5 Years Of Brain-Boosting Scientific Collaborations

by Maisie Bygraves

Peak – Brain Training is 5!

You may have heard (as we won’t shut up about it) that Peak is 5 years young this September 4th! There have been 5 brain-boosting years of brain training by Peak brain trainers from around the globe. In fact, we’ve got a few fast facts about Peak and its players from the last 5 years that may surprise you nearly as much as they astonished us:

  • 3 billion Peak games have been played so far
  • 6 billion words have been found in our top game WordFresh
  • More than 5 million coffee breaks have been spent brain training (you brainy bunch)
  • And the best performing nation is… (Cue American national anthem)
  1. U.S

2. Followed by GB

3. And then France

It’s evident that our games are loved by millions of players who want to boost their brains. And we’ve got a theory why people are happy to invest so much time into training their brains with us. Some of our science-backed games are based on scientific research which we’ve worked hard on. We collaborate with some of the best neuroscientists and universities in the world, to keep up to date with all of the latest cognitive and brain research. By working closely with universities such as Cambridge, UCL and New York, we are able to provide Peak players with fresh, fun and beneficial games whilst supporting cognitive research.  

Here’s a few of Peak’s collaboration highlights: 

Cambridge University 

We worked with Prof. Barbara Sahakian of Cambridge University to develop 2 science-backed games. The first is a memory game called Wizard (if you play our games you’ll most likely have played this on repeat). One of the aims of the research was to identify “cognitive enhancers in patients… (including) a non-pharmacological method of enhancing motivation and cognition.” They concluded that “cognitive enhancers such as smart drugs and devices have the potential to provide benefits in healthy people.” They also found that by playing Peak’s memory game Wizard, you can potentially improve your memory. Want all the brain boosting details? You can read more about this study here. 

The second game that was developed with Sahakian and her team is Decoder. The main aim was to design a game scientifically proven to improve attention. And oh boy did we do that. In a study published in Frontiers of Behavioural Neuroscience, Sahakian shows that users who play Decoder significantly improve their attention in standardised tests when compared to control groups. Science overload? There’s more…

New York University

Professor Wei Ji Ma and Sebastiaan van Opheusden of New York University “built a computational model that predicts people’s choices in a two-player board game… The model generalizes to predict choices of players” and can “capture aspects of the computational process that underlies decision-making.” Peak’s well-loved game Connect ‘Em Up challenges problem solving skills and is helping with their research. 

University College London

A current and ongoing collaboration happening right now is with Dr. Oliver Robinson of University College London. Together Peak and Robinson have developed a game called Handling Emotion, that aims to help people to focus on positive stimuli. It is based on a concept called attentional bias modification, which is a computer-based therapy that can gradually change your attentional bias, boost your mood, minimise anxiety/stress and interrupt addiction. We’re seriously excited about this one as the effectiveness and potential benefits of this game are being studied right now. So watch this science-fuelled space!

As you can see, we’ve had a lot to write home about over the last 5 years. And the next 5 years will be just as collaborative, just as science-filled and even more fun. So here’s to you, our Peak players/gamers/dabblers/trainers/experts and those of you tempted to give us and your brain a whirl. Will you join us for the next 5? 

Tap and download the app today to start training your brain:

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Explore our brain-boosting articles all sizzling with science-backed facts and info on your brain and how it functions:

Sources Cited:

http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?barbara

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/370/1677/20140214

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00002/full

http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab/

http://oliverjrobinson.com/index.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296778/

https://www.peak.net/science/

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Maisie Bygraves

72 thoughts on “5 Years Of Brain-Boosting Scientific Collaborations”

  1. It would be very interesting if not all games where so vision centered. All games are very interesting, but I find myself with my visual impairment, unable to make good marks with any of the emotions games or with most of the deduction ones. I understand that making games for blind people to check or boost their brain abilities might take you to a complete different app, with completely different psychological studies behind, but, if you try to keep in mind that, although vision is the most important of our senses, it’s not the only one, and I can think of alot of eays of improoving your games, and alot of reasons and scientific evidences that a multisensorial approach would bring to better results in brain delopement.

    Thanks for your attention

    Reply

  6. Reforming emotional skill cognitive function of our(human) brain is a social activity. Wishing you many more birthday peak

    Reply

  12. Happy productive fifth Birthday, PEAK! I am an educator and have recommended your app many times to parents. Many more exciting and innovative years to come! Thank you for your great scientifically based app to keep everyone’s ‘little grey cells’ in top form!
    Looking forward to more! Thanks so much! All the best!🎂💓5️⃣⚜️✅💝
    Shari 🎂

    Reply

  13. I have used your games for almost five years now. I am recovering from a severe episode of autoimmune encephalitis. I have been able to see my improvement from the beginning and it is amazing. I have recommended your app numerous times.jJulie I recently was able to return to work and I am truly grateful for the your help. I cannot thank you enough!

    Reply

  23. I love Peak, I use it every morning to gauge how well I’m going to perform at work that day, maybe even reorganise my tasks depending how well I do. And I really enjoy it despite never having been a computer games person before

    Reply

  25. I can definitely feel the effects of the brain training. I speak better, my memory and recall is better, and my focus is better (I have ADHD). I’ve been playing since January and I’m so glad I did! 🙂 I may be 25, but this app is great for all ages and all brains. Thanks for everything!

    Reply

  26. Happy birthday Peak , I love my daily dose of brain training , I must try and keep my brain sharp now I have retired

    Reply

  27. Happy Birthday Peak! I enjoy all the challenging games you gave and hope there will be some new ones on the horizon!

    Reply

  29. Happy Birthday Peak!
    Keep going to develop more fantastic tests!You make people enjoy and increase their abilities after doing daily brain testing!

    ✨🥰🎂👏🏻

    Reply

  30. Happy birthday Peak , you have succeeded in keeping my cranial gremlins at bay . I am 85 and an active Peakster .

    Reply

  37. I’ve been playing in Ireland for the past 2 years. I play every day. I love the games. Never get bored so thanks and happy birthday. Here’s to another 5 successful years !!

    Reply

  47. Happy birthday! Peak is my favourite brain game, it has awesome games and I am having so much fun with it day by day. It’s great to learn how far they have come. I wish Peak at least 55 more successful years.

    Reply

  52. Happy Birthday, Peak! You are the best, most challenging, relaxing, fun, educational and helpful app ever. You might even be better than chocolate- well, maybe. 😄

    Reply

  57. Happy birthday! I’ve been playing almost daily for a couple of years now. I sure would like to see some new challenging games soon!

    Reply

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