The Ultimate Brain Fitness Product
If you want to stay mentally fit or, even better, grow your brain, don’t waste your money on computer games or consoles. Forget about x-words and puzzles. One mental exercise is crowned as the King; Theater. Yes, by taking part in a play a test group increased their problem solving skills with more than 50 percent. Wow! It’s even more incredible when you look at the control group studying visual arts. One thing bothers me, though: Since theater was new to all the participants, could we get the same results just by doing something we’ve never done before?
Source: Is theater the ultimate brain fitness product?
Photo: The valkyries walk to battle with their god Odin by ranh
Cognitive decline as we age is all over the news lately. “Brain fitness” products are available for cell phones, Game Boys, and Xboxes, all designed to prevent the natural decline in cognitive ability as we age. There’s even a significant body of work suggesting that this sort of product really can work.
But some of the brain games can be dull, repetitive work: memory tasks, number games, and optical illusions, while endlessly fascinating to cognitive scientists, might be less appealing to the general population.
The theater group improved significantly more compared to the control group in each of the measures (there was much less variance in the psychological well-being scores than in the other tests, so those small gains are significant). For problem solving and well-being, the theater group also improved significantly more than the visual arts group. The theater group also had the lowest drop-out rate of any group: All theater participants attended all 9 sessions, while 8 of the 44 visual arts students dropped out, despite the fact that all participants said they enjoyed the sessions.
The team argues that their results demonstrate that theater training — even over a relatively short time period — can help prevent cognitive decline associated with aging. They even speculate on some of the reasons why it is effective: Theater, they claim, requires sustained attention to the task in a way that other activities do not. Actors must stay in character for the duration of a scene, unlike studying visual art, where viewers might “rest” in between viewing different images. Also, the participants consistently remarked that theater was “new” to them, and novelty appears to be a key component of brain fitness.
I agree with the theater to a certain extent. If someone who has never taken part in a theater production it would be a fantastic thing for his/her brain. Learning something new is one of the best things you can do for your cognitive health. But if you have been doing theater for years the benefits are minimal. What you need is something that adjusts as you go. Gets tougher as you get better at it. That is where computer based exercises come into play. They adjust the threshold as you go. If you are doing well it will be more difficult. If you are struggling it will adjust until you get back on track.
I have been researching these computer based exercises for over 2 years now. Only one company seems to have it right. Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program. They are backed by real science. In fact they are the only company in this field that can legitimately make that claim.
Back in Christmas 2005, I purchased Posit Science’s product for my parents. It is by far the best present I could have gotten them. Over the past 5 years I could see they were declining mentally. They just weren’t as sharp as they had once been. that is no longer the case. Posit claims they can get you back, on average, 10 years of your memory. I have witnessed this. Its incredible. Its take 40hrs to complete the program and they must be on there 3-4 run through the program. They usually take 3-4 months between maybe a tad longer and then dive back in. They love it. I love it for what its done for them. Amazing stuff. Its something they can do at home at their convenience. That something the theater could never do.
http://www.positscience.com/
Check them out.
Take care.
Matt
Thank you for your comment, Matt.
I took a peek at Posit Science and took their Brain Speed test. I must say I’m not totally convinced that this is the only exercise a person needs. Because it only has six different exercises. Even though they get tougher, they will never be more than six.
It’s great that it works for your parents and that they like it. And I’m sure that doing something to stimulate your brain is WAY better than doing nothing. That’s why crosswords, puzzles and games has a good effect.
The problem is that when you do the same exercises over and over, you’re not exploring new territories. What really challenges your brain is doing something new.
I while back I read about a guy who challenged himself with something totally new each year. One year he learned a new language. Another year he learned to juggle. He knew how to exercise his brain.
If we have to pick one activity that gives you that kind of challenge, I’d still go for theater. Every new play, every new role has a new and different challenge. The actor has to develop a new character; the way he think, walk, look and talk.
But it probably takes a lot more time than the Posit Science software.
[…] Brain games are a great way to get some mental exercise, but they have their limitations. If you are looking for a more interactive way to improve your mental abilities, this article recommends theater. Sounds like another fun way to sharpen your mind! […]