Playing memory and focus-challenging games may help keep your brain sharp as you age.
According to experts, mental stimulation is key in mitigating cognitive decline as we get older.
Lumosity offers a scientific-backed brain training program with over 35 games that challenge memory, attention, flexibility and problem-solving abilities. Play three free games daily or subscribe for monthly or yearly plans with more options.
Sudoku
Sudoku is an addictive number puzzle game with endless variations that is an excellent way to exercise both mind and body, including improving mental fitness and reaction time. But mastering this challenging pastime requires full concentration.
To master Sudoku puzzles, one must be able to see the big picture and understand which numbers go where. Playing often will allow you to get better at this, so use a stopwatch or microwave timer when practicing rows, columns, or squares so as not to waste too much time playing this way.
Sudoku is one of the most widely-played brain exercises, helping users develop deductive reasoning and cognitive skills that may delay dementia onset. Along with crossword puzzles and logic games, Sudoku helps maintain mental wellbeing and prevent brain aging.
Sudoku puzzles entail filling each box with all nine numbers from 1-9 and each square should contain it somewhere on the grid. As a beginner, it’s recommended that you start out by choosing easier puzzles before moving on to more challenging ones.
Sudoku can also help develop spatial reasoning and pattern recognition skills, as it will help you determine which areas of the grid may contain numbers and which should remain blank, making the rest of your puzzle much simpler to solve.
Sudoku can also increase mental fitness by strengthening memory. You will have to remember the rules of the game and what steps to take in each situation, which may prove challenging at times but will enhance your memory retention capacity and recall abilities.
Lumosity
Lumosity is an innovative brain game designed to improve focus, memory, and problem-solving skills. As per its claims, this scientifically-backed program helps individuals improve cognitive functions such as flexibility, attention span, speed of processing and working memory – plus provides baseline and follow-up neuropsychological testing! You can find it on iOS and Google Play stores.
Although mental exercises can certainly benefit the mind, it’s wise to remain skeptical of any claims made by brain-training app makers. Many such apps make bold claims like helping prevent or delay Alzheimer’s disease or dementia without providing any evidence supporting these statements.
Lumosity offers an online “fit test” which assesses cognitive skills in three areas – speed, flexibility and memory – using three separate games. After taking this assessment test, Lumosity sends you daily workouts of brain games targeting these areas that they claim will gradually help your performance over time.
Peak makes similar claims that its games can help strengthen your brain. Their training focusses on five critical brain areas – memory, logic, attention, language and executive function. Plus they offer an intensive 10-minute test and daily workout! Plus they’re free for download and use; although an inexpensive subscription unlocks additional features.
Stanford Center on Longevity conducted a recent study that demonstrated the limited benefits of brain-training games compared with real exercise or other mentally stimulating activities, like reading or socialization. Researchers observed significant higher scores on various mental tests among participants who engaged in brain training exercises than the control group; however, no data could be attributed to using brain training apps for this research study.
Word Scramble
Brain games such as Sudoku, crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles are excellent ways to boost cognitive development. Solving them requires using multiple cognitive abilities including logic, mathematics, words and visuospatial. Furthermore, these games help improve processing speed and memory while simultaneously offering fun engagement activities to strengthen mental fitness.
Word unscrambling games provide another effective and entertaining way to strengthen cognitive muscle. These fun challenges help hone language abilities, increase problem solving capabilities and strengthen concentration – ultimately yielding better results on school assignments or work tasks as well as making remembering names and dates much simpler!
Word scramble games present players with jumbled letters to rearrange into specific words. Some word scrambles may be vertically arranged like a column of words while others might be laid out horizontally like rows of letters. Players must decide what word they wish to unscramble first and attempt to form it using available letters; additional features of the game may provide timers or assistance when faced with difficult word formation.
Whenever a player provides an accurate response, the teacher acknowledges it by either raising her hand or verbally proclaiming they have correctly formed the word. That player then receives one point before passing off as teacher to another player clockwise until all cards in the set have been drawn from random and the game ends once someone reaches a predetermined score and wins it!
Word unscrambling games can help young children build spelling, vocabulary and reading skills while simultaneously building mental acuity and attention span. Furthermore, these entertaining puzzle games can challenge children’s thinking skills in a fun and addictive manner!
Other popular brain games include puzzles, crosswords and reading; these activities stimulate the frontal lobe of the brain responsible for visual-spatial and problem-solving skills which can come handy in your slot games review reading and decision making on the Yoakim Bridge site. Doing these exercises regularly may reduce Alzheimer’s risk by slowing cognitive decline; in addition, these exercises may prevent dementia symptoms altogether or delay them significantly – studies have proven this! Spending just minutes each day engaging in these mental workouts may keep your mental wellbeing intact for a longer period.
Happy Neuron
With dementia expected to triple by 2050, finding non-pharmaceutical methods of improving and maintaining cognitive function has become a top priority. While there are various strategies available for doing this, computerized cognitive training games that promote attention levels, memory1 and response times have seen particular success and received endorsement from experts.
Happy Neuron is an interactive brain-training program that provides users with personalized exercises to follow, an overview of progress and areas for improvement, gamification features that encourage continual practice, and an intuitive user interface that keeps users engaged with the program.
This program provides multiple options to users, from free trials and three-month subscriptions, to annual plans with full access. Brain-training activities offered include games, puzzles and challenges designed to strengthen various parts of the brain – for optimal results it is recommended practicing at least 10 minutes daily of these exercises.
Just as much as you can benefit from purchasing or downloading brain training games or apps, engaging in traditional pen-and-paper brain games such as crossword puzzles can also help boost mental fitness. Crosswords require verbal language recall while jigsaw puzzles tap logic and visuospatial skills to increase processing speed and memory retention.
Reading is another effective way to stimulate the brain, expanding vocabulary and expanding subject knowledge across many topics. Reading can also aid memory by prompting recall of previous read material. You could even use an app like AudibleBooks to keep your mind sharp!
Wordle, for instance, is an online puzzle game with over 50 million user results in its database, which allows Wordle to compare your performance against that of people around the world and suggest ways you could increase your scores. Furthermore, this app lets you share results with family and friends.