What do you think would happen if we neglected our car? What would happen if we didn’t take it in for an oil change or maintenance? I think you know the answer to these rhetorical questions. You car would fall apart, or worse, it might even cease to function at all. Well, the same goes for our bodies. If we neglect them, they too will fall apart.
Over the last few decades, the media has spent a ton of money trying to get us to take better care of ourselves physically. We’re told to eat properly and get regular exercise. And we’re told that if we don’t do these things we’ll most likely become overweight, sickly and are at a higher risk in developing all sorts of physical maladies. But what about our brain – what happens if we neglect that? Our brains are the central control and processing unit for our body. Our brains control just about everything going on in our bodies. Without our brains, we couldn’t operate or function in this world at all. Yet, only recently has the media begun to recognize the importance of keeping our brains fit.
Studies have shown that contrary to popular believe, our brains can grow new cells throughout our life. Regardless of age, our brains have the ability to continue to develop, grow and improve overall function. But this cannot happen if we neglect our brains. In fact, if we neglect our brains we stand to actually loose what we do have over time in terms of brain function and health. So, how do we keep from neglecting our brains and staving off the effects of old age?
Scientists have discovered that our brains need activity and stimulation in order to stay fit. Just like our bodies, our brains need to be exercised and not neglected in order to stay healthy. Activities like crossword puzzles, checkers, Sudoku, chess, and other such thinking games all help to stimulate our brains. Many of these types of games are available for free online. On a more sophisticated level, there are several computer programs available that provide an excellent way to challenge and improve brain function. Many such programs are provided online and thus can be played at anytime and anywhere you have a computer connected to the internet. Online brain games such as these are designed to adapt to your increasing abilities and keep track of your progress. In addition, they are often developed by neuroscientists to target key specific brain areas such as memory, cognitive control, attention, etc. But as I said, even common board games such as checkers for instance can provide our brains with the needed activity and stimulation to help keep our brains fit.
Like our bodies, we need to regularly exercise our brains. Even as little as 10 minutes a day of playing online brain games is an excellent practice to keep our brains fit. The great thing about brain exercise is that unlike physical exercise which at time seems boring or grueling, playing online brain games is fun. Because they’re so much fun to play, they’re somewhat addictive. So in this regard, once you get started with a brain fitness program by playing brain games, it’s much easier to stay with it over time. Therefore by playing online brain games you’re less likely to neglect your brain – and that’s a good thing.
