Working Memory
Hold several pieces of information in mind while doing something with them.
What it is
The mental scratchpad. The reason you can dial a phone number you just heard, the reason you can hold the first half of a sentence in mind while parsing the second. Working memory is widely studied because it correlates with reading comprehension, math performance, and reasoning under load.
What the research supports
Working-memory training reliably improves performance on the trained tasks. Whether it transfers to fluid intelligence, reading, or math is contested. Melby-Lervåg, Redick & Hulme (2016) meta-analysed 87 studies and found near transfer but essentially no far transfer. We design BrainGym assuming near transfer is the realistic ceiling.
For the broader evidence base, see our methodology page.
How BrainGym trains it
Treadmill (audiobook with focus checkpoints) is the working-memory anchor: you must hold what was just said while answering a question that requires you to integrate it with what came before. Positional Reasoning puzzles in Heavy Lifting also load WM heavily.
Try it
The two-minute guest demo runs a Treadmill session - a working-memory and attention exercise. No signup.