This is the second day of our one week Brain Age challenge on the brand new Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training for Switch.
If you haven’t read day one yet, a quick update. My current Brain Age is 60 – I miserably predicted it would be 45.
I had some issues with drawing using the stylus and I played probably my worst game of Dr Mario ever. So it hasn’t gone according to plan. Yet. But surely Day Two things will turn around, right?
Right?
Second Brain Age Result
I’ve been looking forward to this all day, psyching myself up, preparing for what comes next. I’m going to do better than last time, I have to!
Same as yesterday, I went straight in with no prior training and started with a Self Control test. This was unlike any of the other tests I’ve tried and the aim was to touch the number with the highest numerical value.
It’s key to note that some numbers are bigger than others on the screen but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should be touched first. This is done to throw you off while playing. Numbers will also move around on the screen but they don’t actually tell you that before hand.
I ended with a time of 52.35 seconds, making a few mistakes and ending up the lowest among my friends. Great start…
But I have a chance to redeem myself immediately as the Processing Speed test was once again Speed Counting from 1 to 120. I did ok at this yesterday, I’m going to do better now, right?
Well, not quite. Interestingly, I actually did this slower than yesterday. I had a time of 50.18 yesterday, but was just a bit slower at 50.90 today. I’m not quite sure what happened, it felt like I was trying to pronounce the numbers even more, though I was always clear. I also found I was losing my voice a little bit towards the end. But it is is what it is.
The final test was for Short Term Memory and I was half preparing myself for memorising words like yesterday, determined to do it better. But no, this was worse. So much worse.
I got the Memorise 5 x 5 test, where you need to remember the locations of numbers on a grid and then replace them once they disappear. Brutal! It goes 1 to 25 and I managed to get 6 remembered, so it is a slight improvement from yesterday but it just wasn’t working out. I can’t even blame the writing today, this was all me.
I definitely know where my training is going to go from now on!
After the three tests, I ended up with a new Brain Age of 65, so I’ve gone up by +5 and now have a +29 on my own age.
My Processing Speed went up to 54, and Self Control leapt up to 63. My Short Term Memory apparently remained the same at 80. This is definitely not going to plan!
Training
After getting two stamps, the game unlocks Dual Task on Training which means I have to solve two problems at once.
This one was the same as the Self Control test, touching the number of the highest numerical value, but you also have to tap the screen at the same time to help an athlete jump over hurdles.
After my Brain Age test, I wasn’t overly optimistic of my chances but gave it a go. Surprisingly, I smashed it with a time of 1 min 0.53. I did miss two numbers, so this added ten seconds to my time but this was a big improvement from my earlier performance. Happy with that.
Sudoku seemed tougher for me today. I’m normally relatively comfortable but for some reason I had a lul midway and I couldn’t find the one number I needed which would ultimately crack the grid. I also made two mistakes today, which added 40 minutes to my time – still think that’s harsh!
In the end, I finished Sudoku in just under an hour – 59 mins 55.37 seconds.
On the positive side, my Syllables Per Second went up on the reading challenge, from 6.0 to 6.1. My first read through was 38.71 seconds and the second 36.21 for a total of 1 min 14.92
I also completely smashed my previous Calculations x25 time, bringing it down to 1 min 12.00 and not a single calculator in sight.
I even killed more germs in Germ Buster today.
So, perhaps, reasons to be optimistic tomorrow? Who can say!
Current Stats Table
| Connect Maze | Speed Counting | Word Memory | Reading Aloud | Speedy Calculation | Highest Number | Memorise 5×5 | Brain Age | |
| Day One | 1 minute 12.91 | 50.18 seconds | 5 of 30 | 40.21 / 39.34 / 6.0 SPS | 2 mins | 60 | ||
| Day Two | 50.90 seconds | 38.71 / 36.21 / 6.1 SPS | 1 min 12.00 | 52.35 seconds | 6 of 25 | 65 | ||
| Day Three | ||||||||
| Day Four | ||||||||
| Day Five | ||||||||
| Day Six | ||||||||
| Day Seven |
