"Brain Fitness"

It is easy to exclusively associate the word “fitness” with physical activities like running and biking. However, I have recently been reading up on the concept of “brain fitness,” and I have been finding it quite intriguing.

When you work out your body you push your muscles to their limit on a regular basis so that they slowly get toned up and are capable of more and more. Well, this same exact concept holds true for your brain. Mental “workouts” with crosswords or Sudoku puzzles challenge your thinking and over time can make your brain sharper.

While you get the immediate mild mood boost from the sense of accomplishment after completing a puzzle, an exercised brain over time also has a better memory, is a faster decision maker, and is more capable of maintaining focus. Cool huh.

 

Keeping your brain sharp also has more tangible health benefits in the long term including warding off dementia and Alzheimer’s.

I personally am partial to my nice little Sudoku app on my iPhone, but there are plenty of online sources for brainteasers and puzzles to keep your brain in shape.

Here are a few articles I found online about this if you are interested in further reading:

http://www.positscience.com/why-brainhq/effective-brain-training/12-benefits-of-brain-fitness

http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-system/brain-teasers-and-mind-games.htm

http://www.daisybrains.com/blog/brain-teasers/more-please-why-our-brains-cant-seem-to-get-enough-of-brain-teasers-and-logic-puzzles/

 

-Brooke