5 Tips for Exercising the Brain

If you want to keep your brain healthy, keep it active with various hobbies and challenging problems to solve. The more exercise your grey matter gets, the better for your mental state. If you're not sure how to train the mind, read further, and follow our tips to get the best results.

Play Games

When you hear the words “games to exercise the brain”, some of the first things that may come to mind are crossword puzzles or sudokus. Even though these games stimulate the grey matter, they don't require enough attention to modify it and prevent diseases such as Alzheimer's. 

Activities that require a strategy to win over an opponent have a better effect. An exciting way to keep your mind stimulated is to play some online casino games like poker, that force you to focus on your strategy and opponents. Playing cards with other people is known to improve memory and thinking skills.

Build Your Vocabulary

A rich vocabulary can make you seem smarter, but it can also stimulate your brain. Many regions of the mind are involved in speech-based tasks, particularly in areas that are essential for visual and auditory processing. You can try cognitive boosting activities like learning a new word and then consciously using it five times the following day.

Enjoy a Jigsaw Puzzle

Putting together the pieces of an image is an excellent way to strengthen your brain. Research shows that doing jigsaw puzzles utilizes multiple cerebrum abilities and is a protective factor for visuospatial cognitive aging. You have to look at different pieces and figure out a fit within the larger picture, and it’s a fantastic way to exercise and challenge your mind.

Learn or Teach a New Skill

When learning something new, it's fun and exciting if it also strengthens your brain's neural-connections. Learning helps older adults improve memory function. Teaching a skill to somebody else requires you to explain certain concepts and correct any mistakes. It boosts your cognitive and memory functionality.

Meditate

You might not believe that this is a mind boosting exercise, but meditation can help fine-tune your memory and increase your brain's ability to process information. The benefits lie in the fact that you can calm your body and reduce stress, which gives your mind the chance to reboot and clarify its thought processes. This simple technique can be done daily for as little as five minutes and still be beneficial.

Final Thoughts

As we age, our grey matter firing mechanisms tend to slow down, and certain functions don't work as well as they did when we were young. Doing some simple mental exercises can boost functionality and improve cognitive thought patterns. 

Test out some challenging card games such as poker or try building a jigsaw puzzle. Build your vocabulary to strengthen your visual and auditory processes. If you learn a new skill, it supports your brain's connections. By teaching somebody else, you can improve your memory.