Fun Games to Improve the Brain
While it is an excellent idea to keep the body limber, exercising the brain may prove important as well. A New England Journal of Medicine study reports lower incidents of dementia among senior citizens who regularly challenge their brains with mentally stimulating activities such as puzzles and games over a 20-year period. Take advantage of your mind's ability to continually "rewire" itself and start a regular practice of playing games to improve the health of your brain.
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Language Games
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Games that train your brain to recognize, understand and remember words are a fun way to exercise and expand fluency and vocabulary. Sharpening your verbal skills will improve your ability to communicate in everyday life, as well as assimilate new information. Crossword and word search puzzles are brain boosting language games.
Memory Games
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If you constantly struggle with forgetting important names and dates, play brain improvement games that give you practice retaining information in your working, short-term and long-term memories. Card games are excellent for testing and flexing memory power, since players benefit from remembering which cards are being held and which cards have been played. "Go Fish" is a simple two-to-four-player card game that can help. "Memory," which can be played solo, will also challenge your recall abilities. Lay a few cards out on a table face up and study them. Turn them face down, but leave them in the same positions. See if you can remember where each card is located before turning them face up again.
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Concentration Games
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You must have a powerful ability to pay attention and focus on critical details to absorb, process and memorize new information. Brain exercises requiring concentration can help to make focusing on everyday tasks easier. Play "spot the difference" games that force your brain to notice -- and focus on -- small details. In this type of game, players are presented with two drawings or photographs that appear identical at first glance, but closer inspection reveals minor differences. Magazines often feature such games and you can find online versions as well.
Cognitive Games
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The brain functions involved in logic, strategy, problem solving and reasoning can benefit from exercise, too. These types of brain functions help you recognize errors, adapt to new situations and make decisions. Engage in some brain training that hones these functions, such as playing math and number games or solving riddles. If you're looking for online games that sharpen these skills, choose those that fall under the "logic" category.
Visual-Spatial Games
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Every minute of the day, your brain processes what you see and helps you navigate the three-dimensional world around you. Exercising these skills with visually and spatially oriented games sharpens your ability to stay in tune with your surroundings and interpret them accurately. Assembling a jigsaw puzzle or navigating through a maze are both excellent ways to give this mental skill a workout.
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- Photo Credit Sudoku image by Claude Wangen from Fotolia.com
