A year ago, I wrote a post on ways to fight mental aging. Among the ways listed were to challenge yourself mentally and exercise your memory as well as your body.

I recall watching an interview with Albert Einstein, many years ago, and when asked what he does to keep mentally alert and sharp, he said he played games, specifically board games and games that made him think. His favorite board game, according to that report was Monopoly, but that probably changed from year to year.

There are a number of simple things you can do to provide mental exercise. Take some time each day to do things like crossword puzzles, Sudoku and other similar games that require thinking and reasoning. You can go online and find a number of websites that offer brain games plus you can buy books with brain games.

The important thing is using your brain to think and reason beyond the daily routine. Just as you need to exercise 15-30 minutes every day for your body, you also need to exercise your brain 15-30 minutes every day. Even if you feel like you tax your brain at work every day, your brain needs a more relaxing mental exercise that’s fun, not tedious. I recall one neurologist telling me some years back that it’s important to take a mental recess every day and mentally play. He told me not only does it help keep the brain more alert as you age, but it’s also restful and helps to destress. He recommended playing mental games before bed to help give you a better and more restful sleep.

There are many sources that discuss the advantage of seniors playing brain games to exercise the brain and help slow down the mental aging process. But, do these games really accomplish what we’ve been told?

A report on my local news a few nights ago, featured a piece on brain games and questioned the effectiveness of them. The report focused on online brain games that target retirees who use them to stay sharp in their golden years.

They interviewed Dr. Art Markman, author of the book – Brain Briefs and he said that playing a particular game over a period of time will definitely help someone get better that game, but ONLY at that game or games very much like it, but not in overall mental sharpness.

One of the seniors they interviewed was an older man who had a stroke last year. Doctors were able to identify the part of his brain that was affected by the stroke and then designed brain games specifically to help him in the mental areas most affected by the stroke and he found that those games did help him regain some of those lost mental abilities.

They also interviewed Zoltan Nadasdy, a research neuroscientist. He said that specific brain games can help in specific areas of clinical work. For instance, a computer game that has someone moving through different scenes can help with spatial recognition and memory.

However, the specialists say that many of the brain games on the internet that target seniors do NOT deliver everything they promise. They are good for specific issues, but that they tend to do little for over all cognitive function.

The federal government fined one of these websites – Luminosity, $2 million for deceptive advertising.

The bottom line is that brain games are good for certain things, but are not the mental panacea they are often advertised to be.

Dr, Markman recommends that seniors should learn something new, read a book on a subject you know little about, take a new hobby or skill and prioritize your social interaction in your everyday life. He said you don’t need to spend money to stay mentally sharp.