Aging well isn’t just about maintaining your physical health. Keeping your brain active and maintaining social connections are vital to continued good health at any age, including your retirement years.
Engaging in activities that stimulate the mind can help keep your thinking skills in tip-top shape while potentially slowing memory loss and delaying symptoms of dementia, according to WebMD.
With a wealth of brain-training and mental health apps available, it’s easier than ever to squeeze in some mental exercise every day—and have a good time while you’re at it. Some apps have a built-in social component that lets you engage in friendly competition with others who are using the app, making them even more fun.
Visit the Apple App Store or Google Play and you’ll find myriad apps for older adults, from apps for mental health to apps that can help manage medications. Some of the most popular apps are designed specifically to have a positive impact on your brain health.
10 Apps Created to Flex Your Mental Muscles
While not all of these apps are specifically for seniors, all offer various exercises, games and programs to challenge your cognitive skills. Many of them let you track your progress and automatically adjust the level of difficulty as you improve.
They’re listed in alphabetical order. Some are free, while others require a subscription (though most offer a free trial).
- BrainHQ. Developed by neuroscientists, BrainHQ offers specialized exercises for memory, attention, brain speed, decision-making and navigation. There’s also a category called people skills.
- Brain Wars. The app is described as the world’s first real-time concentration battling app. The goal is to outscore your opponents on brain teasers including quick math, matching, tracing and other challenges.
- The company’s brain-training games and personalized programs are developed and tested through scientific research. CogniFit offers a cognitive assessment developed specifically for seniors, as well as a brain stimulation and neurorehabilitation program for adults ages 65 and older, designed for seniors with or without early memory loss or mild cognitive decline.
- Dakim BrainFitness Active. Created for adults ages 50 and older, Dakim BrainFitness Active claims it is clinically proven to significantly improve cognitive performance in memory and language abilities. Dakim’s NuroLogic™ technology modifies exercises across six cognitive domains in real time.
- The app offers 40+ brain-training games in seven categories, including memory games and concentration and focus games, and lets you see how your performance compares with other users.
- Impulse – Brain Training. Ranking at or near the top of Health & Fitness apps in Apple’s App Store, Impulse – Brain Training lets you set goals and receive a personalized brain-training program. The app’s puzzles and games target cognitive skills such as memory, attention, concentration, problem-solving and creativity.
- Launched in 2007, Lumosity was one of the earliest brain-training apps and is still one of the best-known. Lumosity determines your baseline and then recommends cognitive games designed to improve your problem-solving skills, memory and attention, the speed at which you process information and your mental flexibility.
- The app offers a selection of more than 20 games (with over 720 levels) developed to improve concentration, memory, mental speed, logic reasoning and mindfulness. If you’re feeling competitive, Memorado lets you see how you measure up to others.
- To keep you motivated, Peak offers a virtual personal trainer called Coach. Based in neuroscience and cognitive science, Peak’s games are designed to test your focus, memory, problem-solving skills and mental agility with short, intense workouts.
- To begin, NeuroNation has you take an assessment and then provides a personalized training plan with more than 30 exercises to improve your memory, attention, processing speed and logical thinking skills. The company collaborates with universities around the world and says its app is being used to help prevent dementia.
Also Worth Mentioning
Although it’s not an app, the Braingle website offers what it describes as the internet’s largest collection of brain teasers, riddles, logic problems and mind puzzles. You can also challenge your mind with trivia quizzes, a variety of brain exercises called “mentalrobics,” and online puzzle games including sudoku, crossword puzzles, chess, checkers and more.
And if you’re interested in a mental health app with activities, exercises and games designed to help you feel more positive, ease anxiety and combat stress, take a look at Happify.
Other Ways to Maintain Your Cognitive Health
The National Institute on Aging notes that learning a new skill like quilting or digital photography may improve memory.
In addition, engaging in activities such as listening to music, dancing, attending a theatrical performance or creative writing “has shown promise for improving quality of life and well-being, from better memory and self-esteem to reduced stress and increased social interaction,” according to the NIA.
Studies have shown that staying active socially, whether by volunteering, participating in group activities or connecting with friends and family, can also support cognitive functioning in later life, the NIA notes.
Intellectual Wellness: One Aspect of Whole-Body Wellness at Heron’s Key
Along with intellectual wellness, our holistic wellness program focuses on six other aspects of whole-body wellness:
- Emotional
- Environmental
- Physical
- Social
- Spiritual
- Vocational
Residents can nurture their intellectual health through lifelong learning activities, including remote and in-person lectures and presentations by guest speakers, as well as by participating in dozens of resident-led interest groups, volunteer activities and an assortment of regularly scheduled games with friends and neighbors.
If you’re ready to satisfy your curiosity with a visit to Heron’s Key, contact us and we’ll gladly set one up for you. While you’re here, you can exercise your imagination by envisioning your future as part of our community!
Featured Image: PeopleImages.com – Yuri A / Shutterstock
