Brain training: Does it work?

There’s no question the brain is one of the most complicated and sophisticated organs in the human body.

A group of brain scientists has been studying the extent to which we may be able to train our brains to change—without any sort of surgical or pharmaceutical intervention whatsoever.

This field is dubbed brain training. It’s basically behavioral intervention on the highest level.

Brain training has been met with skepticism in recent years, largely because results—like brains themselves—are so varied. At the same time, a review of literature on the subject suggests that some degree of brain training, especially mindfulness-based interventions, can influence brain function and resilience, particularly in high-stress environments.

One of the leading researchers on this subject is Dr. Martin Paulus, scientific director and president of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dr. Paulus also is a professor of neuroscience at the Oxley College of Health and Natural Sciences at the University of Tulsa. He said he was drawn to this work out of curiosity to explore the breadth and depth of neuroplasticity.

“If you’re working out with weights or endurance, over time your muscles adapt to what you’re doing—they become better and stronger and the system learns how to do things more efficiently,” he said. “The same analogy can be applied to the brain. Different parts of the brain either as system or as individual parts contribute different components to how we behave, feel, and think. The more you train your brain to perform in certain ways, the more the brain learns how to do precisely what you’re trying to teach it.”

As Dr. Paulus explained, a significant portion of this work hinges on interoception, the brain’s ability to sense the body state and organize actions appropriately and adaptively.

On a basic level, here’s how interoception works. If you’re feeling overheated, your brain receives signals from your body that it needs to cool down. Your brain then sends a signal to your body to turn on the air conditioner, or to get a cold drink. Eventually, you feel cooler.

According to Dr. Paulus, brain training takes this concept to a deeper level. If your brain is receiving signals that you are feeling sad or depressed, why not train it to remember positive memories, or put into perspective the notion that those feelings of sadness are temporary and that you will experience happiness soon enough?

“The biggest benefit is self-regulation,” he said.

Neurofeedback, the use of specialized equipment to train cognition using biologic measurements in a clinical or laboratory setting, is only one big-picture example of brain training. Dr. Paulus provided several other examples:

• Mindfulness and Resilience: Several studies demonstrate that mindfulness training (MT) can significantly alter neural processing, particularly in brain regions like the insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which are crucial for interoception, emotional regulation, and attentional control. For example, this study and this study found that mindfulness training attenuates the insula’s response to aversive interoceptive challenges, suggesting that MT helps individuals manage negative bodily sensations more effectively. Similarly, another study showed that Marines undergoing mindfulness training exhibited enhanced physiological recovery (e.g., heart rate, breathing rate) and reduced stress-related levels after a stressful event, highlighting MT’s potential to bolster resilience.

• Elite Performance and Neural Adaptation: The research extends into understanding how elite performers, such as Navy SEALs and athletes, adapt their brain functions to maintain optimal performance under stress. In one study, researchers observed that elite warfighters showed enhanced threat detection capabilities, a marker of heightened sensitivity to potential threats. Dr. Paulus said this selective neural tuning reflects an optimized allocation of cognitive resources, enabling elite performers to remain focused on critical stimuli while conserving energy for non-threatening situations.

• Neural Flexibility and Performance: The concept of cognitive flexibility—particularly the ability to shift between emotional states—was explored a 2012 study where Navy SEALs displayed greater insula activation during affective set-shifting, suggesting superior adaptability in transitioning between different emotional states. This flexibility is critical in extreme environments, where rapid and efficient emotional and cognitive responses can be lifesaving.

• Pilot Studies in Athletes: A 2015 study on elite athletes revealed that mindfulness training led to increased interoceptive awareness and enhanced activation of the insula and ACC during stress anticipation and recovery phases. These findings imply that mindfulness training could enhance athletes’ ability to stay present and manage stress, potentially leading to improved performance during competitions.

• Theoretical Framework for Training and Brain Function: A 2009 study coauthored by Dr. Paulus and Dr. Eric Potterat (among others) proposed a neuroscience-based framework for understanding how training can optimize brain function in extreme environments. The review suggested that individual variability in performance is tied to a well-contextualized internal body state, with neuroscience approaches offering a means to quantify and enhance optimal performance under demanding conditions.

Taken together, these studies underscore the significant role of targeted training, particularly mindfulness, in modulating brain function to enhance resilience, cognitive flexibility, and performance in high-stress and extreme environments. The findings suggest that such training can lead to both physiological and neural adaptations, ultimately improving an individual’s ability to manage stress and perform optimally under pressure.

It’s important to note that this article discusses only the training of healthy brains; other kinds of brain training fall under the category of cognitive rehabilitation of injured and disordered brains.

The bottom line: Brain training is possible, and, as this article notes, is perhaps most viable for those who put themselves that train brains in a positive way.

Put differently, you can teach an old brain new tricks.

This article has been factchecked. For more about that process, click here.