Can You Keep Your Mind Young?

Hi,

Yesterday we talked about keeping your brain young.  Yes, it is the same old, same old phrase you have heard your whole life.  Exercise and eat right.  Boring maybe, but true.

But, what about the mind?  Can you keep your mind young also?

Well, if you believe some of the outrageous claims being thrown around with mind and computer games, the answer is yes. 

You can stay young mentally, be quick witted, stave off Alzheimer's disease and never forget where you left your keys ever again. 

Problem is there isn't too much science behind all of these claims. 

That hasn't stopped the manufacturers of these games and programs from selling them however.  In 2008 the market reached over $225 million.  And it is growing rapidly. 

The idea, I think, is to get the games out there and hope the science validates them later.  Marketing wins again. 

Now some of these studies do show some improvement.  Problem is these improvements are in very specific areas.  So, if the game is trying to increase your recognition patterns, you will improve in your recognition patterns. 

Problem is that is only one tiny segment of what your mind is capable of.  And this improvement in recognition pattens does not help you one smidgen in any other area. 

So do the games help?  Yes, in their tiny focused area.  But that is not enough. 

Probably, and this is just my opinion, it is most important to focus on keeping up or improving upon your ability to communicate and on your math skills. 

Now you might not agree with me about the math skills, but we do use math everyday.  Do you check your bank statements, do you check the change you get from the store, do you count how many rolls of toilet paper you have before you need to buy more.  Get the picture. 

Anyhow, so you can do crossword puzzles or the relatively new sudoku puzzles.

Or do what I do.  Whenever I am driving, I check license plates.  They usually have numbers and letters.  One day I will add all the numbers up on every license plate I see.   Sometimes I will multiply the numbers. 
Sometimes after getting up into the high hundreds or even 1000's I will start subtracting or dividing. 

My Dad used to do this when he rode to work on the bus in his younger days.  He was the bookkeeper and this was way before there were computers. 

The other thing I do is try to make up sentences with the letters on the license plate.  Sometimes I just come up with limericks, sometimes I fit the letters into a whole sentence. 

For example.  TYM.  That could be "The Yes Man".  Everyone hated the yes man.  

These two simple exercises don't cost anything and hit both the communication and math parts of your mind. 

Try them and see if the help keep your mind young.

Thanks,

Mike Val

http://www.valshealthsite.com/