At some point in their lifetime, most people will go through a stage or stages where they feel like their brain is functioning a little less efficiently than it used to. While this can seem discomforting, even alarming, there are lots of potential causes.

In many instances, this will be down to lifestyle factors such as stress or tiredness; in others, because we’re no longer using certain parts of our brain as often as we used to. One solution that can to help fix this is brain training.

While most people associate this term with the apps you can download onto your smartphone, there are lots of different ways you can improve your mental focus and enhance your memory, including casino gaming.

Coming with a number of potential upsides for tired, overworked, or under worked minds, such games can be a very useful tool for improving your mental agility. Here are just three of the ways they can prove beneficial.

Increase the size of your brain

When it comes down to it, your brain is a body part like any other. What this means is that regular exercise can strengthen it, and according to one particular study conducted in Germany, gaming can quite literally grow your grey matter.

One explanation for this is that these games make you use regions of the brain that are responsible for memory, spatial orientation, and information organization, by encouraging you to learn new skills. Let's use live roulette at Paddy Power Casino as an example. In order to get to grips with the game, players have to teach themselves everything from rules and strategy through to numbers and odds (high and low bets, red and black, odd and even, and so on), providing a thorough mental workout even while they’re ostensibly spinning the wheel and having fun.

On top of this, there are numerous in-game variations for them to pick from, from Diamond roulette, which takes place at a slightly slower pace, through to high-octane speed versions, meaning that even when they're playing the same game on repeat, their brains are continually being asked to adapt to different set-ups.

Protect against degenerative diseases

In this same vein, there's some proof to suggest that gaming can protect against degenerative diseases. That’s because games like poker and blackjack stimulate and strengthen three important parts of our brain: the right hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cerebellum.

One of the ways they do this is by asking us to think both quickly and strategically, as in the case of poker, in which it's necessary for individuals to not only plot their own game play, but also apprehend what their opponents might be planning.

While much of the research conducted in this field remains theoretical, experts suggest that playing games could thus help to combat certain mental disabilities and prevent or lessen the effects of brain diseases including Alzheimer’s, by strengthening these areas through regular and consistent use.

Provide all-important mental stimulation

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In addition, casino gaming can provide an important form of mental stimulation. That’s because it makes us think and focus, which is especially helpful for those who spend a lot of time alone, such as the elderly.

What this stasis can lead to is an easily preventable degeneration in our mental faculties, which can be simply com batted by engaging our brains and putting our minds to work, whether with brain, board or casino games. Slots, for example, can be used to keep us thinking, with the sheer volume of titles meaning that monotony is easily avoided.

Additionally, the element of interaction in live casino can be useful for providing a type of mental and emotional stimulation, as it encourages us to engage our social skills even when we’re spending a lot of time alone.

Is this a theory that you’d be interested in testing for yourself?