DO you find that you aren’t as ‘on top’ of things as you used to be? Maybe you forget oft-repeated telephone numbers or misplace important documents. You blame your brain and assume that this is an inevitable result of advancing years.
Well, you couldn’t be more mistaken! Memory lapses or an overloaded brain can occur at any stage. The trick is to keep your brain alert and active. Remember, that like any other muscle in your body, your brain too, is a muscle. If you don’t use it, you are definitely going to lose it! There’s a reason experts have almost gone blue in the face emphasising the importance of mental exercises or mind games, that’ll keep your brain agile and stimulated. Agrees Dr Sujay Rao, a neurologist at Manipal Hospital, “Actively using your brain can retard certain age-related diseases. In fact, using your brain to the maximum extent means that the various connections of your brain cells are alive. Otherwise, the cells could die out. And certain board games definitely help here.”
The brain is called upon to simultaneously regulate unconscious functions like breathing, body temperature and digestion; conscious functions, such as movement and talking; and so-called cognitive functions, such as thinking, learning, feeling and remembering. To help the brain keep up this lifelong juggling act, researchers are increasingly coming to view a healthy brain as a “worked out” brain – one that is regularly stimulated and challenged by rigorous mind-taxing tasks.
Comfortably ensconced in the skull, the brain needs to be used and exercised just like any other part of our anatomy. Your brain does grow smaller with age, and if you don’t stimulate it enough, then according to experts, you actually risk lowering your capacity for learning! Research shows that keeping your brain nimble with new, challenging and stimulating activities is the best way to keep your mind sharp. That’s exactly where the importance of games and puzzles like sudoku, kakuro, nintendo, monopoly, jigsaws, etc come in. In fact, research shows that by stretching the brain with regular crossword and sudoku puzzles, you can make your brain function like it’s 14 years younger!
The thing to remember is that though lack of sleep, stress and poor eating habits can adversely affect your brain, the effects can be countered if you flex your mental muscle enough. Explains Ronald Petersen, a neurologist and specialist in memory disorders,
“Brain exercises don’t need to be the
equivalent of weight lifting.
Playing board games, reading, taking classes or
anything that engages your mind, helps.” Brain exercises are one of the few things that people can do to be proactive about stopping or slowing down cognitive decline. And it’s infinitely better than popping pills! In fact, a study conducted in China found that cognitive ability declined less in elderly people who did puzzles, played games or engaged in other mentally stimulating activities.
The brain obviously doesn’t just need a workout, it basically thrives on it. Like Dr Joe Verghese, an assistant professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New
York City, says, “The more you indulge in mentally stimulating activities – such as crossword puzzles or playing chess – the better it is.” He recently co-authored a study that found that seniors who engage in a wide variety of mental pursuits while at leisure – such as playing a musical instrument, reading and playing cards or board-games – seem to dramatically lower their risk for developing dementia. But he stresses that it’s never too early to incorporate mental exercise into the daily planner. In fact, it’s a habit that should be encouraged right from childhood. “If you haven’t built a lifestyle that includes mentally stimulating activities in your 50s as a habit, it’s unlikely you will do so in your 60s,” he points out.
The Alzheimer’s Association also recommends puzzles as therapy based on studies which suggest that they might improve memory, attention and problem-solving capabilities, while staving off mental decline and perhaps, even reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Studies of patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia or attention deficit disorder have found that those who play games have better speech and brain function as well. There is growing evidence that people who engage in puzzles, board games and other mentally stimulating activities can reduce the risk of memory loss and dementia as they age.
Adds Dr Milind Vaidya, a neurosurgeon at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital, “Routine activities – or daily chores – don’t really make optimum use of the brain. That’s why mental exercises are required to keep the brain fit and its cells active.”
That might explain why people these days can be seen furiously scribbling into newspapers while they frantically finish the all-important sudoku, or perhaps the cryptic crossword! Like Avani Patel, a 24-year-old sudoku enthusiast says, “As sudoku is a very logical game, I’d like to believe that at times I apply the same logic in real life too. After all, as you go about filling up each column, it does teach you that one can look at a problem in many ways. And that if you persevere hard enough, there definitely will be a solution.” No wonder the entire country is saying, Lage Raho…
According to Dr Vaidya, the more one exercises the brain – especially with numbers – the better will be one’s retention power as well as productivity. “If you notice, there are many senior citizens who have an extremely agile and alert brain. Why? Chances are that they’ve been handling or looking into the family’s finances for years, so their brains have been active. As something like sudoku is also all about numbers, it definitely goes a long way in keeping your brain fit,” he explains.
So perhaps it’s time for you to stop running away from numbers and actually befriend them as they may just be your saving grace in your golden years!
Just think about it as a mental workout – the more you do, the better
The brain is called upon to simultaneously regulate unconscious functions like breathing, body temperature and digestion; conscious functions, such as movement and talking; and so-called cognitive functions, such as thinking, learning, feeling and remembering. To help the brain keep up this lifelong juggling act, researchers are increasingly coming to view a healthy brain as a “worked out” brain – one that is regularly stimulated and challenged by rigorous mind-taxing tasks.
Comfortably ensconced in the skull, the brain needs to be used and exercised just like any other part of our anatomy. Your brain does grow smaller with age, and if you don’t stimulate it enough, then according to experts, you actually risk lowering your capacity for learning! Research shows that keeping your brain nimble with new, challenging and stimulating activities is the best way to keep your mind sharp. That’s exactly where the importance of games and puzzles like sudoku, kakuro, nintendo, monopoly, jigsaws, etc come in. In fact, research shows that by stretching the brain with regular crossword and sudoku puzzles, you can make your brain function like it’s 14 years younger!
The thing to remember is that though lack of sleep, stress and poor eating habits can adversely affect your brain, the effects can be countered if you flex your mental muscle enough. Explains Ronald Petersen, a neurologist and specialist in memory disorders,
“Brain exercises don’t need to be the
equivalent of weight lifting.
Playing board games, reading, taking classes or
anything that engages your mind, helps.” Brain exercises are one of the few things that people can do to be proactive about stopping or slowing down cognitive decline. And it’s infinitely better than popping pills! In fact, a study conducted in China found that cognitive ability declined less in elderly people who did puzzles, played games or engaged in other mentally stimulating activities.
The brain obviously doesn’t just need a workout, it basically thrives on it. Like Dr Joe Verghese, an assistant professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New
York City, says, “The more you indulge in mentally stimulating activities – such as crossword puzzles or playing chess – the better it is.” He recently co-authored a study that found that seniors who engage in a wide variety of mental pursuits while at leisure – such as playing a musical instrument, reading and playing cards or board-games – seem to dramatically lower their risk for developing dementia. But he stresses that it’s never too early to incorporate mental exercise into the daily planner. In fact, it’s a habit that should be encouraged right from childhood. “If you haven’t built a lifestyle that includes mentally stimulating activities in your 50s as a habit, it’s unlikely you will do so in your 60s,” he points out.
The Alzheimer’s Association also recommends puzzles as therapy based on studies which suggest that they might improve memory, attention and problem-solving capabilities, while staving off mental decline and perhaps, even reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Studies of patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia or attention deficit disorder have found that those who play games have better speech and brain function as well. There is growing evidence that people who engage in puzzles, board games and other mentally stimulating activities can reduce the risk of memory loss and dementia as they age.
Adds Dr Milind Vaidya, a neurosurgeon at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital, “Routine activities – or daily chores – don’t really make optimum use of the brain. That’s why mental exercises are required to keep the brain fit and its cells active.”
That might explain why people these days can be seen furiously scribbling into newspapers while they frantically finish the all-important sudoku, or perhaps the cryptic crossword! Like Avani Patel, a 24-year-old sudoku enthusiast says, “As sudoku is a very logical game, I’d like to believe that at times I apply the same logic in real life too. After all, as you go about filling up each column, it does teach you that one can look at a problem in many ways. And that if you persevere hard enough, there definitely will be a solution.” No wonder the entire country is saying, Lage Raho…
According to Dr Vaidya, the more one exercises the brain – especially with numbers – the better will be one’s retention power as well as productivity. “If you notice, there are many senior citizens who have an extremely agile and alert brain. Why? Chances are that they’ve been handling or looking into the family’s finances for years, so their brains have been active. As something like sudoku is also all about numbers, it definitely goes a long way in keeping your brain fit,” he explains.
So perhaps it’s time for you to stop running away from numbers and actually befriend them as they may just be your saving grace in your golden years!
Just think about it as a mental workout – the more you do, the better
