Brain Awareness Week Reinforces the Need to Exercise Your Brain.

It's easy to tell when your body is out of shape, but what about your brain? International Brain Awareness Week begins March 13 as baby boomers and others are looking for the best way to exercise their brains.

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day for Nintendo DS launches April 17 on the heels of the week designed to increase public awareness about the brain. Users write their answers or draw a picture on the portable Nintendo DS touch screen to keep their "DS brains" young and fit by performing mental activities quickly.

Dr. Elizabeth Zelinski, dean and executive director of University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, says games like Brain Age can help keep older generations of Americans' minds active. "Americans can do a great deal to maintain and even improve their mental abilities," Zelinski explains. "Aging is about taking on new challenges for our minds. Nintendo's Brain Age is a great way to do that."

Americans of all ages are always looking for ways to get a mental edge and Brain Age acts as a treadmill for the mind.

In Brain Age, first-time users take a few tests to establish their DS brain age. Holding the DS like a book, users perform activities like drawing lines to connect letters and numbers in order, counting the syllables in well-known phrases and other brain-stimulating activities. Sharing a game card allows users to compare their results with family and friends.