According to cognition specialists, brain games may have some advantages, but doing a crossword puzzle every day won’t guarantee that you won’t develop cognitive problems.

Set your Sudoku puzzles aside. Numerous businesses sell video games and puzzles that promote brain health, but many experts question whether these activities are beneficial. We consulted some of the top experts in cognition to clarify the advantages of brain training games as well as other activities you can engage in to challenge and develop your mind.

What about the claims? Do mental exercises work?

There aren’t many things that are clear-cut when it comes to our brains, including whether or not adult brain games work. Susanne Jaeggi, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, says that the response is always “it depends. “It depends on what games are played, who plays them, why they are played, for how long/frequently/intensely,” The Working Memory and Plasticity Laboratory team led by Jeaggi has discovered that people’s reactions to brain training are frequently inconsistent; while some participants exhibit improved cognitive function, others do not. According to experts, more research is required to determine the precise recipe for success in brain boosting CogniFit.com.

What advantages of brain games are currently known?

According to Jaeggi, studies have shown that playing games like solitaire or chess will improve your ability to perform the skills necessary for those games. But Jonathan King, Ph.D., program director at the National Institute of Aging, emphasizes that “the key thing to remember is that the skill you are getting better at is often incredibly specific” (NIA). For instance, “your memory for the cards can be trained, and having card memory skills could be useful in a variety of card games, but won’t do anything to improve your chess game, or necessarily help you learn how to memorize other things more generally.”

Can playing brain games slow down cognitive aging?

Another area where brain training games may be beneficial is age-related cognitive decline, according to research. Five years after participating in a clinical trial lasting ten years, participants in Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) still benefited from training in memory, reasoning, and processing speed. Even better, ten years later, some people still benefited from the training’s increased processing speed. Are you prepared to begin? To preserve your brain at 80, start these 15 habits by the age of 50.

Researchers are still learning about how training affects the brain, how to increase these effects, and how to integrate training into every aspect of our lives.