Apps That Actually Help Memory and Cognition (and Apps That Don't)

The brain-training app industry has been telling older adults for fifteen years that their products will keep dementia away. The actual research, which has grown substantially over those same fifteen years, tells a more modest story. Brain-training apps reliably make you better at the specific games they contain. Whether that improvement transfers to real-world cognitive function — remembering names, finding your way around town, balancing the checkbook — is much less clear. Some research suggests modest benefits. Most suggests benefits that are smaller and narrower than the advertising claims.

I want to walk through the honest version of what these apps can and can't do, and what I actually recommend to patients.

What the research actually shows

The largest review I'm aware of — a 2014 consensus statement signed by 75 neuroscientists, with several follow-ups since — concluded that brain-training products improve performance on the trained tasks but show "little evidence" of broader cognitive transfer. A 2020 update to the FTC settlement with Lumosity (a major brain-training company) required them to stop claiming their app prevents cognitive decline because they couldn't substantiate the claim.

What does seem to help cognition in older adults, based on consistent research:

Physical exercise. The most consistent finding in the cognitive-aging literature. Walking briskly thirty minutes a day, several days a week, is associated with meaningfully better cognition years later. Stronger evidence than any brain-training app has produced.

Social engagement. Regular face-to-face contact with other people — book clubs, religious communities, family gatherings, even barbershop conversations — is associated with slower cognitive decline.

Sleep. Consistent sleep schedules and addressing sleep disorders (covered in our sleep piece) matter more than most cognitive interventions.

Learning genuinely new things. Picking up a new hobby — language, instrument, skill — appears to do more for cognition than playing memorized exercises.

Hearing aids, where indicated. Untreated hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline. The 2024 ACHIEVE trial found that hearing aids slow cognitive decline in at-risk older adults. (Covered in our hearing-aids piece.)

The apps that are at least reasonable

If you'd like a brain-training app and want one that's at least intellectually honest, two options:

Lumosity. Yes, despite the FTC settlement. The actual games are well-designed and pleasant. Subscription is around $12 a month, $60 a year. As entertainment with possible cognitive benefits, fine. As a treatment for any kind of decline, no — and they're no longer allowed to claim it is.

BrainHQ. Made by a researcher (Michael Merzenich) whose published work in cognitive training is more substantial than most. The "Double Decision" exercise has the most replicated evidence of any single brain-training task in the literature, with some studies showing transfer to driving safety in older adults. Subscription around $14 a month.

Both are reasonable purchases if you enjoy the games and would do them whether or not they helped your cognition. As a hobby, fine. As medicine, both should be treated skeptically.

What I actually recommend to patients

For most patients asking about cognitive health, the recommendations I make are not apps.

Walk thirty minutes most days, briskly enough that you can talk but couldn't easily sing. Track it on your phone (covered in our step-counter piece) if it helps motivation.

Have a real conversation with another person every day. Phone calls count; video calls count; in-person counts most.

Get hearing checked annually after age 65. Get vision checked annually. Both untreated hearing loss and untreated vision loss are associated with cognitive decline, and both are addressable.

Maintain a sleep schedule. Same bedtime, same wake time, including weekends.

Learn something genuinely new. A language, an instrument, a craft, a hobby. The novelty matters more than the specific activity.

Do crossword puzzles or sudoku if you enjoy them (covered in our games piece). The evidence isn't strong that they help, but they don't hurt and they're often pleasant.

If memory complaints are real and persistent, see a doctor for an evaluation. Some causes of cognitive change — vitamin deficiencies, thyroid disorders, depression, medication side effects, sleep apnea — are treatable. An evaluation is more likely to produce useful information than a brain-training subscription.

The apps to be cautious about

Any app that promises to "prevent" or "reverse" cognitive decline. The evidence isn't there.

Any app sold through television commercials targeting older viewers with claims about "cognitive performance" or "mental agility" — these are usually the worst combination of weak evidence and aggressive marketing.

Any app that requires giving up personal medical information beyond what's necessary to run the app. Cognitive testing data is valuable; it can be sold; the privacy implications matter.

Any app that automatically renews a subscription after a "free trial" without clear notification. Several brain-training apps have used this pattern. Read the cancellation policy before signing up for any trial.

One small habit that's free

The most useful cognitive exercise I know of is one I tell every patient who asks me about brain training. It costs nothing and there's no app.

Every evening, sit somewhere quiet for two minutes and try to recall, in detail, the events of your day from the moment you woke up. What did you have for breakfast. Who you spoke to. What you wore. Where you went. What was different from yesterday.

This is a working-memory exercise that uses your actual life rather than abstract patterns. The recall improves with practice. The benefit, in my own observation across many patients, is real — and the cost is nothing.

The point

Brain-training apps are not a useful substitute for the things that actually matter for cognitive health. They are also not actively harmful in most cases. If you enjoy them as games, play them. If you're considering them as medicine, the things in your life that genuinely affect cognition — exercise, sleep, hearing, social connection, learning — will produce more benefit per hour than any subscription will.

The phone helps with most of those, too. It tracks the walks, reminds you of the social commitments, hosts the hearing-aid app, books the eye appointment. That's the cognitive-health version of phone use that I'd recommend. The brain-training subscription is optional.

Written by Linda Marsh, RN. Reviewed for clinical accuracy by Linda Marsh, RN (BSN, University of Iowa; 18 years registered-nurse experience). Editorially reviewed by David Chen. Last verified 19 June 2026. Cognitive concerns belong with a medical professional.