Mental aerobics

Done any mental push-ups lately? How about some gray-matter jumping jacks? Or a few cerebral deep-knee bends?

Bob Manning, a 79-year-old resident of the Rockwood Retirement Community, has. Keeping his brain busy with puzzles and the Rockwood’s mental aerobics class keeps him young, he says.

“It makes you think, and it’s fun,” Manning said, at the end of a mental aerobics session last week. “At our age, if we don’t keep our minds active, they just deteriorate.”

Brain health is one of the hot-button issues in aging these days. Books and Web sites offer “neurobic” exercises. Organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association and AARP are emphasizing brain health. Researchers are spending plenty of time on the topic. Even Nintendo has gotten into the act with “Brain Age,” a video game designed to keep players’ minds sharp.

“All the baby boomers are saying, ‘Oh my God, I’m dealing with this with my parents. What am I going to do?’ ” says Nancy Ceridwyn, co-director of special projects for the American Society on Aging.

Studies are still being conducted to find out whether staying mentally active will prevent, or stave off, Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. There are no guarantees, of course, but keeping mentally and physically fit certainly can’t hurt.

“Keeping yourself both physically and mentally active has been shown in several studies to reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia,” says Joel Loiacono, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Inland Northwest chapter. “Can anybody promise you that if you do this you will not get (dementia). … No. But what we can definitely say is you can reduce your chances.”

That promise brings about 20 seniors each month to the social hall at Rockwood Manor for mental aerobics.

“We pick different types of activities to challenge the brain in different ways,” says Brenda Jurich, the center’s wellness director.

During a recent session, the group took a heart-health quiz and did word puzzles. They repeated a series of movements performed by Jurich and had to come up with as many song titles with the words “love” or “heart” in them as they could.

“We always have an active game,” Jurich says.

Every session is different, and Jurich and Kim Cederholm, the activities director, search out new games and puzzles for each month.

“People get bored with crosswords,” Jurich says.

Trying new things is one of the best ways to stay sharp, says Ceridwyn.

“Don’t do the same thing every day,” she says. “As soon as you start getting into a routine, you aren’t really expanding. You aren’t really challenging.”

She suggests learning a new language, taking up an instrument or dancing to expand your brain power.

Look for activities that will involve other people – that’s one of the goals of Rockwood’s program, Jurich says.

Participants even take “homework” with them. During a recent session, they received discussion questions to spark conversation at dinner.

Anita Roberts, a 75-year-old Rockwood resident, was quick to ask questions and offer answers during the mental aerobics class.

“It keeps me thinking all the time,” Roberts says later.

And that may be just the ticket to keeping Roberts and others sharp as they age.

“The type of brain activity we’re talking about is not the television,” Loiacono says. “It’s things like crossword puzzles, brain teasers, even reading a book, anything that makes the gray matter work. We’re finding more and more it’s very much like the rest of your body. Use it or lose it.”