Joining the (mental) gym

By Sanders Kleinfeld

Yes, I know you Head First readers are way more in shape and buff than me (it wouldn't be hard, trust me), and you've got the Gold/Platinum/Plutonium Plan at your local gym to prove it. But apparently these days, that's not enough. You need to exercise your cerebrum too, not just your glutes.

I'd heard of Brain Age, the hit Nintendo DS game that lets you find out if you've got the mental acuity of a spry twentysomething or a pseudo-senile septuagenarian, but apparently the latest marketing gimmick is the "mental gym," where you can more formally give your gray matter (and credit card, of course) a workout.

Today I stumbled onto MyBrainTrainer™, the "World's First And Best Virtual Mental Gymnasium," which features dozens of brain-building activities designed to both gauge and bolster reaction time, short-term memory, spacial perception, and arithmetic processing. For the more militaristically inclined, they even offer a three-week "Basic Training" program to whip your mind into shape.

But is it all worth your valuable $29.95 a year? Take MyBrainTrainer's free challenge of the month and find out.