Games for Brain Training

Cognitive brain training can keep our cognitive abilities functioning better for 10 years.

The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) is not a new study, but it bears looking at for what it offers seniors in terms of cognitive abilities.

The government-funded study followed 2,832 seniors with an average age of 73 after they completed 10 training sessions and four booster sessions 11 and 35 months after the initial training. Participants were divided into four groups: memory training, reasoning training, speed of processing training and a control group with no training. What the study aimed to look at was cognitive abilities and performance in everyday activities, and they collected updated data at the one, two, three, five and 10-year points in the study.

What researchers concluded was that seniors reported less decline in cognitive abilities for 10 years in the reasoning and speed portions, not the memory, which dropped off after five years. All this in only 10 training sessions plus four booster sessions?

Authentic brain training programs can be found online but generally require a monthly fee. There are others, however, that we can sample for free to create our own training program. Try the dozen brain games at www.mentalup.co/ blog/free-brain-games-for-seniors to see if you like these types of challenges. Look online for “free senior brain games,” and you’ll find many sites with free games to play without having to give any personal information or pay a fee. The best “brain stretching” might come from doing a variety of games. Choose from crossword, jigsaw, sudoku, chess, mazes, word puzzles, logic and more, switching around from day to day. Or go to Amazon.com and look for puzzle books. Look at the sample pages to see if they look too easy or too hard.

For a great challenge, look for online Scrabble games where you play against the computer!