Studies prove brain games improve memory

- Mon, 29 Oct 2007

Recent studies have proven that brain training exercises can have a lasting effect on improving the memory, particularly in the elderly.

A recent clinical trial found that even brief brain training later in life can have an ongoing effect on people coping better. The study of people over 65, across six cities in the US, found that compared with subjects who had no exposure to brain training, those who had participated in just 10 sessions were better able to manage the tasks of daily, independent living five years later. Those who got booster training of eight sessions one and three years later fared even better.

In another study a group of subjects with an average age of 71 were put on an eight week program of brain exercises. Afterwards, their memory and concentration showed marked improvements when compared with a group who had not done the exercises.

The neuroscientist behind that study, Henry Mahncke, told the LA Times that one of the root problems of age-related memory lapses was that the brain loses its ability to filter out distractions, so that incoming information - whether a street name or the name of a person - gets absorbed more slowly and less clearly. The brain exercises in his study were targeted specifically at the part of the brain where incoming sounds are understood and processed.

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