Teaching old dogs new tricks : minding your mind

Mixing with younger people keeps your mind active

NEXT time you brush your teeth, do it with the hand you do not usually use. It will be one small step in revving up your brain, exercising it to help stave off mental deterioration and even dementia.

As we age, the brain needs new challenges more than it ever has. Complacency will make it go sluggish, just as lack of physical exercise leads to a sick and sad body.

Medical research has shown that the brain need not deteriorate with age – in fact, it can grow new neurons at any age. But it needs your help. You have to start thinking in new ways and stop taking your brain and what it has given you for granted.

It is fair enough that we have accepted what talents we have during our lives and used them in our professions or leisure time. If you are good with numbers, you may have become an accountant or financial whizz or maths teacher; if you are artistic, you are likely to be an artist of some sort; good with words, you may write for pleasure or profit.

But having used those talents for most of your life, you have been mostly exercising the part of the brain that rules your particular aptitude, neglecting possible other talents. As I said, that is fair enough when you are younger as it has got you to where you are now presumably.

Now it is time to rev up the old brain – and have fun doing so. It is certainly more fun than exercising the body, if you are a sloth like moi.

Using your left hand if you are right handed and vice versa for simple tasks such as eating and brushing your teeth is a good place to start, although trying to change your writing hand might be taking things too far.

However, playing games which exercise your brain in new ways definitely needs to be considered.

For all of us, learning a new language tops the list of brain exercises. Best way to do that is in a class, perhaps at evening adult education sessions. That way, you also have social interaction, another essential to warding off dementia. And, it also has another practical purpose if, like so many baby boomers, you plan to travel.

And we all should be keeping up with technology, going to computer classes if necessary.

But then there are the fun games that work your “lazy” part of the brain, the part that has been snoozing for most of your life.

Hence you literary types should tackle number games such as sudoko (I can spell it better than I can play it but I’m trying). Or try relearning your times tables – you could find you enjoy it more than you did when you had to learn it by rote in grade school.  And, as much as possible, add up numbers rather than use a calculator.

Mathematicians, have a go at crosswords, scrabble or jumble-word games you often see in newspapers and magazines.

Artists, try some writing that actually makes sense and don’t be afraid to open a dictionary (having an artist son, I know they can struggle with literacy). You also would benefit from word games as well as number games.

Other games and activities to suit us all are:

• Cards, remembering rules of the game and enjoying company;
• Chess, concentration and planning strategy;
• Jigsaw puzzles, solitary but calming and using memory and  logic;
• Bingo, company as well as concentration;
• Trivia games, for fun, social interaction and memory.
• Ballroom dancing for exercise, social interaction and memory.
• Craft, art or woodwork classes for company and learning new useful skills.

These are but some of the examples of games and activities to exercise the old brain and mix with people at the same time.

Social interaction with a variety of people is more essential in older years than it ever was. In fact, you should be extending your friendships rather than holding on to the few you have had most of your life. And, ideally, you should be mixing with people of different ages as that is  good way to keep up with contemporary thinking and stops you from becoming an old grouch. Have dinner parties with different age groups – the conversation is bound to be varied and you might learn something new.

While life experience naturally means you have greater knowledge in many areas, you can still learn from younger generations. And it goes without saying that the young ones learn from us as well.

Best way to mix with younger people is to do a course that is likely to have a wide range of ages, rather than just courses aimed at older folk. You might also want to consider helping out at your grandchildrens’ schools, reading to the children perhaps. This gives children an appreciation of older people as well, especially those who may not have grandparents alive.

I am not a great fan of senior people moving into retirement or “lifestyle” villages before they have to because I think that isolates older people. Of course, retirement villages, especially for frail old people. But, if you are just past retirement age and physically active, you should stay in your home, with the necessary back-up for as long as possible. I will look at the pros and cons of retirement villages in more depth in another article.

So these are good strategies for exercising the intellect. You will still need to do physical exercise. Yep, no way around it – a healthy body equals a healthy mind.

You need at least half an hour a day of aerobic exercise to get the blood pumping to all areas of the body, especially the brain.  Walking, swimming and cycling are good activities which are inexpensive and sustainable.

Now, have I forgotten something? Probably, alas.