Sarah Regan is a Spirituality & Relationships Editor, and a registered yoga instructor. She received her bachelor’s in broadcasting and mass communication from SUNY Oswego, and lives in Buffalo, New York.
Image by Tino Renato / Death to the Stock Photo
July 15, 2024
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As we get older, the unfortunate reality is that our mental faculties tend to decline. The good news, however, is we’re learning more and more about how to preserve and even improve cognition as we age.
And according to research published in the journal Heliyon1, one easy way you can do so starts with simple brain games. Here’s what they found.
Studying the power of brain games
For this study, researchers wanted to assess the impact brain games can have on older adults, namely looking at different types of games and how those games influenced memory and concentration.
The study included both older and younger adults and involved participants playing various digital games they would normally play in real life.
As such, a wide array of games were tested, and participants also completed digital experiments that involved memorizing images while they were distracted.
And based on the findings, it would appear that digital puzzle games reign supreme when it comes to improving memory and concentration. Namely, adults 60 and up who played digital puzzle games were better at ignoring irrelevant distractions and had better memory in the assessments than adults playing digital strategy games.
As study co-author Joe Cutting, Ph.D., explains in a news release, “Puzzle games for older people had this surprising ability to support mental capabilities to the extent that memory and concentration levels were the same as a 20-year-old’s who had not played puzzle games.”
What to do about it
Following this study, the researchers now say that future studies should look at why different games have different effects, especially as we age.
As study co-author Fiona McNab, Ph.D., notes, “It seems to be the strategy elements of the games—planning and problem solving, for example—that stimulates better memory and attention in young people. We don’t see this same effect in older adults, however, and more research is needed to understand why this is.”
But in the meantime, brain games (namely puzzle games as opposed to strategy or action games) could be an advantageous hobby to pick up for older populations.
And for further cognitive support as you age, it’s also not a bad idea to look to brain-supporting supplements with research-backed ingredients that are proven to boost your brainpower. Here’s a roundup of our favorite memory supplements, to that end.
The takeaway
But as we learn more about how to protect and preserve brain health as we age, the good news is, incorporating a fun digital puzzle game into your routine can help hone your memory and concentration, no matter how old you are.
