Mindbenders: Memory-Boosting Brain Games
By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor
Somebody's getting smart here: The train-your-brain industry is expected to grow from $100 million in 2005 to $2 billion by 2015! Consumers hoping to stave off memory loss (read: aging baby boomers, you, me) are the biggest buyers.
Unfortunately evidence is scarce on these products' ability to prevent or reverse Alzheimer's or dementia. They've been shown to improve some mental skills, though, so for caregivers or people with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia who want to give them a whirl, here's a starter list.
Software products:
- (m)Power Cognitive Fitness System (from Dakim, created for older adults in institutions; home version out later this year--and exercise pioneer Jack LaLanne, 93, just signed on as its "brain fitness motivational coach")
- Brain Fitness Classic and InSight (both from Posit Science)
- MindFit (from CogniFit, founded by an Israeli psychologist)
Online products:
- Happy-neuron.com (Free trial, $9.95 per month)
- Lumosity.com (Free trial, $9.95 per month)
Video/Hand-held Games:
- Radica Brain Games
(endorsed by Gary Small, a respected brain expert who directs the UCLA Memory & Aging Center)
- Brain Age, Brain Age 2 (from Nintendo; the pioneering product; 21 million sold in just 2 years!)
Bonus tip: SharpBrains, a consulting group that tracks the industry, offers a checklist to help match the right brain-fitness product to the right person.
Funky chessboard image by Flickr user gadl, used through the Creative Commons attribution license.
Hi leighbdc, Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us! We at Caring.com try hard to keep our content fresh and timeless and are always adding new content. While this blog is a few year old, we do have a more recent article about the passing of Jack LeLanne: (http://www.caring.com/blogs/self-caring/get-up-get-out-skip-the-chips-think-of-jack). Thanks again for your comment. Emily | Community Manager
I was very disappointed to see such an obviously old article: "exercise pioneer Jack LaLanne, 93, just signed on as its "brain fitness motivational coach." Jack LaLanne died, at age 96, last month. Unfortunately, this makes me question timeliness, and therefore validity, of whatever I'm reading at caring.com.
Well over the net I have read nearly dozens of times about how mind games play an effective role in cognitive health. Thanks for sharing the contradictory info here. I too don't go by the studies and findings. Thing is researches differ and so it's very tough to base our belief on any 1 finding. Anyway here's an online aptitude test you may like to take a peep at - The Complete Aptitude Test The definitive test to tell you where your aptitude lies and what you are good at. http://www.3smartcubes.com/pages/tests/aptcomplete/aptcomplete_instructions.asp
Thanks for sharing your experience, mexilee. You're right, and the science seems to bear you out, that you can get similar cognitive benefits without having to use a computer game, by doing the kinds of activities you describe. I think the mind games present another option for those who are inclined (some older users apparently enjoy them even though they never used a computer before). But they're not everybody's cup of tea.
There are many things I would love to comment on; however, for now I just hope my jumping in like I did will encourage other seniors to share their thoughts.
This does not relate to Alzheimer's, but the only place I could find to comment on the article "Mindbenders: Memory boosting Games." Software can be marvelous, but not all elderly people use the computer. I am 72 years old, and I would like to offer some suggestions that I have used successfully. In my 50's a surgery damaged a facial nerve - so I found a safe place (then Toastmistress, Int'l) to practice speaking, without worrying about the drool. At 60, a head injury caused serious aphasia. I began to sing (remember Mel Tillis, the stutterer?), attempted to say words or phrases I heard on the TV, and wrote down every one when I succeeded at it. I always wondered why I couldn't say "Larry King," but I could say "Larry King Live in Washington" if I went really fast. Within 6 months my speech was close enough to normal that nobody noticed any problem. That injury also did severe damage to memory, especially shorty-term. I was attending college at the time, and kept right on, as well as spending a lot of time doing crossword puzzles and taking part in on-line trivia games. I considered only myself as competition. It helped immensely and I had a lot of fun. There are a lot of trivia type board games out there, also. I pick them up mostly at rummage sales and thrift stores. I hope your readers find that this site is as helpful to those being cared for as it is for the caregivers. I thank you for prov iding this service.