Age-Proof Your Brain with Tony Buzan

Age Proof Your Brain

Bestselling author and inventor of Mind Mapping®,
Tony Buzan is once again speaking at the Mind Body Spirit Festival
with a brilliant workshop that offers simple and
effective techniques to boost your memory and maximise your brain power
and potential. Full of fun, practical exercises and information, this
workshop will change the way you think forever!

26th May,2010      12:00 - 2:00      £16.00

Click here to book

Unfortunately with some Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients they become easily disoriented and wander away from their residence. A nursing home in Düsseldorf, Germany, the Benrath Senior Center has come up with a creative solution. 

Staff noticed that when patients wandered away they often headed for public transport. By putting a fake bus stop at the front of the nursing home, the patients would stop there and wait for a bus. This stopped them from wandering too far.

"The seniors even tend to get lulled by the wait for a bus--they often
flash back from their imagined past and snap back into the present.
That single idea has since changed care at the senior center--the
nurses now lead patients back from "other worlds" by allowing them to
explore the conceit, rather than trying to convince them otherwise."

Listen to Radioblog's podcast where Richard Neureither and Regine Hauch explain what they’ve done in Düsseldorf. http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2010/03/23/the-bus-stop/

Also you may want to read Fast Company's interesting take on the fake Bus Stop - how the simple act of design can make a difference. http://www.fastcompany.com/1598472/uncommon-act-of-design-fake-bus-stop-...

Here is an interesting article from bbc news...

For middle-aged and older people at least, using the internet helps boost brain power.

A University of California Los Angeles team found searching the
web stimulated centres in the brain that controlled decision-making and
complex reasoning.

The researchers say this might even help to counteract the age-related physiological changes that cause the brain to slow down.

The study features in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Here are some interesting concepts/extracts from press release by the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation
One piece of excellent news in the past year was that brain health seems to be improving among older Americans.

A large national survey from the University of Michigan found that over a 10-year-period ending in 2002, memory loss and thinking problems were down significantly among seniors aged 70 and up, from 12.2 percent to 8.7 percent.

Researchers aren’t sure why the decrease in cognitive impairment is occurring, but they suspect that a better educated and more affluent older generation that is less likely to smoke and more likely to eat better and get regular exercise may be helping to keep the brain young..

1. Stay Mentally Challenged. Seniors who engage in reading books or newspapers, doing crossword puzzles and word or card games, or who attend adult education classes may be more likely to ward off Alzheimer’s as they age.

2. Practice Good Waist Management. Having a thick middle in the middle years increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a study of more than 6,500 adults from Northern California found. Belly fat, in particular, may be bad for the brain.

3. Work It. Another study, from Duke University, found that having a job that challenges the intellect may help to keep the mind sharp into old age. And the more complex the job, the better memory and thinking skills held up after retirement.