Are you terrible with names? Do you have an awful sense of direction? How often do you walk into a room and instantly forget why you just walked into that room? If you’re like me then you answered those questions: yes, yes and about 3-4 times a week.
“People think the brain they are born with is the brain they are stuck with,” says Michelle Hecker Davis, executive director at LearningRx, which touts itself as a “brain training center.” Brain training is a growing phenomenon. From online games like Lumosity to Sunday paper games like Sudoku and crossword puzzles, there are simple ways to cognitively improve the seven key areas of the brain: short term memory, long-term memory, attention, processing speed, logic and reasoning, visual processing and auditory processing.
“You want challenging yourself to be fun,” Davis says. “That’s why games are so good.” In fact, the benefits of some of our favorite classic games may surprise you.
Games that improve your cognitive skills:
Auditory Processing: Bop-It Extreme