The internet is great, isn’t it? There’s nothing we can’t do from the click of a button. We can do our shopping, socialise with friends, keep up with our banking, and of course look at grumpy cats. It’s become an integral part of our lives, to the point where in some countries it’s now a basic human right.
Google is now our go-to place to find information, and there’s no doubt it has made us a brighter nation. But whilst it’s great for knowledge, it’s also an amazing tool for training the brain.
Brain training has been a buzzword for a few years now, with the Nintendo DS playing a big part in that, but today it’s still as popular as ever. Meditation is most certainly on the rise, but there are also hundreds of sites and apps to flex our brains in the world’s biggest metaphorical gym, strengthening the most important muscle of all.
We take a look at the best places online to improve your brain skills, and have a little bit of fun along with it.
Lumosity
Lumosity has been training brains for over seven years now and has attracted over 70 million users during that time.
Created by Kunal Sarkar, Michael Scanlon, and David Drescher, the site has become world renowned for its program which consists of games that focus on areas such as memory, attention, flexibility, and problem solving.
With over 40 games to choose from it allows users to target a wide range of cognitive skills in order to work on areas where they aren’t necessarily strong on, and log all their results.
According to the site, playing the games just a few minutes a day will make you smarter, sharper, and brighter, with games including simple snap games, directing trains to stations, and remembering patterns.
Natural Born Poker Player
But that isn’t the only site which uses games to test your brain. PokerStars’ Natural Born Poker Player uses augmented reality to prompt the user to make quick and correct decisions.
So far the poker brand, which has over 50 million members, has released three games named The Khazi, The Chase, and The Poisoner, all with the aim of testing the same sort of skills required whilst sat at the poker table.
The Chase is perhaps the most exciting of all, testing your quick thinking, cool headedness, and bravery – a key skill when sitting on the green felt. In it, you must chase a mugger who has stolen a woman’s handbag, making quick decisions to keep up with him and take that handbag back.
The other games are slightly more fun and involve a difficult restroom situation and poisoning an ambassador at a masquerade ball.
What makes it stand out over other brain training games however is the fact that it’s augmented reality, transporting you straight into the situation, making your brain work harder and harder to make the decisions.
Online Poker
And online poker isn’t the worst way to sharpen your brain either. The game requires large amounts of concentration, as well as quick thinking to analyse whether an opponent is bluffing or not.
The game has been played online for around 20 years now, but never has it been as big as it is today. Hundreds of millions of people play the game online now, in an industry worth billions, and catering to players of all abilities.
For those looking to boost their brains, playing with play money is perfect. You’ll encounter all types of players from sharks to maniacs, and being sharp enough to beat them and take a prize pot takes an awful lot of brain power.
Particularly with long sessions, it is a great way to improve concentration, and you never know; you could get good enough to become a real player.
Khan Academy
The Khan Academy opened in 2006 and aimed to do something quite phenomenal. Founded by Salman Khan, he set about trying to provide a “free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.”
And people have certainly taken him up on that offer. In a little under a decade the Khan Academy has uploaded thousands of videos to YouTube with some earning millions of views, all giving delightful insight into a range of subjects.
That’s complimented on their website where they have thousands of resources translated into a range of other languages including French, German, Indonesian, Arabic, and many more.
Math, science, and economics all can be studied, meaning you’re never too old to get back to school and finally get your head around algebra.
Neuronation
Similar to Lumosity, Neuronation is like a huge gym for the brain, ready for you to start showing off those muscles. However, there is a little bit of a twist. Not only does the site help in everyday brain exercises but the company also works hard to produce games and activities to help with rehabilitation.
Over the years they’ve co-operated with numerous companies to investigate how training can help assist stroke victims along with the importance of brain activity in old age and have found it really can make a difference.
The games themselves challenge memory, logic, attention, and verbal skills through activities based on this research and offer tailored challenges to suit your needs. Like Lumosity, you can record all your results, setting goals and targets to keep challenging your brain further and further.
It’s generally accepted that exercise is good for us. We’re encouraged to take part in sports, running, and head down to the gym to pump some iron to keep us strong in our later years. An active body will make you live longer. It seems to be that simple. But we shouldn’t forget the brain; after all, it’s the most important muscle of all.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get the sweatbands on and get started on making that brain stronger…
Ways To Develop Your Brain Using The World Wide Web
