Training your brain daily can improve your long term memory and postpone some diseases

More and more scientific studies agree that it is possible to keep a performing brain as we age. But to do so, we need to " exercise " it, i.e. to have regular cognitive simulation.

When we talk about " training " our brain, we must understand it in a metaphorical way. Because the brain is not a muscle. On the other hand, it is an organ that has certain plasticity: new neuronal connections can be created, and a brain that is regularly stimulated has a "cognitive reserve".

Preconceived ideas

Memory champions can temporarily retain lists of 500 telephone numbers and recite them almost immediately, but they can also forget their best friend's birthday. In this example, the first exercise involves only working memory, whereas remembering a birthday requires both working memories to remember it and semantic memory to remember it in the long term.

Similarly, training our brains to click on colored shapes as quickly as possible or to spell words does not make us better at arithmetic or crossword puzzles. Repeated training for a particular task does not improve our memory skills, or our intellectual and cognitive abilities. Games and learning are activities that stimulate the whole range of cognitive functions and help to prevent memory problems and brain decline.

Studies

In the introduction, we mentioned scientific studies. One of these is the study by Dr. Joe Verghese, who followed 500 people for over 20 years. He showed that people who engaged in cognitively stimulating activities, such as games, were 65-75% more likely to preserve their brain power than those who did not. Another example is the study by neurologist David Snowdon, which established a link between Alzheimer's and cognitive stimulation.

Games

This term covers many activities, which do not engage the brain in the same way. Let's take a look at them:

- Puzzles or riddles: doing a puzzle is a relaxing activity, which greatly improves our brain, visual and spatial abilities.

- Chess or checkers is a very complete game that mobilizes both hemispheres of our brain. Like draughts, chess develops spatial reasoning, problem solving, anticipation, and deduction. Games of chance have the same advantages. You can find them on this casino site and you can easily find checkers and chess games on the Internet if you don't have a game partner.

- Brain teasers have many advantages. They improve short and long-term memory, cognitive flexibility, mental rotation, and visual-spatial perception.

- Crosswords or sudokus: improve our verbal skills by working on spelling, verbal reasoning, and writing, while sudokus allow us to work on our logic, spatial and numerical reasoning.

- Juggling and magic tricks: to improve procedural memory, i.e. the implicit long-term memory that allows automatic motor skills (the automaticity of certain gestures in particular), certain types of games can be very interesting. This is the case of juggling, for example.

Continuous learning

Lifelong learning is an effective way to stimulate the brain by maintaining learning processes and memory. You can sign up for evening classes on a subject you like or participate in Mooc or other online courses. Learning a language is also very beneficial for the brain: it has been shown that people who speak several languages are more resistant to Alzheimer's disease.

Cognitive reserve

Several physiological mechanisms explain this benefit of an intense intellectual life by creating cognitive and brain reserves. These reserves correspond to an increase in the number of neurons and connections between neurons (contrary to what was previously thought, new neurons could be born at any age). Moreover, this reserve is also linked to an active process of neuronal plasticity that allows us to optimize our performance either by recruiting other brain regions or by using new cognitive strategies.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)