A recent study at Tel Aviv University in Israel, tested 60 volunteers using a brain exercising computer program, MindFit, for 30 minutes, three times a week, and compared them with another 60 playing sophisticated computer games.

The results showed that although all benefited from playing on the computer, those on MindFit had better improvement in short-term learning, visual and spatial learning and focused attention.

These findings are especially relevant to those of a certain age and show that exercise can stave off the reduction of mental faculties. It seems that very few golden agers realize that giving the brain a workout is just as important as physical exercise.

Susan Greenfield, a neurologist and Director of the Royal Institution, is supporting the use of computer brain games to tackle mental decline.

She believes that with no cure for Alzheimer’s disease on the horizon, these exercises are a good way of staving off dementia and keeping the mind alert.

Baronness Greenfield will launch MindFit in the House of Lords in October. She says, “There is now good scientific evidence to show that exercising the brain can slow, delay and protect against age related decline”.

Nintendo, the computer console company, is behind another product, the Brain Training computer game. The Brain-Master keeps the mind agile by testing logical analysis, memory retention, coordination and concentration.

The developer of the software, Professor Ryuta Hawashima of Japan’s Tohonu University, said the games increase the delivery of oxygen, blood and amino acids to the brain, leading to the creation of connections between brain cells.

MindFit is a new rival, developed in Israel and already available in the U.S. Baroness Greenfield is involved with the company producing the software and her name will be used to promote it in Britain, where it will cost £70 ($140).

The software claims to improve short-term memory by 18 percent, eye-hand co-ordination by 16.5 percent, memory recall by 14 percent and reaction time by 12.5 percent.

Simply memorizing a poem or learning by rote can cause metabolic changes in the brains of older adults.

In a study, participants aged 55 to 70 were involved in six weeks of intensive rote learning and memorizing. This was followed by six weeks of rest.

Learning and memory tests were administered before and after the six week learning session. No changes were noted at the end of the six weeks of memorization.

However, tests administered after the six weeks of rest showed that all of the volunteers experienced improvements in their verbal and episodic memory. They were better able to remember and repeat a short story and a list of words and to recall events that occurred earlier in the day or week.

Researchers stress that memorizing is a daily exercise anyone can do and that it has long term benefits in terms of cognitive function and as a defense against dementia.

So, let’s all go memorize something!

Rote Learning Improves Memory in Seniors

So far in this series on free computer games available on the internet, we have looked at crossword puzzles, mazes, chess and checkers. All of these have been completely free, with the unlikely exception of checkers, but, if you are prepared to pay a few dollars, the horizon broadens to take in all sorts of very enjoyable games.

My own favorites are strategy games, games that put you under no time pressure but rather require a certain amount of thought to solve. And of the ones that I have tried, the best by a long way is a little game called Slay. It is a very simple, easy-to-learn, conquest game but it requires considerable thought to keep winning on the higher difficulty levels. The basic game includes hundreds of scenarios (essentially different islands that you have to conquer) but the addition of a map editor means that you can design your own scenarios too, thereby extending the life of the game indefinitely.

There is a free demonstration game that can be downloaded so that you can see whether you like the game or not. Price for the full game is $30.00 but, for only ten dollars more, the programmer, Sean O’Connor will give you all nine of his Windows games, some of which are great fun. His game, Conquest, is one of these and is very similar to the boardgame, Risk; if you have played that game, you will know immediately how to play Sean’s version. Most of the others are strategy games of varying difficulties and complexities, with the single exception of Football-o-Saurus which, as the name suggests, is a game of football played by dinosaurs. It sounds silly but is surprisingly enjoyable.

So, for a mere $40.00, you can have hours and days of fun with these games. I thoroughly recommend them. To download demonstration versions or buy the full games, go to Sean O’Connor’s site.

For those who like a good game of chess but lack someone to play with (that has been my problem with the game most of my life), there are excellent free programs available for download on the internet. I looked at a few but can recommend two, Arasan 9.5 and AlphaChess 3.

Arasan has been around for ages, as you can see from its version number, and I can remember playing it ten years ago on my old Windows 3.11 computer. As a result, it is tried and tested and has no bugs; it is a serious program and will beat you every time on its harder settings. Fortunately, you can dumb down the computer opponent by limiting the time it has to think about its next move.

You can alter the appearance of the board, selecting the colors and the size, and it will give you a hint on your best move, if you ask it nicely. But it’s the playing strength that makes Arasan a professional program - this one is for those who take chess seriously.

AlphaChess is more about fun, I think, although it is perfectly capable of giving you a hard game. It has three settings for strength of opponent and is easy to beat on the weakest level. Like Arasan, the colors and pieces can be altered to suit you but I found no way to enlarge the board. A nice touch is that it will make sounds as you move pieces; these can be turned off too if they irritate.

Either of these programs are well worth a try, although my preference is for Arasan as an old friend. There are others, too, and you can sample most by googling “free chess programs”.

It was when I looked for free checkers programs (or draughts, if you’re English) that I found myself defeated. There are plenty that claim to be free but invariably they are loaded down with intrusive advertising or limited to a ridiculous extent. My advice on checkers has to be that you should avoid “free” programs, therefore, bite the bullet and shell out a few dollars for a full program.

It’s a great pity that such a popular game should be so badly served by the programmers but that is the price of fame, I guess - they figured they could make money from the millions who would want to play checkers whereas chess, with its smaller fanbase, offers fewer prospects of getting rich.