For example, one of the activities included in
Brain Age is a Stroop test, which flashes a series of four color names. Some will show up in their corresponding color – yellow written in yellow – and others will show up in completely different colors – red written in black. While reading a series of simple color words may seem like a simple task, you’re actually supposed to call out the color the word is written in. You’re sure to do well during the first few words, but once you hit about ten words, things become decidedly more difficult.
Another activity challenges you to a series of simple math problems. The calculations never get much harder than multiplication, and even then you’re mostly confined to single-digit problems, but the rapid-fire pacing is what throws you. It is like those one-minute drills your elementary school math teacher subjected you to, only it is speed drills on fire, going 130 miles per hour through a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas, and the ninjas are all on fire too.