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Brain Workshop - a Dual N-Back game

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Dual N-Back exercise featured in Brain

Workshop was the subject of an April
2008 peer-reviewed scientific study
which shows that practicing the Dual N-
Back task for 20 minutes 4-5 days per
week will improve your working memory
(short term memory) and fluid
intelligence. This Wired article has a
good summary of its benefits.

If you've never tried Dual N-Back before,

here's a quick tutorial to get you started.

Dual 1-Back
It's best to begin with Dual 1-Back, the
simplest mode.

1. Launch Brain Workshop.

2. Press Space to enter the
Workshop.
3. Press M to switch to Manual mode.
4. Press F1 to decrease the N-back level to 1. (Note: on Mac, to press F1 you need to hold the Fn key, i.e.
Fn-F1)
5. Press Space to begin a Dual 1-Back session. Each session is about 1 minute in duration.

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You will see a blue square appear every 3 seconds accompanied by the sound of a letter. If you don't hear any
sound, make sure your speakers are not muted.

Press A (position match) if the POSITION of the blue square is the SAME as it was 1 trial back (i.e., the
square appears in the same position twice in a row).
Press L (letter match) if the LETTER you hear is the SAME it was 1 trial back (i.e., you hear the same
letter twice in a row).

The Dual part of the name of this game mode, Dual 1-Back, comes from the fact that you are remembering
two different stimuli -- the square's position, and the letter played through the speakers. The 1-Back part
indicates how many trials back you're being asked to remember to decide whether that trial's position or letter
match the current position or letter.

It's easy to perform this task when focusing only on a single cue (either the square's position or the letter). The
challenging part is to do both at the same time!

Dual 2-Back
Brain Workshop starts in Dual 2-Back mode by default. Dual 2-Back is significantly more difficult than Dual 1-
Back. Don't be discouraged - learning and practicing this exercise at the limit of your ability is what
increases your fluid intelligence!

1. Ensure that the game mode is Dual 2-Back. (if not, use F1 and F2 to adjust the N-Back level. On Mac,
to press F1 you need to hold the Fn key, i.e. Fn-F1. Note: these keys will only function in Manual mode.)
2. Press Space to begin a Dual 2-Back session.

This time, you will need to remember the square's position and the voiced letter from 2 trials back instead of
1 trial back.

Press A (position match) if the POSITION of the blue square is the SAME as it was 2 trials back (i.e., the
square appears in the same position as it did two trials ago).
Press L (letter match) if the LETTER you hear is the SAME it was 2 trials back (i.e., you hear the same
letter as you did two trials ago).

If you find this too difficult at first, try focusing on only one of the cues (either the square's position or the letter).

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Here's an example. Ignore the square's position for now and

focus on the letters you hear. Suppose the first letter is "A" and
the second is "B". Now it's the third trial and the letter is "A"
again.

Since the current letter, A, is the same as the letter from two
trials ago (i.e., the first trial), you've found a match and press the
L key. Now suppose that on the next trial the letter is "B". You
press L again because this word is also the same as it was two
trials ago.

Here's another example.

Trial 1: C
Trial 2: R
Trial 3: T
Trial 4: R (this is a 2-back match)
Trial 5: T (this is a 2-back match)
Trial 6: T
Trial 7: S
Trial 8: C
Trial 9: S (this is a 2-back match)

When you get the hang of hearing a match from 2 trials back, try
shifting your focus to the square's position. Then try to do both
at the same time.

Since you switched to Manual mode at the beginning, Brain

Workshop will not change the n-back level automatically. Press
M to exit Manual mode. Now the n-back level will be adjusted for
you automatically, to ensure you're always playing at the right
level. Once you achieve a high enough score in Dual 2-Back,
you'll be bumped up to the next level - Dual 3-Back. Challenge
yourself and try to achieve the highest level possible!

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What's the best way to benefit from

Brain Workshop?
The original study on Dual N-Back shows a linear correlation between the participants' gain in measured fluid
intelligence and time spent practicing Dual N-Back. In other words, the more you practice, the more the
potential benefit.

Aim for 20 sessions per day (about 25 minutes), 4 or 5 times per week. The "Sessions Today" indicator in the
top right corner of Brain Workshop represents a convenient way to keep track of your 20-session goal.

Intensive training every day may not be optimal because the brain needs time to learn, adapt and reconfigure
itself. A training schedule of 4-5 days per week seems to be the most efficient.

The hardest part might be maintaining your training schedule over time. Try pairing up with someone else
who's interested in increasing their intelligence. Contact each other to ensure you're both maintaining your
schedules.

As mentioned previously, learning and practicing the Dual N-Back task at the limit of your ability is what
increases your fluid intelligence. Push your limits every day and try to reach the highest N-Back level possible.

The following health tips will help you attain optimal mental performance and overall well-being:

1. Eat a balanced diet with plenty of nutrient-rich greens and other whole, unrefined foods.
2. Get plenty of sleep. Sufficient high-quality sleep is essential to the learning process and will aid your
body's regenerative systems, as well as improving mood and focus.
3. Regular aerobic exercise has been shown to improve blood flow to the brain and stimulate neuron
growth in the hippocampus, a brain structure vital to the formation of long-term memories.
4. Reduce stress in your life. Chronic stress causes elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol which
has many negative effects.
5. Along with Dual N-Back, engage in a variety of mentally stimulating activities.

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