Elspeth Maconachie
While the newsletter is in production, we'll be producing the best of our brain cells too in our first neurobic workout for '24 on Tuesday 27th.
Elspeth Maconachie If a series starts with an, eb, ar, pr and ay, what 2-letter pair should come next? What about the numbers 2, 5, 11, 23, 47 and therefore ___? Supply a word that can follow the first word and precede the second to make a fresh word or phrase , for example, fish & mix can be fish cake and cakemix: drawing & cushion, hedge & wash, jack & luck, tooth & axe, t & bow Answers will be available when Brain Games resumes next February! Elspeth
I think the people who make up puzzles have strange and perhaps over active minds... but perhaps that comment could apply to those who tackle them each fourth Tuesday afternoon.
Elspeth Numbers usually need addition but sometimes are just patterns. Trying to figure out which, keeps firing creation of new pathways, as does letting the imagination dance around words and what-ifs. Memory is often a matter of strategy and concentration, requiring practice and habit. The brain has vast capacity and can be improved, especially when it's sociable, challenging fun.
Elspeth Laughter, shared effort, imagination and lateral thinking all come into play when you're doing a neurobic workout.
Elspeth Mental flexibility, lateral thinking, word manipulation, ambidexterity and visual acuity... we're building on all of these. Perhaps you'd like to test us with a sudden question or a poser to solve?
Elspeth Maconachie Like toothful tigers, we tackled word oddities such as contranyms, words which can hold opposing meanings, such as bound, screen or sanction. We then turned our attention to numbers but found some of us had shakeable determination and indeed boundful enthusiasm.
But such activities, even when we fail, have neurons forging new pathways. Elspeth Maconachie The usually bustling u3a room takes on a Bletchley Park like hum on the fourth Tuesday of the month as finely tuned minds tackle relatively pointless code cracking.
Elspeth The neurobics class worked so well at the end of March that they could afford to have the afternoon off for Anzac Day. We'll crank up the cerebral circuits again in May.
Elspeth I'm confident that all those who came along for neurobics had their brains suitably challenged, with links leaping from across the midline, important in quick thinking as well as physical balance & falls prevention.
Elspeth Maconachie |
About Brain Games
It is well established that new skills can help build brain pathways with benefits for memory, confidence, happiness and even falls prevention. Brain Games offers a variety of entertaining and informative ways to challenge, inform and exercise your brain. Thus we might solve word, number, shape, picture or logic puzzles, take part in a quiz, brainstorm solutions to a dilemma, draw a picture or maybe even learn to juggle! We may, at times, read or view material on topics such as dementia, brain repair...etc), gender differences, optimism and pessimism, lateral thinking and creativity. Convenor and contact detailsElspeth Maconachie
0418 621 764 Meeting Times
4th Tuesday 2 to 4 pm, U3A Meeting Room 1, Fawckner Drive.
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