Delaying Dementia With Brain Training

A new research published in journals AGE and PLOS ONE has found the key behind the ability of humans to multi-task.

Scientists at the IUGM Institut universitaire de geriatrie de Montreal and the University of Montreal identified the part of brain involved in multitasking and suggested that these areas could be stimulated to improve multitasking skills, especially in older people as these skills tend to decline with age. 

“Use it or lose it” for mental fitness!

The following list gives out reasons why the right kind of mental exercises can improve your brain.

It also reiterates what research says about using the brain to defend 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.