There are an endless number of trivia topics that can be utilised for a trivia game, dependant on the group or individual with whom you are playing. Exciting topics include musicals, current affairs and history. Palmer MD. Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises to Help Prevent Memory Loss and Increase Mental Fitness, by Lawrence Katz and Manning Rubin. Activities, Adaptation & Aging. 2016;40(1):80-80. doi:10.1080/01924788.2016.1144015.

For older people, brain training should be conducted as much as possible to get maximum benefits, but positive impacts can be seen in a very short period. A recent study found that elderly people who spent five to six weeks consistently completing brain exercises such as memory tasks and number puzzles, experienced improvements to their mental health in areas of memory, reasoning, and information processing. The effects of these exercises lasted at least five years. She continues “if I hadn’t read that book I would have never have known this was available. In my opinion it should be made available on the NHS and anyone suffering from migraines should seriously consider it as an alternative to medication”.

WHY BRAIN TRAIN?

For many years, we’ve known that physical exercise keeps our bodies strong and now scientific evidence suggests that mental exercise keeps our brains young. Schultz, S., et al. (2015). Participation in cognitively-stimulating activities is associated with brain structure and cognitive function in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. A businessman who suffered serious head injuries in a taxi crash has credited video games with his recovery. Sharon’s experience was similar to that of many others who have enrolled in our healthy lifestyle programmes and research protocols. Our team has shown that a two-week programme combining mental and physical exercise, stress reduction and healthy diet is associated with significant effects on cognition and brain metabolism that we measured using PET (positron emission tomography) scans. We observed reduced activity in the brain’s frontal lobe, which may reflect greater cognitive efficiency of a brain region involved in working memory, a form of short-term memory concerned with immediate cognitive processing and problem solving.

After some research I came across BrainTrainUK and booked a consultation. From the very start, I found the people at BrainTrainUK to be extremely friendly and approachable, which I really appreciated as I have often struggled with anxiety in social situations as a result of my trauma. Many may think video games are only for the young, but they can be a great activity for senior citizens too. Research suggests that 3D platform games such as Super Mario may be particularly good for older people since they require fast responses, forward planning and a memory of which keys to use. tests in advance. Only Reading Comprehensions tests will be answered during actual BTVC hours sinceKrell-Roesch, J., et al. (2017). Association between mentally stimulating activities in late life and the outcome of incident mild cognitive impairment, with an analysis of the APOE ε4 genotype. Forgetting what is in the fridge, or the reason why you went upstairs, are annoying moments of forgetfulness that we all suffer from. However, for an older person, these moments can become frequent and frustrating, making it hard to carry out day-to-day activities. Yates, L. A., et al. (2016). Cognitive leisure activities and future risk of cognitive impairment and dementia: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

The following are some sample brain games that boost a range of cognitive functions to help keep your mind limber and sharp. In right-handed people, the brain’s left side usually controls language and reasoning skills. Word games help build this left hemisphere, while mazes and jigsaw puzzles can bolster the right hemisphere, which controls visual skills and orientation. Answers below. Beginner exercises For activities to be effective in maintaining or improving our thinking skills as we age, they might need to challenge us in new ways according to these studies. That is, the most beneficial activities for us in later life might be doing things we’ve never done before. given on BTVC Day 1 a few hours in advance (not more than 24 hours). Do this again for Day 2, and so on. Bingo is a fun and easy activity that can be played in large or small groups. It is one of the most common activities of older adults who live in care homes or who attend day centres, and can easily be replicated in or out of the home. Playing bingo is not only fun and stimulating, but it also has a number of health benefits for seniors. My migraines where so severe they would often be accompanied by days of pain and vomiting. I couldn’t sleep properly and I even ended up in hospital when the NHS thought I was having a stroke”.

Just over two years ago I began psychotherapy for developmental trauma. Since then I have done somatic therapy, EMDR, Internal Family Systems therapy, and traditional mindfulness exercises such as meditation and yoga. Kim, S., et al. (2019). Roles of myokines in exercise-induced improvement of neuropsychiatric function [Abstract]. Xie, H., et al. (2019). Tai chi chuan exercise related change in brain function as assessed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Complexity. A complex activity not only strikes a match of excitement, but forces your brain to work on specific thought processes like problem solving and creative thinking. A 2013 study in Psychological Science found that older adults ages 60 to 90 who did new and complex activities, such as digital photography or quilting, for an average of 16 hours per week for three months scored better on working and long-term memory tests than those who did more familiar activities like reading and doing crossword puzzles.

For example, it can help to stimulate three key senses: hearing (when the numbers are called), touch (using the pens to dab and holding the card), and sight. Bingo is also a great social activity that can help to reduce loneliness and increase a sense of wellbeing. 4. Fun and interactive online games Ritter S, et al. (2017). Happy creativity: Listening to happy music facilitates divergent thinking. DOI: Rearrange all the letters to find the four colours mixed up below. Hint: Only one is a primary colour. In support, other research conducted by King’s College London, found big improvements in daily tasks and memory as a result of brain training. Although the evidence on the benefits for our thinking skills is still incomplete, there are good reasons anyway for taking up entirely new activities – benefits such as increased engagement with other groups of people and the development of new skills.You’re now warmed up enough to start using your entire brain (both the right and left hemispheres) to try to solve these brainteasers.