Investigation into effects of Lumosity on working memory, visual Memory and executive functions among the elderly

Lumosity is a computer game for enhancing and improving the memory and brain efficiency of the elderly.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Lumosity on working memory, visual memory, and executive functions of the elderly living in nursing homes.

The present was an experimental study based on a pretest-posttest design. The statistical population consisted of all the elderly aged 65-70 years living in nursing homes of Bukan, in 2019. Some of them who were able to read and write were selected as the sample by using purposive sampling and then they were randomly assigned to the control and test groups. In this study, the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) were employed for measuring working memory, executive functions, and visual memory, respectively. The data were finally analyzed by the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS-24.

The results showed that Lumosity was effective in working memory (F=18.856, P=0.001), visual memory (F=7.97, and p=0.009), and executive functions (F=9.94, p=0.004) at the 95% level of confidence. The results also indicated that there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest mean of the studied variables, revealing the positive effects of Lumosity on working memory, visual memory, and executive functions of the participants.

Since the use of computer games, including Lumosity, can improve major cognitive functions, such as executive functions and memory, such games are recommended to be applied in nursing homes for rehabilitating the elderly.