Can games help you to remember?
December 8th 2008 02:15
Signature Tune
Extracted from: AJC.com
Better Health
Try to remember
An Emory neurologist has developed a simple screening test to detect memory problems
By Bill Hendrick
For the Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Beware that Ginko - see my previous post
Mental exercises
In an effort to stave off memory loss, many people are turning to brain-boosting exercises to stay sharp.
“There is all kinds of research that shows games, puzzles and software you can upload to test your mind actually do help,” says Andrew Carle, an expert on aging at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., who studies brain-training products. “There is real science behind this, empirical evidence to show that exercising your brain may delay mild cognitive impairment or even Alzheimer’s. People are terrified of losing intellectual capabilities.”
The games “are good things, but should be viewed like exercise equipment,” he says. “You don’t want to put them in the corner with the Nordic track and not use them.”
He points to Dr. Gary Small, director of UCLA’s Memory and Aging Research Center, who reported in a study in October that older people who surf the Internet had more complex reasoning skills than others the same age new to the Web. He says surfing the Net “may help exercise and improve brain function.”
Other studies suggest that physical exercise strengthens the brain and that cholesterol drugs such as statins offer protection against memory loss, along with tea, grape seed, vegetable juice, fish and even nicotine patches.
Lah, however, isn’t convinced, though he adds that “it would be too harsh to say that there were implicit flaws in all of the studies.”
The “bottom line is that I believe that there are a number of lifestyle factors that can protect people, including physical and dietary measures for good cardiovascular health and mentally challenging occupations and leisure activities,” Lah says. “But I believe that for these to have an impact on your risk of developing Alzheimer’s in your 80s, you need to be engaging in the practices beginning in your 40s and 50s.”
Deborah Burke, a scientist at Pomona College in California, says few baby boomers who have momentary lapses have anything to worry about.
An expert in what she calls “tip of the tongue” experiences, she says it’s common for busy people to forget names or such things as racquetball scores.
“It’s related to stress,” she says. “You have an event you want to remember, but you’re distracted. It’s not like not remembering your pet’s name. A lot of times what you know just won’t come to mind.”
That’s good news for Salmons and others, like Gordon Jones, senior historian at the Atlanta History Center, and Tom Headlee, a Kennesaw financial planner, who say they have memory lapses, too.
Jones, 46, takes ginkgo biloba “all the time because I’m always forgetting names. I take it even though my doctor says there’s no benefit. But I swear it helps my long-term memory.”
He’s found that “the more I stimulate my brain, the easier it is to call up short-term memory.”
Headlee, 57, owner of Vision Planning Services, says he puts a “mental picture in my head that will help me trigger a name and when I meet people, I look them in the eye and repeat their name, like, ‘Nice to meet you, Bill.’ But I don’t worry about it yet. My dad died at 87 and never had memory problems. And mom’s 86 and very sharp.”
Salmons often writes down things he used to remember and makes an effort before social gatherings to visualize who’ll be there. It’s weird, he says, because he has “no trouble” recalling names of men he served with in Vietnam 40 years ago.
Potential for overload
Lah fears the nation’s already overstressed health care system could “implode” unless better ways are found to help people maintain memory. There are 78 million baby boomers, and more than 3 million turned 63 this year. The likelihood for developing Alzheimer’s doubles every five years after 65, according to the Alzheimers Association.
“If we are not better with early diagnosis and treatment,” Lah says, “we will absolutely bankrupt the system.”
He says federal agencies “are undertaking a more serious approach to prevention, but even if successful, those measures will not be felt for a generation.
Internists and family doctors need to ask patients questions about their memories and refer more to specialists. And Lah says his new test may help doctors do just that.
POSSIBLE CAUSES OF MEMORY LAPSES
> Stress
> Medications
> Excessive worry
> Poor physical shape
> Obesity
Source: Emory University, AARP
WHAT MAY HELP YOUR MEMORY
> Regular exercise
> Proper, healthy diet
> Reading
> Socializing with friends and strangers
> Learning, continuing education
> Mentally stimulating activities
> Sufficient sleep
> Concentration
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