5 Apps to Work Your Brain and Boost Your IQ

While there are plenty of complaints about younger generations and their obsession with their mobile devices, smartphones are rich with benefits.

Not only do more people have access to more information than ever before (thanks to Internet-enabled phones), but there are myriad apps that can boost a person's brainpower, increase memory and even improve emotional intelligence. Use these five apps to make your phone work for you:

Duolingo

A combination of reading, writing, listening and speaking exercises allow for maximum progress in minimal time. Duolingo is an app designed to help you learn up to 13 different languages. Scientific research suggests that becoming multilingual will increase your cognitive power, even if you don't become completely fluent. It can even help you delay cognitive decline in older age - and the best part is it's free. Additionally, the gamification elements help increase a person's will to learn.

Kindle

With the Kindle mobile app, you can easily scroll through all of your literature during your morning commute. Any book you can think of is available for purchase, but Kindle also allows you to download lots of content for free. Reading is great for obvious reasons, but recent studies have also suggested that immersing yourself in a book can increase your capacity for empathy.

Buddhify

For those of you who want to slow your roll a mindful meditation, Buddhify can be the perfect remedy. Scientists have discovered that meditation can enhance cognitive skills that are associated with better memory as well as high levels of multitasking. Buddhify guides you through different meditations that are designed for specific scenarios. Situations can range from Morning Meditations to ones to help deal with difficult emotions.

Lumosity Brain Trainer

First a Web page, now adapted into an app, Lumosity allows its users to create a profile in order to track their progress and allows them to engage in specific games that target flexibility, memory, problems solving, speed and attention. The idea behind Lumosity is to perform these tasks on a regular basis in order to train your brain to function at a more effective level. There is an $11.95 price tag attached, but who ever said learning was cheap?

Khan Academy

Labeled "A personalized learning resource for all ages," the Khan Academy offers thousands of exercises, instructional videos and learning dashboards that you can personalize for yourself. Subjects such as math, science, computer programming, history and hundreds of others are available on the app. The academy has also partnered with NASA, Museum of Modern Art and a handful of other institutions to offer specialized content.

Hobbs Karg is a content writer at Fueled, the leading mobile app developer in New York City, renowned for its award-winning mobile design and strategy.