Alex’s top Apps to train your brain

Keeping your brain active is as important as keeping your body moving. One of the easiest and most effective ways to do this is by playing online brain training games that exercise your reasoning and problem solving skills.

A recent study by Kings College in London* found that participation in mental exercises online kept minds sharp, and helped people with everyday skills such as shopping and cooking.

As part of the study, one group of volunteers was asked to play online brain training games for ten minutes at a time, five times a week, while another group was asked to just do simple internet searches.

After six months, both groups were tested and it was found that those who’d played the brain training games had kept their broader cognitive skills better than those who just stuck to simple internet searches.

What’s more, those aged over 60 experienced the best results!

There are loads of free brain training apps that you can download onto your smart phone or tablet, and use to exercise that grey matter regularly.

Age Hacker Alex has tried out a number of these – here are his top three:

Sudoku
Alex describes this app as “good to get the grey matter stirring.” Sudoku (left) as an app works just like the original game played using pen and paper, only you can adjust things such as the difficulty, or the square size.
There are many Sudoku apps by different companies – go to the Apple or Google Play store and choose the app with the highest star rating.

QuizUp

If you’re a general knowledge enthusiast, you’ll love this app. Choose a subject then answer six multi choice questions – each with four possible answers to choose from. It works much like popular quiz TV shows such as Mastermind (which is also available as an app).
An added bonus with QuizUp is you can choose whether you’d like to challenge yourself, or play against other people who have the app. There’s nothing like a bit of competition to get the brain training going! This app is great for improving your general knowledge and also great practice for the local pub quiz. Download it from Apple or Google.

100! Puzzle

This classic block puzzle game is great for keeping your memory sharp. It’s bright, fun and hugely addictive! You’ll be constantly trying to beat your high score. Download it here or, if you’re an Apple user, get it from here.
What’s your favourite brain-training game? Tell us in the comments below.

* Read more about the research by Kings College here.