Brain fitness refers to the health of the mind, and measures memory and the ability to solve problems. Brain training programs seek to strengthen the brain, and are very much like muscle fitness and training programs. Training the brain involves doing mental activities that challenge the mind, build in complexity, and continue to offer the brain new stimulus. In response to this stimulation, the brain will grow more cells and become stronger.
What Is Brain Fitness?
Brain fitness, or cognitive fitness, includes short-term and long-term memory, thinking and reasoning skills, and imagination or creativity. Most puzzles and word games test the brain on one or more of these skills. By learning new activities, the brain is challenged and grows more connections, which makes it stronger. In that respect, the brain responds to stimulation very much like a muscle responds to physical stress. Brain training programs seek to promote brain fitness by exercising the brain.
Physical Exercise
Physical exercise is important to maintaining brain health, because it promotes neuroplasticity by improving the body's circulation, bringing more oxygen to the brain and helping to remove waste products. Walking has been shown to help reduce age-related memory loss and running seems to trigger the brain to grow more cells. Regular exercise also seems to protect the brain from damage by free radicals. People of all age groups, from children to the elderly, benefit from adding physical exercise to their daily routine.
Mental Exercise
Like a muscle, the brain will improve if it is used regularly. There is an actual physical response from the brain, which involves growing more dendritic branches. Dendrites are a part of nerve cells, or neurons, that connect brain cells. The brain can be improved at any age, and in fact, older brains may actually respond better to learning situations. An environment that is intellectually stimulating may also be beneficial in overcoming physical injuries to the brain.
Brain Training
Brain training runs the gamut from indulging in crossword puzzles, logic puzzles, and video games to simple exercises that ask you to use your nondominant hand to perform tasks that you normally use your dominant hand to do. Taking classes like dance or sculpture help develop physical and eye-hand coordination skills, and learning a new language can help with memory skills. According to the Brain Connection, the best brain training activities involve learning new skills that challenge you, progressively get more difficult, involve making fine distinctions, and reward you when you do well.
Brain Fitness for Seniors
Brain training programs can help everyone, but senior citizens who exercise their brains may be getting a double benefit -- they improve their brain fitness and help stave off the effects of degenerative diseases. Although the brain, like other organs, may experience physical symptoms of aging, lifelong learning is being credited with helping to keep the aging process at bay. Senior citizens who engage in mild physical exercise and keep their minds sharp with education are less likely to suffer from cognitive decline as they age.
