Summary: <p>An explosion of brain training games and apps has people spotting patterns, adding numbers and remembering sequences in hopes of boosting their mental fitness. A new study finds that a modest amount of brain training can improve cognitive speed, reasoning and memory, with effects lasting as long as a decade. But skeptics say many of the claims we hear are largely hype, and that even if you grow more proficient at a specific game or task, there's no larger benefit. We explore the popularity of brain games and the questions about their effectiveness.</p>
