Are there mental exercises we can do to stay sharp mentally as we age? Or are we destined to mentally deteriorate as a natural and unavoidable result of living too long? Is an instance of loss of short term memory a precursor to Alzheimer's and dementia? Fortunately, there are mind exercises we can do to sharpen and retain our mind's capabilities and avoid mental deterioration.
I had a high school math teacher who would preface the start of class problem-solving by saying something like, "Lets do some mental gymnastics." Although we moaned and groaned in typical teenager fashion, we quickly became energized and involved in the problem he presented.
It turns out this teacher might have been way ahead of his time and was doing us a big favor. Researchers tell us that mental gymnastics, consciously exercising our mental facilities, are exactly what we should do to remain sharp as we age.
