Just 10 exercise sessions with a computer brain training program can cut the risk of an accident caused by an older driver in half, reports New Scientist.
So far, no training program or educational game has been able to boast of similar, proven effectiveness, said Jern Edwards of the University of South Florida in Tampa, co-leader of the study.
New research findings contradict previous conclusions drawn from studies involving 11 people. At the time, Adrian Owen of the University of Cambridge claimed that brain training with games only improves game skills.
This time, 908 older drivers (mean age 73) participated in the study. They were divided into 4 groups – in the first three they trained using one of the three computer programs, the fourth group did not train.
One of the programs was to improve reaction speed, the other – reasoning, and the third – memory. Each course consisted of 10 sessions and participants were followed for the next six years, recording the number of times they had road accidents for which they were responsible.
They found that reaction speed and reasoning training helped to reduce the number of accidents by about 50 percent, while memory training had almost no effect on crashes. Accidents were caused by 18 percent. non-training, 16 percent after memory training, 12 percent after reasoning training, and only 10 percent after reaction speed training. Interestingly, people who train the brain by 38 percent. They were less likely to suffer from depression, and less likely to have health problems.
The reaction speed training was based on the identification of the figures appearing on the computer screen, and the reasoning exercise was based on pattern recognition to solve the problem. In both cases, the subjects were given increasingly difficult tasks.
Edwards recommends brain exercises to older patients – but only with proven effective programs. Also, physical exercise to improve your condition should help you stay mentally fit (PAP).