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Exercising the brain keeps seniors healthy
(by Sue Reid - August 13, 2009)
Exercising the brain keeps seniors healthy
By SUE REID
"Fitness for the brain" is how Solon senior Betty Nelson describes the "Brainercise" class she participates in each week.
"It really makes you stop, think and concentrate on things," fellow classmate and Solon senior Agnes Benjamin said.
Offered at the Solon Senior Center each Wednesday, "Brainercise" aims at exercising the mind to stay in shape, just like one's body does, senior center Director Jill Frankel said. The program will kickoff again at 1 p.m. each Wednesday beginning in September.
"We started the program about a year ago because there has been a lot of research that the brain needs to stay in shape just like the body," Ms. Frankel said. "The theory behind it is keeping your brain as sharp as possible and using it in different ways."
The program has a very devoted group of followers, Ms. Frankel said.
"I think it's a really neat program," Ms. Nelson, who has been a member of the senior center since 2002, said. "I think any way we can find new activities that help to stimulate these new connections within the brain is certainly a plus at our senior ages." Ms. Nelson has been a part of the program since it began. Word search is one of her favorite parts of the program, she said, as well as some computer games that are done once a month.
"It's aerobics for the brain too," she said.
The class is taught by Pepper Pike resident Julie Bonebrake, who is a registered nurse and home-care coordinator for Senior Independence Home Care and Hospice. She bases the class programming on the book "Neurobics," she said, which centers on "working out your brain.
"We talk about ways to use your brain differently each day instead of the usual routines and ruts people get into," Ms. Bonebrake said. With each class, Ms. Bonebrake brings along activities that promotes this type of thinking. She also encourages people to get on the computer and play brain games. Ms. Bonebrake offers similar classes to residents at Hamlet Village in Chagrin Falls and at the Orange Senior Center.
"I try to change it up every time," she said. Some tips she offers involve using one's left hand instead of right hand to do activities such as brushing your teeth or eating, or changing the way one goes about his or her errands.
Ms. Bonebrake also gives the class participants math problems, lots of crossword or fill-in-the-blank puzzles, as well as trivia games.
Changing what they remember is all part of stimulating activity, she said. Other class activities involve using the different senses.
"I might bring in a bag of something, and the class participants have to feel objects and remember as many as they can."
"For seniors, there's been a lot of research on retaining memory and doing this sort of activity," she said. This is not clinically proven to prevent dementia, she said, but the program seems to get everyone excited about keeping their memory sharp "and that's important for people of any age."
"It is such an enjoyable program," Ms. Benjamin said. "I think it is very interesting. It brought up the fact that we don't always think properly. We switch from one thing to another, which is not good for our brains or our physical makeup."
Ms. Frankel also said class members enjoy the socialization the program provides. The hour-long class often runs over because the 10 to 15 participants are having so much fun, she said. "It's been shown that socialization is important for cognitive function." The "Brainercise" class really provides two things, Ms. Frankel said, the games and the socialization.
"It's a way to exercise the old brain, which really needs it," Ms. Benjamin said.
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