Mindflex Game

If you know the premise of the toy, skip to the second paragraph. This toy takes a measure of brain activity in the left frontal lobe and, based on the amount of activity there, sends power to a fan (high power when high; low or off when low). This raises a foam ball in the air and a dial can be turned with the hands to move the ball through an obstacle course that arrange with detachable pieces.I read the other reviews. They make some good points. This toy could get boring fast. The headset does get uncomfortable after about 10 minutes. The guy who said that all it does is measure stress is way off-base. He is right that the ear clips are used to complete a circuit, but that is not all this toy does. After playing it for awhile, I can say it responds negatively to stress (i.e., the ball lowers and the fan turns off). I'm basing that off of the fact the fan tended to turn off when I would get worried about it turning off. If it was responding to stress, the power should have increased.So why am I recommending this toy? Because studies have shown that if you can increase frontal lobe activity through exercises like this, you can increase objective measures of concentration (e.g., amount of time engaged with a task) and decrease measures of impulsivity. And not just for the task where the skill was trained. So a child who got adept at playing this game should also pay better attention in school, likely increase their reading comprehension, do better on homework, etc.My recommendation is that, if this is something that is interesting to you, you buy this toy for your child and that you play it with them. Set performance goals with them and give them some sort of reward for meeting and exceeding those goals. Start small. At first, get a stopwatch and see how long they can keep the ball in the air. After that, see if they can start to raise and lower the ball a couple of times, then see how many times they can pass it through one of the hoops. And take data the whole time. Chart their data in some way so they can see the progress they are making.But get this toy!!! In labs where they do this sort of therapy, children with ADHD have shown serious improvement in functioning. Some kids are able to get off meds altogether.If you want to do a little extra research before purchasing, go to wikipedia and search neurofeedback. There's a good synopsis there with links to some peer-reviewed research at the bottom.Scott Herbst, Ph.D. (in behavioral psychology)

This actually works. You might think it's a gimmick but when I closed my eyes and didn't concentrate the game turned off. But YOU have to really concentrate that's the hard part. UMM I working on it. Maybe somebody smarter will do better. But I'm still working on it! Says select an age suitable depends you may have a kid who's a genius.

I hoped it would be beneficial to improve my train of thought... My ability to stay focused since I'm ADHD. I tried different techniques to keep the floating ball at full height, then none, then at intermediate levels on multiple occasions. To stay focused, I would try doing basic math problems in my mind and repeat the process over several days. In addition, I would try relaxation techniques and repeat specific phrases. The results were always mixed with no consistency. The fan would speed up and slow down during the same thought process. It was slow to build up speed. Many times, the floating ball would simply blow off the unit and onto the floor. There were no drafts in the room during the tests. I soon became bored with it. I would like to see videos of the creators using their own products because the obstacle course is unrealistically difficult. I can't imagine a spiritual monk who has complete control over their mind completing this course.My Muse headset instrument, which develops focus through biofeedback training, is much more helpful and effective in training the mind to focus and remain relaxed. The feedback is immediate, with no lag like the slow fan build-up of the other product. And the results remain constant as gradual improvement is recorded automatically on the built-in charting system that registers on my phone.Overall, I would not recommend this product and steer everyone to the Muse headset.

The mindflex game does as advertised. For me the trickiest part is getting ball to float low for more then a couple moments, getting it to go high is easier for me. I think its a wonderful recreational toy and useful for helping develope concentration and stages of that which one controls moment to moment. The variety of obstacle courses and how one goes thru them keeps the game from becoming dull. Its well made with very durable plastic. Battery life seems very good so far, still on the first set for base unti and headset. At first I was little dissapointed on it not haveing a ac adapter option for base unit. Id reccomend this toy to any kid or adult who likes doing mental excercises or whod benefit from such. Very fun toy that also helps one learn when one is actually concentrating as opposed to just thinking one is. Lol.

I was skeptical about how well the game would work but I was pleasantly surprised. With some practice I was able to control the hieght of the ball and move it through parts of the obstacle course. It took some practice for my daughter but she was able to control the height of the ball as well. She likes to use it during tv commercials so she has something to do until her show returns. The modular obstacles make it easy to make courses of varying deifficulty. It will be fun during the holidays when the whole family can try it.