Birdwatching and the Science of Visual Attention

Birdwatching and the Science of Visual Attention

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see” – Henry David Thoreau

When we look at our surroundings, we rarely manage to see every detail. In extreme cases, being able to see what matters might mean the difference between life or death—take the simple activity of driving, for example.

Distracting visual stimuli are often present in our visual field—the range of what you can see without moving your head. When attention is divided across the visual field, your ability to absorb and act on what you’re looking at is dependent on the brain’s ability to process visual information.

Visual processing declines with age

While visual processing declines, evidence shows that cognitive training can improve visual attention for individuals of any age.

A study published in the December 2011 issue of Brain Impairment found that Lumosity training led to improvements in sustained visual attention on a common transfer assessment called Rapid Visual Presentation. The 16 participants in this study all suffered from mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is diagnosed when adults have cognitive decline more serious than the normal effects of aging.

After 30 sessions of Lumosity training, MCI patients who trained increased sustained visual attention by 3% while those who did not train declined by 7%. Furthermore, a study from the Mensa Research Journal  found that individuals who trained for 20 minutes a day over 5 weeks saw 20% improvements in visual attention.

Birdwatching challenges your visual attention skills

Both of the above studies made use of one of Lumosity’s exercises: Birdwatching.

Birdwatching challenges visual attention by requiring that you divide your focus: you need to attend to both a letter that appears briefly in the center and a bird stimulus that appears randomly at the same time. As your performance changes, Birdwatching adapts in difficulty to challenge your brain. The better you get, the shorter the presentation time and the wider the screen area that the bird may appear in.

Most members know Birdwatching is a fun and engaging exercise—but it's also an effective training exercise shown to improve an incredibly important cognitive capacity. Want to help your visual attention take flight? Try training with Birdwatching today! Then check out our full set of attention games when you unlock Lumosity today.

Learn more on the Lumosity blog.

Smarter Than The Kids

Ruth A.

“

I'm 65 years old, and every day, seeing my sons reminds me what I need to do for my brain to stay alert and smart. My children don't want me to grow old. I need to use Lumosity to keep my brain young and smart for the grandkids.

„