Brain Exercise – Why Should My Children Care?

Exercising your brain is essential for mental longevity and it is never too early to start caring for your mind. Today, we will begin a multiple post series by delving into the topic of brain exercise and introducing a variety of ways in which staying mentally active can help you and your family’s cognitive development at any age. Brain exercise isn’t only essential for older generations and those at direct risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, in fact, exercising the brain should be a regular activity from birth to promote positive cognitive development throughout an entire lifetime. We start our series by addressing important key points of brain and memory activity in young children and introducing various activities that children and parents alike can take part in for positive cognitive health.

Two Ways that Children Benefit From Brain Exercise:

 

1. Brain and skill development: Brain exercises increase neuron activity in the brain and thus help promote sound developmental progress among children, as well as memory maintenance and total brain health among teens and adults. Regular brain exercise activities help children develop problem solving and motor skills, hand eye coordination and various other academic abilities.

 

2. Early detection of developmental impairment: Regular brain activities can serve as pristine resources for detecting any potential learning disabilities or developmental disorders in children. Observing a child while they are actively engaging in brain exercises can help parents and teachers determine strengths and weaknesses, as well as areas that need extra attention for appropriate cognitive development.

 

Brain Exercises & Activities for Children:

 

The internet is bursting full of fun developmental games for children, but there are also a handful of cognitive opportunities in your own home! Try some of the following activities with your children to give their brain a fun workout:

 

• Reading
• Board Games
• Card Games
• Chess or Checkers
• Paper games (Sudoku, tic-tac toe etc.)
• Puzzles & Riddles
• Brain Teasers

Whether you are a baby boomer, millennial or a teensy newborn, the way you nurture your brain now can have a direct effect on the potential development of Alzheimer’s disease later in life. Brain exercises like the MemTrax memory test are perfect for any age and if you haven’t taken it this week, we urge you to head over to our testing page right away! Be sure to check back next week as we continue discussing the importance of brain exercises among teens and young adults.

 

About MemTrax

 

MemTrax is a screening test for the detection of learning and short-term memory issues, particularly the type of memory problems that arise with aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. MemTrax was founded by Dr. Wes Ashford, who has been developing the memory testing science behind MemTrax since 1985. Dr. Ashford graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. At UCLA (1970 – 1985), he attained an M.D. (1974) and Ph.D. (1984). He trained in psychiatry (1975 – 1979) and was a founding member of the Neurobehavior Clinic and the first Chief Resident and Associate Director (1979 – 1980) on the Geriatric Psychiatry in-patient unit. The MemTrax test is quick, easy and can be administered on the MemTrax website in less than three minutes. www.memtrax.com

 

Photo Credit: M@rg