Training the mind will keep you on your toes

YOU might think that our risk of falling as we grow older is all down to physical factors like frailty and limited mobility.

But it seems the brain has a big say in the matter too.

Researchers in the US say brain speed is a major risk factor for falls and that rewiring the brain can help people stay on their feet.

Our brains start to slow down by very small amounts (measured in milliseconds – thousandths of a second) in our 20s.

With each passing decade, the slowing grows, but may not be noticeable until our 40s or 50s, when we find ourselves increasingly pausing to think of a word. The same sort of slowing also impacts our processing speed and reaction time related to movement.

Numerous studies have shown that slower visual processing speed puts us at a higher risk of falling and of suffering worse injuries as a result.

But the decade-long ACTIVE study showed falls among older adults can be significantly reduced through a modest amount of a particular kind of computerised brain training.

Nearly three thousand people across the US took part in the study, which revealed that among those with a high chance of falling, training their brains to process thoughts more quickly lowered their risk by almost a third.

“Think about losing your balance and starting to fall,” said Dr. Mahncke, head of Posit Science, which makes the brain training app, BrainHQ.

“Your head suddenly begins to move through space in a downward direction, alerting your brain’s visual and balance systems that you are about to fall.

“By speeding up the brain, you get extra time, measurable in split-seconds, to process that information and regain your footing. Extra time can make the difference between staying on your feet or crashing to the ground.”