Keep a running total of + − × ÷ steps in your head, then type it.
This task records working memory on a fixed, repeatable version of the task. Your result is comparable to your own previous attempts on the same device.
It does not diagnose anything, and it does not claim to improve anything beyond performance on this task. Reported times include display and input latency from your own hardware.
Stop if you feel dizzy, nauseous or strained.
A start number appears, then steps like + 7 or − 3, one at a time. Keep the total in your head and type the final answer. Level 1 has 3 steps; each level adds one. From level 5, × 2 and × 3 steps appear; from level 8, ÷ 2 too. Steps come faster as the level goes up.
Score (each right answer scores its level (1–10)). Higher is better. Each difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard) keeps its own personal best, and custom settings are saved but not ranked, so your bests stay comparable.
Practice makes you better at this game, and that is well supported by research. Better school, work or everyday thinking from brain games is not proven (large reviews, 2016). Not medical advice.
Each brain game is based on a task that psychology and neuroscience labs use to measure one ability: holding things in mind (working memory), keeping focus, ignoring distractions, switching rules, planning ahead, or processing speed. Batteries such as Cambridge CANTAB, the NIH Toolbox and TestMyBrain use tasks like these.
People reliably get better at the games they practise. Large reviews (Simons and colleagues, 2016; Melby-Lervåg, Redick and Hulme, 2016) found little evidence that brain games improve everyday thinking, school or work results, or intelligence. So treat your score as how you did on this game, not as a measure of your brain.
The level adapts as you play: two right answers in a row move you up, a wrong answer moves you down, so each round settles near the edge of what you can do.
Press when the lit square matches the one N steps back. 1-back up to 4-back.
Scattered blocks light up in order. Tap them back, same or reverse order.
Digits one at a time, then type them forwards or backwards. 3 to 12 digits.
