Brain Games Boost Mental Fitness

Over the last couple of decades, researchers have found brain-training games may help improve attention levels, logic skills, and memory as well as enhance cognitive function in healthy subjects. Shaheen Lakhan, MD. Ph.D. FAAN, a physician-scientist and clinical development specialist and founding neurology department chair and curricular dean at California University of Science and Medicine writes the following: “The brain is just like a muscle – it thrives on exercise! As a neurologist, I’m thrilled by the incredible potential of brain games to help people flex their mental muscles, activating underused brain circuits to sharpen cognition and skills like focus, speed, and memory.”

Experts say effective brain games include Sudoku and crossword puzzles. With crossword puzzles, cognitive skills used include recollecting past verbal knowledge and memories. Sudoku relies on short-term memory, which is often one the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease, and requires the player to look ahead to plan out subsequent moves.

Android and iOS offer apps for brain games that are either free, include in-app purchases or require a subscription to open more games. One game is Elevate that centers on reading, writing, speaking and math; and allows you to customize training on areas you wish to focus on. Another game, Luminosity, was involved in a study that showed people who played the games for “15 minutes a day at least seven days a week for three weeks experienced improved attention and motor speed.” 

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Source: verywellmind.com/top-websites-and-games-for-brain-exercise-2224140