Summary of three articles
A Sharper Mind, Middle Age and Beyond Article Summary
The publication by Cohen Parricia, entitled “A Sharper Mind, Age and Beyond” without a doubt reveals that mental games does help elderly adults in ensuring that their cognitive skills remain high-pitched. The main variables or issues under deliberation in the publication was aimed at proving that mental games such as word searches, sudoku, and word matching in assisting older individuals to retain their cognitive skills. It was something that Sir William Osler who was the most influential physician in Johns Hopkins concurred by stating that human beings are more productive between the ages of 25 and 40 years. That explains why the years are termed as the golden years of plenty with the years above 40 termed as useless years with above 60 years termed as countless (Cohen Parricia, 2012). Such conclusions were reached at through the fact that the brains cells die over time without replacement, and hence, the need to maintaining once ability to learn and play mind-stimulating games more beneficial. The hypothesis that would be deduced from the publication was that education seemed to be a potion or medicine that brought about a healthy body to aging individuals as stated by Margie Lachman who was a psychologist in aging. As a result of that, she would be termed as a participant in the research that resulted to the conclusion the publication had (Cohen Parricia, 2012).
Gene D. Cohen was yet another participant in the research study. He was incorporated into the study because of his knowledge on one part of intelligence termed as crystal intelligence. Moreover, he had written numerous publications related to the topic under deliberation herein, and “The Mature Mind” was one such works. The fact that she was a specialist in the process of human aging qualified her as the best towards the research that the publication was trying to accomplish. An additional reason why she was selected was as a result of her principal role in the investigation for what would be considered the Manhattan Project of Middle Age in the United States. Hence, stating that her knowledge in the field played a role in her inclusion in the study would without a doubt the true (Cohen Parricia, 2012). Other participants that were enlisted in the study amounted to over seven thousand individuals that were aged between 24 and 74 years old. The research method that was used in the publication would be held as observation method. Such a conclusion would be drown considering the fact that the major contributors to the research were professional in their fields that happens to be the topic under deliberation within the paper.
Hence, the information that they were offering were from their day to day encounters in the field. Besides, Margie Lachman a major participant in the study was involved in other similar studies as revealed exceedingly. The participants were tested through various SAT-type tests that were meant to gauge their capabilities that constituted the intellectual muscle responsible for brain cells. Through such tests, it was believed that the results would explain the human mind. That was considering the fact that the human brain was considered as a series of relatively dispersed and isolated geniuses and abilities that were affected differently as an individual age or gets old. From the publication, it was evident that human intelligence or brain power comprised of various cognitive skills that were separated into two (Cohen Parricia, 2012). One was the fluid intelligence comprising of the part of the brain responsible for offering solutions that were not based on experience and it was noted that they were at their peak during the ages of 20s. The other part was the crystallized intelligence that was comprised of skills that were acquired through experience and education and they included intelligence and verbal ability.
Age-Related Memory Loss How to keep your Memory Sharp as You Age Summary
There are several issues of interest revealed in the publication by Smith, Robison, and Segal. The article revealed that it was normal for the elderly people to complain about forgetfulness. It is always taken to be a normal process of an individual when it at times may be a problem. An additional important thing deduced was that, memory loss was not an impossible part of the aging process (Smith, Robinson & Segal, 2013). When people grow old, it does not mean that it is necessary for them to lose their memory. The brain is very capable of generating new brain cells at any age meaning that memory loss is not automatic at old age but it is caused by some factors. It is important too to realize that, brain like any other muscle if not engaged, it can easily be lost. Forgetting does not for this case indicate danger; this is because there are very normal instances where age makes one to forget some things like where you placed glasses after use, becoming distracted from doing something among many other cases (Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2013).
The other important issues are trying to notice the common causes of such forgetfulness especially in aging individuals. There are several causes of forgetfulness especially in elderly people. The side effects of medication form a better cause of the problem. Very many drugs or combinations of drugs are in a position to cause the problem. Anybody can have side effects of the any drug but it is more common in the elderly since they break down and their absorption of medication becomes more slowly thus causing the problem (Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2013). Another serious cause is depression that makes the elderly to lose concentration in what they do among other activities. Dehydration can as well cause the problem due to confusion that emanates as a result among many other causes. Having looked at the problem and the causes, the other very important issues in this article is the prevention measures that included and not limited to; regular exercises that involves the use of games to ensure that the brain is engaged, socialization, managing stress, sleeping enough and avoiding smoking among other possible ways can prevent the problem of memory loss in adults.
The hypothesis of this article is; memory loss is as a result of aging. In other words, aging is always accompanied by memory loss. The participants of this study were specifically the elderly in the society and they were randomly selected to form part of the sample of the study. In this study, the study-experimental was used to show the practicality of the problem (Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2013).The researcher divided the sample into two groups and allowed one group to become very active in some activities while making the other group remain dormant without any activity. The researcher finally put them into test to identify the difference between the two groups. The researcher identified that, the group that was so involved in various activities was still very active in answering the questions that were given afterwards. The other group that was left to relax exhibited serious problems in remembering what was taking place (Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2013).The study indicated that the group of elderly people that were physically involved in some activities could easily remember what was taking place unlike the other group that remained dormant.
Memory, brain and aging: The good, the bad and the promising Summary
Authored by Professor Ober, the publication recognizes that brain regions are more likely to contain age-related volume loss something that would be attributed to the greater plasticity referred denoted as the capacity change. As a result, the research was geared towards the understanding the brain plasticity especially in aging persons. By so doing, the outcomes would enable specific adaptation of lifestyles that would be advised to people (Ober, 2010). At the same time, formulate the pharmacological treatments that would be used to treat brain and memory functioning in the aging populace ensuring that their cognitive skills are maintained their entire lifetime. In the research, it was revealed that laboratory tests of discontinuous memory were conducted through the study of various sets of to-be-remembered words as well as pictures and sentences. The responses that were retrieved from the studies were deliberated on to the conclusion that as individuals that were older were giving their feedbacks, there was no deficit on memory performance in recognition of stuff but a major deficit was recognized in the recall process (Ober, 2010). That implied that, the older generation’s brain was not affected in the recognizing portion, but rather, the recalling portion of the brain was the one that was deteriorating.
Additional findings that were deduced from the study also indicated that the aging persons were experiencing such reductions because of the environmental support that reduces the effect needed for the retrieval process. That explains why they failed to recall but they did not fail to recognize as per the study conducted. Worth mentioning also was the conclusion that was deduced from the study. It indicated that the recollection was a relatively slow and deliberate procedure that necessitated the memory to access the anticipated item (Ober, 2010). Considering the fact those simple games such as scrabble, Sudoku, and word finders among other uses those parts of the brain, those aging individuals who will play them will ensuring the brains are active bearing in mind that using them will ensure that enable aging persons to recall, otherwise, they will lose them resulting to poor process of recalling.
In closing, it is without hesitation that mental games enable elderly keep their cognitive skills up to the task. All the deduced articles tend to concur that just as an athlete relies of diet and sleep to perform well, the brain too requires constant sharpening and stimulation to ensure that they retain their cognitive skills. They have as well at length elaborated on how the human brain might be kept healthy not only during its peak years, but also over the entire lifespan. The quote that says use it or lose it tends to apply to the brain of aging persons. That is why it is recommended that games such as sword search, Sudoku, scrabbles among others are recommended. Sudoku because it is a game that requires logic for one to spot patterns that will only be attained through thinking logically.
Hence, it becomes a helpful game for the aging persons considering the fact that they will offer the skills in a real scenario where the individual will assessing the implications of a decision they will make. A crossword as a game is recommended for the aging persons. While many use them with an aim of enhancing their vocabulary and memory, research has indicated that they play a vital role in the mental health as well as reduction of stress that is on record to destroy numerous brains cells that are not replaceable once they die. Solitaire and chess are other games that might be of help to the aging persons. For instance, chess makes one smarter as many believe. However, what it actually does is that it helps individuals to navigate through options in life and encourages creativity something that will ensure that the brain of aging persons is kept active and stress free (Ober, 2010). Conclusively, there are benefits that the elderly stands to gain in the process of engaging in the above mentioned games among many more. While the games will offer or acting as entertainment, they will ensure that the cognitive capabilities of the aging individuals are maintained. Besides, the brain, just as the muscles need to be stimulated on a day to day basis to ensure that they work at their utmost capabilities.
Reference
Cohen Parricia, (2012). A Sharper Mind, Middle Age and Beyond. Retrieved on 30th June 2014. From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/a-sharper-mind-middle-age-and-beyond.html?pagewanted=all
Ober A. Beth, (2010). Memory, Brain and aging: The Good, the bad, and the promising. Retrieved on 30th June 2014; from http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.edu/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v064n04p174&fulltext=yes
Smith Melinda, Robinson Lawrence, & Segal Robert, (2013). Age-Related Memory Loss. How to keep your Memory Sharp as You Age. Retrieved on 30th June 2014; from http://www.helpguide.org/life/prevent_memory_loss.htm
