Five tools to train your brain

by Rigel Celeste (Subscribe to Rigel Celeste's posts)
Jun 24th 2007 1:01PM

Staying sharp mentally is important to all of us as we get older, and thankfully research shows that working out your mind has much the same effect as working out your body: it gets leaner, more efficient, and better at doing pretty much everything. So if you know you want to "exercise" your mind but aren't sure where to begin, here are some ideas to get you started:

Brain Age for Nintendo DS Stimulates the mind with math, reasoning, reading, and drawing tasks. $20
The Brain Fitness Program for Windows Based on listening and recall skills, it trains you to be faster and more accurate with memory recall of what you hear. $400
MindFit for Windows Offers individualized training after "learning" about you through various performance tests. $150
Brain Fitness for Windows Works to strengthen short term memory, language skills, and concentration through deciphering, ordering, and classification projects. $65
Crossword puzzles They'll definitely keep you entertained, and the thinking won't hurt either! 50¢

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Comments (12)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

emerick 6-25-2007 @ 12:53AM

A fun brain fitness option is http://www.lumosity.com/. This one improves working memory, thinking speed and attention, and it's free while in beta. It's all online and you can check your "LumosIQ" (http://www.lumosity.com/iq_tests) without signing up for anything.

Mike 6-26-2007 @ 6:47AM

Eye did thiz test and it maid me feal weard and stewpid and stough. I dont feal smartor.

T.O. 6-26-2007 @ 7:16AM

Hookt on foniks rilly workt fer me! ;)

Crabby McSlacker 6-26-2007 @ 8:40AM

I like that last one, Rigel!

I know I should think about these things, 'cause even in my forties my brain already feels fuzzier.

But is it just me or do they sound kind of like... homework?

I think if I'm going to speed up my reaction times and thinking process with video games, I want to experience a little more action and story and adventure--and a least get to fly or see magical worlds or blow something up.

(Crabby has her own grouchy little health blog, but she can't seem to remember where she put it. Oh yeah, it's at http://crankyfitness.blogspot.com/)

G.G. 6-26-2007 @ 3:20PM

I bees feling goud bout myslf cuz its' better to fel goud bout youzself dan to actuuallie knoos aritmotic and spelling.
Hookt onn NEA an al fifte chapkters! http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99sep04/world.htm#8

Katy Kelpin 6-26-2007 @ 11:03AM

IQ Solitaire is another GREAT game for exercising the brain. It's like regular solitaire, except there are NO NUMBERS. You put US Presidents, or movies, or SuperBowl winners in order. There are several topics and the developers of this game are always creating more. In IQ Solitaire-Presidents you put the Presidents in order (Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, etc.) In IQ Solitiare - Academy Awards you put movies in order. (There's a help card to use when you get stuck). It's so much fun! The CD is at available at: http://www.windmillworks.com/catalog/c29_p1.html through Windmill Works Educational Software at http://www.windmillworks.com

mdnt 6-26-2007 @ 11:17AM

Check out LearningRx.com for brain training!

Ronnie 6-26-2007 @ 12:23PM

# 2 and # 3

unless you are kidding with the english in your comment's
you need more than brain training, you need to go back
to school their is a lot more wrong with you than memory.

mousemyra 6-26-2007 @ 12:52PM

Uh...#8...please check the spelling and use of thier and there before commenting on others...

IGUESSBORING 6-26-2007 @ 1:17PM

thanks Mouse!!!

Dan D. 6-26-2007 @ 1:38PM

The venerable game of bridge is another promoter of mental acuity far into one's advanced years. The game, while being both fun and sociable, demands the diverse mental calisthenics of arithmetical and geometric analysis, intensive memory enhancement, and sharpened observation of multiple personalities in a social setting.

Not bad for a card game typically lasting anywhere from 1 to 3 hours (at the discretion of the participants).