Most senior citizens aspire to enhance memory, concentration, or any other mental functioning through mental exercises. However, one embarrassing thing about mental exercises is that simple ones can be incorporated into daily living, all for the benefit of any age.
All activities we perform engage the brain, which needs upkeep just like any other physical component.
One should look after his brain as he ages and perform certain activities to keep his mind sharp. If you’re retired or don’t have the social exposure that you had in your younger years, it gets really hard to keep your mind active. But there are things that one can do to keep his brain active even when he’s at home.
Let us look closely at the best 10 brain-stimulating exercises that are backed by research.
Playing card game as a form of mental exercises
A 2023 study found that playing card games promoted youth with social issues the development of critical thinking skills such as self-regulation and task switching. The study reported that card games that were not designed as tools for mental exercises still enhance brain functions.
Older individuals can also gain from playing card games. For instance, a 2020 Trusted Source research found that playing modern card games aided older individuals in building cognitive skills such as self-regulation and verbal proficiency. Based on the study, playing these games can aid older persons’ brain well-being in a fun and effective manner.
Learning new skill as mental exercise
Besides being entertaining and engaging, learning a new skill can serve as a powerful mental exercise for enhancing brain connections.
As per a 2023 research, older adults who learned a variety of new skills at the same time an art form, language, and music enhanced their cognitive abilities as well as memory.
One can never be too old to add brain strength by learning in real-life situations, as witnessed by the fact that within a matter of weeks, their mental performance was at par with that of middle-aged individuals.
Has there ever been a lifelong dream of yours to learn how to do something? Perhaps you desire to learn to ride a horse, repair your car, or use a particular program. This provides you with even greater incentive to learn that new skill.
Gardening as a mental exercise
The better activity for older people is gardening. From a good mental and physical well-being standpoint, gardening would be a perfect antidote, and because it is calming, gardening could be golden for elders needing to calm their blood pressure or diminish the feeling of anxiety.
It is beneficial for the health of the brain, and supplying grooming-related tasks through their own nature helps in preventing degenerative brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Gardening enables elderly persons to maintain and even enhance mobility well into old age, boost mood and decrease depression symptoms, reduce stress through reduced cortisol levels, and benefit the heart as well as the brain.
Moreover, scientists have proved that electromagnetic waves radiated by the earth excite human cells and have a healing effect on the whole body. Your health will be enhanced comprehensively through collaboration with the soil and plants, which will also give several cognitive advantages.
Writing as a mental exercise
Writing may become an extremely pleasant activity for certain seniors as a way to preserve the wellbeing of their brains, but it won’t be a pleasant experience for everyone.
Writing short stories, educational blogs, or creative works can prove to be fun for fellow elderly. A writing class or a writing group can be a good way to start if you are unfamiliar with it. Learning new skills further facilitates the enhancement of cognitive and memory functions in aging individuals.
A group writing experience, which is so profoundly social, irritates those emotional issues that would run away with you during the day. Never too late to try your hand at writing for fun if you haven’t done so!
Reading as a mental exercise
A hobby most like to pursue is reading, as it keeps the seniors’ minds sharp, for it is calming, engaging, and often informative.
The great diversity of books stands to provide for everyone’s taste, starting from textbooks to fiction novels. Reading is even more beneficial to the elderly as it reduces stress and anxiety levels, which is vital since excessive stress reduces brain performance and lays the groundwork for other diseases.
According to certain research, reading regularly throughout life can reduce the risk of dementia and other degenerative illnesses in later life.However, reading at any age will benefit the health of your brain, even if you have never read before and this is a new interest.
Today, Kindles and iPads can bring a huge library of varied publications to your doorstep in one small package. An added advantage of Kindles and iPads is that they are able to project larger text for people with declining vision.
Cooking as a mental exercise
Cooking is fun and creative using your brain. Cooking is an excellent method for older adults to improve brain function since it’s an active activity that involves math, problem-solving, sensory perception, and memory.
One of the best ways to truly “cash in” on the cognitive benefits of cooking is to enroll in a cooking class! A surefire way to maintain excellent brain function at any age is to constantly learn something new.
There are numerous different cuisines to choose from, and cooking lessons can be done online or in the flesh, whatever your fancy.
Solving jigsaw puzzle as an effective mental exercise
It is a wonderful way to build your mind whether you’re putting together a 1,000-piece image of the Eiffel Tower or building 100 pieces to make Mickey Mouse.
StudiesTrusted Source have shown that jigsaw puzzle-solving defends against visuospatial cognitive aging and recruits a range of cognitive processes.
Another way of putting it, creating a jigsaw puzzle involves you studying pieces and figuring out where they go in the whole design. Your mind can be exercised and tested in this manner.
Online Games as an effective mental exercise
Playing strategy games will make you smarter and your memory will become better. Since they are practically accessible almost anywhere, online games are very convenient!
You can download and play your game of choice anywhere if you have a smartphone. The most wonderful thing is that a vast array of brain games is available to suit a diverse range of interests and tastes.
One of the oldest games to have a strategic element is chess, and because it has such a broad base of followers, it’s easy to find a free online version or a partner.
Sudoku is another excellent brainteaser. The ability of the brain to recognize patterns and employ strategy in solving problems is trained through this game. There are many online versions of Sudoku available for smartphones and computers, and many elderly people really enjoy the game’s relaxing but intellectually stimulating effects.
Listen or play music as a mental exercise
Do you want a simple way to enhance your ability for creativity? Playing some music can be the way out.
According to the epidemiologic research of the year 2024, music-based interventions such as group song singing, playing simple instruments, such as the drum, or simply dancing to known music, could benefit the elderly who are only beginning to encounter cognitive loss by helping them maintain or improve certain thinking skills like verbal fluency, memory, and general mental function.
Based on the research, music can also be employed as a fun and motivating medium alongside traditional treatments to ensure one keeps an active and healthy brain.
Besides, since the human brain can learn new things anytime during one’s lifetime, the ideal time to learn an instrument is today. Consequently, you can learn to play an instrument, say the drums, guitar, or piano, regardless of age.
Learning new language as a mental exercise
It does your brain a lot of work learning another language, which keeps your mind active as you age. For example, a 2023 study discovered that acquiring a new language can improve older people’s cognitive abilities, including memory and cognitive flexibility.
Acquiring a language has the special advantage of constantly building cognitive flexibility, but other activities such as playing an instrument also increase cognitive abilities.
From this study, it is evident that it’s always beneficial to learn a new language. That is to say, it is achievable to acquire a new language at any age in life and enhance memory recall and mental functioning.
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Wrap-up
Regardless of age, one of the best ways to enhance concentration, memory, mental acuity, and attention is to take care of your brain.
You can test your mental limits, boost your mental abilities, and perhaps even learn something new and interesting through the inclusion of brain exercises in your life.
