Denise Medved joins Suzanne to talk about the Ageless Grace brain fitness program, 21 simple exercises to do each day to maintain brain health. Ideally, these are preventative measures, but if the signs of cognitive decline are beginning to appear, the Ageless Grace program can improve symptoms. Because Ageless Grace is performed in a chair to engage the brain, almost anyone can participate.
Denise describes her inspiration for the program. “I saw my parents aging completely differently, even though they had the same food, they lived in the same house, they did everything together for 47 years. My mother, who was a brainiac, who studied, who took courses, who taught courses, who played the piano, who learned new pieces every week, who read books avidly, who did the New York Times and London Times crossword puzzle, but hated exercise or movement of any kind. She was actually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. And at that time when that happened, in the early 2000, they were saying, oh, if you do crossword puzzles and word games, you will be cognitively fit the rest of your life. My dad, who spoke English as a second language, was very physical. He was a gymnast, he was a weightlifter, he was a body builder. And I saw my dad staying sharp and fit and in control of himself and cognitively sharp all the time. And I said, well, that’s interesting. You’d think my dad, who never studies, never reads, doesn’t teach courses or take courses because it was difficult with him with English as a second language, is cognitively fit.
“I took a graduate program in gerontology, graduating from the Neuroscience Academy in Sydney, Australia. And at the same time there was research being done. They discovered that the primary function of the brain is to control movement of the body. So when we do some kind of movement, especially movement that’s new or unique to us, or a little out-of-the-box, out of the ordinary, or when we’re learning some new physical skill, those things stimulate the firing of neurons, which are brain cells.That’s what we need to do to stimulate the cognitive function of our brain, so that we can change our brain and make it more resilient and stronger all the time, for a better quality of life.”
Why aren’t crosswords and jigsaw puzzles enough for neuroplasticity? Denise says, “I talked a little earlier about the five primary functions of the brain. Each of those different word games, or crosswords, number games, they affect a certain part of the brain, or a certain function of the brain, maybe two functions, but not all of them. I like to compare it to brushing your teeth. If you brushed your teeth every day, just in the front and noplace else, you’d be doing a great job with your front teeth, but everything else would decline and you would have tooth decay. So if you only work one or two functions of the brain all the time, they will be sharp, but the other functions will be failing.”
Learn more about:
* Denise Medved: https://agelessgrace.com/denise-medved/
* Ageless Grace: https://agelessgrace.com/about/
* The Vitality Revolution podcast series: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/
* Humana: https://www.humana.com/
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/
Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/
