GRAND Magazine - March/April 2011 - 39

Exercise Works;
Give Your Brain a Workout Today
BY ADRIANE BERG
It is no more inevitable that you have a “senior
moment” than that you have flabby arms or
sagging buns. Exercise can prevent both. It’s
just that it is so much easier to see a muscle
improve than a neuron. But, be assured, regular
exercise strengthens both body and brain.
What’s more, online brain fitness exercise
sessions offered through CogniFit Personal
Coach, www.Cognifit.com, do more for you
than merely sharpen your memory. Scientists
agree that the brain is plastic, and “brain
plasticity” means that you can upgrade the
way your brain works with exercises specifically
targeted to over a dozen areas of daily
brain function. Memory is just one of them.
For example, how well do you catch a ball
while playing with your grandchild? If not very
well, it may be hand eye coordination which
you want to improve. Have you been finding
it more difficult to make financial decisions
lately? If so, regular brain exercises can
sharpen your ability to make decisions based
on incomplete information, which is what every
nerve-wrecking financial decision requires.
Whether it’s long or short term memory,
focus, or ability to change focus quickly, you
will find that spending 20 minutes three times
a week is all you need to improve your brain
skills, often to a degree greater than when
you were younger. Neuroscientist Shlomo
Breznitz, creator of the CogniFit program,
which has won numerous awards for its prac-
tical results in enhancing every day activities,
states: “Brain fitness exercises on a regular
basis is important even if you have never
experienced any cognitive decline, as the
exercises increase “cognitive reserve,” that
is the efficient utilization of brain networks
and the enhanced ability to recruit alternate
brain networks as needed. This means we
can maintain a high level of brain function
and never notice a decline as we age.”
Best yet, CogniFit brain exercises are more
fun then dragging yourself to the gym. All
you need is a computer and a pin number.
Get started immediately with a free demonstration
at www.Cognifit.com. Once you
commit to the program you get a personal
program that supports 14 different areas of
cognition designed to focus on the skills in
which you need the most work. You’ll get
constant feedback to measure your improvement.
A cool feature is the algorithm that
adjusts the exercises if you’re a little slower
or faster that day compared to your base
norm. You can even learn what time of day
you are the sharpest. That gives you a good
parameter as to when to hold your bridge
game or meet with your accountant.
By the way, how is your driving? Are you looking
forward to the day that your adult child
asks you to relinquish the keys, or do you
plan to wrestle them down to the ground?
For most of us it’s the latter. But have no
fear, CogniFit Senior Driver sharpens the
10 brain activities you need to remain the
excellent driver you always knew you were.
GRAND Magazine - March/April 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - March/April 2011
