The Fit Brain

Last week Audrey told us about Whyzz.com so that we can all sound smart in front of our kids. How about sounding and being smart-er, just for ourselves? We exercise and nourish our body for optimal health, but what about our brain? If we are not lucky enough to work as quantum physicists or neuroscientists as our day job, it could just be that our brains are not quite as exercised and fit as we’d need them to be.

When I first started thinking about brain exercises, sudoku and crossword puzzles came to mind as the games recommended for the elderly to keep senility at bay. Hey, I really respect that, but I’m not there yet. Brain fitness, I have since learned, is much more than that and, no matter what age, taking care of our brains now will pay off as we grow older. Personally, I intend to ward off those senior moments  as long as possible.

Here’s some good news too, this from a recently published New York Times article: “Over the past several years, scientists have looked deeper into how brains age and confirmed that they continue to develop through and beyond middle age.” Oh yeah. There’s still hope.

There is a variety of games available out there on the www. Some free and others are by subscription. The free games are fun. They are games, after all. But with the free models, there is not always the mechanism for tracking progress and achieving new levels of mental fitness. There are some pay-for-play models too. This is more of an “investment”, with subscription fees ranging from $14.95/month to $6.70/month if you buy the year (that comes to $80.40). That’s not so bad when you think about it. To be cliché, it’s the price of a latte or two. And a much better for you too.

The benefits are multiple: increased work productivity, improved concentration, improved memory & recall, faster thinking, faster reaction time, speeding up cognitive processes. I want it all. Now.

Here are some choices…
My favorite is Lumosity.com, one of the monthly or yearly membership models. It provides a full mental workout in less than 10 minutes a day to improve brain health and performance. The real neuroscientists that work there create innovative applications of the latest developments in brain science. Lumosity offers a free trial that lasts just a few days but is enough to help you assess the quality and challenge levels of the games. I would also seriously consider offering a membership to Lumosity as gift to an aging parent or friend. You know, to keep them aging gracefully.

MyFitBrain.com has a similar mission and set of brain games to Lumosity though My Fit Brain’s service is free. The games are not as robust, but they offer activities for exercising various areas of mental performance: memory, reflex, logic, numerical, visual, etc… You can track your progress by creating an account. Give it a try.

And, just for fun, take a look at Games for the Brain. You can’t track progress, but the games provide a great diversion when you need a break.

Brainy is sexy. And it might just be easier and waaaaay more fun than trying to squeeze into those skinny jeans.