An old cliché says, "Use it or lose it." And it's the truth, especially in regard to your brain. Your brain is a complex muscle formed from millions of neurons and synapses that effortlessly control your body as well as retain and regurgitate information as needed. And just as every other muscle in your body will deteriorate from non-use, if you don't keep your brain in shape, your ability to retain and recall information will decrease as well. But some activities can keep your brain functioning at full strength, allowing you to enjoy a healthy and active mind throughout your lifetime.
WATIZIT
WATIZIT--rather, What Is It?--is a game that exercises the free-thinking part of your right brain. You encounter a series of images that show only a part of the whole. You must infer, based on what you see, what the whole picture is. Different versions of this game use different images and may be found in books or online, sometimes under a different name. See the link in Resources for a set of 15 WATIZIT images to get a feel for this game.
Puzzles
Puzzles are games that help sharpen the neurons in your left brain, which controls your deductive and reasoning skills. Sudoku will greatly increase your logical and deductive capabilities, while a crossword puzzle will help build your vocabulary and ability to reason. And your difficulty level will impact how much your brain benefits; doing a puzzle that is too easy will keep your mind on par, but a more challenging puzzle will keep your brain more fit.
Wii Games
The Nintendo Wii has capitalized on the brain games market, building a series of titles that help keep your mind sharp and active. Titles such as Safecracker and THINK: Logic Trainer help build your analytical and memorization skills, while games such as My Word Coach will build your vocabulary and reasoning skills. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is a popular title that focuses on brain training and is designed to improve several brain "categories," including computation, visualization and identification.
Optical Illusions
Optical illusions are plentiful and many are very well known. Ranging from the infamous vase/face image to the Hermann Grid, in which you must count the black dots, optical illusions require you to shift your attention and focus to see the different images involved. Optical illusions--especially ones that focus on size or color--can also challenge your logical brain to move past the illusion and see what is genuinely there.
Reflex Games
Training your reflexes will help your brain learn to process information at a faster speed. Your reflexes are an unlearned response to a specific stimulus; as your reflexes become faster, you can learn to avoid potential problems or hazardous situations. Brain Metrix--see the link in Resources--offers two reflex tests, one in which you must click a box when it changes color, with a goal time of .2 seconds, and another in which you must click on the moving green boxes, with a goal success rate of 58.
