Brain Exercising

As life expectancy continues to increase and the population ages, we will be seeing an ever-increasing number of Alzheimer’s and dementia related illnesses.

We are now seeing the baby boomers retiring and their daily routine of getting up early, going to work, and participating in evening activities no longer a set routine. They now can wake up at anytime, take naps in the afternoon, visit family anytime, and travel more.

As some of these retirees adjust to this new freedom, they often find themselves getting bored because they are not actively challenging their minds.

According to an article in USA Today, researchers anticipate that approximately 14 million (18%) of the 79 million baby boomers can expect to develop Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia in their lifetime.

With this in mind, there are new resources to help stimulate and exercise the mind and over the last couple of years, a new industry (brain stimulation software for computers) has emerged in response to this challenge.

Since 2005, the revenue in this industry has nearly double to $225 million.

There is one company that has become a major player in the industry; Posit Science.
The goal of the company is “to apply breakthroughs in brain research to enhance human performance and to promote brain health,” and to become “the leading provider of scientifically validated brain health programs.”

The company’s first program, the Brain Fitness Program Classic has undergone several rigorous clinical trials that demonstrated its ability to speed up auditory processing by 131%, and improve memory by an average of 10 years.

In a recent article, the Erickson Retirement Communities is offering its residents the opportunity to participate in three eight-week Brain Fitness Programs as they believe in the formalized cognitive fitness programs.

As the brain stimulation software industry continues to grow, more and more games and websites will be designed for people to access fun, challenging games to exercise their brains.
Besides the company mentioned above, here are some resources for other brain stimulation activities:
· Brain Age 2: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS game)
· Lumosity
· Happy Neuron
· MyBrainTrainer.com
· Crossword Puzzles (multiple websites are listed)
· Sudoku Puzzles (multiple websites are listed)
· The Brainwaves Center
· Braingle
· Queendom
· Brainbuilder.com

If online activities are not for you, these things can also be good exercise for you brain:

Play games
Meditation
Eat healthier for your brain
Tell good stories
Turn off your television
Exercise your body to exercise your brain
Read something different
Learn a new skill