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Aug 9, 2022 · This review shows that serious games can be effective in improving verbal, nonverbal, and working memory.
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Methods. Totally, 20 participants (early stage of...
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- Overview
- Engaging activities boost cognitive reserve
- Are there limits to the cognitive reserve?
- How to take action to reduce dementia risk
“Use it or lose it” is a common adage increasingly used for matters related to brain health. But to what degree does using cognitive faculties prevent them from deteriorating? Medical News Today looked at some of the latest research and spoke with experts in the field to find out.
Millions of people around the world live with dementia, a chronic neurodegenerative condition that affects memory and thinking abilities. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease.
While some treatments do exist to help manage the symptoms of dementia, there is currently no cure for the condition.
While research is underway to understand more about dementia pathology and to develop treatments, significant amounts of research are also underway to investigate how lifestyle interventions may affect dementia risk and cognition.
Some of this research is investigating how cognitively-stimulating activities, such as reading and crossword puzzles, affect dementia risk and cognition.
A study published in Neurology in 2021 found that high levels of cognitive activity, such as reading, playing games like checkers and puzzles, and writing letters, can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by 5 years among those aged 80 years and over.
To begin, MNT spoke with Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osman, vice president of interventional therapy at Linus Health, and a voluntary assistant professor of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
She said that cognitively stimulating activities such as reading and crossword puzzles reduce dementia risk and boost cognition by increasing the cognitive reserve, which she likened to the size of one’s mental library.
“Each thing we learn and know is like a book on a shelf. As new books are added, the library grows bigger and bigger. But why does this matter, you might ask? Well, building a library of information in your brain creates a buffer for memory loss,” she said.
“When your library is extensive, even if many books are checked out, there will still be plenty of other books on the shelves, serving as alternatives and keeping the library functioning well,” she added.
She explained that cognitive reserve is developed over the life span through education and life experiences- especially those that are challenging and make one think.
In a recent study — published in 2022 in Neurology— researchers investigated how childhood cognitive skills, education attainment, and leisure activities affected cognitive reserve.
While experts agree that a person’s cognitive reserve is important in helping them preserve their thinking skills, they also point out that there are limits to how much we can boost this reserve through “mental exercises.”
Raphael Wald, a doctor of psychology and board-certified neuropsychologist at Baptist Health Marcus Neuroscience Institute, told MNT:
“People with high IQs tend to do better with dementia because there is more cognitive reserve. However, once dementia sets in one cannot overcome the degenerative process by doing cognitive tasks like crossword puzzles. It may slow the process down somewhat though.”
MNT also spoke with Dr. Karen D. Lincoln, a professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of California, Irvine.
She noted that while some evidence suggests that cognitive exercises like crossword puzzles or word games slow cognitive decline in those with mild cognitive impairment, the evidence is inconclusive.
“These types of activities are important for stimulating the brain, but puzzles alone do not necessarily improve cognitive abilities or lower dementia risk. […] We have to consider our entire vascular system as a whole rather than separating them into individual parts,” she noted.
“It is important to emphasize that even if you are already experiencing memory loss, learning something new can improve your brain health. Challenging your mind by learning something new will boost your memory, attention, and thinking abilities and improve your quality of life,” said Dr. Gomes-Osman.
She added that creating new, enjoyable experiences and seeing new things could also help improve brain health.
“Our brains respond very well to novelty, so picking something that is not too easy, and also not too hard, is key here,” she noted.
“Change the location where you do activities you enjoy. Seeing different places can increase your positive outlook on life and improve your brain health,” Dr. Gomes-Osman suggested.
“For example, if you usually go for a walk, try walking somewhere different. You can also take a different route to work or go to a different grocery store. Even figuring out where the milk aisle is in different stores will make you problem-solve in ways that challenge your brain. Try not to let a day go by that you don’t get around and see something different.”
– Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osman
- Annie Lennon
Jul 23, 2020 · In this paper, we discuss some potential use cases for using cognitive assessment games to improve dementia care. Then we provide a framework for designing and validating cognitive...
Oct 1, 2018 · Based on a cognitive task analysis, jigsaw puzzling may demand multiple cognitive abilities including visual perception (e.g., recognizing objects, patterns, and orientation of lines), constructional praxis (e.g., integrating visual and motor information to assemble pieces), mental rotation (e.g., mentally rotating piece’s orientation to fit ...
- Patrick Fissler, Olivia Caroline Küster, Daria Laptinskaya, Laura Sophia Loy, Christine A. F. von Ar...
- 10.3389/fnagi.2018.00299
- 2018
- Front Aging Neurosci. 2018; 10: 299.
Apr 3, 2017 · Serious games can potentially assess a variety of factors associated with cognitive decline in dementia, while keeping individuals active and stimulated, thereby potentially slowing down or...
Jun 20, 2022 · Cognitive training games may help reduce the lifetime risk of dementia by helping to build cognitive reserve, whereas cognitive assessment technologies offer the opportunity for a more...
People also ask
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This systematic review and meta-analysis is evaluating the evidence from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that designed brain gaming interventions to improve cognitive functions of older adults with cognitive impairments, including Mild Cognitive Impairments and Dementia. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Setting and Participants: N/A.
