r/DualnBack

Hi everyone,

I started dual n-back 5 months ago, and I do it regularly (3-4 times a week). The thing is, I can't seem to understand how to improve my auditory memory.

I've started with the rehearsal method and while it was working and I could sometimes reach dual 4-back, I still felt stuck with no benefits in real life. So I used the intuitive method and couldn't seem to be consistent on dual 3-back, while my position is always between 80% and 100% accuracy, the audio stimulus averages 30% to 40%.

For those who had a really bad auditory memory and were able to improve it, what would you recommend to me?

Thanks in advance, my fellow Nbackers.

Hello everyone. Starting from today, I'm determined to follow this schedule. The goal is to increase/maximize g.

Cognitive training:

• Quad N-Back (30 minutes, every second day), https://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/
• Syllogimous v4 (30 minutes, 5-6 times a week), https://4skinskywalker.github.io/Syllogimous-v4/Intro

Additional factors:

• Reading (primarily philosophy and classical literature)
• Learning a new language.
• Spend less time on passive social media consumption.
• Vitamins: B6, B9, B12 and Omega-3.

I did take two (quite reliable) IQ tests, one year ago.

CORE, https://cognitivemetrics.com/test/CORE

• Information: 120
• Matrix Reasoning: 110
• Graph Mapping: 105
• Figure Weights: 110
• Figure Sets: 95
• Visuzal Puzzles: 115
• Block Counting: 120
• Symbol Search: 90
• Character Pairing: 95

Didn't take any other verbal subtests besides general knowledge, since English is not my mother tongue. Same reason for Digit Span and Arithmetic, I simply memorize and calculate faster, if the task is presented in my native language. Though I took CAIT Digit Span a long time ago (there is an option for a language change), and I scored something like ~105-110 overall, with Digit Sequencing being the lowest and Digit Backwards the highest.

FSAS (103), https://cognitivemetrics.com/test/FSAS

• Analogies: 105
• Matrix Reasoning: 100

After a year of training, I will go through CORE and FSAS again, in order to get an objective view of my cognitive abilities. Practice effects should be minimal anyway. I will likely continue for several more years, adding Image Streaming, or further changing my lifestyle.

Welcome to this week's progress thread. Post in a comment below the results of your hard work! Feel free to share:

• Your current n-back level and any recent improvements
• How long you've been training
• What's been working (or not working) for you

I've started doing dual-n-back training about 2 weeks ago, anywhere from 5 to 20 sessions a day. I'd say I was climbing the levels at a pretty good pace, since I've started struggling with 2 and now I'm testing the waters at 6. However, I'm unsure if I'm ready to transition to 6, and my performance on lvl 5 seems very unstable. Sometimes I hit 80%+ 5 times in a row, with some of the rounds being 90%, 95% or even 97%. But then my brain just stops cooperating and the next 3 games are like 54% average. I was thinking maybe I'm just exhausting it, but at other times I might have very variable results without a high prior streak, like getting an 84% round, followed by 60% then 51%, then 79% then 82%, then 55% again.

So in short, it's just all over the place and that really frustrates me and makes it difficult to assess what's my true level and whether I'm getting lucky or actually improving. Is there perhaps anything like a short protocol, like a 30 second breathing pattern or any perception shift exercise that could reload my brain for the next round?

I’ve seen a lot of people in this community say that they “felt” like they started thinking more clearly, got better at conversations, and other subjective things like that.

But is there anyone here who actually measured their working memory before and after N-back, just not with IQ tests, and noticed improvements that were bigger than normal measurement error? Or maybe the opposite, no improvement at all except in N-back itself.

I’d really appreciate it if anyone could share their experience.

Which one is better for improving fluid intelligence