News 8
Aging in America: Giving your brain a workout 
07:59 PM CDT on Friday, June 26, 2009
>If you're a grown child of an older parent, you may have noticed mom or dad's memory just isn't what it used to be.
Experts say it may not be a sign of dementia, just that the brain needs a good workout.
If there's one thing Terese Pickens knows about her mom, Mona, it's that she likes to keep her mind engaged.
"Even though their body may be aging, they don't have to be under-used or put out to pasture. They have a brain still that can grow, even at an older age," Pickens said.
Maybe that's why Mona was among the first graduating class from the new 'brain gym" at Christian Care Centers in Mesquite.
"It just helped me realize that I'm using all that I have," she said.
There's a growing field of brain exercise classes out there that claim varying degrees of success.
But experts say you can buff up your brain at home with basic things like proper diet and exercise.
You can even stimulate your brain by breaking out of your routine - like driving home on an unusual route or brushing your teeth with the opposite hand.
The brain gym is a very focused approach - eight weeks of training, every day for an hour.
"Some of it is very hard and other parts are not so hard, so that shows there's a lot of stuff going on up here," said Paul Winkler, a brain exercise student.
"You have a baseline when you start the program. It's measured. So you're competing against yourself through the eight weeks," said Debbie Wheelan, of Christian Care Centers.
Since getting her brain in shape, Mona's hungry for new challenges, so she's started learning Spanish.
"That encourages me when I can do things that I really hadn't tried before. That I can do that," she said.
E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com.
