In the landmark publication of a study in the August 4, 2009 issue of Neurology, it was reported that people engaged in brain exercises (brain training) such as reading, writing and playing card games may delay the onset of rapid memory decline that occurs if they later develop dementia.
There was a cautionary adjunct to that happy news. It declared that while “there is evidence that brain exercises do work to slow down cognitive decline”, there was also evidence that the really elderly will not benefit from it.
To be effective, the study said, these brain training needs to be started while people are still in the 60s or 70s. These people need “early life education and participation in cognitively stimulating leisure activities later in life. These are the two factors…which may have delayed the onset of memory decline in the preclinical stages of dementia.”
Brain training facts
Nevertheless, the study results point to the old phrase (directed at first to the benefits of physical exercise) “use it or lose it” as equally valid for mental fitness, too. Previous studies had also shown that regular brain training sessions can help ward off dementia and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
The following list gives out reasons why the right kind of mental exercises can fortify your brain. It also reiterates what research says about using brain calisthenics to defend yourself against memory loss.
(1) Mental decline is not inevitable. Adults can actually grow new brain cells. This reverses the long-held belief that lost brainpower caused by aging cannot be recovered anymore.
(2) You can build a set of extra neurons (cognitive reserve) in your brain to help offset those you had gradually lost as you aged. A data analysis published in a journal says that a mere 5% increase in the cognitive reserve can prevent one-third of Alzheimer’s cases.
(3) Frequent cognitive activities can reduce dementia risk by up to 63%.
(4) Brain training may slow the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Upon the death of a patient (not from Alzheimer’s), his autopsy revealed advanced Alzheimer’s. doctors concluded his chess-playing may have helped kept the disease in check.
He had also kept his condition in check by bolstering his brains with chess and other intellectual “push-ups.”
(5) Cross-training counts. Focusing only on a single mental activity will not exercise all the cognitive domains needed to keep the brains agile. Furthermore, consistent and long-term mental stimulation appears to be the key to reducing risk of memory loss and dementia.
If you can, also include activities that address areas for short-term and long-term memories, critical thinking, visual and spatial orientation, calculation and language.
(6) Teaching the brain new tricks can also help. Learning a new language, music lessons, or teaching yourself how to use the iPod can contribute to building new brain circuits.
(7) Never neglect your physical exercises, too. Cardiovascular and strength training boost brainpower by generating more blood flow to the brain which supplies oxygen and nutrients promoting the growth of new brain cells.
All in all, keep yourself well-informed on how to give your brains a good workout and what kind of physical exercise are the best for you. More good news on brain training had been turning up everywhere (TV, print, internet) lately. Stay tuned.
In the news recently, a novel kind of brain training game had been shown to work for the first time, and surprised everyone with its novel way of increasing fluid intelligence. This mental exercise limbers up the brain’s overall capacity to solve problems.
The scientists who developed the game all believed it can be a boon to education for the simple reason that it paved the way to improve one’s overall intellectual performance.
Novelty
The new computer-based brain training method designed to improve working memory also managed to increase scores in “fluid intelligence” or general problem-solving ability.
What surprised the other scientists and psychologists was the fact that in practice, the only way to increase fluid intelligence is through direct practice of the tests themselves.
This time, however, the work of Drs. Jaeggi and Buschkuhl and colleagues overturned this long-held view.
Their brain training method increased fluid intelligence scores simply by training. The ability to improve fluid intelligence has been termed by Dr.Jaeggi as “the ability to reason and to flexibly adapt to new situations.”
The game
Dr. Jaeggi and colleagues gave 35 volunteers a series of training exercises designed to improve memory and 35 more to a control group. Participants saw a sequence of squares appearing one after the other on the computer every 3 seconds.
The goal was to decide whether the currently-seen square was at the same position as the one somewhere in the sequence. Was it the same as the one two or more positions ago?
At the same time, participants heard spoken letters and their task was the same as the one in the visual form, only this time it was spoken (in audio). The process is actually two independent modality streams running simultaneously.
The tasks were adapted in a way that when participants performed well, the task became harder. If participants performed badly, the task becomes easier. In effect, the task always matched the processing abilities of the participants.
The performance
After the tests (conducted extensively on 4 groups, etc.), the trained subjects showed a significant improvement: they could move from solving over 9 problems to 12.
Afterwards, the more the participants trained, the more problems they could solve in the post-test, a significant and surprising 40% improvement.
The surprise
In education, transfer effects are central to the system. The assumption is that what we learn in school we will apply later sometime in our life in the future.
In the research test, there was tangible transfer, most pronounced on tests with children. The transfer was the most exciting part of the research.
Brain training puzzles
In many newspapers today, there are many brain training puzzles found. There are new generations, too, of video games and consoles such as the Nintendo DS in the hope that they can keep alert the elderly minds.
Many of these will no doubt improve memory and there is now speed in solving puzzles like the Sudoku. There are some, like the good old crosswords, that expand vocabulary.
The elderly have been known to benefit from some software exercises also that improve memory.
Brain training is now getting closer and closer to finally make giant strides in helping fight some old brain nemesis as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy. By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse, you agree to our Privacy Policy