Keeping the Older Brain Sharp By Kirsten Whittaker At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

You probably won’t believe it, but new research says it’s true - the video games you, your kids (or grandkids) are playing might actually benefit the older brain - helping it stay sharp and able to multitask, an ability that diminishes as we age.

Research has already shown that mental stimulation not only improves brain function, but it also helps to protect against cognitive decline, a growing problem that effects patients and their families in terrible ways.

It turns out that the much maligned video game has shown itself in earlier studies to have positive benefits such as better problem solving skills in children, improved operating skills in surgeons.

Now research that appears in the December 2008 Psychology and Aging takes this idea a step further.

The research wasn’t funded by the gaming industry, yet is the first to show that playing video games, especially strategically challenging ones, could improve the cognitive processes that decline as we age - learning new things, using intuition, ability to display judgment, use language and remember.

Not surprisingly, keeping the aging brain sharp has gathered a lot of interest as the population ages. Cognitive decline is a life-changing problem that affects overall health, quality of life and so much more.

The study involved 40 subjects in their 60s and 70s who played a complex video game (for those who are wondering it’s Rise of Nations) involving the complex and engaging task of creating a society.

Half the subjects got training (a total of 23 hours over a 1-month period) before playing the game; the others acted as controls and got no training.

As you might expect, the players in the trained group did better in the game; what’s more, they also performed better on tests of memory, reasoning and the ability to identify rotated objects as compared to the no training group.

“Juggling multiple tasks such as cooking, answering the door, and talking on the phone might be simple for a young person, while an older person might feel overwhelmed and burn their food,” explains study author Chandramallika Basak, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois. “These are the kind of things that older people do in their everyday lives, so if you’re not very good at juggling different tasks it does impact your lifestyle.”

This ability reduces over time so it’s often not noticed. Only a sudden loss of memory or cognition is a problem that requires a visit to the doctor, otherwise a person can attribute trouble remembering a phone number or birthday to plain, old fashioned aging.

This is the first published study to suggest games that keep older adults on their toes might also help to keep their brains in good shape too.

Still, it’s important not to make too much of the findings… yet, according to senior researcher Dr. Arthur F. Kramer, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More research is needed to help confirm and define the findings.

Would any challenging video game do? Is there some difference in the brains of the game players that makes them less vulnerable to cognitive decline?

These questions, and others, remain unanswered, still the results hold great promise for keeping the older brain sharper for longer.

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