Brain Training Can Boost Smarts

Software claiming to improve intelligence has met with market success in recent years— along with plenty of skepticism—but sales could now get a boost with the discovery that it really is possible to improve general intelligence with mental gymnastics. Researchers had thought so-called "fluid intelligence" was purely genetic, but tests have demonstrated that mental workouts can improve capacity, Wired reports.

Crystallized intelligence—from acquired knowledge—increases with learning, but researchers also found that intelligence used for general problem-solving increased with memory exercises, according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (More brain stories.)