What's Your IQ

EXAMPLE GAME · PLAY TO SEE YOURS

How long a tune you can hold

Your tone span is the longest melody you repeated correctly. Each bar is one attempt: filled when you got it, outlined when you slipped.

TONE SPAN6Right in the typical range of about 5 to 7 tones.

first attemptnotes in the tunelast attempt

SOUND LAB

What makes a tune easy to remember

Two things matter most: how different the notes sound, and whether the sequence falls into groups. Try both.

1 · Pitch distanceMove the second note closer to the first. Below about two semitones, the notes start to blur into one, and that's when sequences get hard.Gap between notes4 semitones

Clear: about the spacing of the pads in this game.

2 · Rhythm groupingThe same six notes, played evenly or as two groups of three. Most people find the grouped version easier to hum back, the same reason phone numbers are split into chunks.

WHAT THIS GAME TRAINS

Holding a sequence of sounds

Auditory sequence memory is how you keep a string of sounds in order long enough to repeat it, the same system you use for a melody, a spoken number or an unfamiliar word.

corestrongsomelight

coreAuditory short-term memoryHolding a run of tones after they've finished.

coreSequencingKeeping the notes in the right order.

strongPitch discriminationTelling close notes apart.

someRehearsalHumming the tune in your head while you wait.

THE SAME SKILL, ELSEWHERE

Three places this skill turns up

Each one leans on a different part of what the game trains.

Picking up tunesHumming back a melody or rhythm after hearing it once or twice.Uses auditory short-term memory

Spoken numbersHolding a number someone reads out until you can write it down.Uses sequencing

New words by earRepeating an unfamiliar name or foreign word correctly.Uses pitch discrimination

INSIDE YOUR BRAIN

The brain areas doing the work

Step through each area, or tap one below. The matching marker grows on the brain; dashed markers sit deep inside.

Side view of the brain with the four lobes shaded in different colours

Based on Gray's Anatomy, fig. 728 (public domain)

AREA 1 OF 4

1Temporal lobeside, above the ear

Handles sound, language and recognising objects and faces. Its inner part links to the hippocampus to store new memories.

ITS JOB IN THIS GAMERecognises sounds, words and familiar objectsAuditory cortex in the temporal lobe analyses each tone's pitch and keeps a brief echo of the sequence.

DID YOU KNOWA small patch on its underside, the fusiform face area, responds strongly to faces.

ALL AREAS

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE