Brain Exercises for Sandwiched Boomers

Yesterday we highlighted a recent study that found conducting Internet searches enhances brain function. Today lets look at additional means of exercising your brain to keep it active and dynamic. Here are some tips to follow:

Exercise your brain with mental aerobics just as you do your body. The Seattle Longitudinal Study found that 66% of older Americans doing brain exercise activities had significant cognitive improvement. Learning new skills increases the number of neural connections in the brain and keeps them firing.

Explore new areas and interests. Have you wanted to learn to play the piano? Take Spanish or learn computer graphics? Check out your neighborhood center, school district or extension courses at a college or university near you. Traveling to new places? Surf the web for information about educational travel in America and throughout the world.

Play word or number games and do crossword or jigsaw puzzles to keep your mind sharp. Researchers believe that these kinds of mental challenges build new neural pathways that help buffer the brain against age-related losses. Injecting novelty into your everyday tasks can have a similar affect. AARP has compiled a list of suggested tasks - for example, you could use your non-dominant hand for brushing your teeth, rearrange the furniture in your rooms, or carry out activities blindfolded.

Dr. Gary Small of UCLA has developed a technique for improving memory - Look, Snap, Connect. First, actively observe what you want to learn; next, create mental snapshots of your memories; finally link your mental snapshots together. This technique can help you remember information ranging from the names of new people you meet to where you parked your car or left your keys.

Develop your creative talents. Scientists have found that, as you challenge yourself to look at things in a new way and try novel behaviors, you exercise important parts of your brain. Women in their middle years have taken up a wide range of creative activities such as painting, acting, writing poetry, photography, making jewelry.

And don't forget that physical activity helps keep your mental powers sharper too. Plan your schedule so that you can participate regularly. Choose an activity that you enjoy and find engaging -- walking with a friend, working out at the gym, biking with your partner. A daily brisk 20 to 30 minute walk will allow you to feel better emotionally and think more clearly.

Increase your physical activities to include aerobics, flexibility and strengthening exercises. Fast walking, jogging, dancing, biking or climbing stairs are all good. Studies indicate that aerobic exercise brings more blood and oxygen to your brain cells, encouraging the growth of new nerve cells and connections between them. Improve your mood, control your weight and protect yourself against cognitive loss all at the same time!

For some ideas about how to identify your strengths and talents, click on the post title above. You will be connected with our article, How to Inventory Your Assets, found on our website, www.HerMentorCenter.com.

Adding Brain Power

If you found our blog by Googling or responding to a Google Alert about a subject that concerned you - aging parents, growing children, nourishing relationships, family conflicts, Sandwiched Boomers - or by surfing the Internet for topics of interest, or you are a regular reader, congratulations, you are increasing your brain power!

According to a study soon to be published by the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, a team of UCLA scientists have found that middle aged and older adults who search the Internet, using the web on a regular basis, activate brain centers necessary for complex reasoning and decision-making. Exercising the brain in this way - making decisions about what to click on to continue the search - can engage brain circuit connections and improve mental functioning.

The UCLA researchers, using MRI brain scans during an assigned Internet search, noted that study participants with experience in online searches sparked two times as much brain activity as those with little prior web experience. And, as compared with an MRI done during a book-reading task, more brain activity was engaged during the Internet search. When the less web-savvy volunteers completed 7 one-hour online searches at home, their MRI scans two weeks later indicated brain activation patterns similar to the more experienced volunteers. So, take heart - enjoy the Internet and let your brain light up!

Have you been thinking about additional ways to maintain your vitality? Use your creativity as you plan new ways to challenge your brain cells. Then click on the post title above to take you to www.HerMentorCenter.com. You will find our articles there to help you get started in realizing your potential for change. You will find tips to move you in 8 Strategies to Turn Your New Year's Resolutions into Reality.And tune in tomorrow for more tips on keeping your brain young.