Boomer Alert: Exercise Keeps Your Brain Young

Photo: Kelly Rossiter

Boomer Alert – Exercises Keeps Brain Young

Baby boomers are aware that exercise tends to keep the brain young and several of them would be pleased to know that using the phone or a computer could be of great help. In the course of the ageing we tend to suffer from cognitive decline but there are options wherein we could slow it down and one of these options is exercising the brain to keep it active.

It is a known fact that exercise can add years to our lives and helps in keeping physically fit and a new study shows that it keeps us mentally fit as well. A new study – Smarter every day: The deceleration of population ageing in terms of cognition indicates that the use of computers and smartphones could make a difference.

The authors of the study were not the first to notify about it. Nora Ephron had pointed it out some years ago. She indicates that we tend to live in the Google years and there are benefits to it. When one tends to forget something, you take the iPhone and go to Google. The Senior Moment has become the Google moment and by controlling the obligation of the search mechanism, one can prove that you can cope up.

The Flynn Effect – To Perform Better

Study conducted indicated different intelligent tests that were performed on people 50+ in 2006 and thereafter in 2012 and it was observed that the 2012 group had cognitive functioning equivalent to people four to eight years younger.

 Moreover there has been a steady inclination among all ages to do perform better on these tests which is known the Flynn effect, which has been attributed to nutrition, education and other causes. However, they studied in particular if the technology made any kind of a difference.

The theory that the growing use of modern technology in daily life tends to increase cognitive demand on the older people which can helps them in maintaining cognitive potentials to higher ages, is put to an experimental test in the current study.

As the authors of the study draw their conclusion observing other factors which could have affected the consequences they conclude that the use of computers as well as smartphones does make a difference. Valeria Bordone, one of the study authors has summarized the results in an interview in `business website Quartz’.

Smartphone Users – Enhanced Thumb Sensory Representation

In several cases 52 years old from 2006 obtained the same score as 60 years old from 2012 and the levels of education had not changed between these two groups. However, it was observed that their use of computers as well as mobile phones had undergone a bit of a change.

Evidently to kids essay at Quartz, 52 and 60 years olds are considered senior citizens. The authors of the study reason and suggest that video games together with the other software programs could be helpful in keeping multi-tasking skills and attention extents high as we age.

Nora seems to be right that living in the Google years tends to keep one smarter for a longer period of time, not for the information one gets whenever essential but for the act of looking out for it and locating it tends to keep the brain working. As per another study, smartphone users also have `an enhanced thumb sensory representation in the brain’ and utilising the phone and the tablet could keep your thumb young also.