SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lumosity, the leader in brain health and performance, today announced it has been selected for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the Office of Naval Research, which is responsible for the coordination, execution and promotion of science and technology programs for United States Navy and Marine Corps. The grant is to be dedicated to the development and testing of a mobile application that increases intelligence and cognitive performance – specifically working memory, attention and decision making – in healthy adults. Lumosity will apply the grant to further development of its iPhone application, Brain Trainer, the world’s most popular mobile brain training application with more than 7 million users.
“Being selected for a SBIR award from the Office of Naval Research is a tremendous honor, and shows the promise that Lumosity cognitive training has for enhancing cognition and making people smarter – even young, sharp, healthy people,” said Joe Hardy, PhD, Senior Director of Research and Development at Lumosity. “The grant will enable us to conduct further clinical research to measure more precisely how Brain Trainer changes brain structure and function to allow people to be sharper, quicker, have better memory, and to think more clearly.”
Lumosity will partner with Dr. Adam Gazzaley, Associate Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry and Director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at the University of California, San Francisco, to run trials measuring brain function and cognitive performance before and after Lumosity training.
“My team and I are excited by the opportunity to partner on the next phase of research with Lumosity’s Brain Trainer,” said Dr. Gazzaley. “The goal is to better understand how the brain can adapt and change in response to experience to enhance cognition.”
The U.S. Navy is not the first government agency to select Lumosity to improve human performance in highly demanding work. Researchers in Mars500, a program pioneered by the European Space Agency to understand the effects of long-term isolation on physiology and cognitive performance, are using Lumosity’s Brain Trainer during the course of their 520-day simulated trip to Mars. The six-member team of astronauts will live in an enclosed environment that simulates many of the conditions of living on Mars, including restricted diet, exercise and contact with loved ones. As they reach their 300th day of isolation this week, the researchers are able to monitor changes in the astronauts’ cognitive function using Lumosity’s Brain Trainer.
About Lumosity
With more than 12 million members, Lumosity is the leader in brain health and performance. Offering more than 40 games and assessments backed by science, Lumosity tools are clinically proven to enhance brain performance in areas such as memory, attention, and fluid intelligence. Lumosity is currently available through Lumosity.com and third party platforms including iPhone, iPod Touch, Palm Pre, Android, Yahoo! and Facebook. Lumosity is backed by venture capital firms FirstMark Capital and Norwest Venture Partners. For more information about Lumosity and brain health, visit www.lumosity.com.