorite actors. As memory for narrative details improves, people often feel willing to take on new activities or tasks with the confidence that they will be able to succeed with ease. Traveling to new places, joining a new class, and accepting more responsibility at work are a few examples.

Taken together, these changes help people feel better equipped to communicate in every setting, making them more confident and more willing to engage in new experiences.

Neuromodulators
The Brain Fitness Program (like all Posit Science programs) is designed to exercise the brain systems that produce neuromodulators—brain chemicals that are crucial for learning and memory. Natural production of these chemicals decreases with age. Our programs are specifically designed to boost that production by:

• rewarding the brain (which stimulates the production of dopamine)
• surprising the brain (which stimulates the production of norepinephrine)
• encouraging deep focus (which stimulates the production of acetylcholine)