Keep Your Brain Challenged With a Variety of Exercises
While there are lots of computer games and apps that promise to enhance cognitive function — and research like the ACTIVE study suggests that computer-based speed processing training exercises can help — they’re not the only activities you should be doing.
“These games are typically about one type of thing: You are either getting faster, or you are trying to remember more things or learning more math,” says Caldwell.
If you are finding ways to be continually challenged by these games or apps, they could have value, but you can usually get the same types of challenges (or even better ones) from books, non-computer-based games with other people, or listening to a podcast on a new and challenging subject, she says.
The other issue is that these games are usually played while sitting down.
“That’s okay for short periods of time. But, generally, the more time you can be up and active and not in front of a screen, the better for your brain,” says Miller.
