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Detecting & Improving Your Brain Age
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In many ways, technology has made some cognitive functions obsolete. Why memorize a phone number when your BlackBerry can do it for you? Who needs to remember names of contacts, appointments or deadlines when Microsoft Outlook is readily available? Considering how computers have done so much to alleviate the burden on our memories, it’s refreshing to hear that they’re also doing their part to help people maintain them.
Professors at the Oregon Health and Sciences University conducted a small study in July of 2006 to see if mild cognitive impairments could be detected by monitoring players using a solitaire-like computer game called FreeCell. They first conducted mental tests to identify which older adults had memory impairments, and were pleased to find that the FreeCell results identified the same subjects as the mental tests. The researchers are employed by Spry Learning Co., a developer of software designed to help delay and even prevent cognitive decline. The program incorporates games that adapt to each player’s skill level, keeping users engaged.
Spry isn’t the only company jumping on board. Computer games to delay or prevent Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory impairment are a new and exciting trend—they're even being used in long-term care facilities. The October 2006 issue of The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry published the findings of a study on Internet-accessible computer activities and their effects on cognition, conducted by the Fundació ACE, Institut Català de Neurociències Aplicades in Barcelona, in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Researchers found that activities were even more effective than traditional therapeutic techniques when combined with medication. Even more exciting than the effects of these games is the conclusion: that Alzheimer’s symptoms can be alleviated, even after the disease has progressed.
In addition to detecting and improving the effects of Alzheimer’s, computerized games can also help keep middle-aged minds agile. Nintendo, a staple of my youth, has come up with a game called Brain Age. The company contends that using the game for only minutes a day and engaging in “cerebral workouts” can stimulate the mind enough to actually decrease one’s “brain age.” All you need is a Nintendo DS to jump right in and start reading literary classics aloud, solving math problems and drawing from memory, just to name a few tasks. The game was founded in Japan, released as “Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?” in Europe and released in the US as “Brain Age” in April of 2006. Some skeptics have asserted that improvement in Sudoku is hardly an indication of one’s capacity to better conduct activities of daily living. One thing is certain—marketing to baby boomers and seniors is a smart move for a company with vast competition in targeting the teen market.
Supporting more playtime—
Lori Deschene
Editor’s Note:This article is an independent review, and not a paid endorsement.
Posted in: Brain Fitness, Prevention Techniques, Tips for Healthy Living
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