By Matilda Charles
Cognitive brain training can
keep our cognitive abilities func-
tioning better for 10 years.
The Advanced Cognitive
Training for Independent and
Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) is not a
new study, but it bears looking at
for what it offers seniors in terms
of cognitive abilities.
The government-funded
study followed 2,832 seniors
with an average age of 73 after
they completed 10 training ses-
sions and four booster sessions
11 and 35 months after the ini-
tial training. Participants were
divided into four groups: mem-
ory training, reasoning training,
speed of processing training and
a control group with no training.
What the study aimed to look at
was cognitive abilities and per-
formance in everyday activities,
and they collected updated data
at the one, two, three, five and
10-year points in the study.
What researchers concluded
was that seniors reported less de-
cline in cognitive abilities for 10
The Weekly Wrap
years in the reasoning and speed
portions, not the memory, which
dropped off after five years. All
this in only 10 training sessions
plus four booster sessions?
Authentic brain training pro-
grams can be found online but
generally require a monthly fee.
There are others, however, that
you can sample for free to create
our own training program.
Try the dozen brain games
at www.mentalup.co/blog/free-
brain-games-for-seniors to see if
you like these types of challeng-
es. Look online for “free senior
brain games,” and you’ll find
many sites with free games to
play without having to give any
personal information or pay a fee.
The best “brain stretching”
might come from doing a variety
of games. Choose from cross-
word, jigsaw, sudoku, chess,
mazes, word puzzles, logic and
more. Or go to Amazon.com and
look for puzzle books.
For a great challenge, look
for online Scrabble games where
you play against the computer.
