Forgetting keys, not remembering the name of the person you just met, or spending more time solving familiar tasks is something that many people face, especially as they age. After all, memory is not a static function, but a dynamic process that can and should be trained, just like we train muscles.
Active mental activity and regular memory games for adults can significantly improve cognitive function and quality of life.
Little Test: How Do You Know If You Have Memory Problems?
Before you start training, it’s important to do a little self-assessment. Answer the following questions honestly to understand how satisfied you are with the state of your memory. This test is not a medical diagnosis, but only a tool for self-analysis and understanding whether it is worth paying more attention to your cognitive activity.
Answer “Yes” or “No” to every statement.
- Forgetfulness in daily activities. Have you started forgetting small but important things more often? For example, you forgot to turn off the iron, close the door, or can’t remember where you put your glasses.
- Difficulties with names and faces. Do you often encounter a situation where you see a person you’ve been in contact with recently, but you can’t remember their name?
- Losing the thread of the conversation. Does it happen that you lose your thought in the middle of a sentence or forget what you were talking about a minute ago?
- Reduced speed of thinking. Do you feel that you need more time to solve tasks that previously seemed simple, such as counting change in a store or filling out paperwork?
- We got lost in a familiar place. Has it become more difficult to navigate in familiar places, for example, on the way to work or in a large supermarket, where you have been many times?
- Frequent questioning. Do you have to ask the other person again because you didn’t get the gist of what was said, even if there were no extraneous noises?
- Problems with memorizing new information. Do you have difficulty learning something new — a new route, recipe, or a foreign word?
Interpretation of the results: If you answered “Yes” to most of the questions (3 or more), this may be a signal that your memory needs support and training. This is not necessarily a sign of a serious illness. This is often the result of stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, or lack of mental activity. The main thing is to realize the problem and start acting. Regular mental activity, a balanced diet and a good night’s sleep can significantly improve the situation.
If you experience severe anxiety or memory problems that interfere with your daily life, it is always recommended to consult a neurologist for professional advice.
Online Memory Training Games for Adults
In the modern world, brain training has become more convenient and affordable than ever. Online memory development games are not just entertainment, but a scientifically based tool that helps maintain cognitive health. Their effectiveness is based on the principles of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience. When we learn new skills or solve complex tasks, new neural connections form in our brain and existing ones strengthen. The games are specifically designed to stimulate various aspects of cognitive activity.
Here are some types of online games that are most effective for memory training:
- Games for working memory. Working memory is our ability to temporarily hold and manipulate information to perform current tasks. This is, for example, remembering a phone number while you are dialing it. Games of this type include remembering the order of flashing lights, the location of objects on a grid or remembering objects that appeared N-steps back. These games directly train our ability to concentrate and retain information.
- Long-term memory games. Long-term memory is responsible for storing information for a long time, from a few minutes to a lifetime. These games include quizzes, association games, and memorizing facts, stories, or poems. Games that require recall, such as “Who said that?” or “What happened this year?”, stimulate the extraction of information from long-term memory, which is key to strengthening it.
- Games for concentration and attention. Memory is closely related to attention. If you can’t focus, you won’t be able to remember. Attention-focused games force you to react quickly to a changing environment, track multiple objects at the same time, or find differences in complex images. For example, “Tracking the Ball” or “Finding Differences” are great for this purpose.
Online brain training platforms usually offer personalized programs that adapt to your progress, gradually increasing the difficulty of tasks. This ensures a constant load and prevents the brain from getting used to monotonous exercises, which maximizes the effect of training.
Three Effective Mind Elevate Memory Training Games
- Portal Match: In this game, you unlock pairs of colored objects that are hidden behind portals. The task is to remember where each color is located and find all the pairs before the time runs out. With each level, the number of objects increases, which requires more concentration and visual memory.
- Galactic Watcher: See how planets appear in different parts of the screen. Your task is to remember their exact location. As soon as they disappear, you will need to put them back in their original places. This is great training for spatial thinking.
- Safe Riddle: In front of you is a rotating safe with symbols. The symbols are visible at first, but then disappear. To open the safe, you will need to correctly indicate where each symbol was located. This game tests your ability to quickly memorize information and reproduce it with high accuracy.
Disease Prevention: How It Works in the Long Term
Scientific research in recent decades has shown that active mental activity throughout life is a powerful factor in preventing and slowing the development of many neurodegenerative diseases, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Memory games and other cognitive exercises play a key role in this process.
Creating Cognitive Reserve
The main mechanism explaining this effect is the so-called “cognitive reserve”. Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to cope with damage or pathological changes (such as plaque deposition in Alzheimer’s disease) through the use of alternative neural networks and strategies.
The more “reserves” you have, the more developed and diverse your neural connections are, the longer the brain will be able to compensate for the damage before clinical symptoms of the disease appear. Regular memory training and other intellectual activities contribute to the formation of this reserve.
Reducing the Risk of Dementia
Many epidemiological studies have shown that people who actively engage in mental work, read, solve puzzles, and participate in social discussions have a significantly lower risk of developing dementia in old age. For example, a large-scale study published in the Lancet journal highlighted that cognitive activity is one of 12 modifiable risk factors that can be influenced to reduce the likelihood of developing dementia.
Maintaining Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to self-organize, form new neural connections, and change existing ones. This ability may decrease with age. However, research shows that regular mental stimulation provided by online memory games helps maintain neuroplasticity at a high level. Thus, the brain remains more flexible and adaptable.
Reducing the MCI Rate of Progression
Mild cognitive impairment is a condition that often precedes dementia, characterized by small but noticeable impairments in memory and other cognitive functions. Research shows that cognitive training can help slow the progression of this condition. Although it does not “cure” MCI, it can delay its transition to more serious forms.
So, it is important to understand that online memory games are not a panacea, but part of a comprehensive strategy. Their effectiveness increases many times if they are combined with other aspects of a healthy lifestyle: physical activity especially aerobic exercise, which improves blood supply to the brain, a balanced diet rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, quality sleep and an active social life.
Social interactions themselves are a powerful brain stimulator, as they require constant information processing, empathy, and problem solving. Thus, regularly playing online memory games is an excellent, but not the only, step towards maintaining cognitive health for many years to come.
