Brain Exercises

I had some issues with ABI a few years ago.  I had problems with keeping my brain alert (I couldn't function for several hours in the morning after I woke up until my brain "woke up") and also had some issues with cognitive functioning.  Fortunately while I worked at it I was able to build in ways that would help me function like a "normal" person but was dependent on things like schedules and writing the most basic things down (Even I do laundry on Saturdays etc).  

One of the things that was able to wake my brain up and also build my cognitive and memory skills to the point where I need no assistive adaptions was actually the Nintendo DS and their Brain Age.  I would do it in the morning and my brain would wake up after half an hour of playing versus 3-4 hours, thus allowing me to start working in the mornings again.  If I had issues during the day (trust me a weird feeling when your brain is shutting down but you are not physically tired) I would pull it out and use it for 15-30 min and voila it would wake my brain up. Also I started out at a 80 year old level (it is done by age) and stayed there for quite awhile but as my brain age went down my real life skills started improving and I was able to stop using so many assistive adaptations anymore.  Now I am back to where I was before the ABI.  Plus it was loads of fun to play.  It is a fairly cheap alternative.  I paid $100 for the DS, though I think they are cheaper now, and $30 for each of the two brain games.

I hate to sound like a infomercial but it really is based on real life experience and it was one of the key factors in helping me recover from the ABI, especially when the medical community told me that there was nothing that they could do.

Just wanted to put it in there for anyone who is looking for an alternative to buying computer games that is effective.

excerpt:

Go ahead and add a little sugar to your coffee. The combination of caffeine and glucose enhances your brain's performance and keeps your memory working smoothly

I put fluoride in my coffee - works great.

I made a mistake and clicked on the wrong button or something, and the program reset my score to zero, so in a fit of anger and frustration I quit doing the program altogether. I'm about to start over, but I'm still quite annoyed at having to start from scratch again. And I can't even remember which wrong button I pressed, in order to avoid doing the same thing again. *sigh*

Some of these brain exercises are simply annoying but they all have to be done in order to move to the next step. And my physician has asked me to cut down on on my computer usage altogether because of my constant headaches.

I wish they knew. Apparently Jonathan Seckl wants to do some more research on drugs that block the enzyme 11beta-HSD1 thought to contribute to the body's manufacture of hormones harmful to memory as we age. They hope to take it to human trials "within the year." Article is from October 2010.

They could be telling me anything about what causes memory loss, and I wouldn't know one way or the other. Triglycerides and toxins sound pretty scary. I guess all we can do is try not to ingest too many of those at parties and whatnot.

Never heard of the Wilson's test. Will google. But I suspect it could lead to false results especially on a cold day - for instance, I just got out of bed, the house is cold, I'm cold!  In the summer, I'd get out of bed and I'd be almost blistery hot sometimes.

I have not gone back and read throught the thread- just BB's opening post.

What I keep hearing is that everything works that challenges your brain. In my experience that is literally true.

The things that have always most engaged my father are nerdy technical and mechanical suff. He has always been a thinkerer. [If youcan call a career high level radio and communications tecnician who decides in retirement to buy a lathe and milling machine a 'tinkerer'.]

He ust keeps going on that.

My mother in law by contrast, getting older has impinged on the things she likes to do that engage the brain. Things like all your friends and siblings dying off. That understandably depressed her, and she didn't compensate with other things that engage her. And her memory is slipping much faster.

Its not what you do. It is that you do it, and keep doing it, and push your mind over something else that engages you if getting old takes the edge off of what you have always most liked.

One thing militating against that is being adaptable. And THAT is a challenge for all of us as we age.

I tend to agree with the use it or lose it theory. Similar to KenS' father, my mother read a lot until her last year. Her recollection of history was remarkable into her mid 80s. She kept interested in everything from British and Canadian history to writing her annual short novels on Christmas cards to relatives in England right to the end. There she was on a respirator unable to talk and asking me who won the election in the U.K. She did roll her eyes in disgust. She wanted to become a Catholic in the 1960s to please my father and studied all the catechism materials they gave her. She dropped it cold, though, when our Church priest  told her and her fellow candidates for the faith that they could not be both Catholics and socialists at the same time. She had no use for the Pope and Church and only told me so after my father died in 1980. I never argued as she was the greater political influence on me than my father who did his sacraments and nine Fridays before going off to war and deciding after that war is not as glorious as purported to be.

This is a great thread idea Boom Boom, thank you for raising the issue. It is interesting that you notice the decline - 'they say' over 45 now you get age related cognitive decline. I wouldn't spend a dime on CD for brain work unless it is so fun I can't put it down. Doing stuff is where it's at - renovations, real life problem solving, discussion - Fidel is right about use it or lose it - that's normal science now.

Read all you can while you have your vision, that's what I'm doing before my vision goes. I disconnected cable and satellite. I get TVO sometimes at night using rabbit ears. I do percussion and poetry to keep my mind active, both started since getting sick. Going to a symphony with people is healthier and richer experience than sitting in an easy chair alone with headphones.

Babble is useful helps me keep my mind focused, helps me adjust my awareness away from solitude so I don't turn into a troll. Proper sleep and nourishment for the memory, and if you like the image scripts, pegwords, walk throughs for shopping lists they're great ideas.

I'm not sure a memory enhancing drug is exactly what we need. Memory is state-dependent learning, after all. Ideally, for maximum memory power, you want identical states of mind during encoding and retrieval. So if you study on coffee, write the test on coffee.

Ack that's too bad - my doctor spoke highly of one of the brands I think it was Neuroactive. But your brain is in fine form Boom Boom - maybe the CD worked - you defy the comfort zone, or old habits, that's got to be good for brains - allowing new experiences. I don't practice as much as I should - drums or memory.

Memory loss with aging not necessarily permanent: Scripps neuroscientists

I thought it was interesting. Apparently all we need to fix memory loss are some new drugs because new research suggests that it's reversible.