Like a Personal Trainer for Your Brain

For the ADHD brain, focus is like a muscle that needs routine exercise to grow stronger. Thankfully, some of the best brain workouts are right at your fingertips — mobile apps designed to improve memory, concentration, and organization skills for adults with attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD). Spend just a few minutes a day with these brain-training apps to bulk up your cognitive abilities. Your ADHD brain will thank you.

CogniFit (iOS; free) starts with a quick quiz to assess your cognitive abilities, then personalizes activities to challenge your mind and train your brain. People with ADHD will benefit from emphasis on key abilities like focus, memory, and attention. Competitive? You can challenge your friends and earn “Neurons” to track your progress.

Based on extensive scientific research by experts in neuroscience and cognitive learning, Elevate (iOS, Android; free) promises to improve cognitive skills through regular training sessions. Each user receives a personalized training program that adjusts over time to maximize results. Trouble focusing? No problem. The personalized daily workouts will help you improve the skills that need the most help — like memory, processing speed, or comprehension.

[Free Download: Brain-Building Video and Computer Games]

Designed by neuroscientists to improve cognitive skills, Lumosity (iOS, Android; free) creates a personalized training program to challenge your brain in the areas you care about. The app uses dozens of games to target a wide variety of skills including ADHD trouble-spots such as memory, focus, and problem solving.

Your ADHD brain is filled with great ideas, but you have a hard time connecting them together. MindNode (iOS; $9.99) can help by creating “mind maps” — visual representations of how your ideas fit into a larger project. Create a new “node,” or idea, with the tap of your finger — and drag to connect it to other nodes. Your thoughts will be organized in an intuitive way, helping you work towards a larger goal.

Add vital information to your long-term memory using Eidetic (iOS, Android; free). The app uses a technique called "spaced repetition" to help you memorize anything in your chosen timeframe. Unlike other brain-training apps, Eidetic helps you memorize items that have real meaning and context in your own life. Perfect for students with ADHD who need help memorizing vocabulary or definitions for exams, or for simply memorizing every day facts and phone numbers.

The ultimate mindmapping tool, iThoughts (iOS; $11.99) enables you to virtually organize and share your thoughts, ideas, and information. Excellent for individuals with ADHD who are visual learners, iThoughts beautifully organizes your thoughts into practical webs and flowcharts. Once you complete your mind map, export it to your computer using PowerPoint, Word, or Excel for easy sharing.

If the timers and scoring in other brain-training apps induce too much anxiety, Brain Yoga (iOS, Android; free) is the app for you. Brain Yoga allows you to meditate while training your brain in memory, vocabulary, numeracy, special ability, and pattern matching. The relaxing background music helps people with ADHD focus while completing the eight types of puzzles, each with ten difficulty levels. Not only will Brain Yoga improve your cognitive skills, it will also help you relax.

[ADDitude eBook: The ADHD Guide to Mobile Apps & Digital Tools]