There’s ever-mounting evidence from medical experts that brain games like Wordle, Sudoku and Crushstations are beneficial for seniors. Working at these challenging exercises won’t reduce your risk of – or the progression of – Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, but they provide many other significant benefits.
Dr. Visalakshi Srinivasan – who goes by Dr. Visa – is board-certified in geriatrics and internal medicine and is affiliated with Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne. She says it’s a myth that forgetfulness is normal as people age. “Physical activity, socialization, a grain-rich diet – these are all things we can do to keep our brain healthy,” she says.
And, she adds, the latest research shows that healthy brains can grow and change throughout adulthood.
According to Maximus, which provides clinical health services, it was commonly believed that once we grew older our brain could not change, similar to the adage “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” However, research on neural plasticity (the ability of our brain cells to change and reorganize) has reversed that thinking, showing that creating new brain tissue and behaviors is possible through all stages of life.
Pathways in the brain are made by connections between neurons (nerve cells). When a behavior is performed, the connections between these cells change with the frequency of the behavior performed. With brain games, you can practice traveling down new neural pathways by performing a new behavior with frequent repetition, connecting new beliefs to support the new behavior, as well as visualizing a positive outcome resulting from these new behaviors.
“Brain Training Games Enhance Cognitive Function in Healthy Subjects,” a study archived by the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, found “significant improvement” in a range of cognitive abilities in people using the brain training website Luminosity.com.
“Games should be fun and stimulate your cognitive skills and critical thinking,” Dr. Visa says. “Since different brain games target different parts of your cognition, it is a good idea to mix them up – like you do when you go to the gym,” and do a series of different physical exercises.
Dr. Zaldy Tan, director of the Cedars-Sinai Memory and Aging Program and medical director of the Jona Goldrich Center for Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, recently described different types of games and other activities that benefit the brain in an article in Forbes Magazine, making the following suggestions:
Do a crossword puzzle. You use verbal memory when you match words with a certain number of letters that fit descriptive phrases.
Play some of the hundreds of cool online brain games. They are engaging and fun, as Dr. Visa recommends, plus they often have time limits, which escalates the challenge. Plus, games often start at an easy level and become more challenging with practice – which is cognitive training.
Play a jigsaw puzzle at a site like jigsawexplorer.com. You’ll tap into many visual-spatial working memory skills – seeing and remembering which pieces fit into similarly shaped spaces.
Build a model or start a knitting project. Tactile hobbies like these utilize procedural memory, which includes understanding, remembering and performing a sequence of actions.
Join a card game, in person or online. Many involve significant cognitive challenges, like bridge, where you not only have to remember who played what cards, but also develop your own strategy. Dr. Visa says these are especially helpful for other reasons, as well.
“Socialization is part of almost every card game and in places like assisted living facilities, they help to remove barriers to personal interacting.”
Learn some new dance moves. It’s tactile, visual, physical and auditory, and it has the added benefit of improving your cardiovascular system. The AARP also suggests dancing as a way to marry mental engagement with physical exertion.
Dr. Visa adds virtual sports like bowling and tennis to the mix. “Plus,” she says, “you won’t have to leave home, if that’s a consideration.”
Don’t play it safe, she advises. “Try more complex games, even if you don’t score high. And any time you get the chance to play with your grandchildren, do it.”
In 2020, three digital games were developed in New York University’s CREATE Lab by NYU Steinhardt Professor Jan L. Plass and his colleagues. The games were designed to help children and adults improve their cognitive skills. Evidenced through a series of research studies, these games were found to help users boost memory and cognitive flexibility.
The games were the result of a four-year research project funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The goal was to design targeted computer games that improve executive functions like memory and inhibitory control.
Unlike other games, theses apps were designed from the ground up by a team of psychologists, neuroscience researchers, learning scientists and game designers to train cognitive skills.
The three online games – CrushStations, Gwakkamolé and All You Can ET – each support a different executive function.
Although not designed specifically for seniors, they are all available for download at Apple’s App Store for anyone wishing to give them a try.
There are multiple brain game websites where a wild variety of fun, mentally challenging activities can be engaged, including Lumosity.com, Braingle.com and happy-neuron.com.
Visalakshi Srinivasan, who everyone calls Dr. Visa, is board-certified in Geriatrics and Internal Medicine, Dr. Srinivasan is a member of the Health First Aging Services. She has been a Health First Medical Group Geriatrician since September 2005. Dr. Visa earned her medical degree at Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai, India, where she grew up. She completed her post-graduate work in the United Kingdom. After completing her post-graduate training, she moved to Ohio where she completed her internship and residency at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Visa serves as a preceptor for University of Central Florida medical students and Florida State University medical students, and she teaches neuropsychology students at Florida Institute of Technology. She is board-certified in geriatric medicine and by the American Board of Internal Medicine. She is accepting new patients at her practice, Health First Aging Services, 3661 South Babcock St., Melbourne: 321-434-7611.
