How to Choose Brain Games to Help Delay Alzheimer's Disease

More than 26 million people were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2006, and that number is estimated to quadruple in the next forty years. Fortunately, recent research suggests that a regular visit to a computerized "gym" of brain games not only helps keep healthy brains fit, but it may also measurably improve the memory, attention span and cognitive processing skills of people with early stage Alzheimer's disease symptoms. Whether it's the brain or the body, the old adage "use it or lose it" applies.

Instructions

• 1

  Look for brain games that offer a variety of different types of puzzles, riddles, challenges and levels of skill. Just as you wouldn't exercise only one arm, you shouldn't work out only one part of your mind. You may love cross-words or Sudoku, but it's important to mix it up and add tests of memory, hand-eye coordination, spatial perception, simple math problems, visual and auditory acuity, and logic problems.

• 2

  Choose the platform that will be most comfortable and convenient for you to play. Brain games can be found for console systems, like Big Brain Academy for the Wii, or handheld mobile units, like Brain Age for Nintendo DS, or they can be played at your computer, either as a software application like MindFit or through an online portal like MyBrainTrainer.com or FitBrains.com.

• 3

  Make a commitment. We all know that we need to follow a regular regimen of physical exercise to keep our bodies in shape. We need no less for our brains. Be prepared to spend 10 to 40 minutes at least three times a week playing these brain games. The improvement shown in the studies on patients with Alzheimer's disease symptoms required a regular schedule of use over a period of months. Maintaining or even further improving those sharpened skills will require continued play.

• 4

  Consult your budget. Brain games can range in price from around $30 per year for an online membership to a game site to $130 or more for a sophisticated program for your home computer. And while the games for Wii and the Nintendo DS can be bought for $20 to $30, the hardware, if you don't already own it, costs considerably more.

• 5

  If you are thinking of getting brain games to enhance the treatment of a loved one with Alzheimer's disease, carefully evaluate their current skill level. Look for options that will provide them with a variety of fun and satisfying beginning experiences and will continue to challenge them to improve one step at a time. Learning new things is the best way to build new neural pathways in the brain.

  With the prospect of more than 100 million people worldwide with Alzheimer's disease, new research studies will continue to explore the connection between mental exercise and cognitive health. And as we extend our lives in years, playing computerized brain games may prove a valuable step in extending the quality of that life, as well.