Sharp Brains: Brain Fitness and Cognitive Health News

Exercise Brain: Frontal and Parietal lobes

Let’s now exercise our Frontal Lobes (that deal with working memory and attention, among other things) and Parietal Lobes (visual interpretation). (Basic brain anatomy here)

Quick! Count the number of times the number “6″ appears below (you may need to scroll down).

Then, count the total of both “3″s and “7″s, trying to add the total number of both as you see either (this is, don’t just count all the “3″s, and then the “7″s)

1234467889974674657865876576576 3576573625432657346578436578342 2732188582735827456724687343828 7672878682768723682376783768267 2647648823178346432764876774653 7436574386581483627868653873465

The Answer appears as a comment below. The most important thing here is not to get the right answer, but to try. This type of exercise has been used by the military to improve attention for decades (now there are more advanced, computer-based, tools, but this keeps being fun).

Share This Page:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Digg
  • Reddit

Categories: Attention and ADD/ADHD, Brain Teasers

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Print This Article Print This Article

72 Responses

  1. Bill says:

    I got the correct answers on my 2nd try.

    But I did it by counting down each column, instead of across rows.

  2. radhika says:

    33 and 59….
    it was great.

  3. Desire'e says:

    Wow, I was shocked to scroll down and see that I got it right, 33 and 59. Cool.

  4. MCameronM says:

    59-3 & 7 32 6’s now I got to go back and count the 6’s again

  5. Lmnop says:

    I thought we were supposed to add all 3–I got 92.

  6. Neethster says:

    I got 33 and 59.

  7. John says:

    If you normally read left to right, try counting finding the numbers scanning right to left… it will increase the accuracy. And, scanning from bottom to top (if you normally read top to bottom) will help you not skip lines.

  8. Birgi says:

    first I got 34 6es then I was count again and I got
    33 of 6es.
    I was got only
    27 of 3s and 7s at the same time.

  9. red says:

    33-6
    59-3&7

  10. Kayla says:

    I got exactly 33 and 59 sooo excited woohoo!!

  11. anne says:

    19 & 55

  12. anne says:

    19 & 55
    2nd try:
    33 & 55

  13. ana says:

    33 6s woo hoo!

    I read the instructions that we had to count the 3s and 7s individually but at the same time so to keep track I counted the 3s using numbers and the 7s using the alphabet… and came out with 23 3s and 36 7s = 59 total I’m shocked !!!

  14. DAVIS says:

    I got 33/ 3s.AND I ADDED AS I WENT THRU THE 3S AND 7S CAME UP W/ 332

  15. Susie says:

    Well, if I had been a soldier I would have missed one of the enemies named “3″ and would have mistaken one of my own people as a “3″ or a “7.” Not good in battle!

    I got 32 6’s. And I got 60 7&3’s. I tried it two different ways. First I tried visually matching 7’s and 3’s together to make 10’s so it would be easier to add. I found myself marking 7’s with my finger on the screen, though, since they were not evenly matched. Then I tried a different strategy which could technically be cheating, I suppose. As I came to a 3, I would name them in order such as 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, while also naming the 7’s aloud as I came to them, 7-1, 7-2, …by the end I was at 3-24 and 7-36. I then mentally added 24 + 36 = 60.
    So, I did them as I went, but separately, as well.

  16. Are D says:

    Nice exercise! But I’m a bit puzzled at something: In the text at the top of this page you say this task exercises the Frontal and Parietal lobe, and that the Parietal lobe deals with visual interpretation. I thought the Occipital lobe was the primary visual interpretation centre, and that the Parietal lobe mainly deals with sensory information. How come this isn’t an exercise mainly for the Frontal and the Occipital lobe?

  17. hides says:

    yeah, 33=6’s and 59=3’s + 7’s

  18. Willow says:

    I have a closed head injury and find the exercises a bit of a mental workout. Since I found your site I try and do a few exercises every day.

  19. lizzy says:

    6 = 29
    3 & 7 = 59

  20. Neeti says:

    33 and 59 !

  21. Abhishek says:

    33 and 59

  22. Saeed says:

    I got 32 and 58 not bad one way!

Welcome to SharpBrains!

As seen in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN,, and more, we are a market research & publishing firm tracking the research and marketplace for brain fitness and cognitive health. Our blog was recently ranked # 3 Analyst Blog.
News: The recent SharpBrains Summit was the first global and virtual summit focused on technology for cognitive health and performance. Learn more Here.
SharpBrains

Top 30 Articles

  1. Top 50 Brain Teasers, by SharpBrains Team
  2. The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains, by Alvaro Fernandez
  3. Why do You Turn Down the Radio When You're Lost?, by Caroline Latham
  4. Brain Plasticity: How learning changes your brain, by Pascale Michelon
  5. Top 10 Brain Fitness Future Trends, by Alvaro Fernandez
  6. 7 FAQs on Mental Exercise, by Alvaro Fernandez
  7. It is Not Only Cars That Deserve Good Maintenance: Brain Care 101, by Alvaro Fernandez
  8. Evaluation Checklist for Brain Fitness products and games, by Alvaro Fernandez
  9. MIT Event on Brain Games: Context, Trends, Questions, by Alvaro Fernandez
  10. Stress Management Workshop for International Women's Day, by Alvaro Fernandez
  11. Mindfulness and Meditation in Schools for Stress Management, by Jill Sutie
  12. Stress and Neural Wreckage: Part of the Brain Plasticity Puzzle, by Gregory Kellet
  13. How can I improve my short term memory?, by Caroline Latham
  14. Cognitive and Emotional Development Through Play, by David Elkind
  15. Judith Beck: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person, by Alvaro Fernandez
  16. Easy Steps to Improve Brain Health, by Caroline Latham
  17. Infographic: State of the Market 2009, by Paul Van Slembrouck
  18. Improve Memory with Sleep, Practice, and Testing, by Bill Klemm
  19. 10 Brain Tips To Teach and Learn, by Laurie Bartels
  20. Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg on Cognitive Training and Brain Fitness, by Alvaro Fernandez
  21. Maximize the Cognitive Value of Your Mental Workout, by Schlomo Breznitz
  22. Brain Fitness Program and Neuroplasticity @ PBS, by Alvaro Fernandez
  23. Mindfulness Meditation for Adults & Teens with ADHD, by David Rabiner
  24. Can Intelligence Be Trained? Martin Buschkuehl shows how, by Alvaro Fernandez
  25. How Strong is the Research Support for Neurofeedback in Attention Deficits?, by David Rabiner
  26. Exercising the body is exercising the mind, by Adrian Preda
  27. Brain Evolution and Why it is Meaningful Today to Improve Our Brain Health, by Larry McCleary
  28. Physical Exercise and Brain Health, by Pascale Michelon
  29. Posit Science, Nintendo Brain Age, and Brain Training Topics, by Alvaro Fernandez
  30. Sleep, Tetris, Memory and the Brain, by Shannon Moffet
Sign Up for our Monthly Newsletter:
New Subscribers Receive Free eBook: PDF of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness

Follow Us/ Engage

twitter_logo_header

Monthly Blog Archives