BRAIN EXERCISES
To speak of brain exercises is to utilize a metaphor that is not completely accurate. Unlike most muscles, the brain cannot be "enlarged" through exercise, the equivalent of cognitive weight training. That is to say, the brain we have is the brain we will live with for our entire lives. However, that is not to say that brain exercises can't aide in our proficiency of utilizing what we've been given.
In fact, if we use our brain like a muscle,
studies have shown, over and over, that we can keep our
brains "young" for many more years than sedentary
brains...no different than exercising to maintain a healthy
body.
"Brain fitness," as it's come to be known, grew out of the
field of neuropsychology. In this system, exercises are
designed to maintain brain functions through what's called "neruoplasticity,"
which can be seen as "stretching" the brain. Also critical
in brain fitness is the idea of neurogenesis, or the
creation of new neurons. These types of brain exercises
focus on the fact that many cognitive abilities, including
attention, stress and emotional management, memory,
visual/spatial processing, auditory processes and language,
motor coordination, and executive chores like planning and
problem solving, all diminish over time unless "exercised"
regularly. Thus, a mentally fit person can slow this
diminishment and retain the cognitive "health" she has in
youth.
Today there are dozens of products marketed as brain
exercisers, from flashcards to expensive computer and video
game software. Unfortunately, some of these products skimp
on the fitness side of the coin to focus on entertainment
value. Consider, for instance, the Baby Einstein series of
DVDs, which have been clinically shown to actually slow
infant brain development, the exact opposite of what they
are marketed to do.
Some of the most effective means of
exercising your brain is simply reading, as you are doing
now. Just like the simple act of walking each day, the
simple act of reading each day can bring great benefits.
In fact, and kind of activity that requires concentration of
some sort, can bring astonishingly tangible results.
The old standard; crossword puzzles, can be one of the most
effective simple ways to do your daily dose of brain
exercises, as is the old standard; Scrabble.
Recent research has shown that, like selected dietary
supplements, disciplined brain exercise can improve the
speed and quality of brain operations. Together, both of
these options not only help prevent age-related decline, but
also help guard against the onset of dementia, Alzheimer's,
and other cognitively degenerative diseases.