Our Brains: Use It or Lose It

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The brain is one of our most important organs; and just as the rest of the body requires exercise to stay healthy and active, so does the brain. Listen up boomers! According to psychological articles and research, online optical illusions and brain teasers such as those presented in Boomer Yearbook, are fun, proven ways to help ward off loss of memory, depression, and dementias! Let’s stop complaining about senior moments and do what psychological articles and research tell us we can to keep our brains active and alive.

An optical or visual illusion is an image or an illustration that tricks the brain’s ability to identify between the real and the imaginary. It is a play upon the brain which sometimes leads it to see things that are not present or be unable to see what is present.

Optical illusions fall into 2 categories: physiological and cognitive. A physiological illusion is one that is induced by stimulants like light, color and movement, whereas a cognitive illusion refers to those tricks played on the mind by the accidental interference of the eyes with the brain. Optical illusions can occur either naturally or by an external, deliberate stimulus. In case of the latter, certain areas of the brain that work on assumptions are targeted and led to believe and perceive what is not true.

Brain teasers, on the other hand, are challenges posed to the brain to make it think in a way that is different from its usual way of perception. These ask for the use of:

• Categorization
• Reasoning
• Lateral thinking
• Logic
• Play on words and numbers
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According to a review of psychological articles by a team at Boomer Yearbook, the website for baby boomers, providing stimulating exercises to the brain leads to not only an improvement in memory but also assists in effectively managing stress, and can enhance motor functions such as speed and hand eye coordination.

Psychological articles and research stress that our brains need new levels of stimulation to keep alive and active; and that online optical illusions and brain teasers can help build new networks of neural cells, ward off the elderly problems of depression, and even positively impact the decrease in Alzheimer’s related memory impairments.

Some activities that can help keep the aging boomers out of the way of certain elderly problems are as follows:

1. Specially designed memory games can be a great benefit for memory improvement, as these games act on particular areas of the brain that are in charge of storage and retrieval of information.
2. Puzzles force the brain into thinking, processing and learning. They also make for great fun activities to be enjoyed with family and friends. Common examples are Scrabble and crosswords.
3. Training our brains to think and process information in new ways is extremely important to keep it from “rusting”. Keeping this important organ fit through exercise is even more necessary than exercising the rest of the body. Encouraging it to stay alert through puzzles and online optical illusions and brain teasers can assist in preventing a lot of elderly problems such as depression, anxiety, and of course, Alzheimer.
4. Games such as Risk which makes one form complex strategies in order to play are amazingly beneficial in exercising our grey matter.
5. Riddles are an ancient and fun way of stimulating the brain into ways of thinking in and out of the box.

Whatever method you choose, remember that we baby boomers more than ever need to work on our bodies and minds in order to keep healthy. Failure or neglect in exercising our brains could lead to some serious health issues.