The games focus on improving brainpower-factors such as memory, attentiveness and processing speed. The Lumosity site tracks your progress, aggregating scores over time and providing analysis.

So far, the company hasn't seen a lot of use by businesses, but there are scattered examples. Traders at a Chicago investment firm were using it before they hit the floor each morning, and Lumosity has also made some deals with schools, which are using the software as a supplement to traditional curricula, according to Scanlon.

The site's user base is mostly between 20 and 40 years old and has "a lot of education," Scanlon said. "People already feel like they're pretty smart, but want to get better. They may not necessarily be getting dumber."

Was that a sidelong reference to me? I thought things were going pretty well: After a few more games, I had pulled together an overall score -- or "brain performance index" -- of about 850.

This is "above average," and scores will tend to increase over time as users continue playing, Scanlon said, inadvertently revealing the businessman behind the scientist.

That's because Lumosity offers a free trial, but it's only good for seven days; just enough time, perhaps, to neuroplasticize a few dead synapses but not to add more than a couple of IQ points.

But to be fair, Scanlon never brought up the question of making money off of Lumosity, except to speak confidently about the future. "I think we have a growing audience as opposed to a shrinking one," he said. "The combination of doing something fun and engaging and also good for you is compelling."

From my 49-year-old editor's point of view, Lumosity would be especially compelling if using it would lead to, say, an improved ability to write great endings to news stories and, specifically, this column. That's a good idea, but right now all I can think about is that she has 14 more years of eroded brain capacity than I have. It's time to play some more games.