The Online Brain Games Blog

As I noted in my last post, the 4 Pillars of Brain Health are all you really need to know and do in order to keep and improve your brain health and fitness.  As such, I’ll be adding activities and actions this year that touch on each of the 4 Pillars.

Listed below are the actions and activities I will be incorporating into 2010 with respect to the 4 Pillars of Brain Health.

1) Physical Exercise

My plan here is to start the one hundred push up plan. This is a 7 week plan to take you from where you are now to being able to perform 100 push ups at the end. Even if you can only perform 1 push up today (or even none), you can still start the plan.  I’ve already taken the initial test for the plan. I was only able to perform 15 consecutive push ups with proper form.

If you want to check out this plan, you can find out more by visiting the onehundredpushups website.

Once I’ve completed the 100 push up plan, my next step is to start the 200 squat plan!  Then after that, the 200 sit up plan!!

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

2) Mental Exercise

I already play lots of brain games. My vision for 2010 is to be more regular with time spent playing the brain games found in my recommended scientific brain game suite. If you want to know what that brain game suite is, click here.

3) Nutrition

I admit, I don’t really eat as healthy as I should. In 2010, my plan is to eat (or drink) more fruits and vegetables. And in general, eat less. A calorie restricted diet has been shown to improve your brain health.

4) Stress Management

Dealing with stress is so important to our brain health. High levels of stress increases you risk of contracting Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Living through this great recession, as some call it, is sure to bring on lots of stress. So all the more important that we learn how to deal with it.

Practicing meditation is perhaps one of the best things we can do to deal with stress. It not only enables you to learn how to effectively deal with stress, but it has been shown to be an excellent exercise in general for maintaining a healthy brain.

I’m currently reading a book on meditation called, Mental Resilience: The Power of Clarity: How to Develop the Focus of a Warrior and the Peace of a Monk. This book presents one of the most practical and straightforward ways of learning how to meditate. I will be implementing the plan presented in the book and learning how to deal with stress and improving my overall brain health in the process.

So that’s it.. That’s my brain health and fitness plan for 2010.

What’s yours?

Related Posts:

• Stress and Your Brain: Stress Management
• Mental Exercises Can Literally Change our Brain
• 2009 Year in Review: Did Your Brain Fitness Improve or Decline?
• Brain Fitness is not just Playing Brain Games
• More Muscle Strength equals Less Risk of Alzheimers

Hey guys, I came across this very cool mental exercise that you can use to improve your memory, your power of observation and even help you get to sleep faster! Sound interesting? OK, so here it is..

When you’re lying in bed at night ready to fall asleep, you review what you did that day from start to finish. You start with the time you got up out of bed until the time you went back to bed. Do this in as much detail as possible, visualizing in your mind each and every step from beginning to end. At first, you wont recall much detail, and you’ll probably jump very quickly from task to task or think of the day in large blocks of time. But try to slow down and remember as much as possible, in as much detail as possible. Over time, you’ll get better and better at this and you’ll be able to remember more and more detail.

This simple mental exercise has the following benefits:

1) It will improve your memory

2) Your power of observation will improve. In fact, you’ll find yourself during the day performing a mini recall of your day thus far because you know that later than night you will be trying to recall it again.

3) You will be more in the moment throughout the day. Again, because you know you will be recalling your day later, you pay more attention to details throughout the day.

4) Your ability to visualize will improve.

5) You will improve concentration.

6) You will  fall asleep faster because your mind will get tired much like counting sheep at night in order to fall asleep.

So give this simple mental exercise a try for a week and let me know what you think.

Source:

One Simple Mental Exercise to improve your Mind Power

Related Posts:

• How Sleep Affects Our Memory and Brain Health
• Knitting and Sewing Are Good For Your Brain
• An Apple a Day Improves Your Memory
• Have a Poor Memory? Then Try Sleeping On It
• Yawning Boosts Mental Abilities and Helps Olympian Win

All online brain games and mental exercises must have these 3 *primary* characteristics in order to be of maximum benefit to your brain.

The 3 primary characteristics are:

1. Novelty
2. Variety
3. Challenge

I wrote about these 3 primary characteristics in a previous post titled, “What Makes Mental Exercise Beneficial, or NOT?”

Over the last 15-20yrs, scientists have discovered that our brain can:

• Grow new connections
• Grow new neurons
• Re-wire itself

The ability of our brain to do this is called neuroplasticity, or brain plasticity. The good news about brain plasticity is that it is made available to us at any age. It is now a myth that our brain cannot change or renew itself as we grow old or that our brain function must decline with age. The 3 primary characteristics noted above must be present in any online brain game or mental exercise activity in order for the benefit of brain plasticity to be realized.

Besides the 3 primary characteristics , I believe there are 2 additional characteristics that are also important when considering an online brain game or mental exercise.

The 2 secondary characteristics are:

1. Fun/ Enjoyment
2. Cost

I call these *secondary* characteristics because they aren’t really necessary in order for an online brain game or mental exercise to be of benefit to your brain. But they are still important, and here’s why..

Fun/Enjoyment – A good online brain game or mental exercise should be fun and provide you with enjoyment. I say this because if an online brain game or mental exercise activity is fun, you’re more likely to stay with the program. Just like with a physical fitness program, you need to stay with the brain fitness program in order to reap lasting benefits. Likewise, if it is boring and feels like a chore, you won’t stick with it and then it will be of no value to you.

Cost – So what about cost? Free brain games abound on the internet. Are they any good? Are paid-for games better for you that free ones? The answer is that it all depends.

I wrote a post called, “Why Should You Pay For A Commercial Brain Game?”. In it I go into great detail on the benefits of paying for a commercial online brain game.

Again, the 3 primary characteristics must be present. It doesn’t really matter if the online brain game is free or if it cost you $500 or more. It doesn’t matter if you’re evaluating a free crossword puzzle or an expensive “scientifically designed” brain game. The 3 primary characteristics are the key to evaluating any online brain games potential benefit to your brain.

If you do intend to spend money on an online brain game, make sure you have the ability to evaluate it based on the 3 primary characteristics. Most good online brain games that do cost money have either free trials or have a return policy with a full refund possible. This helps to insure you have the ability to properly check out the online brain game before you commit.

So there you have it.. The 5 key characteristics that all good 0nline brain games must have in order to be of maximum benefit to your brain.  Make sure you use them when evaluating any online brain game or mental exercise activity.

Related Posts:

• Brain Fitness is not just Playing Brain Games
• Why Should You Pay For A Commercial Brain Game?
• How To Build Your Brain Without Emptying Your Wallet
• Lumosity Online Brain Games Review
• The Benefits of an *Online* Brain Game

There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of mental exercise games available online that are touted as being brain games. Some are offered as free online brain games and others are sold as commercial brain games. The big question is, how do you know if playing any of these mental exercise games will actually improve your brain fitness? How do you know if one form of mental exercise or brain game is better for you than another? The answer to these questions depends on whether the particular mental exercise and or brain game contains the three primary characteristics Neuroscientists say are necessary.

Mental Exercise Should Contain These Primary Characteristics

Any form of mental exercise or brain game should contain the following three primary characteristics in order for it to be of maximum benefit to our brain according to Neuroscientists.

1. Novelty
2. Variety
3. Challenge

These three characteristics will depend greatly of course on who we are and what we do. A mental exercise such as a crossword puzzle might be something new and challenging for one person, but not for another. The same can be said about a video game, free brain games or a commercial brain game. In addition, a particular mental exercise or brain game, over time, will lose its benefit if it loses its novelty or no longer is a challenge for you.

So when evaluating and or comparing any mental exercise or brain game, these three primary characteristics should be used as general guidelines.

Related Posts:

• Brain Fitness is not just Playing Brain Games
• My 4 Pillar Brain Health Goals for 2010
• Get Your Brain Training Done While Online
• Mental Exercises Can Literally Change our Brain
• Brain Health and Fitness News Links Sept 2009