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Cross-Training Your Brain to Maintain Its Strength
Bob Edge, 82, uses a computer program that helps keep elderly minds nimble. He says it has helped gain speed in doing crossword puzzles.
(Katherine Frey - The Washington Post)
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Others find Brain Fitness frustrating, especially the way it asks people to distinguish "doe" and "boe" over and over, a seemingly simple task that proves extremely difficult for aging brains.
But the 23 Goodwin House residents who finished the 40 sessions of Brain Fitness seem mostly pleased with their results.
"I was so enthused and happy I had passed this thing, I felt I could conquer anything," said Phyllis Evans, 86, adding that she considers herself "eagle-eyed" and more able to notice things around her.
Stella Byers, 82, says her memory seems sharper. "At bridge I can remember more high cards that have been played."
Bob Edge, an 82-year-old retired Air Force general, says the only place he notices a difference is in his crosswords: "I found it speeds me up a bit."
Like many seniors, Edge does all he can to slow the side-effects of aging. In addition to brain exercises, he takes Spanish lessons and walks more than a mile a day, lifts weights every other day, hits golf balls several times a week and sometimes climbs the stairs to his sixth-floor apartment.
The Dyers also aren't betting their brains on software alone. They're heeding scientists who say learning anything new can help brain cells stay alive. John Dyer is studying computer programming; he and his wife are learning phrases in Amharic, the language of Ethiopia.
The Dyers say they agree with Edge that remembering things remains a never-ending struggle.
