Flex Your Mindby Heather Long | More from this Blogger 26 Jun 2006 10:30 AM It's rare that a fitness forum can endorse a video game as being good for you. After all, we're often encouraging parents to get their kids off of computers and video games and outside in play, but Nintendo is putting out a new line of games that are great for adults and teenagers alike to stimulate their mental muscles. It's important to flex your mind on a regular basis and to stimulate thinking and mental processes. The series is called the Nintendo Brain Age and it features a collection of mini games designed to improve cognitive ability and memory. What's neat is the game initially asks you to take a test to workout what your current brain age is. Then it begins your mental workout. Boost Your Mental Muscles The mental workout will include brainteasers, math problems, memorization puzzles and Soduku. (I'm afraid to confess here that I have no idea how you play Soduku - it's like all the rage and I have no idea what the point is much less how you play it, guess I need to learn!) Nintendo is recommending daily play in order to flex the mental muscles. They may not be totally wrong on that topic, when you let your brain gets idle it does forget things. After all, what's one of the first subjects most of us forget once we're out of high school and college? If you said math, give yourself a high five, because it is one the first and easiest skills to lose. Daily mental workouts are a great way to stimulate those areas of your brain and sharpen your acuity. One of my favorite things to do when I am waiting for my daughter somewhere is to work crossword puzzles or word searches. I also enjoy logic problems. Games of Scrabble and Word Whomp are also not out of the question. These are all games that require using the mental faculties to get to the right answer - so stay sharp - and flex your mental muscles. It's great that Nintendo is in on the act now too! Related Articles: Hot Tips for Keeping Mental Track Learn more about Heather Long  Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. Relevantfitness tags weight loss | parenting | ideas | pregnancy | holidays | relationships | children | Kids | family | Food User Comments  bluetree (2947) 26 Jun 2006 01:12 PMI own this game and play it daily, it's everything it cliams to be..I get better and better at many mental challenges the game presents but I also notice my decision making in real life is more crisp. It's importnat to note this game is for the DS system..not the current GameCube or upcoming Wii systems. The Nintendo DS is an incredible handheld, portable system. It's the latest generation of Gameboy, though that name hasn't followed with it.  Heather Long (16954) 27 Jun 2006 05:49 AMExcellent to know and thank you very much for sharing your experience with the Brain Age. I've been considering picking it up and now I think I have to add it to my wish list! Caroline (15) 19 Oct 2006 09:25 AMGreat articles on Brain Fitness. You might enjoy this article from our brain fitness blog explaining the concepts of brain gyms and the science behind it: http://sharpbrains.wordpress.com/2006/10/17/brain-fitness-programs-brain-gymsexplained/ Community Tags logic problems, mental fitness, mental acuity, nintendo brain age, soduku Discuss this article
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