Want to Boost Your Mental Health? Try Brain Games

(ARA) – Increasingly we hear that mental activity is a key component of overall health. Experts now believe that the mental exercise involved in some board games, such as word and strategy games, can make teens smarter, help adults stay sharper, and ward off degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s for seniors.

Achieving these benefits can be as easy, and as fun, as organizing weekly family games of Word Sweep! or Scrabble, completing daily crossword or Sudoku puzzles, or even regularly playing the online version of the hit strategy game Blokus.

Adults and seniors can benefit from playing board games and computer puzzles that require concentration on problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, says Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, Ph.D., a clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine and author of the book, “The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger as Your Brain Grows Older.”

“Evidence is growing that cognitive exercise, such as game playing, may have a relatively lasting positive effect on cognitive health,” Dr. Goldberg says, adding that the three principles for good brain exercises are novelty, variety and constant challenge. “The challenge is to make such exercise sufficiently varied.”

In fact, according to studies cited on the research Web site, www.SharpBrains.com, individuals who lead mentally stimulating lives have 35 to 40 percent less risk of developing symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

So which new board games offer the latest variety of brain-stimulating challenge and fun for 2008?

Word Sweep! recently became the first game endorsed by leading dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster. The game (www.wordsweep.com) asks players to use clues to identify consecutive words from the dictionary. For example, which word follows “walrus” in the dictionary? (Clue: it’s a type of dance.)

The game, which was invented by a former teacher and father of three, is recommended for ages 10 and older, so everyone from children to adults to seniors can play together. This all-inclusive game play has helped the product win several toy industry, parenting and social entertainment awards, and helped the product get stocked at Borders book stores.

Other games for all ages that provide a mental workout include WordSpot, a game where players search for words hidden among random letters on a grid, and Last Word, a game where players try to be the last person in the group to say, for example, a vegetable that starts with the letter “C.” (Hint: There are least 10 that start with “C”.)

Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D., child development expert and professional toy reviewer who goes by the nickname “Dr. Toy,” says that brain-stimulating activities such as games not only benefit adults and seniors but also can help children and teens become better students in school. In her book “Smart Play Smart Toys,” Auerbach says that active educational play helps children develop such basic social and academic skills as concentration, problem solving, communication and cooperation.

“When kids play at home they gain additional skills that complement their classroom studies,” Auerbach says. “Kids not only improve mental skills, but also their social skills.”

While board games tend to improve cognitive and social skills, online games can sharpen concentration skills as players often play alone. And the popularity of online games is growing. According to www.SharpBrains.com, consumers will spend $80 million on brain fitness computer games such as Nintendo’s Brain Age DS game and Blokus World Tour in 2007, up from just $2 million in 2005.

“I think we are at a relatively early stage of this trend, but it is rapidly gaining momentum,” Dr. Goldberg says.

The benefits of games should give everyone something to think about in the new year.

Courtesy of ARA Content