Nintendo DS's mid-life facelift

LIGHT, white, and the screen's very bright. That sums up the differences between the new Nintendo DS Lite handheld games console and its older sibling, the DS, which launched here early last year.

The Nintendo DS Lite is a worthy mid-life kicker for the DS console. The better screen alone makes it well worth the extra money over the standard job, which remains in Nintendo's line-up at $179.95, but will probably be subject to all sorts of bundling deals.

Mental muscles: Dr Kawashima's Brain Training

A fun way to allay Alzheimer's onset

IT'S good to put some strain on your brain, or so say advocates of everyday mental exercises such as crosswords and Sudoku.

Nintendo has put some electronic zing into building mental muscles with Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for the DS.

A sort of gymnasium for the mind, the game offers a daily regime of tests and puzzles designed to keep the faculties sharp. It may even help ward off problems with dementia.

Or so say local champions of regular mental exercise, such as Michael Woodward, a leading authority on Alzheimer's and a director of aged and residential care for Melbourne private hospital group Austin Health.

Professor Woodward said last week that three major studies over the past five years had shown an association between social, intellectual and physical health and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's.

He says programs such as Brain Training could be helpful in preventing the onset of the illness.

"The program does indeed seem to link in with the areas of brain that can be affected by cognitive decline," he says.