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You work hard your
whole life; and for what?
—the
“golden years”?
In what condition will you spend your
“golden years”?
How
do you know the following or something
similar won't happen to you?
Leaving the retirement party, you resonate
with a newly found sense of freedom. You have been at the grindstone
practically your whole life and now it is time to cash
in, to reap the benefits of all
your hard work. And besides having stashed away a massive wad of loot over
the years, you managed to eat healthy foods and keep your body fit. You have your
health and money to burn. Your retirement looks like fun
time city. Did you miss anything?
According to popular wisdom, you did everything correctly.
The first year of retirement goes by and although you have been busy doing
the things you always wanted to do, it seems your mind isn't quite as fast
as it used to be. Oh well, chalk it up to old age. Another year goes by and
even though you still consider yourself active—your friends usually
mention how active you are—you seem a little fuzzier around the mental
edges. Then it happens and you don't even realize it. You suffer some damage
to your brain, for whatever reason, be it from mild concussion, small
stroke, or the start of a brain disease. This might sound a little far-fetched,
but chances are something will attack your brain sometime during your life.
Two years later your mind starts going downhill more quickly. Your body is
still in good shape, but your brain isn't holding up as well as you thought
it would. You just can’t seem to do all the things you used to do. It is
frustrating. It is disheartening. So, you start to “play” the medical
circuit. This is what most people regard as their health backup. “I have
coverage, it will fix me,” you think to yourself. After “testing”
popular medications inside your body (because doctors say “try this
medication and let’s see how it works”), your weeks gradually fill with
doctors’ appointments and bombarding your system with medications rather
than “golden year” enjoyment. You are traveling the path to living only
an existence, not a life. Some time later you wind up in a nursing home,
spending each bedridden day staring at cheap pictures, getting fed three
times a day and burning through your personal pot-of-gold like dry newspaper
over a raging campfire. The sad thing is, you are likely to spend the
remainder of your life in a nursing home once admitted.
What happened? You
did everything you could to prepare for old age? You should be living it up
somewhere, enjoying a life of interest and intrigue. What else could you have
done to make this lifestyle a retirement reality?
Don’t think that
this scenario or something similar won’t happen to you. The reality is:
“Over 50
percent of Americans die in hospitals, many isolated and in pain, while hooked
up to a lot of high-tech equipment. Seventeen percent [more than one in six] of
Americans die in nursing homes.”
—U.S. News & World Report, February 1997
“About 4
million Americans suffer from the degenerative brain disorder [Alzheimer’s],
and caring for them costs some $100 billion a year. Before the middle of the
next century, the aging of the baby-boom generation is expected to swell the
number of Alzheimer’s sufferers nearly threefold.”
—Time Magazine, March 1997
“Late-life
depression affects some 6 million adults, most of them women, but only 10% of
these persons ever get treated.”
—The Brown University Long-Term Care Quality Advisor,
July 1997
“The
quality of care at thousands of the nation’s nursing homes is poor or
questionable at best.”
—Consumer Reports, August 1995
“Caring
for a patient with Alzheimer’s disease costs more than $47,000 a year whether
the person lives at home or in a nursing home, according to a recent study in
northern California.”
—National Institute of Aging
“In
possibly thousands of cases, nursing home residents are dying from a lack of
food and water and the most basic level of hygiene.”
—Time Magazine, October 1997
“The
suicide rate in older adults is more than 50% higher than the rate for the
nation as a whole. Many of these suicides (up to two-thirds) are often
attributed to depression that when untreated or misdiagnosed.”
--National Center for Health Statistics, 1994
Is this how you want to spend your "golden years"?
Senility:
Fact or fantasy?
According to
popular notions, old age dementia, commonly called “senility,” is a matter
of chance. Many people say to themselves, “I hope I don’t become
‘senile’ when I get old.” Are our mental faculties merely dependent on a
roll of the cosmic dice? Or is the opposite true? That is, can people
realistically fight the possible onslaught of senility?
For many years the
scientific community based what it knows about “senility” on the premise
that the total number of neurons (brain cells) in the human brain determines
smartness, cognizance, brainpower, etc. Humans are born with their complete set
of neurons. Since, from birth on, we lose them and never generate new ones, it
was concluded that humans naturally lose brain capacity, or get “senile”
with age. When people were tested for mental dexterity this theory was fortified
because, scientists averaged the test results of all seniors including those
seniors who scored poorly. This lowered the average performance level for all
seniors. Hence, an inaccurate picture of senior performance was given. Looking
at averaged results, one doesn’t see the group of seniors who scored above
average or those who scored exceptionally well, only that seniors, as a whole,
scored worse than people younger than they. The way these results were
interpreted lead to the common misconceptions people have today about
“senility” and aging.
Later, scientists
started to question the premise that having more neurons naturally makes a
person smarter. If the premise was true then bigger brained people should be the
smartest. This is not so. One example: Intellectuals such as Walt Whitman and
Anatole France should have had brains larger than normal. Their brains weighed
less than the European average of 1300-1400 grams. Taking the theory a step
further, any animals with larger brains than humans, such as elephants, should
be smarter than humans. It is obvious the number of neurons alone does not
automatically make a person smart. The scientific community is finding this out
and is changing their premise. In study after study, scientists are finding
that:
-
brain
power can be improved regardless of age
-
people
can do things to help prevent “senility” (or dementia) brought on by
things like: stroke, Alzheimer’s, accident, etc. and
-
there
are, in fact, steps people can take to guard against the effects of damage
to the brain.
Studies show it is
not the number of neurons that make the difference; it is how you use the ones
you have. It is now known that people can actually “exercise” their brains
to help prevent dementia in old age.
The real culprit
these days, it seems, in preventing “senility” is not so much what to do as
it is getting people to throw away their old myths about becoming “senile.”
People need to understand they can (and should) exercise their brains as part of
a personal fitness program to help guard against “senility.”
Why brains can be exercised: The
“plastic” in our heads
One might wonder,
“If we always lose brain cells during our life and never grow new ones, how
can a person’s brain get better as he or she ages?” True, every person loses
about 100,000 neurons daily. That number increases when the brain is subjected
to things such as alcohol, drugs, long-term medication and sustained stress. But
as stated above, it is not the number of neurons that make the
brain stronger it is how the neurons are used. Stated more
accurately, it is number of connections between the neurons grown through use
that makes a strong brain.
A neuron (brain
cell) is one cell with many branches (called dendrites and one axon) extending
from it, and many branches extending from those branches. A neuron is like a
single cell unit with sets of roots growing out of it. These “roots” are
connected to the “roots” extending from other neurons. Therein lies the
secret to brain rejuvenation. You simply grow more root connections.
 A single neuron is
connected to hundreds of other neurons having from 1,000 to 10,000 connection
points. It is estimated it would take about 32 million years to count the
connections in one cerebral cortex. Through these connections neurons
“communicate” with each other by way of electrical impulses and chemical
transfers. When activated, each neuron sends an electrical charge through one of
its branches (its “sending” branch--axon) to the many tips on that
branch (synapses) and sets off chemical transfers (neurotransmitters) through
the connection points at the tips (synaptic connections) to other neurons’
branches (their “receiving” branches--dendrites). This process passes
information from one neuron to the next. The wonderful thing about this system
is that neurons adapt to use, so the more a neuron is used the more synaptic
connections it will grow. It is this flexibility to create more synaptic
connections that gives us a fighting chance to beat “senility.”
Recently,
scientists have learned that experiences and information processed by the brain
grow new synaptic connections. And the harder the brain is challenged, the more
synaptic connections it makes. In addition to this each neuron gets stronger
with use so it can “fire” electrical charges through the axon more often.
Neurologists call synaptic connection growth “use dependent plasticity,” or
just “plasticity.” This term labels the function our brains have which allow
them to uniquely and literally change with use. For example, when we
learn something new or challenge our minds to solve problems, our brains create
new synaptic connections--we actually “grow” our brains.
This is great
news. However, “plasticity” works both ways. In similar fashion to the way
human muscles respond by growing stronger with use or atrophy and get weaker
with disuse, the brain also responds by getting stronger with activity and
becoming weaker with inactivity. When we do not take the time to challenge
our brains they become weaker, inviting the onset of “senility.” It is the
number of connections in the brain, not the total number of neurons that make
people smarter or still coherent in their old age.
 It was found that
some nuns with varying stages of Alzheimer’s disease acted as coherent as a
person having a normal brain. To find out how this could be a study, which
included analyzing their lifestyle was conducted. Something the scientists found
is, these nuns exercise their brains daily by learning new things, doing
puzzles, etc. Many other studies with the general populace find that people with
higher education levels are less likely to become “senile.” These people
have spent more of their life challenging and therefore “growing” their
brains than people with lower educations usually do. It is inferred from these
studies that people with higher educations probably include regular brain
exercises such as learning new skills, reading, puzzles, playing games, etc. in
their lifestyle. These people live by the rule “use it or lose it,” whether
they are aware of it or not.
Exercising your
brain is not a “wonder cure” however; people are still subject to genetic
coding, which might endow some to more serious consequences of brain disease
even with strenuous mental exercise. Becoming “senile” is not a matter of
guarantees. Nothing can guarantee a normally functioning brain in old age.
Coherency and quality of life in old age is a matter of preparation, mental and
physical readiness, thereby increasing the odds of recovery from what might
happen to your brain as you grow older. Will your brain “handle” what life
throws at it? Are you increasing the chances your brain can “take on”
diseases trying to destroy it or are you letting your brain become weak through
stagnation? Will you “use it or lose it?” A lax attitude now can mean
bedpans, leg sores and a financial crisis in the future. I imagine many nursing
home patients and their supporting families now wish they had addressed these
questions before it was too late.
Why brains can be exercised: The
“plastic” in our heads
One might wonder,
“If we always lose brain cells during our life and never grow new ones, how
can a person’s brain get better as he or she ages?” True, every person loses
about 100,000 neurons daily. That number increases when the brain is subjected
to things such as alcohol, drugs, long-term medication and sustained stress. But
as stated above, it is not the number of neurons that make the
brain stronger it is how the neurons are used. Stated more
accurately, it is number of connections between the neurons grown through use
that makes a strong brain.
A neuron (brain
cell) is one cell with many branches (called dendrites and one axon) extending
from it, and many branches extending from those branches. A neuron is like a
single cell unit with sets of roots growing out of it. These “roots” are
connected to the “roots” extending from other neurons. Therein lies the
secret to brain rejuvenation. You simply grow more root connections.
A single neuron is
connected to hundreds of other neurons having from 1,000 to 10,000 connection
points. It is estimated it would take about 32 million years to count the
connections in one cerebral cortex. Through these connections neurons
“communicate” with each other by way of electrical impulses and chemical
transfers. When activated, each neuron sends an electrical charge through one of
its branches (its “sending” branch--axon) to the many tips on that
branch (synapses) and sets off chemical transfers (neurotransmitters) through
the connection points at the tips (synaptic connections) to other neurons’
branches (their “receiving” branches--dendrites). This process passes
information from one neuron to the next. The wonderful thing about this system
is that neurons adapt to use, so the more a neuron is used the more synaptic
connections it will grow. It is this flexibility to create more synaptic
connections that gives us a fighting chance to beat “senility.”
Recently,
scientists have learned that experiences and information processed by the brain
grow new synaptic connections. And the harder the brain is challenged, the more
synaptic connections it makes. In addition to this each neuron gets stronger
with use so it can “fire” electrical charges through the axon more often.
Neurologists call synaptic connection growth “use dependent plasticity,” or
just “plasticity.” This term labels the function our brains have which allow
them to uniquely and literally change with use. For example, when we
learn something new or challenge our minds to solve problems, our brains create
new synaptic connections--we actually “grow” our brains.
This is great
news. However, “plasticity” works both ways. In similar fashion to the way
human muscles respond by growing stronger with use or atrophy and get weaker
with disuse, the brain also responds by getting stronger with activity and
becoming weaker with inactivity. When we do not take the time to challenge
our brains they become weaker, inviting the onset of “senility.” It is the
number of connections in the brain, not the total number of neurons that make
people smarter or still coherent in their old age.
It was found that
some nuns with varying stages of Alzheimer’s disease acted as coherent as a
person having a normal brain. To find out how this could be a study, which
included analyzing their lifestyle was conducted. Something the scientists found
is, these nuns exercise their brains daily by learning new things, doing
puzzles, etc. Many other studies with the general populace find that people with
higher education levels are less likely to become “senile.” These people
have spent more of their life challenging and therefore “growing” their
brains than people with lower educations usually do. It is inferred from these
studies that people with higher educations probably include regular brain
exercises such as learning new skills, reading, puzzles, playing games, etc. in
their lifestyle. These people live by the rule “use it or lose it,” whether
they are aware of it or not.
Exercising your
brain is not a “wonder cure” however; people are still subject to genetic
coding, which might endow some to more serious consequences of brain disease
even with strenuous mental exercise. Becoming “senile” is not a matter of
guarantees. Nothing can guarantee a normally functioning brain in old age.
Coherency and quality of life in old age is a matter of preparation, mental and
physical readiness, thereby increasing the odds of recovery from what might
happen to your brain as you grow older. Will your brain “handle” what life
throws at it? Are you increasing the chances your brain can “take on”
diseases trying to destroy it or are you letting your brain become weak through
stagnation? Will you “use it or lose it?” A lax attitude now can mean
bedpans, leg sores and a financial crisis in the future. I imagine many nursing
home patients and their supporting families now wish they had addressed these
questions before it was too late.
The
most important thing was left out . . .
I think most people would agree they want to live a happy, active and
fruitful life; not spend their last years in a vegetative state confined to a
hospital bed. It leads one to wonder: What good is life when your mental
abilities are lost? Sure, your liver and heart may be strong and healthy, but
without a normally functioning brain your quality of life is zero. Even stacks
of retirement money saved for years won't bring back brain function. The money
just gets “eaten” by medical expenses.
Reverse the
situation and you can still have near normal quality of life. If your body isn't
in good shape, but you have a strong brain, you can still practice skills,
participate in conversations, enjoy music, play games, etc. You can even make
your “stacks” of retirement money larger. You can “enjoy” life as
opposed to just “existing.” When people are admitted to a nursing home for
whatever reason, the reason they end up staying there is because of lost mental
function.
Popular medical
advice and common notions about living long are based on two concepts: eating
well and staying physically fit, both of which do not specifically “grow”
the brain. When considering your “golden years,” quality of life is a major
issue. Addressing decreased mental function (“senility”) should not be
denied. Planning a retirement should include more than saving money and staying
physically fit. There is something fundamentally wrong with popular advice that
prolongs life and simultaneously condemns us to a meaningless existence. But now
we have the knowledge to reverse these misconceptions. Recent findings prove
that although the number of neurons decreases with age, the ratio of synaptic
connections to neurons increases with those who exercise their brain.
Unfortunately the ratio decreases along with the number of neurons with those
who do not exercise their brains. We should add deliberate brain exercises to
our physical fitness regimen and good eating habits.
 Thus bore the
creation of the “Fitness Triad.” This triad was formed to incorporate the
concept of brain exercise within the common practices of physical exercise and
good dietary habits. The “Fitness Triad” includes three aspects of health:
physical exercise, eating well (including vitamins), and brain exercise.
Practitioners of this triad not only exercise their bodies and eat right, they
also regularly engage in mental exercising. By following the “Fitness
Triad,” one enhances his/her current lifestyle more completely than with only
physical exercise and proper diet. Practicing the triad increases the chance for
an enjoyable lifestyle in retirement years. Since finding advice and programs
regarding physical fitness and nutrition is relatively easy, our focus is on the
third aspect—brain fitness.
One problem with
brain exercising however, is “seeing” the results. When you work a muscle,
you can actually feel the results over time. Awareness of results from brain
exercises is more elusive. But there are genuine, although gradual, benefits.
Your brain will process “code” (information) more easily and handle more
complex problems. You won’t feel as mentally fatigued as quickly while doing
intense brain activity. You will feel mentally “sharper” giving you
self-confidence and personal satisfaction. You will make decisions easier. It
will be easier to carry on a lifestyle laden with enjoyable activities. Brain
exercise is one of the most important things you can do to keep your functional
IQ well into your old age.
Problem solving
and understanding new things are, to the brain, like aerobic exercise is to the
body. They set the brain into action. The brain works many different functions
to complete these operations. It will perceive, sort, remember, compare,
analyze, think, decide, etc. Deliberately performing these operations is what
brain exercising is all about; the key word being “deliberately.” Exercising
your brain is something you should take as seriously as you take physical
fitness and nutrition. Don’t let your future down; take steps to incorporate
brain exercising into your lifestyle.
Why should I worry about brain
exercising?
Scientists
will probably invent a pill I can take
to make my brain healthy?
It is true that
scientists are experimenting with this very idea. So far they have developed
something called NGF (nerve growth factor) that “grows” nerve cells.
However, a “quick cure” such as this is not without its risks. In one
experiment, NGF was applied to nerve cells in a glucose deprived environment.
Surprisingly, the NGF promoted nerve cell death. Chemical brain growth
treatments have risks that may not be worth taking, especially when you consider
that each person’s metabolism is different and may react differently to the
chemicals. Taking chances with your brain is a very risky venture. If the brain
takes too much damage it won’t be able to compensate. Even if science does
find a low risk chemical solution to brain deterioration, it still won’t
significantly help people who don’t take care of themselves.
So
what are the best brain exercises?
Exercises that work the brain most, simply are exercises honestly completed,
routinely done, and ones that require different thought processes. What is meant
by honestly completed is really doing the exercise without using an easily found
solution. You need to actually work your brain to get the benefits from brain
exercises. Following is a list of criteria against which you can measure
potential activities. It is based on the idea that brain exercises will be
honestly completed and routinely done if they both force you to think and
are enjoyable.
Criteria for finding activities that exercise the brain most:
-
Exercises that
force you to think while doing them. Exercises that put you in a position where
you must find solutions using your brain instead of merely reading the solution.
There will be no temptation to look at answers if there are none.
-
Exercises that
force you to truly understand how to “work” them in order to successfully
complete them. Learning a new language for example, forces you to understand how
the grammar system works if you want to use the language successfully.
Understanding functions means comprehending the relationships and effects
between things.
-
Exercises that
accommodate many different thought processes or “modes” of thinking. If you
pick a general type of exercise that naturally has the versatility of different
thinking styles; it is one that will work your brain harder. For instance,
reading is a choice that has natural versatility. There are thrillers,
mysteries, poetry, nonfiction, and textbooks, each initiating different styles
of thinking.
-
Exercises in
which you can continually learn and memorize new information. Any newly learned
activity exercises the brain at first because of the high learning curve. After
that some activities don’t offer much variety of new information to learn once
you know how to do them. On the other hand, some activities offer a greater
opportunity to learn new information so you can experience a high learning curve
whenever you want.
-
Exercises that
are fun and enjoyable, thus making them a pleasurable experience, thereby
increasing your motivation to perform it routinely. Trying to do an activity you
find dull or grudgingly monotonous on a regular basis is very difficult. This is
one reason so many home exercise machines wind up dusty. The monotonous lonely
activity of repetition after repetition is too boring.
-
Exercises that
are socially interactive. Sitting alone while working your mind is one thing,
but sitting in the company of friends with everybody working their minds
together; well, that just makes an interesting activity even more enjoyable. The
great thing about finding an activity that is socially interactive is that you
will more readily jump at the chance to do it rather than shy away from it.
Loneliness is a killer.
Most hobbies that
require you to learn a skill (watching TV or attending parties is not a skillful
hobby) will adhere to most of the criteria. You should consider whether a chosen
exercise is such that it will force you to really think while doing it; if there
is an easy way to find solutions make sure you can resist the temptation to look
at answers. For instance, one problem with puzzles is, it is too easy to look at
the solution.
Great News: One of the best kept
secrets
One activity that
meets all the criteria above is playing games. “What?!?” you say, “that is
kids’ stuff.” Not the games I am referring to. I am not referring to easy
children’s games where you simply roll the dice and move, or mass market games
based on popular culture and having infantile mechanics, or computer games that
although visually appealing, promote isolation and tired eyes, or even
trivia/party games which are based on who has the largest encyclopedic memory. I
am referring to adult level board, card, dice, and domino games which include:
abstract strategy games, social strategy games, conflict simulation games, etc.
Most of which, sadly, you will not find in the biggest US toy stores. You have
to search to find them, but they exist.
How games meet the
criteria list:
 1
~ They force you to think
There are no set, written solutions on how to win every game you play--so, you
can’t look it up. While playing a game you are forced to think how to reach
the solution, which is winning the game. Suggestions for better strategies can
be researched prior to play, but while engaged in a game you are playing other
people’s decisions which constantly change, not a static formula. To win a
game, you are forced to continually consider the current situation and more
often than not revise your strategy. Whereas to solve problems in other media,
once you figure out the correct strategy, you continue to use it until finished.
 2
~ They force you to truly understand the activity
To consistently win games--i.e. games requiring strategy and not based
completely on luck--you must understand how the game system works; i.e. how the
rules relate and interact with each other. Playing your part in a game is, using
rules in such a way as to achieve a win. A good understanding of each game’s
rule set is a must to consistently accomplish that.
 3
~ They can accommodate many
different thought processes
There are so many different type games available (although not mass market) that
you could learn a new game every week for many years and still not play all the
available games. That’s assuming you could learn to play and understand the
intricacies of each game within a week.
There are
connection and pattern games that exercise spatial skills; negotiation and
diplomatic games that exercise people skills; strategic games that exercise
analytical skills; memory games that exercise, well, memory skills; mystery
games that exercise deduction and logic skills, and the list goes on. These are
usually only the main focus. Most game titles require the use of many brain
functions in addition to the dominant one required in order to play them
effectively.
 4
~ They offer opportunities to continually
learn and memorize new information
Using games as brain exercise, an individual would not learn only one game and
play nothing but that game. Instead, that person would learn new games once in a
while or learn variants of the same game or learn new game systems using the
same components. Although learning the intricate strategies inherent in a single
game title challenges the brain, learning new game systems really works the
brain. Games are an excellent medium for variety. They have different themes,
rule systems, components, and strategy options. Plus each time you play a single
title the game play is different because you are playing other
“unpredictable” people.
 5
~ They are fun and enjoyable
This is where I think the real beauty lies behind using games as brain exercise.
When people play a game together, not only are they forcing their minds to
exercise, but they usually have a great time too. The inherent enjoyment within
games is such a crucial aspect in regards to maintaining a routine exercise
program that it makes games one of the best mediums to use.
 6
~ They are socially interactive
The nature of board, card and dice games is that they are social, because you
need more than one person to play. One of the hardest things people deal with
during retirement or for that matter throughout life, is loneliness. Who should
they see? What should they do when they see them? Are they being a bother?
Gaming as a forum provides not only mental conditioning, but the social
interaction people crave. Unlike computer games which promote isolation, social
gaming promotes interesting and satisfying social interaction.
Note:
The word “senility” has been put in quotes throughout this report. This
is because, according to current finding, there is really no such thing as
natural “senility.” People become demented (i.e. lose brain function) as
a result of disease, trauma, or whatever else damages the brain. The point
is, the brain doesn’t naturally deteriorate into dementia, it does so as a
result of something damaging the brain.
For further information try these links:
Creative
100% Brain Mind Memory Course - http://www.tiac.net/users/seeker/index.html
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