Exercising during the summer months seems like a no brainer. After all, summer days offer warmer
weather, more daylight and a greater chance that we can find time to fit a run or walk in. Also with
more hours of daylight, we can usually find a workout buddy to go for a swim, hike or bike ride with. But
while we all think about exercising our bodies more this time of year- I want to focus on an important
part of our body that we don’t think about exercising… and that’s our Brain!!!
An estimated 40% of people ages 65 and older experience some degree of age-related cognitive decline.
In the U.S. alone, that equates to approximately 21 million people. And don’t think that this affliction is
saved only for us “old people”. Researchers from the University of Virginia have found that cognitive
decline actually starts to kick in relatively early in adulthood, at age 27! So whether you are over 65 and
concerned about age-related memory loss or are simply looking to implement measures to improve
cognition, research overwhelmingly shows that brain exercise is one of the most important daily habits
we implement to prevent cognitive decline.
Brain exercise is any activity that engages our cognitive skills. Online brain games are popular and offer a
wide variety of imaginative exercises designed to challenge your memory, focus and problem-solving
skills, but tactile games like bingo and jigsaw puzzles and hobbies like model building also stimulate
important types of memory skills. The key is that they must be difficult, but not too difficult. So let’s look
at some specific activities that we can use to exercise our old “noggins “
1. Do a Crossword Puzzle- When you attempt a crossword puzzle, you use verbal memory as you seek
words that match a certain number of letters that fit descriptive phrases. One study in the Journal of the
International Neuropsychology Society found a possible connection between completing crossword
puzzles and the delayed onset of accelerated memory decline in people who developed dementia. Also,
the range of difficulty in available crossword puzzles is huge—starting at mini crosswords of easy three-
or four-letter words.
2. Play an Online Brain Game- If you want to really freak yourself out- go into your IPhone settings and
click on Screen Time to see how many useless hours we spend on mindless apps like Tick Tock, You
Tube and Twitter. Instead- try using your phone time more beneficially by downloading apps like
Luminosity, Cognifit, Sharpbrains, and BrainHQ. These brain challenging apps provide games daily that
challenge memory, attention and concentration skills. Does playing these games lead to long-term
cognition improvement? It’s not known for certain, but they are engaging and fun. These word, number,
speed, math, problem-solving and shape games often have time limits, which escalate the challenge,
along with colorful graphics and cheerful sounds which are essentially cognitive training.
3. Start a Jigsaw Puzzle- Whether they’re easy or complicated, jigsaw puzzles tap into many “visual-
spatial working memory” skills—seeing and remembering which pieces fit into similarly shaped spaces.
To that end, a 2018 study in Frontiers of Aging Neuroscience showed that working on jigsaw puzzles
engages multiple cognitive abilities.
4. Join a Card Game- Many well-loved games involve significant cognitive challenges which sharpen the
mind. When you play bridge, you have to remember who has played what cards, develop your own
strategy while keeping in mind the intentions of fellow players, and keep in mind a complex point
system for gains and losses. A study by the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute and the Wisconsin
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center showed that playing card games help people have a greater brain
volume in a number of different brain regions. In addition to improved memory and thinking, the risk of
suffering from dementia is significantly lowered when we engage in these activities.
5. Learn Some New Dance Moves- We know dancing is good aerobic exercise, but learning to dance —
mastering new moves, triumphing over tricky timing and avoiding your partner’s toes — may be better
for the brain than other kinds of exercise, including walking and stretching. A new study looked at the
cognitive and neurological changes that occurred in the brain after six months of either brisk walking,
dancing lessons, or simple stretching and balance exercises. The idea was to see if dancing’s unique
combination of cognitive, physical and social activity might slow the effects of aging in the brain. The
results were impressive: White matter slightly declined in the brains of the walkers and stretchers, but
increased in the dancers — probably because of the cognitive demands of mastering the new
choreography, according to researchers.
So this summer when we are out in the great outdoors exercising our bodies- let’s not forget to come
back inside in the evening and exercise our brains!