Can Brain Training Games Help You Sleep Better? New Research Suggests They Might

A four-week program of computerized brain training games led to significant improvements in sleep quality and reduced insomnia symptoms in adults struggling with persistent sleep difficulties, according to new research from Spanish universities.

The study involved 32 adults who completed a home-based cognitive training program using the CogniFit platform. Participants engaged in 20 self-guided training sessions over four weeks, with each session lasting approximately 45 minutes and targeting attention, memory, and executive functioning skills.

What Did the Brain Training Program Include?

The computerized cognitive training (CCT) program combined various cognitive tasks designed to strengthen mental functions that researchers believe are connected to sleep regulation. The training focused on three main areas:

• Attention Tasks: Exercises designed to improve focus and concentration abilities
• Memory Training: Activities targeting both working memory and long-term memory processes
• Executive Functioning: Tasks that strengthen decision-making, planning, and cognitive control skills

Researchers measured participants' sleep quality, mood, cognitive performance, and quality of life both before and after the four-week intervention using standardized questionnaires and computerized assessments.

How Much Did Sleep Quality Improve?

The results showed statistically significant reductions in insomnia severity and sleep complaints compared to baseline measurements. Participants also experienced decreases in depressive symptoms and worry levels. Additionally, the training led to improvements in executive functioning and overall cognitive performance.

The research builds on experimental studies showing that intensive cognitive activity can influence sleep architecture through the close relationship between learning, memory consolidation, and sleep. These effects are thought to work by modulating neural circuits like the default mode network, which is associated with memory consolidation and brain activity regulation during rest and sleep.

Previous laboratory studies have found that even a single hour of cognitive training can increase slow-wave activity during subsequent nighttime sleep. However, those studies were conducted in highly controlled experimental settings that don't capture the complexity of real-world sleep behaviors.

What Makes This Study Different?

Unlike previous laboratory-based research, this study examined cognitive training in participants' everyday environments, making the findings more applicable to real-world situations. The home-based approach also addresses common barriers to traditional insomnia treatments, such as cost, time constraints, and limited availability of trained professionals.

Insomnia disorder affects between 3.9% and 22.1% of the global population and significantly increases the likelihood of both psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety, as well as non-psychiatric conditions including Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes.

While Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) remains the first-line treatment, it shows substantial variation in individual responses and may be less effective for certain biological presentations of insomnia, such as objectively short sleep duration and persistent cognitive-emotional hyperarousal.

The researchers emphasize that these findings should be interpreted as preliminary due to the single-group study design and modest sample size. They note that larger randomized controlled trials are needed to determine whether cognitive training provides benefits beyond non-specific effects and to clarify its potential role as an adjunct to existing insomnia treatments.