21 Jun 2016 Class teaches seniors how to exercise their brains

by John Patton

While many can be found running, bicycling, lifting weights or performing any one of a number of exercises to achieve physical fitness, it is easy to overlook the importance of brain fitness.

This cannot be said for 24 members of the Conway Regional Health & Fitness Center’s Silver Sneakers and Silver Sneakers/Silver and Fit exercise classes programs. Many of them cited concerns about personal memory loss or a family history of dementia as cause for enrolling in the eight-week class.

A recent partnership between the Conway Regional Health & Fitness Center and the University of Central Arkansas Speech Pathology Department offered seniors in Silver Sneakers and Silver Sneakers/Silver and Fit an opportunity to improve their “Brain Fitness.”

“The purpose of this class is to teach our students how to build cognitive reserves,” instructor Candice Robinson said. “Basically, that is your brain’s way of maintaining brain function. The way you build cognitive reserves is through intellectual stimulation. We teach memory tips, such as ways to help remember how to find your keys.”

“I’m learning to find my words again,” explained Georgia Manning Lewis of Conway, a registered nurse who found that retirement led to isolation and a decrease in her socialization skills.

Georgia and 23 of her friends enrolled in a class, taught by UCA speech pathology instructors and graduate students, to learn more about keeping their brains as fit as their bodies. She said the eight-week class taught her the importance of staying more active socially and “trusting myself to use the right words.”

“Exercise is just as important for the brain as it is for the body,” said Bill Dudley, 72, of Conway. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” He found the class to be “a chance to look at alternative ways of solving problems.”

Mae Voegele said she is learning how to remember people’s names by associating them with objects.

The instructors incorporated thinking games, Sudoku, Cryptograms and numerous word and memory exercises into the curriculum.

Six graduate students and two faculty members in the UCA Speech Pathology Department facilitated the program with the senior adults on Wednesday mornings over an eight-week period. The 90-minute class engages different cognitive exercises and activities for seniors.

Per UCA speech pathology professor Richelle Weese, Brain Fitness is a program based on research that promotes building cognitive reserve to help memory and brain function as we age. This is a program UCA has used on campus as well as taking it “on the road” recently. 

“The students get as much out of it as the senior adults; it is a great experience for our students,” said Weese. The program is free, but limited to the first 24 that signed up. “We are hoping to do it again sometime in the future if we get good response this semester.”

During a recent class, seniors learned about “brain food” from Conway Regional Health & Fitness Center Wellness Coordinator Charity Ashworth.

So, can what you eat boost or decrease your brain power? Possibly.

While Ashworth said some of the evidence is inconclusive, the dietary recommendations generally apply to the entire body, including brain function.

General recommendations include:

Eat a diet high in fiber, 25-35 grams per day.
Choose lean protein sources.
Avoid fried or high-fat, processed meat.
Limit or avoid sugary beverages and desserts.
Eat fresh food because processed or convenience items are usually high in added sugar, fat and preservatives.  

A brain-healthy diet is one that reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, encourages good blood flow to the brain and is low in total fat and cholesterol.

Recommendations:

Controlling diabetes by use of portion control, managing carbohydrates, eating five to six smaller meals per day about three to four hours apart, increasing daily physical activity, avoiding sugary drinks, limiting sweets and dessert and following any medication regimen provided by a family doctor.

Eating for heart health by avoiding processed meats, limiting portion sizes to three to four ounces of lean meat and cooking with low-fat methods such as baking, broiling, roasting, stewing and stir-frying. Additional recommendations include eating fish three times per week, adding plant-based protein (such as beans, lentils, soybeans, nuts and seeds) to meals, increasing dietary fiber by eating fruit, vegetables and whole grains and cooking with healthy fats such as liquid oils, avocado, nuts and seeds.

Achieving a healthy weight to avoid certain diseases such as hypertension, heart disease and/or diabetes.

While there is no cure for age-related loss of cognitive function, there have been advances in understanding of cognitive decline or neurodegenerative disorders and disease (NDD) and mechanisms behind them.

Researchers have found some natural compounds and supplements that may provide therapeutic effects for NDDs and other brain disorders.

The formation and collection of a beta-amyloid plaque is often a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

Eating berries can benefit the brain as we age. Berries contain high levels of antioxidants and appear to prevent the inflammation that contributes to neuronal damage. Blueberries, in particular, contain anthocyanins that reduce inflammation in the brain, activate synaptic signaling and improve blood flow.

Eating white fish found in the Atlantic Ocean, ground flax, walnuts and soy nuts and using canola oil can increase the presence of Omega-3 fatty acids in the diet. Research has shown that Omega-3 fatty acids lower the levels of beta-amyloid plaque, which is linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Increased Omega-3s have been found to improve cognitive function and lead to the diminishment of the amount of neuronal loss.

Curcumin, an anti-inflammatory molecule found in the turmeric root, is believed to have a positive effect on health in general and on the brain specifically. Curcumin has antioxidant effects and has shown to protect neurons from dying in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. It has also been shown to disrupt protein clots (beta-amyloid plaque), characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. A supplement would be required.