Benefits of Brain Training For Older Adults
Seniors Gain From Brain Exercises to Help Memory, Flexibility
Aug 6, 2009
Adults aged from 60 to 90 are getting measurable benefits from exercising their brains at a special brain fitness centre in Cleveland Ohio. Set up with funding from Case Western Reserve University, the Brain Emporium acts as a mind’ gymnasium’ for seniors to help them develop brain ‘muscle’.
Computer-based brain and memory training programs are popular with Baby Boomers and elders seeking to minimise memory loss feared as a part of ageing. Games and tests develop flexibility, memory, spatial recall and problem solving
What makes the Brain Emporium different is that it works like a gym, with Case Western Reserve University associate professor of psychology Dr TJ McCallum and graduate student assistants acting as trainers. They develop brain training regimens tailored to each individual’s interests and abilities.
Physical Activity with Mental Stimulus Builds Brain ‘Muscle’
As well as the range of computerised games and programs the seniors can enjoy, visitors to the Emporium are encouraged to be physically active, playing virtual games of tennis, bowling, or darts on a Nintendo Wii.
These physical sports help the seniors develop more agility and flexibility both physically and mentally, Dr McCallum said. In addition, the adults find the physical games at least as much fun as the more mental ones.
Dr Mccallum said it was not yet clear if brain training games could prevent the onset of Alzheimer's, but it is clear that seniors do benefit from exercises to sharpen their brains. “If you don’t use your body, it atrophies and the same is true for the brain,” he said.
Use it or Lose it – Study Shows how Brain Exercise Works
Research from the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at the University of Queensland shows the adage ‘use it or lose it’ is as true for brain neurones as it is for muscles.
If a neurone (nerve cell) doesn’t receive sufficient electrical and chemical stimulation it will die. On the other hand, if the neurone receives stimulation from other neurones developing new neural pathways across the brain resulting from new learning, then it lives and grows.
Dr Elizabeth Coulson and colleagues published their research in 2008 in the Journal of Neuroscience, showing that if a neurone is not sufficiently stimulated by the cells around it, it dies. This self-destruction is an important factor in stroke, Alzheimer's and motor neuron diseases, leading to the loss of essential nerve cells from the adult brain.
Dr Coulson said a baby's brain generates roughly double the number of neurones it needs to function. Those cells that receive both chemical and electrical stimuli survive and grow, and those that don’t, die.
“We know that a lack of both chemical and electrical stimuli causes the cells to self-destruct," Dr Coulson said. "But we believe that nerve cells will survive if appropriate stimuli are produced to block the self-destruct process."
New Hope from Brain Exercises for Stroke Patients
This research was extremely exciting, Professor Perry Bartlett, Director of the QBI said, “because it provides the missing piece of information as to how the brain likely keeps alive the new neurons it generates in some brain areas as an adult.
"Combining this with our knowledge of how to stimulate new neurons in the brain of adults following to disease processes such as stroke, it provides new mechanisms for the treatment of a variety of diseases from depression to dementia," he said.
For people over 60 not suffering from stroke or brain-related diseases, the cautionary adage of ‘use it or lose it’ should be an encouragement to regular physical and mental exercise!
Readers might also be interested in Getting Older People Walking and Exercise Best Falls Prevention Measure
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