 | |
| Company type | Franchise |
|---|---|
| Industry | Learning |
| Founded | August 2002 in Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| Founder | Ken Gibson |
| Headquarters | Colorado Springs, Colorado , United States |
| Website | Official website |
LearningRx is a franchise based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company claims to improve cognitive abilities.
The company was founded by Ken Gibson, who started the first LearningRx in August 2002 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first franchise had $250,000 in revenue in its initial four months. [1] Other LearningRx franchises were opened in 2003; 27 were started that year. [1] The company says its teaching methods are grounded in founder Ken Gibson and his brother Keith Gibson's experience. [2]
As of 2016 the company says its games are "designed by scientists to challenge core cognitive abilities;" [3] prior to that, according to the FTC, it had "deceptively claim[ed] their programs were clinically proven to permanently improve serious health conditions like ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, strokes, and concussions". [4]
Starting in January 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued other companies selling "brain training" programs or other products intended to improve cognitive function, including WordSmart Corporation, the company that makes Lumosity, and Brain Research Labs (which sold dietary supplements) for deceptive advertising. [5] Later that year the FTC also sued LearningRx in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver for similar reasons. [3]
The FTC said LearningRx made unproven assertions in its marketing materials that clinical trials had demonstrated LearningRx helped increase people's IQ and income and mitigated clients' medical issues. [6] In its lawsuit, the FTC said LearningRx had been "deceptively claim[ing] their programs were clinically proven to permanently improve serious health conditions like ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, strokes, and concussions". [4] LearningRx had made these claims on its website, Facebook, Twitter, advertising mail, as well as in advertisements in newspapers and on radio. [7]
In 2016, LearningRx settled with the FTC by agreeing not to make the disputed assertions unless they had "competent and reliable scientific evidence" which was defined as randomized controlled trials done by competent scientists. For the judgment's monetary component, LearningRx agreed to pay $200,000 of a $4 million settlement. [6]
The "brain training" field has been controversial in the scientific community; in 2014 a group of 75 scientists put out a statement saying that most claims made by companies in the field were pseudoscience, which was countered several months later by an industry-organized group of scientists who said that there was evidence for their effectiveness. [3]
In 2012 Douglas K. Detterman of the Case Western Reserve University said that the program's exercises help improve skills in tests conducted by the institution itself but not improvement on skills in general and that the studies conducted by commercial services that support their claims of benefits are poorly done. [8]
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by executive dysfunction occasioning symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inappropriate.
Rehabilitation of sensory and cognitive function typically involves methods for retraining neural pathways or training new neural pathways to regain or improve neurocognitive functioning that have been diminished by disease or trauma. The main objective outcome for rehabilitation is to assist in regaining physical abilities and improving performance. Three common neuropsychological problems treatable with rehabilitation are attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), concussion, and spinal cord injury. Rehabilitation research and practices are a fertile area for clinical neuropsychologists, rehabilitation psychologists, and others.
Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Disorders of Psychological Development" in the ICD-10. These disorders comprise developmental language disorder, learning disorders, motor disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. In broader definitions ADHD is included, and the term used is neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet others include antisocial behavior and schizophrenia that begins in childhood and continues through life. However, these two latter conditions are not as stable as the other developmental disorders, and there is not the same evidence of a shared genetic liability.
Nootropics are natural, semisynthetic or synthetic compounds which purportedly improve cognitive functions, such as executive functions, attention or memory.
Donepezil, sold under the brand name Aricept among others, is a medication used to treat dementia of the Alzheimer's type. It appears to result in a small benefit in mental function and ability to function. Use, however, has not been shown to change the progression of the disease. Treatment should be stopped if no benefit is seen. It is taken by mouth or via a transdermal patch.
Fasoracetam is a research chemical of the racetam family. It is a putative nootropic that failed to show sufficient efficacy in clinical trials for vascular dementia. It is currently being studied for its potential use for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Cognitive disorders (CDs), also known as neurocognitive disorders (NCDs), are a category of mental health disorders that primarily affect cognitive abilities including learning, memory, perception, and problem-solving. Neurocognitive disorders include delirium, mild neurocognitive disorders, and major neurocognitive disorder. They are defined by deficits in cognitive ability that are acquired, typically represent decline, and may have an underlying brain pathology. The DSM-5 defines six key domains of cognitive function: executive function, learning and memory, perceptual-motor function, language, complex attention, and social cognition.
Vinpocetine is a synthetic derivative of the vinca alkaloid vincamine, differing by the removal of a hydroxyl group. Vincamine is extracted from either the seeds of Voacanga africana or the leaves of Vinca minor.
Brain training is a program of regular activities purported to maintain or improve one's cognitive abilities. The phrase “cognitive ability” usually refers to components of fluid intelligence such as executive function and working memory. Cognitive training reflects a hypothesis that cognitive abilities can be maintained or improved by exercising the brain, analogous to the way physical fitness is improved by exercising the body. Cognitive training activities can take place in numerous modalities such as cardiovascular fitness training, playing online games or completing cognitive tasks in alignment with a training regimen, playing video games that require visuospatial reasoning, and engaging in novel activities such as dance, art, and music.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder management options are evidence-based practices with established treatment efficacy for ADHD.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a neurocognitive disorder which involves cognitive impairments beyond those expected based on an individual's age and education but which are not significant enough to interfere with instrumental activities of daily living. MCI may occur as a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease. It includes both memory and non-memory impairments. The cause of the disorder remains unclear, as well as both its prevention and treatment, with some 50 percent of people diagnosed with it going on to develop Alzheimer's disease within five years. The diagnosis can also serve as an early indicator for other types of dementia, although MCI may remain stable or even remit.
Central nervous system diseases or central nervous system disorders are a group of neurological disorders that affect the structure or function of the brain or spinal cord, which collectively form the central nervous system (CNS). These disorders may be caused by such things as infection, injury, blood clots, age related degeneration, cancer, autoimmune disfunction, and birth defects. The symptoms vary widely, as do the treatments.
Ispronicline is an experimental drug which acts as a partial agonist at neural nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. It progressed to phase II clinical trials for the treatment of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, but is no longer under development.
In psychology and neuroscience, executive dysfunction, or executive function deficit, is a disruption to the efficacy of the executive functions, which is a group of cognitive processes that regulate, control, and manage other cognitive processes. Executive dysfunction can refer to both neurocognitive deficits and behavioural symptoms. It is implicated in numerous psychopathologies and mental disorders, as well as short-term and long-term changes in non-clinical executive control. Executive dysfunction is the mechanism underlying ADHD Paralysis, and in a broader context, it can encompass other cognitive difficulties like planning, organizing, initiating tasks and regulating emotions. It is a core characteristic of ADHD and can elucidate numerous other recognized symptoms.
The Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas' school of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, is a research institute focused exclusively on brain health that combines brain research with clinical interventions. Founded by Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman in 1999, the Center for BrainHealth houses 125 researchers, postdoctoral research fellows, doctoral students, master's students, and research clinicians who work on 60 privately and federally funded research projects. The Center provides academic training and houses specialists in, among many others, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury (TBI), healthy brain aging, multiple sclerosis, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stroke, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To help raise awareness of and funding for research underway at the Center for BrainHealth, a number of proponent groups have formed. These include the Think Ahead Group (TAG) of young professionals and Friends of BrainHealth.
Cogmed is a cognitive training software program created in the lab of Torkel Klingberg, a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute. Dr. Klingberg was using it to present working memory challenges to people while he studied their brains using fMRI, to try to learn about neuroplasticity. When the studies appeared to show that the challenges improved working memory, Klingberg founded Cogmed in 2001, with financial backing from the Karolinska Institute and venture capitalists.
Clinical neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience that focuses on the scientific study of fundamental mechanisms that underlie diseases and disorders of the brain and central nervous system. It seeks to develop new ways of conceptualizing and diagnosing such disorders and ultimately of developing novel treatments.
Lumosity is an online program consisting of games claiming to improve memory, attention, flexibility, speed of processing, and problem solving.
Katya Rubia is a professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, both part of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.
Posit Science Corporation is an American company providing brain training software and services.
