On the subject of brain training, there has been a surge in the number of computer games that claim to be good for the grey matter: keeping the thought processes sprightly and the mind sharp. I think its a great idea, something to suppilment a bit of suduko or a crossword over coffee. Most of these are on the Nintendo DS, and the most popular title is Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.
The reason I mention this at all is that I became obsessed with the damn thing before Christmas; not because it is addictive, and not due to an overriding desire to greatly improve my mental capacity.
No, the reason was that when I first played it, the game breezily informed my that I had a brain equivalent to an eighty-year old.
I'm not knocking the mental prowess of the eldery, but it's comes a bit of a shock when your brain is apparently nearly fifty years older than the rest of you.
So there began a flurry of brain-training exercises as I worked furiously to improved my aged brain.
I got it down to the mid-fifty's but was not happy; many hours of playing later and I finally hit something I could be proud of: twenty-eight.
I must have been on the ball that day, as it is now back to thirty-five ... I can live with thirty-five, but every time I pick up the DS, it is now with a vague sense of dread that my brain might have slacked off and aged twenty years overnight.
Of course, what is really happening is that my brain is merely having fun at my expense, cackling evilly to itself inside my skull ... thanks a lot, brain.
