GREEN VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) – At first glance, brain aerobics may look like idle fun, but it’s far from mere child’s play.
The activity has gained international acceptance as a method for maintaining mental function by using word games, simple math problems, puzzles and other brainteasers that many people would remember from their childhoods.
“It’s really beneficial for people who are getting older to do any cognitive exercise,” said Claudia Freund, a native of Germany who has a doctorate in psychology from Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, as well as experience as activity director at some Green Valley-area retirement communities.
“These activities that are taught at communities – like word games or any type of mental games – are certainly good for the mind,” she said.
Holistic health practitioner Patricia Izzi has seen the benefits firsthand. Izzi, who teaches the activity at La Posada and for Green Valley Recreation, said the key to the activity’s effectiveness is to get brains working in a new way.
“The best way to get neurons firing is by doing something different,” she said. “We get so used to doing the same things, it’s like ruts in the snow.
“When you change your routine, including by challenging your brain with puzzles and other activities, you’re stimulating the brain.”
Freund points out that trying out technologies that may be unfamiliar are one good example of taking the road less traveled.
“Maybe take a computer class or learn how to use the Internet,” she said. “That’s one thing I really stress in my personal business, Iron Tortoise Fitness. It’s so important to do something that you’re not necessarily used to.”
World-renowned geriatric psychiatrist Gary Small of the UCLA Longevity Center said the brain has the ability to adapt, and said promoting its health bears some similarities to other areas of the body.
“The brain is receptive to any type of mental stimulation,” the author of The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program said. “If it’s the right kind of program, it can certainly improve cognitive performance.”
“The existing research is suggestive that these activities strengthen brain cells. It’s like physical fitness. It can make neurons more efficient and build up strength.”
Maintaining that cerebral vitality is extra-challenging for people later in life, Izzi said.
“As people get older, their mental activity slows down,” she said. “Unless they choose to keep their minds active by joining a group that’s politically or artistically-oriented, they’re probably doing less deductive reasoning and have less neuronal activity. So they need to find something to keep their neurons firing.”
That’s where a well-designed brain aerobics class can come in, says La Posada resident and class participant Joycelyn Bash.
“We had a book with little math problems and identifying colors and things,” the 80-year-old native of Escanaba, Mich., said. “When you first started, you weren’t as quick with it. Then as time went by, you saw how you improved.”
Those math problems can be one helpful part of brain aerobics, Izzi said.
“I learned that from Dr. (Ryuta) Kawashima, who’s a famous Japanese neuroscientist,” she said. “He has found that doing 15 minutes a day of simple math is one of the best things you can do.”
The Japanese researcher also has some unsettling news for people who love to camp out in front of the boob tube.
“He proved that when you’re watching television, the neurons fire at the same rate as if you were sleeping,” Izzi said. “No matter what you’re watching – ‘Jeopardy’ or any other educational show. Your neurons are basically sitting there, just like you are.”
That’s why keeping the classes dynamic and interactive is so important, Freund says.
“Silliness and humor are very important,” she said. “You need that fun and energy to help motivate people to get the maximum benefit.”
Small believes striking a good balance between levity and seriousness is crucial.
“You want to train, but not strain,” he said. “You don’t want to make it too stressful, but it also can’t be too boring or unchallenging.”
Bash is happy that the classes are “not a deal where you get a grade or have to do it right.”
“It’s just a challenge for the brain,” she said.
That philosophy of treating the classes like a journey instead of a destination is exactly what Izzi seeks to foster in her sessions.
“It’s not whether the final answers to the puzzles or the questions are right,” the native Rhode Islander said. “It’s the thought process of looking for the answers that provides the stimulation we want.”
That energized feeling can get people hooked. Just ask Sue Kmiec, who took Izzi’s classes last year.
“I’m kind of addicted to puzzles now,” she said. “I’d rather do puzzles than housework, that’s for sure.”
