Senior News Line: Ways to train your brain

There are several “brain support” online programs out there, but many cost more than we’d like to pay.

Lumosity, at lumosity.com, comes in seven languages and has games that promote memory, attention, flexibility, problem-solving and more.

After you sign up, you’ll get three free games per day, and the Brain Performance Index monitors your progress.

There is a subscription plan, of course, if you want access to more areas of the site, and you can pay by the month or the year. Test the free version first to see if you like it.

BrainHQ, at brainhq.com, is another cognitive training program that you can access online. Their exercises explore brain speed, memory, attention and more.

And you can design your own program. Their goals are to help you think faster, focus better and remember more.

You can try it out by subscribing to their email newsletters, which have free daily exercises to sample.

As for me, I’ve found books that don’t cost much and are good at putting my brain through its paces on a daily basis.

The New York Times series of puzzle books begins with the Monday editions, which are the easiest of the week. The crossword puzzles get increasingly difficult as the week progresses.

I found the whole series of spiral-bound puzzle books — 50 to a book — on Amazon.

Then there are the online jigsaw puzzles at TheJigsawPuzzles.com. The puzzles — a new one every day — can be set in any number of ways, including the number of pieces in a puzzle.

I’ve found that the 100-pieces level is plenty challenging when viewed on a computer monitor.

And then there is online chess, for those of us who used to play back in the day, but would be embarrassed to lose to a small child now without serious brushing up of our skills. Try this for free at www.chess.com and play against their computer.