|
Five Types of Brain Games
that Keep Your Mind Fit
(including Free Access)
by www.SixWise.com
Most adults are so busy with their everyday routine that
they miss out on regular
playtime. Well, this is not only akin to lighting a match
under the ticking time-bomb of your stress levels, but it
is bad for your brain.
|
Mentally stimulating games like crossword puzzles may
reduce your risk of dementia.
|
That's right. Playing is good for your brain, and if you
value yours, indulging in a few puzzles and such will help
to keep your mind sharp.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine, for instance,
found that challenging your brain with mentally stimulating
leisure activities (including playing board games or cards,
doing crossword puzzles, reading, writing, and playing musical
instruments) is great for your mind.
Seniors who participated in such activities about once a
week for a 20-year period reduced the risk of dementia by
7 percent. Those who engaged in these activities more often
reduced their risk even more -- by 63 percent!
Now, eager to tap in on an aging generation of Baby Boomers,
video game makers like Nintendo are even coming out with games
geared toward keeping aging minds young.
"[Brain Training is] kind of like a treadmill for the
mind," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing
and corporate affairs for Nintendo of America, about one such
game.
|
Any of the free, online brain games listed here will
stimulate neural activity (i.e. give your brain a workout).
|
Top Brain Games to Challenge Your Mind
Just about any game or puzzle that you find intriguing can
help stimulate your brain, but here we've uncovered some games
that are fun, challenging and, best of all, free.
-
Crossword Puzzles: Everyone's old favorite, crossword
puzzles, are updated and available online for free at
WebCrosswords.com.
Choose your puzzle's topic and your skill level, and this
site will even time you!
-
Sudoku:
This challenging, fun and incredibly addictive number
game may very well become the crossword puzzle of the
21st century. Try it online for free at WebSudoku.com.
- Brain Puzzles: If you have five houses in five
different colors, and in each house lives someone with a
different nationality, pet and favorite drink, can you use
10 clues to find out who owns the fish?
This is the type of addictive puzzle you can find at
Brainbashers.com
(and they've got countless other brain games, too).
-
Brain Teasers: At Braingle.com,
you'll find over 17,000 brain teasers, riddles, logic
problems, quizzes and mind puzzles. Be careful, this site
can easily eat up large quantities of your free time.
-
Brain Training: Brainwaves.com
has interactive brain-training exercises that they claim
will help you to build mental stamina for sustained concentration,
much as aerobics builds physical stamina for sustained
exertion.
Recommended Reading
The
Amazing Health Benefits of Board Games ... for Adults as Well
as Kids
Some
Very Fun Exercises for Your Brain ... With an Amazing Little
Test at the End
Sources
CBSNews.com
WashingtonPost.com
|