Brain Health & Memory Tips
Brain Health and Memory Tips
Today’s blog is focusing on brain health and memory tips. Because Right At Home specializes in caregiving for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease we like to focus on providing information about brain health and memory.
Exercise Your Brain
Our professional caregivers can help you “exercise your brain.” Research has shown that exercising your brain can sometimes help slow progression of dementia, as well as helping to reduce your risk for dementia causing diseases.
Brain Health and Memory
Brain Facts
- Your brain capacity is endless.
- Continuous use of the brain results in strengthening it.
- The brain has 100 billion cells; all with the ability to connect after continuous activity.
- Your brain has amazing capabilities to adapt to your needs; often creating stronger areas as needed.
- Exercising your brain with continuous use & challenges can help increase your brain’s size and/or help to deter shrinkage, etc.
Ways to Exercise Your Brain
This is a basic list of ideas to help you exercise your brain. As this article in the L.A. Times says, exercising your brain has been proven to help slow down the symptom of dementia. It also helps you to build a stronger, sturdier brain and brain connections that can help combat the onset of dementia caused by different diseases.
- Reading
- Crossword Puzzles
- Jigsaw Puzzles
- Memory Games
- Learn a new language
- Board Games
- Cards
Computerized Brain Exercise & Training Games (see below)
In particular one study used 3 different types of cognitive brain exercising and found some incredible results.
3 Styles of Brain Training
The ACTIVE Study focused on 3 specific types of cognitive brain training. Out of these 3 main types of brain training they found that speed training produced the most positive effects
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Speed Training – Focus in this type of exercising is on focus and speed. Maintaining focus is important and the more you are challenged, the better you get as you progress.
This particular area showed the most promising and long-lasting effects in cognitive training. There were very distinct improvements with all of those who participated in a particular game called “Double Decision” available for free on Brain HQ.
As participants “exercised” regularly their speed increased while the effects remained with them. This link to Brain HQ will allow you to access the free version along with a paid subscription version which different styles of games too. The best news is that using brain fitness like those used in the ACTIVE research program can actually cut the long-term risk of dementia in half!
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Memory Training – Repeating exercises that challenged the brains ability to remember helped to build better memory skills as time went on also. Along with the actual exercising of the brain, techniques were introduced to help increase memory skills.
Alzheimer’s Net offers 8 online resources for various types of exercising the brain here. Remember, you don’t have to pay for excellent online games offered to help you brain train. We recommend trying out the free versions first and deciding from there if you want to pay for a brain games training system.
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Reasoning – Understanding and having the brain draw conclusions is an important daily life skill. Training/exercising with reasoning and/or critical thinking skills was one of the 3 areas concentrated on during the research studies of the ACTIVE research program.
While reasoning is very important in helping with daily life skills and activities; there are a vast number of types of games, practice papers, and more that can help you challenge your skills.
Brain Training & Exercise with Our Caregivers
Our specially trained Alzheimer’s & dementia caregivers can help you find and use the resources to exercise your brain while they are with you. Research has proven that exercising your brain is as important as exercising your body when it comes to battling dementia and diseases that can cause symptoms of dementia. Brain health and memory exercises can have a big impact on your future.
Keeping you happy & safe Right At Home, Gregg Balbera
CitedWorks:
ACTIVE Research & Study Program; NIA
Los Angeles Times,Science; Brain training may forestall dementia onset for years, new study says by Melissa Healy; July 24,2016
2016 Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference Overview; Toronto, Canada
Please Note: We are not endorsing nor do we receive any compensation from any of the resources mentioned in this article.