Traveling the Road to Wellness

A (Fun) Secret Weapon Against Memory Loss and Cognitive Decline

November 2009

Memory loss is a natural part of the aging process. But it can be one of the most frightful and anxiety-inducing aspects of growing older. If you or your parents are of a certain age, you can likely relate. Whether it’s going upstairs and forgetting by the time you get to the top why you went up, or simply forgetting the names that go with familiar faces, losing your mental sharpness can be as scary as anything else in this life.

Have I started to lose my mind, you might ask yourself. Well, no, not really. You’re just experiencing the natural evolution of an aging brain, which often brings with it some cobwebs. But, instead of finding a way to clean out those cobwebs, a growing movement in aging research is focusing on how to slow this natural cognitive decline. Initial evidence is finding promising results in regard to eating a proper diet, exercising and engaging in social activity and other tasks that challenge one’s mental abilities.

That last part is the most interesting of the three. By now everyone knows that eating well will help maintain a healthy body, including brain health. Proper nutrition is indeed the basic building block of good health. Staying in touch with friends and social groups has also been a widely accepted way to maintain one’s mental health and emotional well-being. But what does “tasks that challenge one’s mental abilities” really mean? In a word: games.

That’s right, playing games that challenge you to think, strategize, anticipate, learn, adapt, etc. may help slow or reduce the effects of cognitive decline. Psychologists Anne McLaughlin and Jason Allaire at North Carolina State University were recently awarded $1.2 million from the National Science Foundation to conduct a four-year study of cognitive decline in the elderly — specifically, whether playing certain video games might help slow the effects of aging. The team is hoping to determine whether the strategy, memory and problem-solving skills involved in (successful) game-playing may translate into real world benefits in fighting memory loss and cognitive decline.

However, before you go out and buy a new Nintendo Wii (one of the most popular gaming units for adults and elderly—almost becoming popular in retirement and assisted living facilities), keep in mind that research is very new and there is currently little hard evidence that picking up a controller will help dust off those cobwebs. But, enjoying games with friends and family will certainly accomplish the social goal of maintaining. Now if you could manage to substitute fruits and veggies for the standard fare of party snacks and finger food, you may have the perfect trifecta of wellness.

Read more: http://cogmednews.com/?p=345

 

 

 

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