Does anyone have any experience with brainteasers? Has anyone tried out the brainteaser from Nintendo?

I'm wondering if this is just a big marketing gimmick, or if it really sharpens you up. I'd appreciate you sharing with me your experiences along this line, and if you would recommend it or not.

Oh and if anyone should know some brainteaser links, then please share.

Hannalore, we bought ourselves the Nintendo with brain age for Christmas a year ago. It has certainly helped me. There are games, tests to find out your brain age, and sudoku puzzles. My brain age is down to 26!! (It started at 70 something) I love all kinds of puzzles, so this really works for me. And I've worked my way through all of the sudoku puzzles.

I think any kind of mental activity can keep your brain sharp - crosswords, sudoku, learning a new language. Also varying your routine like taking a different route to somewhere you go a lot, or using your non-dominant hand for tasks. All of these things make new neural pathways in the brain and can ward off things like Alzheimer's and other dementias.

yonuh, I've heard so much about that Nintendo brain age, but never knew anyone that had it. What do you mean your brain age was in the 70s and is now down to 26? Shouldn't it be going up since using it?

Optimal brain age is somewhere in the 20s - forget exactly where - because that's when brain function is at its peak. As we age, the neural pathways slow down and brain cells die, so it takes longer to learn or retain stuff. So a brain age of 70 is really slow! But doing the exercises with the Nintendo has helped to make my brain faster so the brain age goes down. Make sense?

Thanks for the feeback Yonuh. You convinced me, and I will buy Nintendo. I bet it's fun to take along when on vacation, in waiting rooms, etc. Curious to see what my brain age is now. Do they have ages over 100?

Younuh...that's an amazing change! Good for you...You're who I'm gonna call when I can't remember where I put my glasses... LOL!

HL...fun...thanks for posting!

My dad intentionally does the daily Soduko for this reason. I swear I think it's good for him. I attempted one once and that was it. I have no patience for those things.

Poker is my brain exercise. I have to be on my toes, calulating odds and percentages for each hand I play.

I have to read faces for "tells" and remember every hand played at the table, who played it and how they played it previously.

I have to remember who is a tight player, who is loose, passive agressive, a rock or a donkey.

Then I look down at my two cards and decide how I will play before the flop, after the flop, on the turn and on the river..

Raise, reraise, check raise, check, bet or bluff?
...or fold.
Every week, I keep a journal of people I play with and how they play...

It keeps me very active and brain alert.

I firmly believe that using our brain replaces old cells with new ones.

I have the brain of a 20 year old....
Not good, is it?

My brain is going to be getting a good work out this year. Being a homeschooling mom, I have to keep up with the kids as much as possible. My son starts Algegra this year, anyone care to guess how I did in Algebra? I barely passed with a D! But, then again, if you had known my teacher you could have seen that that was part of the problem, but, I also confess, I am somewhat math challenged. Fret not...there are some wonderful books, websites, and software available that can teach the most math challenged people how to do this. Also, my husband is very good at math, my daughter is a math whiz, she actually thinks math is fun....yuck! She didn't get that trait from me. In fact, she loves those soduko puzzles too. I love reading, literature, writing, history, anything but math! I have always wanted to take a psychology course too, I love to know what makes people tick!

I had my IQ tested again a month or so ago by a Professor at the college that was speaking about brain functon etc. He told us that Einsteins IQ was 195. I have been tested before and was 128, since I have been editing constantly and word working, it is now 140. Using my intellect constantly has improved the cell restructure or whatever he was saying. He was difficult to understand at times, his IQ is off the charts. Now I feel so smart, he, he!!!