Playing mind games

MindWeavers, an Oxford University spin-out company that produces software that alters brain function, is set to launch a series of 'brain exercise' computer games after securing £558,000 of funding.

The spinout company creates and sells software that exercises specific areas of the brain to improve human performance. According to Mindweaver, the software is based on research that has shown that human neural systems are ‘plastic’ and malleable, constantly changing throughout life, and that effective instruction can alter brain function.

In particular, developments in neuroscience have improved the understanding off how the brain learns languages.

One of MindWeavers’ products, Phonomena, is designed to correct a neurological weakness that makes it difficult for some children to distinguish phonemes that make up a word. Delivered in a computer game format, Phonomena ‘retrains’ the faulty area of the brain by enhancing the neural pathways that process sounds. Published results of experiments with the software proved that children’s reading, writing and spelling improved by 2.4 years after six hours use over a four-week period.