Brain Games for Better Brain Health

What are brain training games? 

According to Harvard Medical School, brain games are “any activity that stimulates your thinking.” Brain-stimulating activities include word games like crossword puzzles or word searches; number games like Sudoku; strategy games like chess or backgammon; and creative activities like learning to play an instrument or painting an original picture. All of these activities have been shown to enhance mental processing, planning skills, short-term memory and decision-making.

Your brain is a living, evolving organ that is impacted by your diet, how you hydrate, and how well you sleep. It’s also affected by how you much you use it. In other words, you can change your brain as you treat it and use it differently. It’s what’s known as “neuroplasticity” and it’s something you can use to your advantage if you’d like to keep your brain health, memory and cognitive functioning at the highest possible levels.

If you live life in a repetitive pattern⁠—following the same schedule, going to the same places, doing the same things day after day⁠—you’re not challenging your brain. Even something as small as brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand or taking a new route to the office can help keep your brain connections firing more often. Why not add a few brain training games to your daily routine⁠ to encourage your brain’s neuroplasticity?

How effective are online brain games for adults? 

In 2017, a group of Australian scientists decide to determine, scientifically and once and for all, whether brain training games really worked to improve brain health in cognitive healthy adults. What they discovered was that “current evidence supports that at least some commercially available computerized brain training products can assist in promoting healthy brain aging.”

Basically, you shouldn’t rely JUST on online brain games if you’re interested in seeing overall cognitive and memory improvement. Experts recommend that you also start with good nutrition, solid sleep, proper hydration and activities that are outside of your usual everyday routine if you’d really like to activate your brain cells and increase your brain’s neuroplasticity. Examples include learning a new language, managing your stress with meditation or yoga, and using mnemonics to remember important information.

Can brain games improve memory?

Many creators of online brain games  or brain training apps claim that with regular use, their products can improve memory. And while some of the research that these creators share in support of their products has come under question, Alzheimers.net has reviewed the research and said that “if you’re interested in preventing Alzheimer’s by keeping the neural connections in your brain strong, then games that challenge your working memory and mental agility can be an important part of your plan.”

So what kind of online games should you play? According to SharpBrains, a leading cognitive fitness market-research firm, there are three primary characteristics that must be present in any brain game for it to be of strong benefit: novelty, variety and challenge.

Online brain games and apps are a great place to start and many free options are available. Try sites like MentalUp for a variety of mental skill-building options, including games that claim to boost short-term memory, attention skills and logical thinking.