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December 6 • 2018
jn
aking the best decisions for
our health is not always easy.
But as many of us approach
middle age — or even after we’ve been
here for a while — we
begin to pay more
attention to physical
changes and speculate
a little about what our
path might look like as
we age. I certainly hope
Lynn Breuer
that when I retire, I’ll
Special to the
be able to fully enjoy all
Jewish News
life has to offer, wheth-
er that’s spending time with grand-
children (can’t wait to be a bubbie ☺),
traveling or seriously pursuing hobbies
and interests there wasn’t always quite
enough time for.
Many people start focusing on
their health by looking at their diets.
(Goodbye, daily chocolate fix.) Or join-
ing a gym. (Hello, yoga pants.) And for
many of us, the plan stops there.
But aging affects more than just our
bodies. Even healthy brains experience
inevitable changes as we age, which
impact our overall cognitive health. For
example, have you ever parked the car,
gotten out, looked back and thought,
“Wow, I could have pulled up more?”
This is a completely normal decline in
our visual spatial skills.
And have you noticed that it’s a little
tougher to focus and concentrate than
it used to be? I’m glad my textbook
reading days are over! And don’t even
get me started on word-finding diffi-
culties, which happens when I hear a
word come out of my mouth that was
not the word I intended to say. And
finally, everyone’s favorite question:
“Where did I put my (insert phone,
keys, purse, car, etc.)?”
While many of us notice these small,
normal changes around age 50, we will
continue to decline in these predictable
areas if we’re lucky enough to live a
long life. And while memory is often
most important to us in terms of brain
health, it is not an isolated skill, but
instead relies upon these other brain
functions in order to work well.
Some of us may laugh about these
changes with our friends, but many
keep these changes to ourselves,
afraid of what they may mean. But
there’s no need to feel embarrassed
or afraid because it’s happening to all
of us! Which begs the question, if we
take action with diet and exercise to
strengthen and hone our aging bodies,
why do we not make the same commit-
ment to fight back and take action to
strengthen our aging brains?
Because we can fight back! Our
brains have the built-in capacity to
learn, adapt and change throughout
our lives, often referred to as neuro-
plasticity. And while there are several
lifestyle factors linked to brain health,
current research favors mental stimula-
tion, specifically cognitive training, for
playing a critical role in building brain
resiliency.
One of the few research-based pro-
grams on the market addressing these
issues is Mind Aerobics, developed by
the New England Cognitive Center.
The specific skills challenged in each
class session include:
• Reaction time, how quickly we react
to the world around us
• Visual/spatial skills, critical to min-
imizing the risk of falls as well as
helping with our parking skills
• Attention and concentration
• Memory, broken down into not only
short and long-term, but also visual
memory, auditory memory, kines-
thetic memory
• Language
• Problem-solving skills
The classes have added cognitive
punch by being held in a group set-
ting, so socialization is included in
the package, giving your brain quite a
workout … with no workout clothes
required! ■
Lynn Breuer is director of chronic disease man-
agement at Jewish Family Service.
Mind Aerobics classes are forming for
January. For more information, contact
Mary Martella at (248) 592-2671 or
mmartella@jfsdetroit.org.