Brain stretching applies to any sort of activity that forces your brain to think logically, in order to solve difficult problems. Any sort of creative thinking can also be categorized as brain stretching, which includes thinking out-of-the-box, and finding creative, unorthodox solutions to difficult problems.

Brain stretching is not an inherent ability; it needs to be cultivated through practice. Playing certain kinds of puzzle games, or trying to solve some complex logical problems can help the brain “stretch” itself. Neuroscientists strongly recommend solving at least a few problems of this type every week, in order to keep the brain cells in good shape.

Tower of Hanoi is one of the best examples of problems of this type. The scenario involves transferring a set of rings of varied sizes from one pillar to another. There is also a third intermediary pillar, which can temporarily hold the rings, but there is a catch. The rings can only be placed in ascending order in any pillar. The problem is simple enough when there are just 3 rings involved, but becomes quite complex when performed with 7 or more rings.

This type of games forces the player’s brain to think creatively in order to solve the problem, and thus are great for giving the gray matter a good workout, keeping it healthy in the process