(Newswire.net — April 11, 2017) — If there’s one thing we love more than sharing health tips, it has to be playing games. So, today we thought we’d share three different types of games that are enjoyable, exciting and most importantly benefit your brain in a variety of ways.

Poker Lowers Your Risk of Alzheimer’s

At 83 years of age, Doyle Bronson is one of the oldest professional poker players in history. The Las Vegas resident remains as sharp as ever, continues to be successful and even still maintains a reputation for being boisterous: could this all be down to playing poker? There’s a study that suggests this could be the case.

Back in 2009, one of the world’s leading Alzheimer’s researchers Dr. Jeffrey Cummings found that playing poker lowers your risk of developing the debilitating diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s by up to 50%. The French study, which included 5,000 senior citizens play a variety of games, even found that poker was the most effective game of all those tested and that playing it just twice a week should keep your brain healthy.

Of course, you don’t need to be elderly or a professional poker player to get involved in the game. There are numerous online sites which you can visit now to find all different types of poker that will keep your brain active. In fact, certain leading brands such as Vegas Casino even offer their players live poker games, to fully simulate a casino experience.

Super Mario 3D World Improves Your Memory

Although we may not need any more excuses to play video games, a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience has revealed that playing some games can improve your memory significantly. However, not every sort of game will benefit your brain.

During the research, which was conducted over at the University of California, neurobiologists found that 3D games can improve your memory while 2D games have little impact. A total of 171 college-age participants with varying levels of gaming experience were asked to play Angry Birds or Super Mario 3D World for two weeks. By the end of the trial, it was revealed that those who playing Super Mario 3D World for 30 minutes a day had improved their memory by 12%.

Meanwhile, those who had played the 2D mobile title Angry Birds showed no memory improvement, and more importantly those who stopped playing the 3D game after the trial declined. So, next time anyone asks you why you’ve been playing your favourite 3D game so often, make sure you bring up this study.

Chess Raises Your IQ Significantly

Finally, while we’ve talked about some more modern games, we think it’s important to include some older titles – more specifically one of the older titles in the world: chess. It’s no surprise that this game requires mental dexterity and perceptiveness, but did you know it can raise your IQ significantly?

According to a study, which took place in Venezuela, children who continue to learn and play chess for four and a half months were able to raise their IQs. Another study led by Murray Thompson at Flinders University, Australia which finished in 2003 also concluded that playing chess brought IQ levels up in children when played regularly for a lengthy amount of time. Dr Thompson has said since that he believes IQ is raised due to the extreme concentration and logic required throughout the game.

Of course, IQ isn’t the only thing that is improved during chess as studies have found that arithmetical skill, verbal skills, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and psychosocial abilities are all improved.

There you have it: Three games that will benefit your brain in a variety of ways! All you have to do is make time to play them – and we’re pretty sure you can do that.