Gaming our brains

Memory problems (brain fog) is about the fourth most common complaint I hear from menopausal women (behind hot flashes, sleep disruption and weight gain).  The decrease in estrogen as we age is know to cause some cognitive issues, for some women it is far more bothersome than others.  My hair stylist and I were talking today, she is peri/menopausal and said that life has become a game of charades......"where is that, what's it called, you know, I read it............yeah, book, couldn't think of the word."  I nodded my head in agreement, that's exactly what I went through and while I was going through that I was in graduate school so I was under a huge amount of stress.  Inability to recall words is annoying, and can be frightening because you wonder if you are in the early stages of dementia. 

Do any of you do brain exercises on your computer, iPad, or smart phone?  I don't do the "brain games" per se, but I have Sudoku on my iPad, and I have a couple of Sudoku books laying around the house.  I keep my brain busy in other ways (like reading articles for this blog and my personal blog over at Needle Notes), I knit and follow charted patterns to make lace shawls (and believe me when I tell you that is sometimes a HUGE challenge), I keep up on current events, and most importantly, I take bioidentical hormones to keep my brain in top shape. 

I know the brain games industry was alive and well, but I didn't know it was such a big multi-million dollar industry.  Check out this interesting article from USAToday.com.  I'm going to check out a few of these sites soon, I'll let you know what I find out!