Sending a message
GOHit send on a routine reply.STOPPause on the angry one you’ll regret.
YOUR SCORECARD
Every shape ends one of four ways
Hits and correct stops are wins. The box to watch is false alarms, tapping when you should have held. That's your brake failing. The grid fills in as you play.
You tappedYou held✕
0
Hit
Green and you tapped0
Miss
Green but too slow0
False alarm
Red and you tapped0
Correct stop
Red and you heldYour round, tap by tap
Each mark is one shape. Taller bars mean slower taps. Watch what happens just before a red slip, people often speed up right before they fail to stop.
Play a round above and your taps appear here
HitMissStop heldFalse alarm
80% of shapes are green
Urge to tap
WHY IT'S HARD
Habit builds momentum
The more often you tap, the more your hand expects to tap again. That's why the game makes red rare. Slide to see how the habit grows as green takes over.
Everyday no-go moments
Crossing the road
GOStep out when the light turns.STOPFreeze when a bike appears from nowhere.
Snacking
GOGrab a glass of water.STOPWalk past the biscuit tin.
Conversation
GOShare your point.STOPHold it while someone else finishes theirs.
INSIDE YOUR BRAIN
The brain's brake pedal
Stopping isn't just not-going. A dedicated circuit, strongest on the right side of the brain, actively slams the brakes on a movement that's already on its way.
1
Based on Gray's Anatomy, fig. 728 (public domain)
1
Detect
Inferior frontal gyrus
Spots the red cross and sends the “stop” signal. On the right side of the brain, it’s the area most tied to stopping.
2
Hold
Pre-motor areas
Just in front of the motor strip, these areas hold the prepared tap in check before it reaches your finger.
3
Brake
Deep brake circuit
A pathway through deep structures near the thalamus cuts the movement off, fast.
The map shows one side of the brain; the stopping circuit is strongest on the right.
1868
Franciscus Donders, Utrecht
The first timed test of a decision
Dutch physiologist Franciscus Donders measured how much longer people took when they had to respond to one signal but not another. The extra milliseconds, he argued, were the time it takes to decide: one of the first attempts to time a thought.
SourcesDonders, F. C. (1868/1969). On the speed of mental processes. Acta Psychologica, 30, 412–431.Aron, A. R., Robbins, T. W. & Poldrack, R. A. (2014). Inhibition and the right inferior frontal cortex: one decade on. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18, 177–185.Simmonds, D. J., Pekar, J. J. & Mostofsky, S. H. (2008). Meta-analysis of Go/No-go tasks. Neuropsychologia, 46, 224–232.
WHAT THIS GAME TRAINS
Knowing when not to press
Respond fast to most signals, and hold back on the rare one. It's the simplest test of response inhibition: stopping a habit before it happens.
corestrongsomelight
coreResponse inhibitionWithholding a press on no-go trials.
strongSustained attentionStaying alert for the rare stop signal.
strongResponse speedPressing quickly on go trials.
someError monitoringNoticing slips and slowing down afterwards.
Keep training self-control
All 40 games →● → ✋
Start tapping, then cancel when the arrow turns red.
After Go / No-GoHarder brake: you stop a tap already in motion, not just one you’re ready to make.
Play Stop Signal →→→←→→
Answer the middle arrow, ignore its neighbours.
After Go / No-GoControls what you look at instead of what you do.
Play Flanker →RED
Name the ink, not the word.
After Go / No-GoHolds back a habit of reading rather than a habit of tapping.
Play Stroop →▲ ● ▲
Sort by colour, then by shape.
After Go / No-GoAsks you to drop one rule and pick up another on the fly.
Play Task Switching →