NeuroNation

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NeuroNation
languages German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, Turkish
editorial staff Rojahn Ahmadi and Jakob Futorjanski
On-line 2011
http://www.neuronation.de/

NeuroNation is an online brain training program that is available as a website and app . NeuroNation was founded in 2011 by the two programmers Rojahn Ahmadi and Jakob Futorjanski. The training was awarded by Apple as the best iPhone app of 2014 ”and by Google as the“ best app of 2015 ”. NeuroNation is reimbursed by several health insurance companies, including the Deutsche BKK . The effectiveness of the training is controversial among scientists.

history

NeuroNation was set up by Synaptikon GmbH, which was also founded in Berlin in 2008 by Rojahn Ahmadi and Jakob Futorjanski . Ahmadi and Futorjanski both studied artificial intelligence and thereby developed a keen interest in human cognitive development. The project they launched was funded by a grant from the Beuth University of Applied Sciences in Berlin and a project announcement on the crowdfunding website Seedmatch, which raised a total of 50,000 euros. The NeuroNation website was first launched in 2011 and was initially accessible in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

NeuroNation gained more than 100,000 members over the next three years. In 2014, Der Spiegel and XL Health AG acquired a company share of 25% in NeuroNation, which enabled expansion into the French, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese markets. In the same year the company grew by 1200%; a development that Futorjanski attributed mainly to word of mouth. NeuroNation was first available on Amazon Underground in 2015 .

NeuroNation has more than 10 million registered users as of 2016.

description

NeuroNation brain training was developed in cooperation with psychologists from the Free University of Berlin and the Technical University of Dortmund . NeuroNation initially offered a one-time payment model, but later switched to a subscription model, which is similar to the gym membership model. Part of the app is freely accessible to users, while some exercises can only be used via in-app purchases. Users can register in the app and create personalized training plans. The 60 exercises are designed in such a way that they adapt to the respective users and their performance levels and thus remain challenging despite the increase in performance.

The app has been available in eight languages ​​for Android and iOS since 2015 .

In 2013 NeuroNation was awarded the Leonardo Prize for digital prevention by the Federal Ministry of Health . The Deutsche BKK has recognized NeuroNation as a treatment method for stroke patients since 2014 and thus refers to some studies that show the positive effect of NeuroNation for patients with cognitive impairments. The German health insurance also reimburses the benefits of NeuroNation.

Ulman Lindenberger and Laura Carstensen consider the claim that older people can use commercial computer games to increase their general mental performance and prevent dementia as scientifically not proven. In 2014, they worked out a joint statement on this with over 70 cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists .

In 2014, the app was awarded a five-star rating by PC-Welt . The magazine Capital named NeuroNation one of the “seven best learning apps” and the Dutch magazine Computer Totaal selected NeuroNation as one of the “best Android apps for brain training”. Apple named NeuroNation one of its "Best iPhone and iPad Apps of 2014" and Google named NeuroNation one of the "Best Apps of 2015".

Unsuitable language exercises

The basis of the language exercises is not the Duden or another well-known dictionary of the German language, but a separate dictionary. The users can suggest words for this and report words as "inappropriate". Words which the company classifies as “unsuitable”, although they undoubtedly belong to the German vocabulary , are not included in the dictionary or removed, e.g. B. anal, testicles, feces, slut, racy, thoroughbred, vagina and rascal. Since corresponding "incorrect entries" by the user are rejected, which means that exercise time is wasted, the exercises cannot reliably measure knowledge of the German language.

Criticism of business conduct

In 2016 Synaptikon was convicted of unfair terms and conditions by the Berlin Regional Court (AZ15O52 / 16). The consumer advice centers have also examined Synaptikon's terms and conditions and obtained several cease and desist declarations.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Checkout pays first digital-health application . Doctors newspaper . 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ Larissa Koch: Brain Training App with distinction . InfoRadio. 2015. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  3. ^ Company Overview of Synaptikon GmbH . Bloomberg. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b c d Rojahn, Jakob & Ilya, Founders Of NeuroNation . The Asian Entrepreneur . 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  5. ↑ a b c Spiegel picks up stake in Berlin brain-training startup NeuroNation . Venture Capital Post . 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ a b Georg Rath: 1,200 percent growth with mouth-to-mouth . GrunderSzene . 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  7. ^ Roman Candido: Amazon Underground in Italy: avalanche of apps and games for free . International Business Times . 2015. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  8. ^ Brain Power and Memory Improvement Games . Increasing brain power . 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  9. ↑ NeuroNation . Bangkok Post . 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  10. ↑ Memory Training: why it is so important and you can do that . Westphalian news . 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  11. ↑ Felix Bruggeman: NeuroNation: Why Gaming can also form . Economic week . 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  12. ^ New industry: Health apps . German wave . 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  13. ↑ Senior Startups: Old but Powerful . Economic week . 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  14. ^ Two Applications to Train the Brain . La Republica . 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  15. ↑ Behind NeuroNation . NeuroNation. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  16. ^ German health insurance . Archived from the original on July 17, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  17. ↑ Brain jogging on the computer does not do what it says on the tin. Joint statement by international cognitive and neuroscientists. Press release of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development of October 21, 2014, accessed on August 18, 2020
  18. ↑ Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Stanford Center on Longevity, Consensus on the Brain Training Industry from the Scientific Community (Full Statement) , accessed on August 18, 2020
  19. ^ Train Your Brain with NeuroNation . PC world. 2014. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  20. ^ The Seven Best Apps for Learning . Capital . 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  21. ↑ Derek Walter: The Best 11 Android Apps to Train Your Brain . Computer total . 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  22. ↑ Manfred Bremmer: The best iPhone and iPad apps 2014 . ComputerWeek. 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  23. ↑ NeuroNation . Google. 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  24. ↑ Results of several word entries, most recently on December 25, 2017.
  25. ↑ Words submitted on April 29 and 30, 2020

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