Dear Brain Gamers,
I am delighted that you are one of the millions of
people who want to keep their minds sharp and
have fun doing it. After two decades studying how
we can improve memory and prevent Alzheimer’s
disease, I have found there is a lot we can do.
Genetics accounts for only about a third of what
determines our health as we age – that means that
simple, everyday lifestyle choices have a major im-
pact on our memory and brain fitness. My books,
The Memory Bible, The Memory Prescription, and
The Longevity Bible, detail my strategies – physical
and mental exercise, stress reduction techniques,
the Healthy Brain Diet, and more – to boost your
brain power and live longer, better. However, you
are well on your way to boosting your brain power
by playing Brain Games 2.
Brain Games 2 will teach you my basic memory
technique – Look, Snap, Connect – and help you
perfect these strategies. Besides being fun to
play, Brain Games 2 will help your memory abilities
improve almost immediately. You will also “cross-
train” your brain with left-brain (verbal memory and
logical skills – e.g., writing letters) and right-brain
(visual memory and mental skills – e.g., reading
maps) games. Brain Games 2 lets you monitor
your progress, while setting and increasing a pace
that works for your memory ability as you train your
brain and gauge your improvement.
You can use Look, Snap, Connect for everyday
memory tasks (lists, errands, names and faces)
and build on this basic technique to become a
memory champion. First master the basic skill:
•
Look –
learn to focus your attention on the new
information you wish to remember. Slow down,
take a deep breath, and ignore distractions.
•
Snap –
create a mental snapshot or visual
image in your mind’s eye of what you want to
remember. Make it personal and give it detail to
help fix it into your memory.
•
Connect –
link up your mental snapshots in
you mind’s eye. This association step helps put
the new memories into context and helps you
retrieve them later when you need them.
To remember a list of errands, create a story using
Look, Snap, Connect: You need to stop at the
store to get some aspirin and a hair brush before
you meet your sister. In your mind’s eye, you see
your sister taking some aspirin and then brushing
her hair.
For learning and recalling names and faces, think
up a Name Snap and a Face Snap – then Connect
these mental pictures or Snaps together. Thinking
of a visual image or Snap for a name can be easy:
See a house for Mr. House, a gold coin for Ms.
Gold, or a carnival worker for Mrs. Carney. For
more complex names, combine visual words that
sound like the name – see Mr. Domachow eating
chicken chow mein under a dome. For a face
snap, look for a distinguishing feature and then
N5454
For 1 player / Ages 8 and up
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
P/N 823B6700 Rev.A
®
N5454 Brain Games 2_Gold_Manual_1L-E
, Mattel P/C N5454-0920, P/N 823B6700, Rev.A, Size: 225 x 315mm, Date: Jan. 09, 2008
connect it to the name snap. If Mrs. Washing-
ton has prominent lips, see her kissing George
Washington on the lips. At first it may seem a bit
wacky; however, you’ll not only have fun but you’ll
improve your everyday memory skills. Remem-
bering names and faces is the most common
memory complaint.
Our research group at UCLA has studied the ef-
fectiveness of Look, Snap, Connect, along with
other lifestyle strategies that improve memory
and brain health. We found that after only two
weeks, these techniques have a significant effect
on memory performance scores and dramatically
increase brain efficiency. The more you play Brain
Games 2, the better you’ll get at it and the more
brain power you’ll have.
To find out more about the creation of Brain
Games, visit
www.drgarysmall.com
and
www.brainstorminginc.com.
Have fun,
Dr. Gary Small
ReAdy TO CROSS-TRAIN yOUR BRAIN!
Brain Games are mind stimulating activities
for your brain. It’s time to challenge yourself!
Whether you choose to enter the Training session
or jump right into the Testing mode, Brain Games
2 will be sure to challenge your mind in several
new and different ways.
ON –
Press the ON button to power on the game.
Use the stylus to tap the SCROLL arrows at the
top and bottom of the touchscreen to toggle
through the different game modes. Once your
mode is highlighted, tap it using the stylus to
select.
NEW –
Press this on the touchscreen to bring up
End Round or New Game.
END ROUND – This allows you to end the
current game and calculates the score up to
that point. This may be most useful in the
Word Hunt game when you can not think of
any more words, but there is still time remain-
ing. Or Recall when you have already memo-
rized words and there is still time remaining.
NEW GAME – This allows you to cancel the
current game and return to the Main Menu. If
selected during Testing mode, it will cancel
your score for that session.
ENTER –
Press this to confirm your selection.
MENU –
This will bring you back to the Menu
when you are selecting your options. If you have
already started a game, you will need to Select
NEW to quit and return to the Main Menu.
TIPS –
Press this to see quick suggestions on
things you can do everyday to help improve your
memory and general wellbeing.
TIMER –
This is a countdown timer that is used in
some of the exercises.
MAIN MeNU
TESTING –
Select TESTING from the Main Menu
to start your daily exercise program. Choose the
skill level you wish to play at, and that’s it! Brain
Games will now run you through the 5 different
exercises (described below) of your routine. This
is the mode that you will be tested in and that
will record your score. You can check this in the
SCORE mode (see below). Remember to use the
Look, Snap, Connect technique!
TRAINING –
This is where you can train or
practice the different brain games without affect-
ing your score. Select TRAINING from the Main
Menu. Tap the SCROLL arrows to toggle through
the five different exercises (Sequence, Twist,
Focus, Word Hunt, and Recall) and tap the one
you wish to select. Next, choose the skill level you
wish to play at. You are now ready to start your
training session.
Word Hunt -
In this brain game your objec-
tive it to use the letters the game gives you
to make words. You will be shown a word
on screen and the total number of words
that can be formed out of that word. Select
letters from the core word with the stylus to
spell new words and then select Enter. To
deselect a letter, select that letter from your
word and it will return to the original word.
After completing the exercise, the game will
display how many you got correct.
Sequence –
In this brain game your objective
is to select the random numbers in the grid in
the proper sequence or order (lowest to high-
est). If you select a number out of sequence
an X will appear, and you will continue onto
the next grid. If the sequence is correct, a
musical prompt will sound. There will be
several grids in each game. After completing
the exercise, the game will display how many
you got correct.
Twist –
In this brain game the objective is to
memorize the relationship of 2 images and
then apply that relationship to a 3rd image
in order to select the correct answer. You
will be shown a puzzle on the left side of
the touchscreen. You will also be shown the
same puzzle rotated or flipped (horizontally
or vertically) on the right side of the touch-
screen. You will have 5 seconds to look at the
puzzle on the left and see how it has been
rotated or flipped in the puzzle on the right.
After 5 seconds, you will be shown a new
image and 4 possible answers. You have to
recall the relationship of the puzzles from the
opening screen and apply that relationship to
the puzzle at the top. You have 15 seconds
to solve the puzzle. After completing the
exercise, the game will display how many you
got correct.
TM
NEW
ON
ENTER
MENU
TIPS
TIMER
