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Are card games good for the brain?
Card games are undoubtedly a great pastime that has been prized for centuries. Not only are they funny, there are so many of them that everyone can find at least one to their liking. Moreover, there is more to these games than meets the eye. Card games (free spider solitaire, klondike and other) are good for the brain too!
While there are many types of card games, they all share common traits that can help improve cognitive function in the brain, prevent mental illness, and improve overall health.
Protect your brain by reducing stress
By now, it is generally known that stress can negatively affect the overall well-being of the body. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that it can also have permanent negative effects on the brain.
Several scientific studies have confirmed that chronic stress kills brain cells. The most affected area is the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with learning, memory, and emotion.
Hence, card games are good for your brain because they help reduce stress and thus avoid these negative effects.
Although challenging, these games have a calming effect. Players use their brains because they want to and because they enjoy winning. This is not a task that is being imposed on them.
In addition, since the players have to focus on the game, this distracts their attention from stressful factors. By enjoying the card game and interacting with other players, they can forget about any worries and problems that cause stress. Even if the problems do not go away on their own, this short break may be enough to give the mind a clear picture of the situation and help it to look at the problem in a new way.
Improving mental health through socialization
Loneliness can be triggered or caused by depression, anxiety, and other forms of mental illness. In this sense, isolated or introverted people can find card games an easy and fun way to create new social connections and interact with others.
The game gives them a common theme of interest that encourages conversation and teamwork. It can also foster a healthy sense of friendly competition, which in turn motivates players to develop these interactions.
On the plus side, socialization also enhances the ability of card games to deal with stress by reducing feelings of isolation, promoting a positive outlook on life, and shifting focus to interacting with others.
Improving cognitive functions of the brain
Card games are beneficial for your brain and its cognitive skills in many ways. While enjoying this pastime or hobby, you are actively using and training several important mental skills at the same time. So much so that card games are even considered a good way to boost your IQ.
Some of the skills used in card games include:
Reasoning Skills - Most card games require at least some level of strategy. You must be able to analyze cards, plan actions, predict possible results and winnings, and even decide when it is more profitable to make a move or wait. Even if all these mental processes occur without your awareness, you are effectively training your brain and contributing to the development of this organ.
Math skills. Solo and social card games both train your brain's math skills, although you may not notice it. By determining your strategy to win, you calculate the odds and the likelihood. Even if you cannot translate them into a number or percentage, you subconsciously read the information and unknowns on the board and calculate your chances of success. For example, when you play spider solitaire 2 suits, you are actively doing math to match the cards.
Memory - Card games train and improve your memory in a variety of ways, while leveraging and improving other cognitive skills. From the very beginning, you must understand and remember the rules in order to be able to play. To plan your strategy and calculate the odds and probabilities, you also need to remember which cards were played and, in some cases, who played each card. Some card games, such as Fishing, may also require you to remember the location of the cards after seeing them only once.
Concentration - It's not easy to focus on something and mentally get rid of any distractions. Especially these days, with our phones, internet, televisions, and a host of other devices that seem to demand our attention all the time. However, card games can help you develop this skill easily because your brain is wired for the reward: the pleasure of winning. You must focus to remember, reason and plan a strategy to achieve victory. The more you exercise your brain, the easier it will be to focus on any issue, even in everyday life.
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