Brain Exercise – At What Age?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the growing trend of older people starting to “work out” their brains in brain gyms. But it got me thinking – that article, and many others you read about brain exercises and other methods to prevent memory loss and things like Alzheimer’s Disease are very focused on the elderly. On a certain level this makes sense because those are the people that are starting to feel the effects of dementia or other reduced brain functions. It’s usually not a problem for them to find time to sit down and do some brain exercises and in some cases, going to a “brain gym” or doing some mental games at the nursing home can be as much of a fun diversion or activity as anything else.

But what about younger people? Wouldn’t it make sense to start working out your brain before the first signs show up that something’s going downhill? Brain exercise is like physical exercise. If you are already in good physical shape it’s easier to stay in shape. Same with your brain - presumably, if you’ve been taking steps to keep it sharp and stimulate it, it will be easier to stay that way into older age.

That’s the approach that motivated us to create our Carpool Karma brain and body exercise CD for moms. There are also plenty of brain games for kids on the web, and we’ll be developing some of our own as well for future Newrobics audio CDs. These are not just marketing ploys - research suggests that mental exercise is important before we get to old age. Another survey I found shows that old age begins at 27 - in other words, your mental abilities begin to naturally decline starting much sooner than you’d think. Whether your mind is a “steel trap” or (like me) you can never remember where you put your car keys, it’s important to start consciously exercising your brain.

And guess what? Research also shows that physical exercise is good for brain fitness too, and the Alzheimer's Research & Prevention Foundation agrees. So, an integrated brain and body exercise regimen is a great way to get your mind – and body – into shape.