Cognitive Fitness

While most people understand the value of exercise and eating right to maintain a healthy body, there are methods available to maintain the health of the brain. Unfortunately, many people are not aware that they can keep their mental capacity strong, and that there are programs designed to engage their brains.

Why the Brain Starts to Atrophy

Consider how the body ages over time. As children, we learn language, movement, games, and the importance of sleep, and eating our vegetables. As we mature our bodies are strong, and capable, and our mental capacity continues to expand while we are in school. In adulthood, we stop doing the full range of things we can do, because we need to stay focused on what needs to be done. This tradeoff is an important one for maintaining employment, and keeping our families on track, but the areas of our brain which are no longer being activated will start to slowly be atrophied.

Activation of neurons is a fundamental requirement to keep the neuropathways, which means that if we don’t use it, we will lose it! This basic principal applies to brain health and occurs even in healthy individuals. By not engaging the brain fully, over time it becomes more difficult to learn and recall information quickly. The brain starts to lose its neuroplasticity, the ability to change and grow.

How Cognitive Fitness Works

To help keep the mind young and active, it is important to engage in activities that use all areas of the brain. The brain loves rewards, novelty, and challenge. Challenging yourself, and having fun is what our programs are all about. We will have you move your body, use your senses, and challenge your brain to allow the brain to grow and create new neuro-connections. While cognitive fitness does not prevent brain injury or disease from occurring, it has been shown to improve the functions of the mind even when faced with injury, stroke, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Nutrition: Just as the body needs proper nutrition to stay healthy, so too does the brain. This means providing the right combination of healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, to give the mind the materials it needs to function optimally, which also allows for learning new situations is easier.

Exercise: There are many ways to engage your mind in games, concepts, and movements that provide challenges which stimulate new connections. Just as the muscles respond to different challenges, so too does the brain respond when faced with new puzzles, activities, and new movement.

Learn More About Cognitive Fitness

This form of fitness which helps keep your mind young and active is more than just playing a game or two each day. It is a program that engages and challenges your entire mind. For example, while puzzles and math problems can create new connections in the brain as you figure out the solution, adding new movement to the body will do the same. This means learning a new dance step, yoga position, or other type of movement that causes the brain to react. When we add other sensory impulses to this, then we are on to something.

The focus of my brain training is to layer several multi-sensory activities into the training, to improve the cognitive fitness of your mind, which in turn develops neuroplasticity, developing new synaptic connections. This means that as you age, your brain will actively maintain and resist and be more resilient against atrophy.

Functional cognitive fitness programs will help those who have been impacted by injury, stroke, disease, or other conditions which can leave. While cognitive fitness is not a cure, it is a means to help improve overall brain function that works throughout your life.