Blog

Summary: 10 Brain Exercises for Seniors



The science of brain plasticity is the basis of our BrainHQ exercises. Your brain is constantly in a state of change–sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better. The exercises within BrainHQ are designed to harness your changing brain and direct it in ways that can enhance your overall cognitive performance.

Learn about the “10 Brain Exercises for Seniors” that we have chosen for you although every single one of our 29 BrainHQ exercises is uniquely designed to contribute to your overall performance as we age:

#1 Sound Sweeps
Has this ever happened to you? You’re at a family or social event reuniting with people you haven’t seen in some time and you are generally enjoying all the fun. A conversation starts up but all the noise and hubbub becomes too distracting and you begin to miss parts of what is being said...Read more.

#2 Target Tracker
Driving, crossing or walking on crowded, busy streets can be stressful at the best of times. All of the surrounding activities, from other drivers to pedestrians trying to cross the street to cyclists pedaling beside cars, can quickly become overwhelming, particularly as we age...Read more.

#3 Syllable Stacks
Have you ever found yourself chatting with someone you just met only to forget his or her name when a third party asks for an introduction? Or, have you started telling an anecdote then realize you don’t remember where you were going with the story...Read more.

#4 Visual Sweeps
If someone said you could do advanced physics naturally, would you believe them? Now, if someone tossed a ball to you, do you think you could catch it? We don’t often think about all the details our brains can process automatically, and it becomes quite amazing when you see professional athletes like baseball or tennis players able to hit a small, fast moving target fairly consistently...Read more.

#5 Double Decision This is the current version of the exercise used in the Dementia Study
Slips, collisions and falls are a hazard at any age, but unfortunately, in older adults the effects can be much more debilitating. Risk of falls increases as we age as well as the severity of the injuries sustained from an accident like this. It may seem like this is just a matter of aging legs but it’s not as simple as that...Read more.

#6 To-Do List Training
Running to the grocery store to pick up a few items seems like it should be the simplest of tasks to accomplish. Yet, time and again, we all come home without the one specific item we went for in the first place. Part of the reason is that the whole event is fraught with distractions your brain needs to sort out while trying to remember your list of items...Read more.

#7 Recognition
It can be very unsettling when someone comes up to you and begins talking to you as if you were old friends, or at the very least you’ve met before, and you simply can’t remember who they are. It could be that you feel someone has a familiar face but you can’t quite place them in your memory. It may take a few awkward moments to clear up the situation or you spend the rest of the day wondering if you really did know that person...Read more.

#8 Fine Tuning
Have you ever been in a noisy room and felt the person you were talking to was mumbling a bit, or that they were confusing their words? Yes, it may very well be that you are talking to someone who mumbles, but there is a pretty good chance your brain is simply confusing similar sounding syllables...Read more.

#9 Face Facts
As we age it is very important for us to build and nurture positive relationships with others. Meeting new people and staying connected is the key to avoiding the issues associated with social isolation. However, meeting new people is always a bit uncomfortable...Read more.

#10 Eye for Detail
Does the thought of driving somewhere new make you anxious? If the idea of going to a new part of town, searching for street names, numbers, following a map and the rules of the road, while keeping track of any developing situations in traffic feels overwhelming, it may come down to how your brain processes visual information...Read more.