Brain fitness

TOP: Leona Begrand (left) and Eileen Forrieter are participating in a brain fitness exercise during a Brain Fitness and Enrichment class at the University of Regina's College Avenue's campus.; BOTTOM LEFT: Pam Bocking (left) and Lillian Langford build a house of cards during a Brain Fitness and Enrichment class; BOTTOM RIGHT: Marjorie Will (left), Sally McCallion (centre) and Evelyn Gay paint during a class.
At 91, Gladys Whyte still appears to be sharp as a tack.
"I want to keep as alert as I can right to the end," she insists.
"If there's something I can do to help myself be brain active, I will."
So she works to keep active -- both mentally and physically -- doing whatever she can to prevent age-related cognitive decline.
Whyte is one of 32 students -- ranging in age from their 50s to their 90s -- in a new Brain Fitness and Enrichment class offered through the University of Regina's Seniors Education Centre. The course explores ways to retard memory loss and age-associated slowdown.
Your brain -- like your body -- needs a good workout to stay healthy and fit, says Holly Bardutz, the University of Regina neurolinguistics prof who was recruited to teach the brain fitness class to seniors.
Brain fitness requires more than just doing copious Sudoku and crossword puzzles. While that might make you good at doing puzzles, it won't help all your other cognitive functions, Bardutz points out.
So she incorporates brain fitness circuit training into her class.
Variety is the key.
On the fourth week of the two-hour class, participants were divided into two groups: the right hemisphere group and the left hemisphere group. Why? Because people learn differently. The right side of the brain is more visual and processes intuitively, holistically and randomly. It's used to do art and creative activities. The left side of the brain -- used for math and language skills -- processes in a logical and sequential order.
Most people seem to have a dominant side. When we're learning something new, difficult or stressful, we prefer to learn a certain way, Bardutz explains. In brain fitness circuit training, participants are challenged to venture outside their comfort zone.
"It has to be challenging for the brain, or why bother," insists Bardutz.
As part of their brain workout, Bardutz sent one group to a room where its members focused their attention on meticulously painting figurines -- an enjoyable, easy task for the artistically inclined, but an activity that proved challenging, and sometimes frustrating, for those who aren't.
When they finished painting, participants were challenged to build a house with playing cards -- not an easy feat, as many soon discovered.
Others got a physical workout -- throwing sticky balls and catching them with round bats, or hitting a small ball back and forth with paddles.
Next, they worked on a written exercise.
"There's a good assortment of activities," 61-year-old Pat Rivera said. "I enjoy the variety."
While Bardutz admits there are no guarantees that exercising your brain will prevent you from getting dementia or Alzheimer's, she says there are specific mental exercises that benefit the older brain. And she points out that it was recently discovered that "the brain can actually grow new brain cells even in mature and older adults."
"As long as you are requiring new brain cells, you will make new brain cells," she says, adding that this is contrary to the common belief that people only have the brain cells they're born with.

Terry Leahy, a member of the U of R Seniors Education Centre's education committee, recruited Bardutz to teach the brain fitness and enrichment class.
"Not enough seniors challenge themselves," he suggested.
So he signed up Bardutz. Then he signed himself up for her class.
Rather than exercising and honing what you already know, it's important to challenge yourself and learn something new, Leahy insists.
And although he describes some of the brain fitness activities in Bardutz's class as "very silly and menial", Leahy is quick to add that he can see the sense and science behind them.
"She's trying to challenge us all the time," he says of Bardutz.
"By doing novel activities, their brains are calling for reinforcement. So we need new brain cells," Bardutz explains.
Think of your brain as a muscle." If you use your muscle, you're going to keep building your muscle. If you don't, you won't," Bardutz says.
Staying physically active, mentally active and socially engaged go hand-in-hand, she says.
"In order to keep the brain functioning and fit and healthy, there has to be a socialization part. And it has to be fun. And it shouldn't be too stressful. You have to walk that fine line between being challenging, but not to the point that you're stressed," Bardutz explains.
Exercising the brain isn't restricted to the classroom. Bardutz recommends the following at-home activities:
- Drink water. The brain works less efficiently if dehydrated.
- Eat healthy fats everyday, such as fish and nuts. Good nutrition is vital.
- Exercise three to four times a week, especially aerobically. This can mean just going for a walk.
- Try meditating for 20 minutes every day.
As a result of the overwhelming response to the first brain fitness and enrichment class, the Seniors Education Centre is offering another session beginning in June. It's open to anyone age 55 and up. For more information, visit www.uregina.ca/cce/seniors or call 585-5816.
Brains need exercise, Bardutz reiterated.
And as the Seniors Education Centre motto points out: "It's never too late to learn."