Whatever they say about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks, it is patently untrue. Old dogs may not learn as quickly as they did when they were young, but with time and patience, most older dogs can be taught to do anything that a young dog can.
So how do we mere humans compare, cognitive decline was long seen as an inevitable consequence of aging, but recent years have seen a surge of interest in activities and products touted to forestall this outcome. What is the truth? Is decline inevitable, or is there a possibility of retaining our faculties if we exercise them? And which kinds of exercises and products are effective, and which are merely hype? [continue reading…]
European researchers have built a computerised play platform for elderly people. Field testing shows that the system keeps elderly players mentally sharp, stimulates socialisation, and can alert caregivers to developing problems.
Three years ago, researchers at the EU-funded ElderGames project set out to create a high-tech play platform specifically for the elderly – the first designed to provide cognitive and social stimulation, and to allow early detection of cognitive decline.
The researchers knew that play can help ageing people stay cognitively fit and stimulate much-needed social interaction. What they hoped was that they could design and build a computer-enhanced play platform that elderly people could use easily, would enjoy, and that would enhance quality of life.
“Play is good in itself,” says Malena Fabregat, ElderGames coordinator, “but the challenge was to allow the users to train what the experts told us were the most important cognitive abilities in this period of life.”
Fabregat and her colleagues were aware that many elderly people are afraid of new technologies and tend to avoid them. They were surprised by how quickly elderly participants overcame their technological fears. [continue reading…]
Then yours probably will! Thinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that senior citizens who think older people should perform poorly on tests of memory actually score much worse than seniors who do not buy in to negative stereotypes about aging and memory loss. [continue reading…]
When it comes to memory performance, the brain compensates with age, according to a new study.
Conducted by Swinburne University of Technology PhD student, Helen Macpherson, the study investigated age-associated brain activity while performing memory tasks with varying levels of difficulty.
It compared the results of male participants aged 59-67 with male participants aged 20-30. [continue reading…]
