And it involves playing games.
It’s frustrating when you try to hunker down to tackle a project, only to have your mind wander. If this happens more than you’d like, new research has a solution: You can “train” your brain to be more focused.
That’s the major takeaway from clinical trial results published in the journal JMIR Serious Games. The study found that regularly playing specific games can help ramp up your ability to pay attention in the future.
Of course, struggling with focus can be a sign of an underlying health condition, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). If this is a constant issue for you, it’s important to talk to a healthcare provider for an evaluation. But if you suspect that you have more run-of-the-mill issues with paying attention, there are a few things to keep in mind. Here’s what the study found, plus how to put it to work for you.
Just 30 minutes a day can have a big impact
The study, which was led by neurology researchers at McGill University and published in the journal JMIR Serious Games, split 92 people aged 65 and up into two camps: One group played brain-training games for 30 minutes a day over 10 weeks, while another played games for entertainment. The researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) scans, along with a radioactive tracer to measure the production of a chemical called acetylcholine in the participants’ brains at the start and end of the study.
Why? Acetylcholine is known as the “pay attention” chemical. When production of acetylcholine goes up, you’d theoretically be able to pay attention better.
The researchers discovered that people who played the brain-training games had a 2.3% increase in acetylcholine production in a part of the brain that’s crucial for learning, memory, attention, and executive function. But people in the control group didn’t have a noticeable change. Worth noting: Acetylcholine production tends to decline with age, making this a nice perk.
This isn’t just for older adults
While the study focused on older adults, the findings can still apply to people who are younger, Mouna Attarha, PhD, study co-author and senior research scientist at Posit Science, tells SELF.
“The training is driving biological change in the brain,” she says. “These exercises target the cholinergic system—the brain system that produces the ‘pay attention’ chemical, acetylcholine. That has a vast impact on the entire brain because acetylcholine affects many things, including cognition, learning, behavior, mood, and movement.”
The brain-training games help the brain operate more efficiently as a whole. “That’s something people of any age can benefit from,” Dr. Attarha says.
Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, agrees. “Engaging in a video game requires activating multiple sensory input pathways and then integrating the various visual and auditory input through brain association areas and then quickly activating output pathways to play the game,” he tells SELF. “Computerized exercises also activate the same pathways involved in competition and rewards as everyone wants to win the game they are playing, just like a ball game like soccer or basketball.”
Dr. Attarha points out that there has already been research showing better cognitive performance in younger adults who do brain-training games, but the latest study explains why. “It shows that these benefits are driven by improved cholinergic health,” Dr. Attarha says. “That makes sense, because the cholinergic system plays a key role in synaptic plasticity, the brain’s ability to strengthen or adjust its connections based on experience, which is necessary for attention, learning, memory, and higher-level thinking.”
She also points this out: “There’s no real ceiling on cognition. Just like physical fitness, the more you engage your brain, the more you’ll improve.”
The type of games matter
The participants played a range of games in the study, including BrainHQ’s Double Decision, where you have to process information and make quick decisions, and Freeze Frame, which requires you to respond to images that go by on a screen and then hit “freeze” when you see a target. (You can play a limited range of BrainHQ games for free if you sign up for the company’s app, but you need to pay for a subscription to access the whole range.)
We designed these exercises based on neuroscience principles that define how the brain changes and improves,” Dr. Attarha says. “We know that the brain learns best under moderate challenge, when the task is neither too easy nor too hard. That’s why the exercises automatically adjust to keep you in that sweet spot, pushing you to be both fast and accurate while staying right at the edge of your performance limit.”
Games that progress with you are crucial to reap these benefits, Alexander C. Conley, PhD, research assistant professor at the Center for Cognitive Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells SELF. “This is important to continue to build those pathways in the brain,” he says. “The brain is similar to a muscle in that way.”
Games that require thought and strategy also tend to be more beneficial for your brain than those that you just navigate, Dr. Segil says. “Different computerized exercise games activate different parts of your brain,” he says. “Just like going to a gym, you can work on different muscle groups.”
But Dr. Attarha says popular games like Wordle, Sudoku, solitaire, and crossword puzzles won’t necessarily give you the same perks when it comes to better focus. “Unlike targeted brain training, these games usually lack the time pressure that first pushes you to your personal limits and then gradually adapts to make you faster and more accurate,” she says. “They don’t personalize difficulty based on your abilities, nor do they consistently require focused, sustained attention. You can take your time, pause, and return later without consequence.”
There are other ways to train your brain to be more focused
Dr. Attarha says there are plenty of ways to improve your focus without doing special brain-training games. “Step out of well-worn routines, which your brain likely runs on autopilot by now,” she says. “Seek novelty and challenge. Explore a new place and really pay attention to your surroundings.”
But Dr. Conley says it’s important not to forget about basic health principles, too. “It all comes down to lifestyle and putting yourself in the best position to maintain your focus,” he says. That includes doing things like trying to get a good night’s sleep, following a well-balanced diet, staying physically active, and being social. “These all put you in the best frame before you even start your workday to help you focus on the task you are looking to engage in,” he says.
Dr. Attarha also suggests doing things like making dinner like you’re competing on Chopped, improvising along the way versus following a recipe. It can also be helpful to try to figure out simple math in your mind instead of using your phone’s calculator, she says. You can even try to learn a new skill, focusing on doing well at each step before moving on to the next one.
Once you find that you can do something smoothly without making a lot of mistakes, Dr. Attarha recommends trying to do it faster. “That’s how your brain gets stronger,” she says.