How many of us have played Brain Age – or games like Brain Age?  If you don’t know what Brain Age is, it’s specifically for Nintendo DS and it helps give your brain a workout by featuring games that help to stimulate our thinking power by offering up math problems, pictures to doodle on a touch screen, unscrambling letters and the like. I’ve played Brain Age and while I think it’s pretty cool, I really need to play it more because – I’m ashamed to admit – I can’t seem to remember what my “brain age” is. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t even remember where the Nintendo DS is.

Ahem…moving on…

I came across a similar game, but this one is specifically intended to help us stay alert and more focused behind the wheel.  The game is called Drive Sharp and according to the website, it can improve thinking skills and reduce crash risks by 50%. 

From the website:

The game is built on a patented technology that was designed and tested by a global team of more than 50 scientists and on research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The program’s effectiveness has been clinically proven in study after study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and others.

The website goes on to say that by playing the game for 20 minutes each day just a few times per week, individuals can learn to drive with greater confidence by increasing peripheral vision, reacting faster to dangers behind the wheel and as I previously mentioned, can potentially cut the risk of car crashes by as much as 50%.  

If the claims are true, I think that’s pretty impressive.

The game has two interactive exercises which work together to change the brain’s ability to process what a user sees. The game software includes:

• Jewel Diver: Players track hidden jewels moving around the screen, and as the ability to follow the jewels improves, so does the ability to keep track of multiple moving objects in real life, like pedestrians and other cars.

• Road Tour: Players take a trip along ol’ Route 66 with the task of identifying and locating road signs and different cars along the way. The placement and speed at which these images appear, work to widen the field of vision and increase visual processing speed. 

Drive Sharp is available for PC and Mac users and is priced at $139.00 for either.  I checked Amazon and it’s going for the same price; however AAA has it for $129.00 if you’re interested in buying it and want to save $10.00.  If you’re a member of AAA, you can get it for $99.00, but only for a limited time.

I haven’t played it, so unfortunately, I have no way of knowing if it actually produces the results the manufacturer says it does, but if you’re into computer games and want to give this one a test drive, be sure to give us your review. 

In the meantime, here are some helpful tips for training your brain on the road from PostitScience.com:

• Let your eyes be your guide. Remember to look down the road while using your peripheral vision to pick up on any unexpected movements around the car.

• Deal with night glare by looking slightly down and to the right.

• Connect your mind to your eyes.  Focus on what you see by being alert and don’t become distracted.

• Use roadway signs to guide you, after all, that’s what they are there for – and bone up on what they look like. Times change and so do signs. For instance, many people still think the yield sign is yellow even though the sign has been red and white for over 30 years.

• Don’t drink and drive.  Not only is it illegal, but drinking before driving impairs reaction time and overall awareness.

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