The Importance of Memory Games

Memory games are considered as one of the primary methods for ensuring that our brains are working at their best. These games have become a subject of great interest to people because they are founded on sound science. Memory is the ability to register, store, hold and retrieve new information. Memory can be divided into some distinct sections that is, short term or working memory and long term memory. Working memory is a key aspect of how we deal with temporarily retained information, whereas long term memory or permanent memory concerns itself with all that we can do accurately and rapidly. Knowledge can be stored as episodic memory, the form of memory that stores events in the precise order in which they happened.

Alternatively knowledge can also be stored as semantic memory in permanent storage. Semantic memory is the memory of knowledge and meaning as such it is the expert or conceptual knowledge that we have developed. It is important to make these distinctions of memory because they play important parts in deciding which type of memory games are appropriate to be indulged in. Some common and simple memory games include trying a new route to work, learning a new language or playing a new musical instrument and travelling to a new and unfamiliar destination. These games stimulate those parts of your brain that are involved in the manipulation, storage and retrieval of information from memory.

There are myriad questions that the designers of memory games are out to establish in their bid to better understand the functioning of the brain and by extension the inner workings of the human mind. Answering some of these questions will be beneficial in tuning the brain and mind to work at their best. Some of these questions are what dreams are made of, why we sleep, what influences our biological clock, memory creation and why we age among others. Memory games are also very important for mental health and well being, neuroscientists have shown that regular brain fitness training can provide considerable benefits to people with cognitive decline.

Memory games have been documented to have beneficial effects on dyslexic college students. One such memory enhancing game used on such students increased their cognitive development, brain activity, working memory and reading performance. And it documented that the results lasted up to six months after the memory training was conducted. Another famous experiment on the importance of Memory games was conducted on nuns. The nuns were asked to write autobiographical essays when they were 20 and tested again when they were 80. The results showed better cognitive ability and less evidence of cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease among those whose earlier essays contained more complex ideas and stories.

The lesson here is that the earlier you begin engaging in Memory games aimed at exercising your brain the longer you will retain your brain fitness. Therefore the importance of engaging in games aimed at testing and keeping your mind fit cannot be gainsaid and it is beneficial for you to consider such games early on in life.