Mental Fitness

Each of the following exercises is from Brain Fitness, and is categorized by the specific mental ability it is designed to strengthen.

Exercise your perceptive abilities The goal is to exercise perception in all five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Sight. Each day, observe an object (a photograph, for example) or a person you pass on the street. Draw it (or him or her) immediately. This exercises short-term memory. At the end of the week, redraw the seven objects or persons you have observed. This exercises long-term memory

Smell/Taste. When dining in a restaurant or at a friend's home, try to identify the ingredients in the dishes you are served. Concentrate on the subtle flavorings of herbs and spices. Ask the waiter or your host to verify your perceptions.

Memory. Try to memorize the dishes offered on your favorite restaurant's menu. To make the exercise more challenging, memorize the prices as well. At the end of the day, recall as many of the dishes/prices as you can and write them down.

Hearing. On the telephone, practice recognizing callers before they identify themselves. Then memorize callers' phone numbers. At the end of the day, write down the people you have spoken with that day, as well as their phone numbers. At the end of the week, try writing down as many of these as you can.

Smell/Touch. Exercise your senses of smell and touch by trying to identify objects with your eyes closed.

Exercise your visuospatial abilities Visuospatial abilities are related to the ability to make quick and accurate estimates of distances, areas, and volumes -- the general proportions of things and their distribution in space. Try the following:

When you walk into a room with a group of people in it, try to quickly determine how many are on your right and your left, as well as the left-right distribution of furniture and other objects.

Observe objects--pens, for instance--and try to estimate their length and thickness.

When you have visited somewhere and then return home, try to draw a plan or map of the place you have seen. Repeat this exercise the next day and the day after.

Exercise your logic abilities

Logic is the art of reasoning--finding an orderly sequence for disparate elements. The following exercises/activities will awaken the inherently logical being inside of you.

Don't use a list when shopping. Instead, invent a system to take the place of the list. Use memory aids, such as forming a complete word, or one that can be completed by adding a certain vowel or consonant from the first letters of the words for the things you need to buy. Or, you can classify foods into raw and cooked. Or, use any other system that works for you.

All games involve logical activities. Card games such as pinochle and bridge or board games of strategy such as chess or checkers are good choices. So are crossword puzzles anagrams, and other word games.

Avoid playing the same games all the time. Chess players might switch to GoTM or OthelloTM, while bridge players might play whist or hearts. Playing the same game all the time leads to routine, which is the opposite of activation. The same cerebral circuits and neuronal regions are constantly used and everything else remains unused.

Find new games and interests. Explore activities that are completely new to you and find new partners for old--and new--games and activities.

Remember--failing memory and sluggish thinking are not inevitable cohorts of aging. You have the ability to maximize your cognitive skills and enhance your older years.