The newest trends are to go online to participate or watch TV shows that will help keep your memory sharp. This may include words, puzzles, shapes and color solvers, and problem-solving conundrums.
You can have fun working your memory, and problem-solving can improve language and analytic skills, in one quick shot.
Websites offer a plethora of free games, including Mahjongg Dimensions, Ice Cream Blast and Tri Peaks Solitaire. Some are for pure fun, and many can offer mental health benefits.
The Science
Neuroscientists are in the game and speak about possible benefits.
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change itself by remodeling nerve cell connections after experiences, according to Scientific America. That means any aid to improve your memory can improve your mental health.
“A multicenter clinical trial of a commercial brain fitness program makes a case for why we should take brain games more seriously,” said neuroscientist Murali Doraiswamy, along with co-colleague Marc E. Agronin. They reported their findings in Scientific American. Scientific American is noted as the most popular science publication in the country. (Funky Fact: Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein, have contributed articles in the past 168 years. It is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States.)
Where to Go for Games
Besides AARP, there are a lot of Internet offerings out there, some free, some for a charge.
Lumosity is a leader in online brain training. This neuroscience research company is based in San Francisco. Lumosity offers a brain training program consisting of more than 40 games in the areas of memory, attention, flexibility, processing speed and problem-solving.
“Lumosity itself has grown by 150 percent year-on-year since its launch in 2005 and now reaches more than 35 million people worldwide,” said Elizabeth Day of The Guardian. “They are big business.”
Games are available in numerous languages, including English, Spanish and German.
Other popular sites are Jungle Memory, Nintendo and CogniFit, developing a wide range of user-friendly neuroscientific puzzles.
Most Popular Games
There are a lot of great sources. From the National Geographic to the AARP to leading Lumosity, there is a wide variety from which to choose.
Lumosity-Word Bubbles
Word Bubbles is the most popular game on Lumosity. Released in 2007, it has a goal of verbal flexibility.
When you start the game, three letters are displayed. You must write words that start with these three letters and cannot use the same word twice. Each word you write advances the bubble, which contains the number of letters. Therefore, if you write "snare," the bubble with the number 5 in it will move up. Any bubble that moves above the surface of the water becomes a star and earns you additional points.
National Geographic
The National Geographic Channel hosts a show called Brain Games on Monday nights at 9:00 p.m. EST.
Their description: "Hosted by 'wonder junkie' Jason Silva, Brain Games sizes up the ultimate super-computer -- the human brain -- using an intricate string of mind-boggling experiments, optical illusions, brainteasers and hard science. With man-on-the-street demonstrations and viewer participation through interactive brain-busters, National Geographic Channel's hit series offers a workout for your mind."
AARP -- Solitaire and Mahjongg
3D Mahjongg
Dubbed "3D Mahjongg," players match any tile that has two adjacent sides free to score points, and online buddies are plenty. The goal is to match tiles as quickly as possible to complete all the levels before the time runs out.
Spider Solitaire
Based on the classic card game, Spider Solitaire is known as the king of all solitaire games. "One must be skilled at manipulating the cards they've been dealt with. Overcome challenges and bad cards. Treasure the good cards you have. Use them wisely!" said AARP.
Remove all cards from the 10 columns to win the game. Cards are removed if you can form a sequence from King down to Ace of the same suit in one column.
Players vs. Players
As an added bonus, many games allow you to challenge other players. Adjust the game to your skill level and see how you rate next to top players.
Do Brain Games Really Work?
The jury is still out. Differing studies include differing opinions.
Popular Science quotes a New Yorker piece about recent studies, and some are on the skeptical side.
A study comparing dual training program among avid self-improvers in Silicon Valley came with a placebo game and with not playing any games at all in healthy young adults. The researchers, from three different U.S. universities, found the games improved people's ability in the games but not in independent tests of fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, multitasking or other capabilities.
But other experts beg to differ.
The Brain
According to National Geographic, the human brain consists of some 100 billion active nerve cells.
- The brain’s neurons communicate by transmitting electrical impulses along their axons. Interactions among neurons can be simple or complex, and the amount of time they take can range from milliseconds to months.
- There are 22 different bones in the skull, eight in the cranium and 14 in the face.
- The cerebrum accounts for about 85 percent of the brain’s weight and is the organ’s largest part.
- Often referred to as the “little brain,” the cerebrum is the second-largest part of the brain. It handles muscle movement and controls balance.
- The left hemisphere handles language, analytics and mathematical reasoning.
- Creative, artistic and spontaneous thoughts are derived from the right hemisphere of the brain.
- Many ancient philosophers believed that human consciousness resided in the heart. It wasn't until the 17th century that philosopher Thomas Willis began to argue the vast powers of the brain.
- The brain is constantly sending and receiving information. Motor circuits transmit information away from the brain to muscles and glands, while sensory circuits report findings to the brain. An adult human brain weighs about three pounds, and a bottlenose dolphin’s brain tips the scales at about four pounds.
- As we age, we can often remember long-ago events more easily than recent events.
- The average adult's attention span is 20 minutes (unless it’s a topic one finds especially interesting).