Mental exercises improve memory and can strengthen neural connections and form new connections. Although taking up a new task or trying an unfamiliar mental exercise may seem awkward or frustrating at first, repeated effort will pay off. The Mayo Clinic recommends practicing mental exercises and learning new tasks to maintain mental fitness. For best results, keep your exercises consistent and challenging, just as you would with physical exercise.
Switch Hands
Using the hand you don't usually use for everyday tasks is a simple exercise that improves brain activity, according to the Franklin Institute. Switch the hand you use to move your computer mouse, brush your teeth or dial phone numbers. The task feels difficult at first, but your brain learns to compensate and becomes better over time. When you've mastered one task, try another to keep your brain activity at maximum.
Think
According to a 1999 study by Guang H. Yue of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, merely thinking about exercising a muscle is enough to make that muscle stronger. Participants in the study improved the strength of their pinky fingers by 35 percent simply by pretending to exercise their pinkies. Brain scans showed enhanced activity in the prefrontal cortex, which suggests that those who performed the mental exercise were better at signaling the muscle than those who did not.
Games
The Franklin Institute recommends reading, doing crossword puzzles and playing games such as Scrabble to improve brain function. A 2011 study by Bryan D. James, MD and colleagues from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, showed that social games and activities correlated with improved overall cognitive function. Another study done in 2001 by Benjamin P. Sobel of Princeton University showed bingo was more effective than daily physical activity at enhancing cognitive performance and recommended it as an activity for patients with Alzheimers disease.
Train
Mental exercises such as training yourself how to remember a list of words improves your memory and other cognitive functions, according to a study by the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly, or ACTIVE, published in December 2006. In this study, seniors improved their cognitive abilities through tasks ranging from remembering the order of story ideas to finding patterns in sequences of words or letters. Mental exercises directly improved the seniors' performance, suggesting that deliberate training is an effective method of improving brain activity.
References
- Neuropsychologia; From mental power to muscle power--gaining strength using the mind; GH Yue, et. al.; 2004
- The Franklin Institute; The Human Brain: Renew -- Exercise; 2004
- Mayo Clinic; Women's Health: Preventing the Top Seven Threats
- ScienceDaily; Higher Levels of Social Activity Decrease the Risk of Cognitive Decline; April 2011
- American Journal of Alzheimers Disease...; Bingo vs. Physical Intervention in Stimulating Short-Term Cognition in Alzheimer's Disease Patients; B P Sobel; March/April 2001
- National Institute on Aging; Mental Exercise Helps Maintain Some Seniors' Thinking Skills; December 2006
