Just like any other muscle or organ in your body, your brain requires continuous training or else it will lose its mojo. While reading and solving puzzles of all sorts helps you to keep your memory in shape; many people don’t have the time nor the stamina. Here are 5 free apps that you can use everyday to train your brain:
1. Lumosity (iOS)
The web’s most popular brain training program. Lumosity is designed by neuroscientists and take into consideration research done about brain activities and memory. children with cancer-related brain injuries have shown some improvements in memory and executive function after Lumosity-like brain training. The app is also popular among people who have A.D.H.D but most of people can relate to the same areas of improvement as well.
One of Lumosity's big selling points is that each person gets a "training plan" designed to fit their needs. The first step is to tell Lumosity exactly what you want to work on.
There are five key areas you can focus on. Within each area, things get very specific. You keep losing your keychain? Try the "recalling the location of objects” area.
2. Math Vs. Brain (iOS)
School math like algebra and geometry is surely not applicable to everyday life but your brain need it. Math vs. Brain is a free app that keeps you smart. The game has 3 main challenges, 2 of them are locked and every challenge has 40 mathematical puzzles to solve.
In this brainteaser, you can compete to collect stars and use them to solve hard ones immediately and move to the next level.
3. Sudoku 2 by Finger Arts (iOS)
According to research done at universities like Oxford and Cambridge, games like Sudoku can keep your brain functioning up to 14 years younger and even help prevent certain types of mental illness and Alzheimers.
Finger Arts has taken Sudoku to a whole new level in Sudoku 2 by introducing a new smart point system. The new system allows you to score points based on how fast you complete a puzzle. To win a game in Sudoku 2 you must solve a puzzle with three errors or less.
4. Clockwork Brain (iOS)
Named one of the 500 best apps in the world by The London Times, this app from Total Eclipse features a series of mini games guided by Sprocket the Robot and created to test your cognitive abilities in logic, language, math and memory. You have to start with the challenge game, where you play 4 games in a row to score 20 Sprocket Tokens to unlock the Single Game Upgrade which will allow you to play all mini games individually and as often as you like, plus your scores count towards global Leaderboards
And just to prove learning games don't have to be boring, all the artwork is hand-painted by artists with influences ranging from Victorian Steampunk to Mayan art.
5. Mind Games (iOS, Android)
This is a great collection of games based in part on principles of cognitive psychology to help you practice different mental skills. This app includes 14 brain training games: Mental Flex, Attention Training, Math Star, Memory Racer, Mental Categories, Speed Trivia, Vocabulary Star, Memory Grid, Word Memory, Abstraction, Face Memory Level 1 and 2 and Object Memory 1 and 2. 8 of these levels are unlocked for the free version user but you can play the rest by upgrading to the full version.
All games include your score history, a global top scores list, and graph of your progress. Using some principles of standardized testing, your scores are also converted to a standardized scale so that you can see where you need work and excel.
What game to do you play to train your brain?
