Information and education only. This article does not replace personalized medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare professional about your situation, and never delay seeking care because of something you read here. Read our full disclaimer.
Lumosity offers games aimed at skills such as memory, attention, and problem solving. You may enjoy the challenge and improve at the games you practice. That is different from proving that a subscription will improve everyday functioning or prevent dementia.
For readers over 40, the useful question is what you want from the activity. Entertainment, practice on a game, and treatment of a health concern are different goals.
Before paying for a subscription
Check the current price, what is included, automatic-renewal terms, and how cancellation works. Decide whether you enjoy the activities enough to use them at that cost. Avoid judging value on a promise of medical benefit that has not been established.
If you try it, set a modest time and spending limit. Ask whether you enjoy the experience and whether the paid features are useful. A rising game score alone does not show that your overall cognitive health has improved.
What the evidence shows
When reading a brain-training study, check who participated, what training they received, what the comparison group did, and which outcomes were measured. Evidence for one training method or population cannot automatically be transferred to another.
Game improvement and broader benefits
In a 2017 randomized trial, 128 healthy young adults completed ten weeks of Lumosity training or comparison video games. Participants improved on practiced tasks, but the researchers did not find additional benefits from Lumosity on the broader measures they tested. This trial does not answer every question about older adults or other training programs.
The important distinction is between getting better at an activity and demonstrating improvement outside that activity. For a claim about daily functioning or disease prevention, look for a study that actually measures that outcome.
Lumosity also summarizes its own study, which reported greater improvements on certain assessments than a crossword comparison group. The company notes that the connection with everyday tasks needs further research and identifies substantial participant dropout as a limitation. Read both positive results and their limits before drawing a broad conclusion.
Why the FTC action matters
In its 2016 settlement announcement, the Federal Trade Commission said Lumos Labs agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations involving unsupported advertising claims, including claims about everyday performance and age-related cognitive decline. That historical action is a reason to examine the evidence behind a claim; it is not a finding that every game or every type of cognitive training is useless.
A practical decision for readers over 40
Treat Lumosity as an optional activity you may enjoy. Compare it with other activities you find engaging, and choose based on interest, accessibility, and cost rather than fear about aging.
Questions worth asking
Is the claimed benefit an improvement in game scores, a measured daily-life outcome, or a medical result? Were people like the intended users included? Was there a meaningful comparison group? Who funded the study? Does the conclusion match the advertisement?
When the concern is memory itself
If memory or thinking changes are affecting daily life or worrying you, discuss them with a healthcare professional. A game score cannot identify the cause, and a subscription should not postpone an assessment.
For help checking similar claims, read our guide to evaluating AI health advice.
AI assistance: AI helped draft and revise this guide. No independent human review of this guide or product test by AI Over 40 is documented. Use the linked sources to check the claims and read our review methods and limits.
Updated September 16, 2026.
