I bought a Nintendo DS Lite a couple weeks ago so I could play Brain Age. I was unsure if Brain Age would really help improve my brain. But after playing it, I can see how it would help. The games are simple (basic addition or multiplication, for example), however, the games are designed in a way that make you use pattern recognition or perform two tasks at once. The games reminded me of the benefits of playing a musical instrument -- the pattern recognition skills required and the integration of left and right sides of the brain.
The game is the creation of famed neuroscientist, Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. Dr. Kawashima has criticized some video games because they don't exercise the brain enough. In a stroke of marketing genius, Nintendo recruited Dr. Kawashima to produce a video game that would help people exercise their brains. The result? Brain Age has been a huge success and put DS Lites into the hand of people who normally wouldn't play video games.
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