Whether at school or work, remembering old things and learning new information can become a challenge as people these days are under tremendous pressure to perform, perform, and perform. Stress is not good for our brains — but puzzles and games can help. We may not realize, as we go through life, our body is not the only thing that needs exercise — our brain needs exercise too. Here are mental brain puzzles and exercise games that can help to boost your brain.
In today’s world, concentrating has become harder with so many distractions.
The concentration situation has become worse with easy access to tech and devices. Technology can either inspire us to acquire our full potential or it can lead us down the rabbit hole.
What can you possibly do to improve your concentration?
What if you are having trouble remembering things or doing more tasks at a time? Now, this does not mean that you need to dash to your nearest therapist to increase mental stimulation. You are not alone with exactly this issue. But there is help.
The good news is that by simply changing habits and adopting a healthy lifestyle sooner than later you can keep your mind sharp. As well as many brain games puzzles and exercises can help to boost your level of concentration in a very short period.
The question is why should one prioritize their brain health?
Maintaining a strong mind is much like staying in shape and prioritizing your brain health from the beginning can have cumulative effects as you age. You need to understand that it is never too early to focus on brain health, engage in an active lifestyle, perform physical exercise, try brain puzzles and socialize that can build your brain’s cognitive reserve.
How to keep our brain active?
They say that you can’t teach an old dog a new trick, but when it comes to the human brain this is simply not true. With the right stimulation, the human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt, change, and react in ever-changing ways. Even if you have been facing problems with recall and visualization, there are ways to mitigate it, which involves practicing memory games that can help your mind stay sharp.
Still, confused? Let the game begin, we have some tips for you to improve retention and boost your brain:
● Try out something new
If you are doing things you are already good at, no matter how intellectually demanding they are, it is not doing anything to boost your brain. When it comes to learning a new skill, not only it is fun and interesting but it also helps to strengthen the brain connection.
Find out, is there something you always wanted to do? Take a new hobby or treat yourself to something you enjoy. Perhaps you would be interested in exploring foreign culture, learning a language, or a software program? You now have one more reason to learn that new skill you always wanted to.
Any mentally stimulating activity, it can be brain puzzles or new things that mental dexterity, as well as efforts, will allow your brain to think of new patterns, thus ensuring it is always expanding and staying sharp. Though keep in mind, the activity needs to be unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone.
● Don’t skip on brain-boosting activities like brain puzzles
Chances are probably pretty good that you have at least heard, or even tried, some of the many brain puzzles or brain training games that are out there. Whether you are putting together a 100 piece image of Mickey Mouse or simply trying out a crossword puzzle, different parts of the brain will be exercised depending on what kind of brain puzzles you choose as it would demand full and close attention.
Among all the brain puzzles or brain training games available online and offline, Jigsaw puzzles are a fantastic tool for engaging short term memory as it recruits multiple cognitive abilities. Since the brain has to sort through a series of visuals, shapes, and colors when putting together a jigsaw puzzle to get it assembled into a visual picture.
● Keep your brain fired up with physical exercise
While mental brain puzzles are important for brain health, it does not mean that you never need to break a sweat. Exercising is as good to the mind, as it is to the body. Exercise enhances the release of helpful brain chemicals and reduces stress hormones. Therefore, a good run or workout at the gym can make a big difference in neuroplasticity by boosting growth factors and stimulating new neuronal connections.
Some useful tips to exercise your brain:
1. Aerobic exercise is particularly good for the brain as it helps to relieve anxiety and depression. In general, something as simple as a walk can help clear your head and put things in perspective.
2. Exercising in the morning before you start your day makes a big difference. Not to mention, the magic it works when it comes to burning those calories and clearing out the sleep fog when you wake up.
3. Regular physical activities can help you get past mental fatigue and can increase the size of your hippocampus, the part of your brain responsible for learning and verbal recalling, particularly beneficial for brain building.
Just keep in mind that there is no wrong time to take care of your brain, and there exist so many options to choose from when it comes to exercising the brain. From brain puzzles to fitness to something creative or new, choose what appeals to you and get going.
Can brain puzzles really help you improve the way your brain functions?
You’ve probably seen ads for brain training programs promising to make you smarter in just a few minutes of the day. But can all these games and just clicking away at animations help? The simple answer is — yes.
These puzzles or games are designed with the ultimate goal of improving performance while challenging the mental abilities of a person.
Can you solve a riddle in less than 20 seconds? No? Then puzzles for your brain are a fun way of challenging yourself mentally and strengthening your brain health and performance.
The puzzles or exercises should be new, novel, and challenging.
For instance, if you start to notice the crossword puzzles too easy you have lost the challenge aspect of it. Try a different level, switch up the games you play to include, reading, word searches, and sudoku to activate the different areas of your brain.
Wrapping Up
Brain exercises can be an appealing shortcut scheme to get smart quickly. But improving or maintaining cognition is not going to be quick and easy. It requires a lifetime of active work — or at least an extended period of gaining knowledge, cognitive challenge, and learning.
Along with the games consider other activities that might be as cognitively stimulating, if your sole motive is to obtain cognitive benefits.
