Why Playing Games Is Actually Good for Your Brain
Simple ways to cross-train your mind.
Photo: venimo/iStock
Just as you'd lift weights and do cardio, you can maximize cognitive fitness with various types of exercise, says Gary Small, MD, director of the UCLA Longevity Center and coauthor of 2 Weeks to a Younger Brain. Rotate activities that focus on these areas:
Language: Scrabble, word scrambles
Visual-Spatial: mazes, jigsaws
Problem Solving: chess, sudoku, logic games
Memory and Concentration: Trivial Pursuit, match games like Candy Crush
A Couple to Try:
Changing Words (language)
Begin with WALL and change one letter at a time until you get to FIRM. Each change has to create an actual word.
WALL
____
____
____
FIRM
Counting Squares (visual-spatial)
Count the squares below. (Be sure to count the squares within the squares.)
Language: Scrabble, word scrambles
Visual-Spatial: mazes, jigsaws
Problem Solving: chess, sudoku, logic games
Memory and Concentration: Trivial Pursuit, match games like Candy Crush
A Couple to Try:
Changing Words (language)
Begin with WALL and change one letter at a time until you get to FIRM. Each change has to create an actual word.
WALL
____
____
____
FIRM
Counting Squares (visual-spatial)
Count the squares below. (Be sure to count the squares within the squares.)
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