• Subscribe Now »
• Current Issue »
• Digital Edition »

Exercise for Your Brain?

Tweet

Studies show a healthy brain to be as important as a healthy body

I love working out. I even belong to a group on Facebook called “Addicted to the Gym,” (yup, I admit I’m an FB addict). Unlike some folks I know for whom exercise is a good brisk sit, working out for me at my gym, the Sporting Club in La Jolla, is the base of my overall physical well-being. Cardio, weights, machines, training ... ah, the joys of sweating to stay fit.

But now, going to the gym doesn’t seem to be enough. Recently it seems that to be get totally fit you have to belong to a “brain gym,” the latest squishy fitness fad. Or is it? Under the headline of “use it or lose it,” which I always thought referred to another part of the body, more and more we hear that we better be exercising our brains if we want clearer and quicker thinking, improved memory for names/numbers/directions, increased alertness and awareness, better concentration and improved “mental fitness.”

And who among us doesn’t want all that? Consumers spending upward of $80 million or more last year on mental fitness sure do. With 5.3 million Americans dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, and predictions that by 2010, nearly a half-million new cases of it will develop every year for the next several decades, maybe there’s something here to consider.

The premise of brain training is simple: participants must complete a series of daily exercises such as mental calculation, memorization and enigmas to help increase cognitive ability and avoid certain neurodegenerative diseases. But does it really work?

Like so much science, it depends on definitions, who’s funding the study, statistical manipulations, populations studied and so on. For example, one recent serious study, published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia, concluded, “there was no evidence indicating that structured cognitive intervention programs had an impact on the progression of dementia in the healthy elderly.” It went on to say, "The brain-aging products sold today can be a financial drain, decrease participation in more proven effective lifestyle interventions, like exercise, and potentially undermine cognitive health by frustrating the 'worried well' if poorly designed."

It seems that some neuroscientists are not on the bandwagon, believing instead that it is just too early to tell what brain exercise games will have lasting benefits in reducing dementia, if any at all.

Nintendo doesn’t like this. After all, they sold 5.5 million copies of Brain Age, which really kicked off this whole “video games for adults” phenomenon designed to keep us mentally sharp. And one for-profit website I checked out, lumosity.com, claims, “New scientific research shows that we can improve the health and function of our brains with the right mental workouts.” The games on this site are challenging and maddening — or is it that I’m just not mentally fit?

So what to believe? Based on what we know, here’s some sound advice: the best way to keep your brain functioning well is to do intellectual activities, eat well, control your vascular factors — particularly in the case of diabetes and hypertension — and remain physically active. It’s good to rub and polish our brain against that of others, so socialize. Traveling, memorizing poetry, playing card games, doing crossword puzzles, learning how to play a musical instrument, taking continuing-education courses, surfing the Web, even doing computerized “brain gym” games and activities can all help in stretching our brains.

Older adults who exercise regularly show increased cerebral blood flow and a greater number of small blood vessels in the brain, so be as physically active as your health allows. Aerobic physical exercises that improve cardiovascular fitness also help boost cognitive processing speed, motor function and visual and auditory attention in healthy older people.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the Russian novelist, said, 
”It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them — the character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas.” So far there aren’t any gyms for improving those yet. Wait, it’s only a matter of time.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Mantell has successfully been bringing upbeat, friendly and helpful psychological insights to individuals, families and businesses in San Diego as a clinical and corporate psychologist in private practice. He's been a regular on Good Morning America, KFMB-TV News 8, has appeared on Oprah, Larry King Live, the Today show, authored two best-selling books and speaks regularly for audiences throughout the country.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to San Diego Magazine »

This site is a member of the City & Regional Magazine Association Online Network
Alabama Birmingham Magazine B-Metro British Columbia Okanagan Life Vancouver Magazine California Diablo Magazine Los Angeles Magazine Marin Magazine Orange Coast Magazine Palm Springs Life Sacramento Magazine San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles San Diego Magazine Colorado 5280 Magazine	Connecticut Greenwich Magazine Delaware Delaware Today Florida Gulfshore Life Orlando Magazine Sarasota Magazine Georgia Atlanta Magazine Hawaii Honolulu Magazine Illinois Chicago Magazine Indiana Evansville Living Fort Wayne Monthly Indianapolis Monthly Louisiana New Orleans Magazine	Massachusetts Boston Magazine Martha's Vineyard Magazine Maryland Baltimore Magazine Michigan Hour Detroit Magazine Minnesota Minnesota Monthly Mpls St. Paul Magazine Missouri Inside Columbia Magazine St. Louis Magazine 417 Magazine North Carolina Chapel Hill Magazine Charlotte Magazine New Hampshire New Hampshire Magazine Yankee Magazine	New Jersey (201) Magazine New Jersey Monthly New York Buffalo Spree Hudson Valley Magazine Westchester Magazine Ohio Cincinnati Magazine Cleveland Magazine Columbus Monthly Ohio Magazine Oregon Portland Monthly Pennsylvania Main Line Today Philadelphia Magazine Pittsburgh Magazine	Rhode Island Rhode Island Monthly Tennessee Memphis Magazine Nashville Lifestyles Texas D Magazine Texas Monthly Virginia Hampton Roads Magazine Washington Seattle Met Washington DC Washingtonian Wisconsin Door County Magazine Madison Magazine Milwaukee Magazine M: Milwaukee's Lifestyle Magazine