Good Lifestyle

As you get older, it is important to prioritize your cognitive health . You can do this by leading a healthy lifestyle that understands eating well, exercising, maintaining social ties, reducing stress and Sleeping . However, experts say that there is also another more targeted way to stimulate your memory: playing games that exercise parts of your brain that code, store and collect information.

"There are different types of memory, such as short -term memory, working memory, long -term memory and episodic memory. Each type of memory is based on different regions and brain networks, such as hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex, the parietal the cortex, and the temporal cortex, "explains Gurneet Singh Sawney , MCH, MS, a neurosurgeon and a spine surgeon in Mumbai and a medical expert for Clinic spots .

Sawney says that the best games to improve memory are those who question and stimulate these regions and brain networks, as well as to improve attention, concentration and mental flexibility. Wondering which fun games can help prevent cognitive decline? Read more for seven big game evening ideas that will help you strengthen your memory.

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Anyone who knows the rules can play a game of chess, but the players who have memorized movements and counter-modes are more likely to finish the game in victory. Sawney says that practicing game can help increase your memory and give you a mental training .

"Failures are a strategy and logic game that implies planning, problem solving and decision -making. Failures can improve working memory, as this forces you to keep track of several parts and movements in your Spirit, "he said. "Failures can also improve spatial memory, as it involves visualizing the card and possible results."

Chinese auditors and auditors are both fun and accessible games that can help stimulate memory at any age. In fact, a 2016 study published in the journal Brain imaging behavior I found that playing the handful of games, including ladies , was associated with an improved cognitive function.

"Participants underwent a large battery of neuropsychological tests which extended to the conventional cognitive fields of memory, attention, executive function, language and visuospatial capacity," wrote the authors of the study.

Regression models have revealed significant associations between these games and immediate memory, verbal learning memory and recall speed and flexibility.

Diane Carbo , RN, specialist in dementia with Relief of caregivers , says that she encourages her customers to play ladies as part of a dementia prevention program. She says that with its easy rules, auditors can also help promote social connections, which is important to maintain cognitive health.

"It's great for interaction with others, even grandchildren," she adds.

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Even people who know memory changes related to normal age can sometimes see that a word is just at the forefront of their language, but always out of reach.

Carbo says Scrabble is an excellent game to increase memory and maintain verbal control. Because the game is won by playing words that have letters highly high, the players are rewarded to remember a wide range of words of this nature.

The dementia specialist says that even those who have a more severe memory loss can still benefit from playing the scrabble, with a slight modification: Carbo encourage the use of additional tiles to make words more easily.

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Assorted card games can be popular for all toddlers, but do not let that deactivate you - there are also several intended for an older audience which is explicitly designed to increase memory.

"Any corresponding card game is great," says Carbo. She recommends playing different types, including those that correspond to images to other images and those that correspond to the images to the words.

Sawney recommends the concentration of games in particular.

"The concentration is a card game that involves matching pairs of cards with the same image or the same value. The concentration can improve visual and hearing memory, because it forces you to remember the location and sound of each card, "he said Better life . "The concentration can also improve the duration of attention and concentration."

Nancy Mitchell , RN, geriatric nurse and contributory writer for Life help , says that language -based games are excellent to stimulate memory because they question new parts of the brain and promote neuroplasticity. In particular, it recommends games that use translation flashcards.

"These flashcards contain a word or a sentence in another language that the person can learn or perhaps already know. They must then translate the term into English, or their current language, to earn points," explains Mitchell. "It works because learning and recalling languages occur in the hippocampus - the same part of the brain largely affected by Alzheimer's disease and similar cognitive conditions. The continuous use of this nervous system segment helps To maintain the nervous communication routes and promotes cell health in this area. "

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Sawney says that your brain engagement with a wide range of puzzle types can also considerably increase your memory. In particular, he recommends crosswords, which he calls "one of the most classic brain training games".

"These games can help test your vocabulary skills and rely on the knowledge of history, science and popular culture. Crosswords can improve verbal and episodic memory, because they force you to remind you Words and facts of your long -term memory storage, "he notes. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

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According to the neurological expert, there is another less known type of puzzle that can help stimulate your memory: Rebus puzzles.

"Rebus puzzles are word puzzles that use images, symbols or letters to represent words or sentences. For example, H + (ear) = hear," explains Sawney. "Refrimande puzzles can improve verbal and visual memory, because they force you to associate words with images and sounds. Refrimande puzzles can also improve mental flexibility, because they challenge you to think in a creative way and lateral."