Daniel Amen, MD, is a clinical neuroscientist psychiatrist, physician, professor and 10-time New York Times bestselling author. He is a double board-certified child and adult psychiatrist and founder of Amen Clinics, Inc.
Image by Mihajlo Ckovric / Stocksy
July 22, 2025
In our body-conscious society, there’s no shortage of workout routines to show you how to build muscle. But how do you train your brain?
After 30-plus years as a psychiatrist who uses functional brain SPECT imaging in clinical practice, it is clear to me that the more you use your brain, the better it will perform. When most people think about mental exercise, they think about crossword puzzles and other word games. This is a great start, but it’s only one piece of a total brain workout.
Based on the latest research as well as my own experiences in helping tens of thousands of patients optimize the brain and mental health, here are the best ways to exercise your brain on a daily basis.
The importance of being a lifelong learner
Overall, the most powerful mental exercises involve learning new things and doing things you’ve never done before.
Even if your everyday routines involve complex activities—such as building rockets, managing a Fortune 500 company’s finances, or reading brain scans like me—it doesn’t keep your brain as fit as if you tried something novel. When the brain repeats a task—even a complicated one—it figures out how to use less energy to do so.
The most powerful mental exercises involve learning new things and doing things you’ve never done before.
In general, the regions of your brain that you exercise will grow stronger, but the brain areas you don’t use will shrink or atrophy1. What you need to do is find ways to challenge the parts of your brain you don’t use on a regular basis.
As I mentioned earlier, just doing crossword puzzles or Wordle isn’t enough to fully flex your mental strength. I like to say this is like going to the gym, doing three sets of left biceps curls, then leaving.
How to exercise your whole brain
Here are some of the best mental exercises to work out more of your brain’s critical regions:
1.
Flex your prefrontal cortex: Do word-based & strategy games, practice speech or debate, meditate
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is like your brain’s CEO. It’s involved in executive functions, such as planning, problem-solving, forethought, and follow-through.
To work this part of your brain, play language-based games (such as crossword puzzles, Wordle, Scrabble, Words With Friends, or Boggle) or strategy games (such as chess). You can also play Tetris, which also works the brain’s parietal lobes and occipital lobes. Just be sure to limit your play to about 30 minutes a day for the best results.
Other ways to strengthen the PFC include taking a speech or debate class. Combining weightlifting with aerobic activity can also be helpful, according to researchers2 in the Netherlands. And of all the PFC boosters, the most powerful one may just be meditation. Research on meditation shows that it stimulates activity3 in the PFC and also increases blood flow4 to this brain region. This results in improved focus, judgment, and impulse control.
2.
Flex your temporal lobes: Practice memorization, learn a musical instrument
Located below your temples and behind your eyes, the temporal lobes play an important role in mood stability, memory, learning, temper control, and auditory processing. There are many ways to strengthen this brain region.
Practicing memorization is a potent strategy to improve temporal lobe function. One study found that reciting poetry or prose5 increased the size of the hippocampus, which is located in the temporal lobes.
If poetry isn’t your thing, trying learning the names of all the U.S. presidents in order, reciting all the states alphabetically, or saying your favorite sports team’s win-loss record for the past 20 years.
Other temporal lobe boosters include learning to play a new musical instrument, which also works the PFC, parietal lobes, and cerebellum.
3.
Flex your parietal lobes: Try math games, play golf, use a map for directions
Situated on the top, back of the brain are the parietal lobes, which are involved in sensory processing (touch), spatial perception, sense of direction, and math calculations.
To pump up your parietal lobes, try math-related games (such as Sudoku), juggling, or golf. One study6 found that just 40 hours of golf practice increased gray matter volume in the parietal lobes, as well as the occipital lobes.
4.
Flex your basal ganglia: Do exercises that challenge your balance
The basal ganglia, a large set of structures located near the center of the brain, are involved in motivation, setting the body’s anxiety level, forming habits, pleasure, and steadying motor movements.
You can strengthen this brain region by engaging in activities that require balancing, synchronizing arm and leg movements, or using props (such as balls or ropes). Think yoga, Pilates, or even hula hooping.
5.
Flex your cerebellum: Do exercises that require coordination
Situated at the back bottom part of the brain, the cerebellum is involved with motor coordination and thought coordination. This brain region plays a critical role in processing complex information.
Ways to boost activity in the cerebellum include coordination activities like racket sports (tennis, pickleball, and table tennis), dancing (be sure to learn new dance steps), tai chi, or basketball.
How to make mental exercise a daily habit
To make mental exercise an everyday practice, follow these tips:
Set aside at least 15 minutes a day to learn something new.
Take a class at a local community college, practice a new hobby, or cross-train at work.
Visit new places to expose your brain to novel sights, scents, and individuals.
Break your daily routine to stimulate other brain regions. For example, try using your nondominant hand to brush your teeth.
Develop friendships with new, smart, interesting people who challenge you.
If you have issues such as ADHD that can make new learning challenging, seek professional help.
What this looks like in practice: How I exercise my brain daily
On a daily basis, I engage in mental exercise by learning something new. For example, I recently trained to become certified in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which is a type of therapy that’s highly beneficial for trauma survivors.
I also try to work all the regions of my brain by meditating (PFC), memorizing lists (temporal lobes), playing Sudoku (parietal lobes), doing balance exercises (basal ganglia), and playing coordination games (cerebellum).
Table tennis is like aerobic chess for the brain.
By far, my favorite brain-boosting activity is table tennis, which I believe is the world’s best brain sport. This aerobic exercise gets your heart pumping and increases blood flow to the brain, which is great for overall brain function.
In addition, it works out nearly every region of my brain. Table tennis tests my reflexes (parietal lobes) and improves my hand-eye coordination (cerebellum). It requires me to have laser focus (PFC) so I can keep my eye on the ball as it travels through space and figure out the spins (parietal lobes).
I also have to plan my shots (PFC) and come up with strategies to take advantage of my opponents’ weaknesses (cerebellum). Then I have to follow through on my plans (PFC) and coordinate my shots so they go where I want them to (cerebellum).
While all this is going on, I have to do my best to calm my nerves (basal ganglia) so I don’t blow it on game point. And I have to keep my temper under control (temporal lobes), so I don’t get angry if I make a mistake. In my view, table tennis is like aerobic chess for the brain.
The takeaway
When you make a habit of flexing different mental muscles daily, you will help keep your brain strong. And that can help you in every aspect of your life.
