Brain Games

Doing things differently and experimenting with new activities became modus operandi when 2014 rolled around. Ideas came quick and fast, just like the effect of champagne bubbles on New Year’s Eve. Among them came the idea of playing brain games to not only keep the old noggin sharp, but to make it even sharper. The way I see it, the brain is just as important to maintain as the rest of the body’s mechanical parts.

MRI of my brain... Just kidding!

Googling (aka research) began in earnest and after taking virtual tours of a variety of online programs, I settled on Lumosity. The plan was to start with the free training options and then deciding whether or not to buy in – literally – to the program.

As I am not a gamer, and never have been, I was a little concerned this might be a situation of biting off more than I could chew. Turns out, I have pretty good hand eye coordination despite never having gotten past Level 1 on the original 1980s Mario Bros! In the same line of thought, other puzzle type games like crosswords or Sudoku, which are known to be good for the brain, never got my mojo going long term.

The Lumosity games focus of five areas of brain development: attention, flexibility, memory, problem-solving and speed. There is quite a bit of variety (40+ different games) and all of them, except one, I’ve found both interesting and challenging. Some are logic based, math based, verbal fluency based, etc. After a couple of weeks on the free version, I was enjoying it so much that I moved up to the complete paid program. It helped that they were offering a discount. *wink*

It has now been 4.5 months since I started “training” and I find my overall concentration has improved and so has my attention to detail. Is it just due to Lumosity or, are other changes I’ve implemented also contributed? At this point, it’s difficult to say. Nonetheless, I’m enjoying spending 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, specifically taking care of my brain.

As the saying goes, training is a marathon, not a sprint, and so far, this program is keeping my attention and keeping me focused. The cost is cheaper than a pair of jeans and will last longer than the jeans!

At the end of the day, I’m grateful for technology that makes it more accessible for people to take care of themselves, be it physically, mentally or emotionally.