Lumosity hit with $2 million fine over 'brain training' ads

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Under a $2 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Lumos Labs, the company behind Lumosity and its "brain training" games, will make redress payments to customers and make it easier for them to cancel auto-renewal of the service.

In a statement released Tuesday, Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said Lumosity "preyed on consumers' fears about age-related cognitive decline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer's disease. But Lumosity simply did not have the science to back up its ads."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.