Cognitive activities keep mind sharp as we age

Scripps Howard

Older people have fewer problems as they age if they engage in leisure-time cognitive activities, observational studies suggest.

Frank Walsh, a retired civil engineer on the cusp of 90, has experienced decline in his legs, eyesight and hearing. It’s hard for the assisted-living resident at Country Meadows in Bridgeville, just southwest of Pittsburgh, to stop some of that.

But he works to maintain his still-sharp mind by doing crossword puzzles. He also took an eight-week computer course called Brain Fitness, and he wants to try something similar again.

“Memory is not a permanent thing, and I think I probably by now lost everything I gained,” he said from a wheelchair in the facility’s activities room. “I know I can’t remember today what I learned six months ago. I don’t have that instant recall.”

Brain Fitness, an audio-oriented software program by San Francisco-based Posit Science, is one of a wide inventory of products to enhance memory.

Some programs are downloaded onto computers, and others played as hand-held devices. The emphasis ranges from listening skills to visual cues to problem solving. Target audiences also differ, as do prices.

The games don’t prevent Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers and geriatricians. But just like crossword puzzles, card games and other activities using the brain — even bingo — they’re better than television at keeping the brain active.

“It’s just like going to a gym and building up the body,” said Dr. Gary Small, a professor and director of the UCLA Memory Aging Center. “Even in a few weeks, we can see changes in brain neurocircuitry, as people have better memory skills.”

Brain activity is helpful the same way that physical exercise is recommended to slow natural decline. Exercising both body and mind are important factors in a balanced, productive life in later years, according to the American Geriatrics Society.

Dr. Stephanie Studenski, a geriatrician and University of Pittsburgh professor of medicine, said observational studies suggest older people have fewer problems as they age if they’ve engaged in leisure-time cognitive activities. That should also hold true for Brain Fitness and its counterparts, so long as people don’t expect miraculous turnarounds.

While some studies have suggested Alzheimer’s comes later to people who have done a lot of crossword puzzles or mentally stimulating activities, there’s been no cause-and-effect evidence of the connection, Small said.

Judy Barry, 68, and her roommate have been playing 20 minutes a day, five days a week, supplementing the walking and card-playing and reading and writing and puzzle games they already do at Redstone Highlands, in Murrysville, east of Pittsburgh.

“We’re leading an active retirement with experiences we hope keep our minds alert,” Barry said. “My memory is there now, and I’m trying to maintain it. Hopefully, it’s always going to be there with me.”