Tetris

"Top Chef" contestants might as well be magicians, and your tiny oven can barely fit a sheet of cookies, let alone a whole turkey. An unforgettable Thanksgiving, luckily, doesn't depend on culinary finesse. "Thanksgiving is like playing Tetris," says Cooking Light senior food editor Ann Taylor Pittman. "You need to figure out every little space and how to make it work at every little block of time."

Read more: Small kitchens, big meal: A New Yorker's guide to Thanksgiving | In this article: Turkey, New York, Cooking Light, and Turkey

"We know Tetris changes the brain," Haier says. "We don't know if it's good for you. "

Read more: FOR KIDS: A brain-boosting video game | In this article: Magnetic field, University of California, Irvine, Electronic Arts, Canada, and United States

"What we found was a change in the brain after playing Tetris," says Dr Richard Haier, a neurologist who led the project.

Read more: Block head | In this article: Oxford University, Nintendo, Hollywood, London, and BBC

"One of the most surprising findings of brain research in the last five years was that juggling practice increased gray matter in the motor areas of the brain," said Dr. Rex Jung, a co-investigator on the Tetris study and a clinical neuropsychologist.

Read more: Brain Imaging Shows Playing Tetris Leads To Both Brain Efficiency And Thicker Cortex | In this article: Montreal Neurological Institute, Medical advice, Positron, Creative Commons Attribution License, Meningitis, and Glucose

"We were excited to see cortical thickness differences between the girls that practiced Tetris and those that did not," said Dr. Richard Haier, a co-investigator in the study and lead author of a 1992(1) study that found practicing Tetris led to greater brain efficiency. "But, it was surprising that these changes were not where we saw more efficiency. How a thicker cortex and increased brain efficiency are related remains a mystery."

Read more: Brain Imaging Shows Playing Tetris Leads To Both Brain Efficiency And Thicker Cortex | In this article: Montreal Neurological Institute, Medical advice, Positron, Creative Commons Attribution License, Meningitis, and Glucose

"Tetris, for the brain, is quite complex," said Haier. "It requires many cognitive processes like attention, hand/eye co-ordination, memory and visual spatial problem solving all working together very quickly. It's not surprising that we see changes throughout the brain."

Read more: Brain Imaging Shows Playing Tetris Leads To Both Brain Efficiency And Thicker Cortex | In this article: Montreal Neurological Institute, Medical advice, Positron, Creative Commons Attribution License, Meningitis, and Glucose

"We hope to continue this work with larger, more diverse samples to investigate whether the brain changes we measured revert back when subjects stop playing Tetris," said Dr. Jung. "Similarly, we are interested if the skills learned in Tetris, and the associated brain changes, transfer to other cognitive areas such as working memory, processing speed, or spatial reasoning."

Read more: Brain Imaging Shows Playing Tetris Leads To Both Brain Efficiency And Thicker Cortex | In this article: Montreal Neurological Institute, Medical advice, Positron, Creative Commons Attribution License, Meningitis, and Glucose

Psychologist and co-author Dr Richard Haier added: "We were excited to see cortical thickness differences between the girls that practiced Tetris and those who did not."

Read more: Tetris 'could boost brain power' | In this article: Alexey Pajitnov, Albuquerque, and US

"We did our Tetris study to see if mental practice increased cortical thickness, a sign of more gray matter," said Rex Jung, co-investigator on the Tetris study and a clinical neuropsychologist.

Read more: Playing Tetris could be good for your brain, study says | In this article: Tetris, Blue Planet Software, San Jose Mercury News, Dallas Times Herald, Brain Age, and Nintendo

IGN gave it a 7.4 out of 10, and commented "Empire Earth Mobile is a slower paced mobile game that's not exactly suited for quick pick-up-and-play sessions." but "If you are looking for a mobile game, though, that is decidedly meatier than, say, solitaire or Tetris, Empire Earth Mobile does offer some solid play." Mobile gamer said "In short, Empire Earth is an interesting new take on strategy" and "it's not difficult to recommend."

Read more: Empire Earth Mobile | In this article: Empire Earth Mobile, Empire Earth, Vivendi, Civilization, Java, IGN, and Stainless Steel Studios