Late Adulthood Games for Memory

Aging affects memory by changing the way the brain stores information. Simultaneously, your body produces fewer of the chemicals that the brain needs to do its job. This can make it harder for you to recall names, words, phone numbers and where you put things. Along with exercising, eating fruits and vegetables, and properly managing stress, keeping your brain active is one of the best ways to prevent memory loss. Games that boost cognitive ability are key.

Sudoku

• A Sudoku puzzle is a nine-by-nine grid, consisting of three-by-three subgrids. The goal of the puzzle is to fill each row, column and subgrid with the numbers one through nine, while ensuring that the number is not repeated in each direction. Each puzzle comes with several numbers filled in, to help get you started; the fewer the pre-programmed numbers, the higher the difficulty level. Sudoku is a great way to keep the brain active because completing the puzzle requires mathematics, organization skills and logic.

Crossword Puzzles

• A crossword puzzle is a grid, usually in the shape of a rectangle or square, with both shaded and white spaces. Accompanying the grid is a list of clues for words to fill into the white spaces of the puzzle. The difficulty comes in filling in words both across and down, meaning some words depend upon the letters of other words that are already filled in. Writing one wrong word into the puzzle can affect the rest of the puzzle. Crossword puzzles require language skills, as well as the ability to retrieve information.

Word Searches

• A word search is a puzzle that looks like a block of letters in a square or rectangle formation, but hidden within this grid are words that the player must find and highlight or circle; a list of these words is provided to the player. The words can run across, down, diagonally, forward or backward. Word searches train the brain in pattern recognition and require visual perception.

Other Logic Puzzles

• Hundreds of thousands of other logic puzzles exercise the brain and help improve memory. Typically they fall into one of four categories: discrete reasoning, mathematical reasoning, practical reasoning and riddles. Discrete reasoning puzzles require the reader to come up with the answer to a question using the given information and the logical mind. Mathematical reasoning puzzles are similar to discrete reasoning, but add the additional skill of using mathematics to solve the problem. Practical reasoning requires that the reader take a real-life (though uncommon) problem and find a logical, practical solution. Finally, riddles are statements usually with double meanings that require clever thinking to solve. These puzzles are often comical.