Alain Lieury thinks that Brain Age is a fine game. But the professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Rennes, Brittany, France believes that "...it is charlatanism to claim that it is a scientific test." According to an article on Times Online, Lieury conducted a survey among ten year-old children and claims to have found nothing that proves any of Nintendo's widely-trumpeted claims that playing the likes of Brain Age and Big Brain Academy can stimulate blood flow to the brain.
According to the article, Lieury says that children are better off doing homework, reading, playing Sudoku, or watching documentaries than playing Nintendo's brain games. Although the article seems to emphasize the effects (or lack thereof) on children, it seems that Lieury's study also tested 67 year-olds. The article quotes him as saying, "That's the age where you have the best chance of improvement. If it doesn't work on children, it won't work on adults." The study split children into four groups: those with DS systems, those who did tests with pencils and paper, and a control group who attended classes as usual. The groups were tested before and after the programs, and according to the study, any improvements from the DS group were either matched or exceeded by those using pencils and paper.
The article ends with a quote from Lieury's upcoming book "Stimulate Your Neurons" that says, "There were few positive effects and they were weak. Dr Kawashima is one of a long list of dream merchants."