How do video games help prevent dementia and other brain symptoms in elderly people?
According to medical studies, people’s cognitive skills are less likely to deteriorate when they keep their minds engaged. As a result, games, puzzles, and other brain training can help slow memory loss and other mental disorders. More than 2,800 people aged 65 and up participated in one research. For 5 to 6 weeks, they received up to ten hour-long brain-training sessions.
The workshops focused on these abilities:
• Memory
• Reasoning
• Information processing speed
Those who participated in the program improved their skills for at least five years. They also improved in routine tasks such as money management and cleaning. But what about Alzheimer’s and other dementia prevention? Is brain training helpful? One study found that exercising the mind prevented cognitive decline.
However, after patients began to exhibit Alzheimer’s symptoms, those who kept their brains active had a faster rate of mental decline. Being cognitively busy likely boosted the brain initially, causing symptoms to appear later. What’s the positive aspect here? People who routinely test their minds can spend less time in a stage of decline, even if they do get Alzheimer’s.
So, how does brain engagement help?
Animal studies show that keeping the mind active can:
• Reduce the amount of brain cell damage that occurs with Alzheimer’s
• Promote the formation of new nerve cells
• Encourage nerve cells to communicate with one another.
When you keep your brain busy with workouts or other tasks, you can help build up a reserve of brain cells and connections between them. You may even develop new brain cells. It is one of the reasons that scientists have found a link between Alzheimer’s disease and less education.
Experts believe increased mental activity from schooling can play a protective role by building cell connections. Neither education nor brain workouts are guaranteed to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. However, they can postpone symptoms and keep the mind functioning well for a longer period.
In the case of the brain, consider it as a muscle. In the same way that muscles need the training to be efficient, It is essential to constantly exercise the brain to maintain its neural connections at their best. With age, the ability to solve problems on the spot and think on the site becomes more challenging. By playing video games, you can practice your problem-solving skills.
By doing this, mental stimulation is associated with improved cognitive function in older adults and may reduce their risk of developing dementia. It has been found that playing video games is an excellent way to enhance cognitive skills.
While there is no proof that playing games prevent dementia, this research shows that playing them helps you reinforce skills that often weaken as you age. Planning, decision making, reacting faster, processing faster, and better short-term memory are skills that result in these outcomes.
Also, several studies in this field have demonstrated that seniors over 60 years old who regularly play video games and use brain training apps are more productive in their everyday lives.
By playing 3D video games, you can increase gray matter in the brain, enhancing memory and preventing aging like Alzheimer’s. The reason is that three-dimensional games require players to be spatially aware and build mental maps they must then recall. That’s a lot of work!