Cognition And Memory Tests Part Ii

Image: Hulton Archive

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How old is your brain?

In June, this column challenged readers to take an online cognition and memory test that purports to tell us how quick and nimble our brains are—and how well we remember things.

The braniac exam was modified from actual test batteries used to help determine the success or failure of new drugs being developed to treat neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease.

The tests—which readers are still welcome to take!—provide a score indicating how old a person’s brain is based on their performance. It also tells test-takers how they compare with tens of thousands of people between the ages of 18 and 80 who have taken the test.

Comments about the test were lively. People who scored below their real age smugly reported how much they likes the test, while those who scored older than their biological age on the test—some by decades—were convinced the test was rigged, trivial, or not for real.

Scientists at Cognitive Drug Research, the company that runs the tests, explained to the disgruntled that some scores might have been affected either by people being distracted, or by computers, wireless units, and servers that might have been sluggish and effected scores requiring speedy responses.

Recently, Cognitive Drug Research, which is based in Goring-on-Thames, England, sent me results for the nearly 14,000 people who took the Portfolio.com test.

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