8 exercises to train memory in elderly people.

Exercises to train the memory of elderly people through cognitive stimulation.

The increase in life expectancy brings with it a series of losses at the level of skills and abilities, memory being one of the most affected among the elderly and the perception of their own difficulties often causes them discomfort and dissatisfaction.

However, it is now known that the brain is plastic, which allows it to adapt to changes throughout life and, in turn, allows human beings to continue to store new knowledge even at advanced ages. This is possible thanks to training and exercises to train the memory at an advanced age, always keeping the mind active.always keeping the mind active.

In this article we will briefly outline a series of exercises that will serve to train it, being mainly focused on elderly people.

Exercises to train memory in the elderly.

Here we will explain what are some of the exercises to train memory at an advanced age, being also useful for younger people, serving to prevent cognitive impairment.

1. Make exercise books

There are a multitude of exercise books that serve for cognitive stimulation in order to prevent cognitive deteriorationwhich are very useful for the elderly to maintain a regular routine that allows them to keep their brain and memory active in their own home, without the need to go to a specialized center (for example, math exercises, reading comprehension, synonyms and antonyms, explaining the meaning of a series of words, classifying words by categories, completing sentences, linking words with their definition, etc.).

This would be highly recommended for those people who do not present a serious cognitive impairment that requires the supervision of a professional, although it can also be done as a complement to a treatment for those people who need specialized supervision because they present significant signs of cognitive impairment.

In addition, this type of notebooks are usually classified according to different levelsThe classification may vary from one publisher to another, as in the example of the following classification:

• Level 1: people with moderate cognitive impairment, who maintain their drawing and literacy skills preserved.
• Level 2: people with a moderate to mild impairment and with a basic level of culture.
• Level 3: for people with mild or incipient cognitive impairment.

Likewise, when the elderly person performs these exercises it is advisable that they are accompanied by a family member or caregiver who can supervise the exercises, and it is also advisable that they are accompanied by a family member or caregiver who can supervise the exercises.It is also advisable that they make this practice a daily habit and try to establish a schedule to always do them at the same time, always in a quiet place, so that they get used to control and organize their daily routine, which can be very beneficial for their memory.

2. Writing in a diary

This is another exercise to train the memory at an advanced age and it involves the elderly person writing in It is that the elderly person writes in the most detailed way possible a series of important events that have lived and have marked him or her, both for good and for bad, because all these events can be very important for him or her.This is because all these events are memories that allow the person to give continuity to the personal history he or she has lived through.

In addition, this diary can be used by that person to go to it and remember some moments, which is a tool to which he can resort at certain times when he forgets some detail of his past, so that the loss of memory slows down and can facilitate the memory of moments of happiness that he has lived some time ago.

The fact is that reminding oneself of who one has been and, therefore, one continues to be, could be a good resource for people with any type of dementia can recover as far as possible their memory, in this case episodic memory..

On the other hand, writing a diary can help to put in order the episodic memory, related to the events experienced throughout life, while keeping the brain active.

3. Interactive online exercises

One of the advantages that the technological advances offer us is the possibility of acceding to a series of virtual platforms that have been developed for cognitive stimulation.There are exercises focused on people of all ages and with any educational level, with exercises to train various cognitive abilities (for example, attention, language, reasoning or memory).

Among all of them, we are going to highlight those platforms that are focused on exercises to train the memory at an advanced age, having very diverse exercises focused on stimulating all brain areas involved in cognitive that are involved in cognitive impairment, such as memory loss.

Of course, it is advisable that they have the help of a professional, a family member or a caregiver, since they usually need help to access these platforms.

All kinds of such platforms can be found on any Internet search engine. Also, in the digital era in which we live, there are also multiple games for computers, tablets and cell phones that serve for cognitive training exercises, where you can work different mental skills, such as memory.

These games are designed so that people learn to use them in an intuitive way without the need to learn an instruction manual.However, from a certain age it is likely that they will need the help of a family member or caregiver to help them access these games and teach them how to use them.

4. Story recall exercises

The objective of this exercise is for the person to organize the information received about a short story according to a temporal sequence.

For example, a person's story is told without reference to the key words that denote the elapsed time sequence..

Subsequently, the same story is recited again, but this second time the key words related to the temporal sequence elapsed throughout the story are highlighted (e.g., at wake-up time, at lunchtime, at sunset, before going to bed).

The person is then asked to tell what he or she remembers about the story and the details that occurred around those key temporal moments that were highlighted in the telling of the story.

This exercise serves to highlight the importance of ordering a story temporally to facilitate recall.It is a great tool for remembering events and news.

5. Exercises of memory of a list of words

This is one of the exercises to train memory at an advanced age, focused on people who do not present a pronounced cognitive impairment..

The exercise consists of presenting the person with a list of 16 random words to memorize. But to do so, the person is taught a series of steps to facilitate memorization.

The first step consists of the person is asked to sort the words into categories of words that have similar characteristics (e.g., animals on the one hand, and animals on the other). (e.g., animals on one side, plants on the other, etc.), which they can write down on a sheet of paper.

The second step is to memorize each group of words separately.

Then they should try to recite all 16 words. The most common is to recite them together with the other words you scored in the same group, since reciting them in the initial order would be more complicated. But the goal of this exercise is to make them realize that organization helps in learning and is a good memory resource.

6. Organizational exercises and spatial references

Another exercise to train memory at an advanced age, consists in using spatial references in an organized manner.

For example, when we try to remember a piece of news we read a few days ago in the newspaper, it may help us to remember it by recalling the news section in which it was found or the part of the page in which the information was found.

Another example could be the one used by a teacher to memorize the names of his students, asking them to sit at the same desk every day, since it has been shown that keeping our environment tidy helps us to memorize certain details while minimizing forgetfulness (e.g., keeping our bedroom closet tidy to easily find a certain item of clothing while minimizing the risk of "losing it").

Practicing exercises that stimulate our spatial memory strengthens our ability to establish references and also spatial associations. It is this spatial memory that allows people to record in memory and also to retrieve information related to the location of retrieve information related to the location of a person or an object and also about the occurrence of an event..

A very useful exercise for practicing spatial memory with older people is to place a set of tiles face down on a table. Each of these tiles is repeated so that there is a set of pairs of tiles. Then the person in each attempt, when it is his turn, must turn over two cards with the objective of uncovering a pair of cards at the same time. If he/she fails to uncover the pair, he/she must turn the tiles over again and try to memorize where each tile is located so that he/she can uncover the pair when he/she is able to locate it in future attempts.

7. Visualization exercises

Another exercise to train the memory at an advanced age is the use of visual images, since they are a good tool to remember certain things. If we generate visual images associated with certain information that we want to remember, we can access that information more easily and, in turn, improve the performance of our memory, because visual recall allows us to evoke the information associated with that image in our memory..

For example, if a granddaughter wants her grandmother to meet her new partner, telling her what his name is, what he works at, where he grew up, etc., she is more likely to remember that person if she also shows her a picture of her boyfriend, so that she can memorize his appearance and retain the image of his face. This way, every time you tell her something about her boyfriend, she is more likely to remember his face.henever she tells you something new about her boyfriend, she is more likely to remember him if the image of his face comes to mind..

This exercise can be very useful for elderly people to remember family members who have passed away or relatives who live far away and whom they cannot see on a regular basis so that they do not forget them.

8. Method of the places to remember the tasks of day to day life

This exercise is used to remember a series of errands that an elderly person must perform in his or her daily life in order to remain as independent as possible. To do this, internal and external strategies must be used.

Internal strategies

Mental repetition of the different tasks to be performed, dividing them in chronological orderDividing them in chronological order (morning, afternoon and evening).

Try to associate a visual location to each of the tasks (e.g., associate arriving in the kitchen in the morning with preparing breakfast and taking the pills prescribed by the doctor).

External strategies

It may be useful to make a list of the tasks you need to perform.. You can also place some signs in strategic places where you can make sure that you will read them when necessary so that you do not forget to do something important (e.g., place a sign in the kitchen reminding you of the pills you should take and at what time you should take each of them, or place a sign on the front door reminding you to always leave the house with a cell phone, your wallet and your house keys).

These are some of the many strategies used through exercises to train memory at an advanced age.