Healthy Aging A focus on brain fitness Julie Masters, PhD Department of Gerontology.

Healthy AgingA focus on brain fitness

Julie Masters, PhDDepartment of Gerontology

A quick thank you to:

• Aging Partners

• Peggy Apthorpe and Deb Peck

• Jeanette Walsh

• My partners in crime…Steve Wengel & Barb Bayer

Goals of Brain Fitness

• Our goal is not to achieve a youthful brain – but to maintain our cognitive abilities. Would you want the brain of a teenager again?

• Seeking out “neuroprotective” ways to maintain our brains

• What can I do to maintain AND enhance my brain?

Source: Tippett, W.J. (2013) Building an Ageless Mind

What do we know about healthy brains?

• Minimal cardiovascular disease

• A diet containing fruits and vegetables

• Exercise, exercise, exercise

• Stimulating and novel environments

• A belief one can still learn new information

You can teach an old dog new tricks

Compression of Morbidity

Source: http://phprimer.afmc.ca/Part3-PracticeImprovingHealth/Chapter8IllnessPreventionAndHealthPromotion/Thegoalofprevention

http://phprimer.afmc.ca/sites/default/files/primer_versions/57638/primer_images/image2.jpg?1368222720

Our fears

Old-timers disease

Senility

Not being aware things are going horribly wrong

Keep in mind there is more to the story

Sensory Memory

How it all begins…

•First point of contact for a potential memory

•What you see, hear, taste, smell or touch– Echoic memory (sounds) Iconic memory (sights)

•Shows little change with age – esp. iconic memory

•Large capacity, but short-lived store (doesn’t stick around very long)

..without it (attention), nothing else matters!

Source: Google Images

Creating fit brains…


Frontal Lobe – the front man of the operation

• Where it all begins!

• Organizing activities• Maintaining attention – more about this later• Having flexibility• The executive center – structure and organization

• The ability to ignore unimportant information


Attention and Self-Regulation – Stroop Test

Say the color you see and not the word you read

Source: http://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/10/05/brain-exercise-the-stroop-test/

What the frontal lobe brings to the table

– Processing new words and information

– Ability to take in new information

– However, while seemingly the key to overall success, the frontal lobe is dependent on other areas of the brain to not only learn information but to retain it.

http://brainmadesimple.com/frontal-lobe.html


Training the brain


Frontal Lobe Training

Cerebral challenges – to get out of same old rut

– Turning your mouse on its side and learning how to work it correctly

– Think about all the things you can buy at the grocery store that begin with an A. Write down the list and be sure to time yourself. Keep working through the alphabet to see how many words you can generate.


A close friend of the frontal lobe

Source: http://brainmadesimple.com/parietal-lobe.html

Parietal Lobe

• Responsible for visually guided movements

• Eye-hand coordination

• Reaching, pointing and grabbing


Training the Parietal Lobe

Pac-Man http://www.freepacman.org/

– Target positions

– Track moving objects

– Navigating changing environments

– Avoidance maneuvers


http://www.freepacman.org/

http://www.freepacman.org/

Training the Parietal Lobe

• Tanagram puzzles – seven shapes

• 3-D puzzles

• Navigation Tests (mazes)

Temporal Lobe – The brains of the operation

• Processing auditory information

• Production and understanding of language

• Houses the hippocampus

• Ability to remember faces and places


Temporal Lobe

It’s all about US – what makes us who we are

Temporal Lobe training

• Novel tasks are key

• Nonsense words – consonant, vowel, consonant

• Storytelling and recalling events

• Foreign language – creating pictures and leave around the house to memorize

Occipital Lobe

• Processing what we see

• From eyes ->optic nerve -> occipital lobe

Training the Occipital Lobe

• Learning to wink with both eyes…

Eight Habits to Improve Cognitive Function

1. Improving cognitive function

Exercise, exercise, exercise • Physical activity

• Find a place you love and make it a habit to appreciate it year-round.

• Enhancing cognitive abilities – getting oxygen and blood to the brain

Bergland, C. (2014). Eight habits that improve cognitive function. Psychology Today

2. Openness to Experience

• Learn the alphabet backwards!

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• Learn a new language – starting with “A”

• Do things that are unfamiliar and mentally challenging.

• Flexing your memory and learning.


3. Curiosity and Creativity

Ways to improve brain function

•Reading a novel – getting into the story

•Learning to play a musical instrument

•Creativity increases with age!


4. Social Connections

• Loneliness can result in cognitive decline

• Connecting with others by volunteering, socializing can help your brain

• Ask lots of questionsBergland, C. (2014). Eight habits that improve cognitive function. Psychology Today

5. Mindfulness Meditation

• Meditation can have wonderful benefits for the brain

• There is some evidence that meditation may slow some age-related decline


6. Brain Training Games

• Mazes and other games can help improve reasoning and processing speed

• Challenge your mind in new and different ways


7. Get Enough Sleep

• Sleep helps our brains to process our learning and memory acquired earlier in the day.

• Not getting enough sleep is a problem for our brains and can actually reduce the “volume of gray matter throughout the frontal lobe.”


8. Reduce Chronic Stress

• Stress can damage our brains

• As stress increases so does the amount of cortisol in our bodies. We are in a state of constant fight or flight – not a good thing.

• Managing stress can help us to regulate our bodies and live healthier lives.


Next Steps…

Lifestyle for a Healthy Brain - a sampling

1. Don’t smoke

2. Physical exams & follow MD advice

3. Learn new info. & engage in complex & novel situations

4. Regular exercise – daily walking

5. Socialize – have fun & slow down

6. Financial stability – hire a financial planner

7. Promote spiritual health - & engage in daily prayer

8. Eat less & include antioxidants

9. Strong family & friend relationships

10.Do not retire and maintain a sense of purpose

Source: Nussbaum, Paul – Love Your Brain

Next Steps

Look for ways to enhance your brain fitness

Protect your brain by attending fall prevention classes, routine physical exams, medication reviews

Find ways to promote brain health in the community (OLLI & Aging Partners – Brain Matters: A brain health fair – September 24, 2014)

The Lost Keys

Healthy Aging A focus on brain fitness Julie Masters, PhD Department of Gerontology.

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