“Working out your brain is an absolute chore”, said nobody ever. With the increasing popularity of mobile technology, neurogaming and brain training are all the rage among seniors. The rudimentary sudoku and crossword puzzles commonly seen in newspapers have now found their way into smartphones, accompanied by a plethora of games that challenge your memory, speed, problem-solving, and language proficiency. And this is just the beginning.
The Natural Library of Medicine’s scientific report shows that brain training using cognitive apps can improve cognitive performance and processing speed in older adults. Doctors even prescribe brain training apps to their senior patients as part of their comprehensive care plans.
Below, we’ve compiled five apps that can help you improve your cognitive abilities and have a jolly good time while doing so.
Lumosity
Living up to its motto, “You care about your brain. We do, too,” Lumosity is the product of intense research conducted by over 100 researchers worldwide. It was one of the first apps in the brain-training sphere, offering cognitive exercises to enhance memory, attention span, speed, and flexibility.
It has a clear and navigable user interface with subtle colours that give it an approachable personality. These design elements are especially beneficial for seniors seeking a
simple and intuitive experience to comfortably switch between various games, stats, and functions of the application. The app allocates a score after every game, and adding all the scores gives you your Lumosity Performance Index (LPI).
There are plenty of engaging games to choose from, and based on your unique preferences, the app ensures that the game selection is tailored to you. What’s more, every game includes tutorials so you can better understand it before beginning and earning points. Lumosity’s free trial is 14 days long. After that period, you can either choose its yearly (Rs.3,700) or monthly (Rs.750) plan.
One brain training game that stands out for its attention-grabbing (and sustaining) quality is Train of Thought. Its design is reminiscent of colourful toy trains from back in the day. The rules are fairly straightforward: move each train to its matching station by changing the switches on the track. As you climb the levels, the challenge intensifies, but that’s where all the fun lies!
Other games to try out on Lumosity include Splitting Seeds, Assist Ants, Raindrops, and Continuum. You can download Lumosity on the App Store and Google Play.
CogniFit Brain Fitness
The CogniFit Brain Fitness app houses over 60 games created by neuroscientists. It also generates reports on gaming performance that you can share with professionals (like your doctor). And if you’re a senior who loves a good challenge, you can have friendly competitions with your loved ones on the platform while monitoring the live ranking to see how you stack up.
Navigating the app is an absolute breeze, thanks to its responsive interface and seamless design. However, some users complain of glitching, and the monthly fee is on the higher end of the price spectrum.
CogniFit Brain Fitness uses AI to curate a daily gaming dose for your unique cognitive status and suggests games to work your weak points. For example, if you excel at speed but struggle with memory, you’ll receive more memory-based game recommendations.
The most engaging game to boost your planning abilities is Candy Line Up. Start by choosing your difficulty level and move the candies from one tube to another until the tubes are filled with one kind of candy. This game stimulates your management skills and as you level up, the number of tubes increases and the candies have caps on them to amp up the difficulty level.
Other must-try games on the app are Happy Hopper, Marble Race, and Colour Bee. Cognifit launches a new game every month, so be sure to look out for them. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Elevate
Elevate’s games put emphasis on speaking, writing, reading, and listening over speed and problem-solving. This means you’ll read text, rid your sentences of grammatical errors, and broaden your vocabulary. While the games are short, they’re certainly addictive and help power your brain to improve your verbal and written skills.
Unlike Lumosity’s muted design, Elevate is bright and blaring. You’ll notice this in the games in particular, as Elevate displays more animated figures than the minimalistic objects in Lumosity.
With Elevate, you can track your progress with every game and compare your results with peers, adding a competitive edge. However, it doesn’t display an overall score for daily sessions. And since this app is designed for those already skilled in the English language, beginners might find it slightly tricky.
On Elevate, you’ll find a multitude of games under each category, from brevity and error avoidance to expression and clarity. For instance, if you’re looking to expand your vocabulary, there’s a game where the name of a new word is displayed, and you have to choose the right meaning from the options below. You’ll find this app on both Android and iOS devices.
Peak
Neuroscience experts have come together to design Peak’s mini-games, which challenge memory, attention, problem-solving abilities, mental agility, and more. The biggest motivator on this app is Coach, your personal brain trainer. Coach tracks your progress, ensures you’re being adequately challenged with the right brain workouts, and helps you in areas that need improvement.
The app features an aesthetic look, with smooth transitions and understated and minimal colours. You’ll earn points with every game you play, which will add towards your daily goal. To assess your progress via statistics and graphs, you can head over to the performance tab in the application.
The Peak app offers a one-week free trial that gives you unlimited access to all 43 games. After that, you must pay Rs.600 per year.
Toon Blast is a popular game developed by Peak in which you solve puzzles to unlock new levels. However, each level has limited moves, and you lose a life if you run out of them. On the upside, you get up to five free lives—one free life every thirty minutes. Other exciting games on Peak are Smurfs’ Village, Kitchen Scramble, War of Nations, and Words of Wonder. You can download Peak on Google Play and the App Store.
Wordle
Unlike the apps mentioned above, Wordle is an individual game in which you get six attempts to guess a new five-letter word daily. As you input letters into the grid, the tiles change colour: grey signifies the letter is absent from the word, yellow indicates the letter is present but in the wrong position, and green means the letter is both present and correctly placed.
Wordle is the perfect mini-workout for the brain, especially if you like building words and problem-solving games. Dr Sandi Mann, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, told the Independent, “Wordle can help us to achieve ‘psychological flow. This is a state of mind in which we are completely engaged in an activity.”
Dr Emer MacSweeney, CEO and consultant neuroradiologist at Re: Cognition Health, told the publication: “Keeping the brain and mind active is hugely important for all stages of life, maintaining cognitive function, promoting mental agility and supporting overall wellbeing.”
According to Phototutorial stats, Wordle has around 3 million players worldwide. This shows that many people enjoy this daily activity. The apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or App Store.
