Developed by the Gillan Lab, Trinity College Dublin
Taking research out of the lab and into your smartphone.
Download. Play. Learn.
Neureka is a free app from researchers at Trinity College Dublin that turns fun brain games and short questionnaires into real neuroscience data. Play on your phone for a few minutes a week and help us understand, detect, and ultimately prevent disorders of the mind, from depression to dementia.
Download Neureka for free today to participate!
Every session you complete adds to a growing global dataset that lets scientists study brain health at a scale that traditional in clinic tests and brain scans cannot match.
One app. Thousands of citizens. Millions of data points.
Real-science, powered by real-people.
With Neureka, you become a citizen scientist: by playing enjoyable, validated brain games and answering brief questions about your mood, habits and health, you directly support cutting‑edge research on dementia and mental health. Your data is encrypted, and combined with thousands of others to reveal early warning signs and modifiable risk factors that could change how we prevent and treat disorders of the mind worldwide.
What's involved?
Become a Citizen Scientist
Join over 30,000 people world wide participating in the Neureka Project. Play simple, science‑based brain games and complete check‑ins about how you feel that turn your everyday moments into meaningful data for brain‑health research.
Why it matters
How your contribution helps
Each time you take part, your data is encrypted, pseudo-anonymised and combined with thousands of others to strengthen studies on dementia, depression, habits, and many more, helping researchers detect problems earlier and design better ways to prevent them.
What it's about
Explore and Learn About Brain Health
Dip into focused "Science Challenges" on areas like memory, mood, risk factors and lifestyle, and discover what researchers are learning from people like you - how everyday habits, feelings and experiences are linked to long‑term brain health, and where small changes might make a real difference.
Download. Play. Learn.
What to expect in the Neureka app
Taking part in Neureka is designed to fit around real life. Once you download the app, you’ll be invited to join short science challenges that feel more like game play or a wellbeing app than taking part in a lab based study.
Gamified brain tasks you'll enjoy
In the Neureka app, you'll find a collection of quick, engaging games that are actually scientific tasks adapted for mobile fun. Cannon Blast challenges you to aim cannons at moving targets while the rules suddenly change, helping us uncover how people navigate the world and adapt on the fly. Memory Match is the classic card-pairing game that tests your memory strength as it gets harder. Star Racer is a space-themed challenge where you connect numbered checkpoints in sequence to test how fast you switch attention. While Meta Mind asks you to spot tiny differences in dot patterns and rate your confidence, assessing both perception and cognition, all while learning facts about brain health. CogQuest drops falling cogs that force split-second dodge decisions on which button to press, helping researchers reveal how your brain battles habits versus careful thinking. Each feels like a mobile game you'd play anyway, but together they give researchers clear snapshots of how different brain skills work in real life.
Track your mood, habits, and experiences over time!
Sign-up for the 'Multi-Mood' or 'Pattern Wise' challenges where you will receive gentle reminders for quick check-ins about how you're feeling, and your daily habits. These take just seconds using simple sliders or taps - no long forms! By pairing these real-time snapshots with your game performance, researchers uncover how your everyday changes in mood, routines, and mental experiences connect to bigger patterns in brain health over time.
Smartphone sensor data, explained simply
Alongside the things you actively do in the app, Neureka can also collect some information in the background from your phone, with your permission. This might include signals that give a rough sense of how active you are, how regularly you use your phone, or roughly what time you tend to go to sleep and wake up.
We don’t see your messages, photos or the content of what you do on your phone. Instead, we use these high‑level patterns to understand how everyday routines connect to brain health, without asking you to fill in long diaries.
The Mission
Why Neureka?
Many brain disorders develop slowly and silently over years, long before symptoms are obvious enough to reach a clinic. By gathering brief snapshots of memory, mood and behaviour from thousands of people in everyday life, Neureka helps researchers detect early warning signs and risk factors that traditional lab tests and one‑off appointments often miss.
30,000+ Citizen Scientists Globally
Available in English & Spanish
Led by Real Researchers at Trinity College Dublin
FAQs
Curious about Neureka, how it works, or what you'll actually do in the app? Find quick answers here about getting started, your time commitment, data privacy, and how your participation helps real brain health research.