:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/VWH-GettyImages-2215432908-6660db8296154d53856bc471715bc078.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1 "22 brain exercises that keep children, adults and mentally mentally -pointed people")
Brain training exercises can improve your cognitive skills, Including working memory, verbal memory and global operation. Driving with new activities can also improve the functioning of the brain thanks to a process called neuroplasticity, in which the brain forms new paths and neural connections.
14 brain exercises for all ages
1. Puzzles
Completing a puzzle puzzle can be a solo or fun group activity. Research shows that when carried out in the long term, the pezzles of the saw for stench also improve visuospatial cognitive skills, such as:
- Construction praxis
- Episodic memory
- Mental rotation
- Mental speed and flexibility
- Perception
- Reasoning
- Working memory
What is neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity is the modification of the brain, by changes in the number of neurons, control, migration, formation of new connections, etc.
2. Play Sudoku
Sudoku is a popular placement puzzle that can have cognitive advantages. In a study of 19,078 adults aged 50 to 93, those who made puzzles with a number at least once a day had better cognitive functioning on skills such as:
- Attention
- Episodic memory
- Executive function
- Information processing
- Reasoning
- Working memory
3. Play cards
Playing card games can help improve your brain performance. A study of 7,308 elderly people revealed that those who regularly or occasionally played cards had better cognitive functioning – especially in attention, calculation and language – than those who have never played cards.
4. Take the coloring
Coloring in a coloring book may seem an activity for children. However, it has recently become more popular as a soothing activity for adults, including the elderly living in assisted living establishments. Coloring requires cognitive skills such as spatial consciousness, concentration, concentration, eye-to-see coordination, working memory and visual perception.
5. Use your non -dominant hand
Going to your non -dominant hand for tasks is a quick and easy way to exercise your brain. It will feel much less natural to write, draw, clean the dishes or brush your teeth with your opposite hand. Practicing with your non -dominant hand for a short period can cause neuroplasticity and lasting changes in the brain.
6. Participate in the exercise
Regular exercise is well established as important for brain health. According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the regular exercise can:
- Improve memory
- Reduce anxiety and depression
- Reduce the risk of cognitive decline, including dementia
7. Start dance
Dance is a fantastic way to train your brain because it involves physical and cognitive skills. You have to remember choreography and have a spatial conscience and coordination.
A study compared six months of dance training to a similar exercise training. The two groups have improved in physical fitness to the same degree. However, the dance group experienced an increase in neurotrophic factor levels derived from the plasma brain (BDNF), which is a protein involved in neuroplasticity.
8. Learn a language
Learning a language requires different types of memory, concentration and creativity. Research shows that learning a second language can improve these areas of cognition:
- Attentional switching
- Functional connectivity
- Inhibition
- Working memory
9. Play an instrument
Learning to play an instrument is, in many ways, similar to learning a new language. He challenges you to read music while you memorize techniques to play the instrument, integrate several senses and coordinate your movements and your fine motor skills.
A study compared adults aged 60 to 85 who learned to play the piano or did not do so. The piano group has considerably improved memory, information processing speed, mental planning, verbal control and other cognitive functions.
10. Try a new competence
Learning a new skill can improve cognition by challenging you to think of new ways and problem solving. This brain exercise creates new neurons connections, or in other words, neuroplasticity.
Learning a language or an instrument is two examples of learning a new competence. The other skills you can learn include:
- Ceramic
- Coding
- Construction
- Cook a new meal
- Juggling
- Knitting
- Paint
- Photography
- Sewing
- Sporty
- Wood work
11. Start meditating
Meditation is a secular mindfulness practice in which superficial thoughts are disconnected and focuses on the mind. Research has revealed that meditation can trigger neuroplasticity. It can also improve cognitive functioning and reduce age -related brain degeneration.
12. Play chess
Chess is a game based on the logic known to be difficult and strategic. A meta-analysis grouped to the results of 24 studies and found that failures could improve cognitive capacities, in particular mathematical performance, among schoolchildren.
13. Read books
Reading books benefits the brain at all ages and protects against age -related cognitive decline. A longitudinal study of 1,962 adults aged 64 and over examined reading practices and cognition over 14 years. Researchers found that frequent reading was associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline.
14. Travel to new places
Traveling presents new people, places and cultures. It also challenges your brain to sail in new environments, plan and adapt to new situations.
Brain exercises for brain damage
People who recover from a traumatic cerebral lesion or damage to a degenerative brain can also benefit from brain exercises. However, each exercise may have to be modified to adapt to the current level of competence of the individual while maintaining the right level of difficulty.
Daily tasks can also be a form of brain exercise, such as the creation of grocery lists, laundry, payment of invoices or sequencing the steps necessary to shave or brush your teeth.
Therapists call these activities of daily life (ADL) or instrumental activities of daily life (IADL). They can improve cognition while remaining functional and relevant to the person’s daily life.
5 brain exercises for the benefit of the elderly
1. Play bingo
People of all ages can play bingo, but it is particularly popular in assisted life and memory care and senior centers. It is a recognizable and accessible game that forces you to remember what your board looks like, recognize and recall the figures and letters called and respond appropriately.
2. Make crossworms
Another popular brain exercise that can be particularly effective for the elderly. They can be found in newspapers, crossword books or even applications.
In a recent randomized adult control trial of older adults with light cognitive impairment, researchers found that crosswords were superior to digital games to improve memory and cognitive functioning over 78 weeks. The crossword group also had less withdrawal in the hippocampal and brain cortex regions.
3. Try Tai who
Tai Chi is an exercise routine from China and is based on martial arts. It has a low impact and requires balance and concentration, which makes it very accessible to the elderly. This can also benefit your brain because you must reflect and remember the sequences and coordinate your body.
A systematic review of 33 randomized controlled trials shows that TAI-Chi improves global cognition and memory.
4. Play bridge
Bridge is a very popular card game, played in pairs. It requires problem solving and critical thinking while offering a social outlet. It is also popular with the elderly.
5. Reminisce
Reminiscence is a therapeutic activity often practiced by the elderly with dementia. It is a question of using the senses (smell, contact, view, its or taste) to trigger old memories and lead to discussions.
For example, feeling a tube of sunscreen and feeling the grain of sand could trigger memories and lead to a discussion on the holidays spent on the beach.
Research shows that reminiscence can, to a small extent, improve cognition, communication and mood in people with dementia.
Brain exercises for the elderly
As you get older, your brain changes naturally and you may notice differences such as more difficulties with short-term memory. The start of dementia and other memory conditions also becomes more common. Brain exercises can help keep your memory in the short term and other clear cognitive skills during this period.
3 brain exercises for children
1. Play to pretend
The pretension or imagination game is fun for children and essential to their cognitive development. Playing a simulation can help a child develop an abstract thought and improve their cognition, language and social skills. The game can also improve the self -regulation skills of a child.
2. Try Simon says
Simon says that it is a typical game that children play or adults lead children to schools or daycare services. This implies that the chef said: “Simon said to do this”, and the children copying the action. When the leader says “do this” without saying “Simon says”, the children who always carry out the action lose the match.
In short, children who play Simon said have to practice important cognitive skills, such as attention, listening, language, understanding, self -regulation, the following instructions, decision -making, etc.
3. Engage in a sensory game
The integration of several directions in the game has been shown to improve the cognitive skills of children. Sensory game can be creative and is essentially any type of game in which touch, taste, smell, sound or vision are involved. The examples include paint on the finger, identification of toys in a sandbox or the game with musical blocks.
How do brain exercises affect mental health?
You can see that the challenge of defying your brain with these activities can positively affect your mental health and your self -esteem. For example, completing a complex crossword puzzle can give you a feeling of accomplishment. Attending a weekly dance class can make you feel creative and connected to your community.
Research has revealed that the effects of brain exercise on neuroplasticity can contribute to the improvement of certain mental disorders. However, the exact mechanisms are not clear.
All of these exercises can have positive postponements on other areas of life in addition to cognitive functioning.
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