Physical fitness, brain fitness

Some may wonder why we’re so interested in physical fitness, medical problems, diet, and exercise in our evaluation. The answer is simple: all these things can affect how your brain works.

Perhaps the most important piece of information you should know (if you don’t already) is that physical exercise is one of the best ways to improve and maintain your thinking ability. A recent book, Spark, by John J. Ratey, MD (Little, Brown, 2008) presents an extensive discussion of how exercise can promote brain fitness. Exercise raises levels of certain chemicals in the body that improve how well you think. There’s more, too. Physical exercise can improve your mood – that’s been demonstrated a number of times. In our assessment, we will ask about your mood because depression is one of the most common treatable causes of memory problems in older adults.

We ask about your medical problems because they can affect your brain functioning, too. And we’re interested in your diet because how and what you eat can affect your risk for disease. In addition, some people think that eating a diet high in antioxidants can reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer’s or memory problems.

That’s why any brain fitness evaluation has to include an evaluation of much more than only how well you remember and how well you can think.

Brain Fitness: The Philosophy

For a long time, those interested in helping older adults do well have known the importance of assessing many aspects of someone’s functioning. When addressing a physical problem, for example, an alert doctor would look not only at an older person’s blood tests, but also how well they can care for themselves, how well they get around, and whether there’s anyone around to help them if they need it. This kind of assessment might focus on someone’s physical status, but would also look at a number of other things. Fixing any problem the doctor finds is important in making sure the patient is functioning at the best level possible.

Brain fitness takes that same philosophy but instead of focusing on disease it focuses on taking you where you are and helping you get better. In a multidisciplinary brain fitness assessment, we look at a number of things that can affect how well you think or remember, not just memory. And the prescription isn’t just about memory or thinking — it may be about stress management, exercise, and changing your diet, too.